About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherPrinceton University Press

ISBN-100691129541

ISBN-139780691129549

eBay Product ID (ePID)57003851

Product Key Features

Book TitleHenry James Goes to Paris

Number of Pages272 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicAmerican / General, Literary

Publication Year2007

IllustratorYes

GenreLiterary Criticism, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorPeter Brooks

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight20 oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2006-051361

Reviews"Brooks's main thesis is that when James lived in Paris he 'missed' much that was new and exciting. He didn't really like Flaubert's writing, he dismissed the Impressionists, and he found Wagner's music 'boring.' But twenty or more years later, Brooks argues, what James failed to appreciate at the time came back to haunt him and to affect his later great work. Though James was more of a Romantic realist in the