Rating: 
Summary: Beauty and the Beast
Review:
This is about a successful American businessman in his thirties who leaves the USA, having made his fortune in copper and railroads, to travel around Europe and to find a wife. He encounters an old friend in the Louvre who takes him home and introduces him to his own interesting wife. Mrs. Tristram takes Christopher happily under her wing, absorbs him into her circle of friends, and tells him of an old friend who'd be just the perfect wife for him - a young and beautiful widowed countess of unimpeachable descent. Christopher meets Claire de Cintré and from that moment his one obsession is to marry her.
An attractive hero, he possesses remarkable talents. In fact he has pretty well every virtue except exalted antecedents; he is, for example, tall, good-looking, urbane, well-mannered, forthright, intelligent, thoughtful, considerate, persistent, good-natured, generous and rich. At their first meeting he conquers Claire sufficiently to be allowed to continue to visit her, instead of being shown the door. Actually, his dogged audacity is pretty amazing; he simply asks her to marry him after about the fifth meeting, because he wants everything to be above-board. She says No and he promises not to mention the matter for another six months. He then succeeds in making a bargain with her mother and brother, the most rigid and narrow dyed-in-the-wool aristocrats, that they will not stand in his way or say anything against him until she accepts his hand. Marquise and marquis make no secret of their dislike of him ("a commercial person"), nor of their horror and disgust at the entire proposition. These are two different worlds. Christopher is aware of it but is confident that their differences can be overcome; after all he is very rich and he knows this is important to them. He sees no reason why sensible individuals would not agree in time to a straightforward and sensible offer.
Matters seem to proceed well or better than can be expected, and when the six months are up Claire graciously accepts Christopher's proposal. A dramatic turn of events, however, obstructs their happy plans.
Henry James is a joy for those who like a sedate plot to unfold slowly, carefully and thoroughly. His psychological observations are minute; his characters drawn with deftest strokes, and one or two lighter subplots fill out the general late-Victorian picture. Bigoted aristocrats, unprincipled upstarts, impulsive young noblemen, impassive secret-keepers, loquacious duchesses, these and many other finely-drawn characters fill the pages of this enthralling story.
Rating: 
Summary: A subtle tale of manners
Review: Christopher Newman, a wealthy, good-natured Western magnate, has retired to Europe in order to better himself. There he is introduced to Claire de Cintré as a representative of his ideal woman. He does prize her, and determines to marry her, though the nobility of her family, the Bellegardes, seems to preclude such a bond. His friendship with her brother and easy democratic feeling make Newman regard himself as "noble" as they, though of course he isn't. It's quite a subtle and clever tale; it's not quite a doomed romance, for there's little indication that Newman and Claire really love each other. She finds him novel and he finds her ideal, but would they make a happy couple? And as the book is told mostly from the viewpoint of Newman, it requires reading between the lines to see just what a bumbler the tall, rich, confident American is when it comes to European social traditions. Finally, there is deep suspense when Newman has the chance to damage the Bellegardes' reputation. James draws the question out masterfully, and provides a very correct, if bittersweet, ending. It's a fine novel of manners, written in skillful, deft prose.
Rating:
Summary: Still True Because it is Great Literature
Review: Having recently been exposed to European aristocracy, I found reading this book, as an American, irresistible. I disagree with reviewers who say there is no longer tension between French and American ideology as manifest on a daily interactive level. It's still there. Many Americans view the French as rude and cynical (not unlike the reviewer from Jamaica, New York), whilst the French, perhaps rightly, view Americans as hopelessly naive and 'gauche'. As James's book attests, this isn't a recent phenomenon, and the exploration of the roots of it is fascinating. I do agree that much of the conflict stems from class distinction, but James' own interpretative notes indicate an interest in exploring the clash of ideologies, and he chose the aristocracy because it was that facet of European civilization most "entrenched" in the old ways of thinking vis a vis' the new, American viewpoint. The narrative style is smooth. I thought the prose more attractive than that in 'Portrait of a Lady', for instance, which was almost Teutonic in its abhorrence of placing verbs at the beginning stages of the sentences.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous story, French vs. American culture shock
Review: I have this friend who hates Henry James. I can't understand it. The style is dated, in that people dont write that way today, but as you get into the book you begin to enjoy the style, as well as the plot, characters, and French/American dual culture shock that still goes on today. (For an update on the theme, look at Le Divorce and Le Mariage by Diane Johnson). I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to these characters and the description of Paris in the Second Empire were fascinating. If you watch the Masterpiece Theatre version without having read the book, you will be totally confused. They moved events out of sequence all over the place and after about ten minutes I shut off the tape and picked up the book. You have to know the whole story before you watch them throw characters and events at you in the first two scenes that only appear 2/3 of the way through the novel, after a foundation has been laid as to who they are and when and why things happened.I couldnt recommend this more for a good read. The only caution I have is for readers who have never been to France. They may get an extremely negative impression of French people from many of the characters in this book. Go to Paris and you will find the city is wonderful, and so are the French people. These characters are not typical!! They belong to a certain class, and the book does take place 150 years ago. If this book doesnt get you hooked on James, I dont know what will. Try Washington Square and dont miss that movie, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney and Maggie Smith.
Rating:
Summary: wtg henry james!!!
Review: i recommend to everyone to start with the american if they have an interest in henry james, but haven't yet read anything by him. the american isn't so much of the l'art pour l'art movement as his later works, as he was pretty young when he wrote this. nonetheless, this is still a classic. christopher newman can come off as arrogant but throughout the book one enjoys him more and more. the ending is great, with christopher finally being vindicated. for whatever it's worth, i read james' the princess casamassima after this. it's a good follow-up for one who has just been introduced to h. james, although it isn't so much concerned with the old world vs new world theme as is the american.
Rating:
Summary: Watch out for Jim Gallen's review!
Review: If you haven't read this book yet and don't want to know how it ends, then don't read Jim Gallen's review, "A Romance for the Unromantic". Actually, I can't be sure that he gave away the true ending. I was planning to buy and read the book until I read his review, and now I won't bother. Mr. Gallen, if you want to discuss the ending, please post a warning next time. After all, once we read it, we can't "unread it" - the damage is done.
Rating:
Summary: Make no mistake...
Review: James can be a long read. But keep in mind the time period in which he is writing and you will easily tackle this novel. This book should be on y our "Must Read List". Every American should be reading about Christopher Newman. Its easily understandable today as it was over 100 years ago. We often forget our place in the world and fail to see ourselves from the point of view of others. This is the story of an expatriate in a time when America was boldly going forth into a old world, filled with old customs and well worn traditions. Well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Make no mistake...
Review: James can be a long read. But keep in mind the time period in which he is writing and you will easily tackle this novel. This book should be on y our "Must Read List". Every American should be reading about Christopher Newman. Its easily understandable today as it was over 100 years ago. We often forget our place in the world and fail to see ourselves from the point of view of others. This is the story of an expatriate in a time when America was boldly going forth into a old world, filled with old customs and well worn traditions. Well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Henry James at his BEST!!!
Review: OK so it takes half the book to get to the story. In typical Henry James fashion you are completely prepared for the action. Unlike Thomas Hardy, whose surroundings tell us of the character of the person it surrounds, James wishes you to know the depth of his characters as seen through the eyes of others. This of course brings on many minor characters that just seem to disappear, but it is a view of a person as if the reader was on the other side of the mirror watching the story unfold. Yes, James is wordy, yes this is not a quick read, but Henry James has a mastery of language and story telling that is rare.
"The American" is a wonderful love story that ends as a real life love story might end. Do not expect roses and happily ever after, it is as much a story of an ancient social system as it is of the life of "our hero." And the thing that seems to get missed is that Henry James actually wrote this as a mystery, not a love story.
This is a novel to contemplate and read between the lines. Good verses Evil, Noveau vs Old Money, Right and Wrong, can literature get any better than that?
Rating:
Summary: Henry James at his BEST!!!
Review: OK so it takes half the book to get to the story. In typical Henry James fashion you are completely prepared for the action. Unlike Thomas Hardy, whose surroundings tell us of the character of the person it surrounds, James wishes you to know the depth of his characters as seen through the eyes of others. This of course brings on many minor characters that just seem to disappear, but it is a view of a person as if the reader was on the other side of the mirror watching the story unfold. Yes, James is wordy, yes this is not a quick read, but Henry James has a mastery of language and story telling that is rare.
"The American" is a wonderful love story that ends as a real life love story might end. Do not expect roses and happily ever after, it is as much a story of an ancient social system as it is of the life of "our hero." And the thing that seems to get missed is that Henry James actually wrote this as a mystery, not a love story.
This is a novel to contemplate and read between the lines. Good verses Evil, Noveau vs Old Money, Right and Wrong, can literature get any better than that?
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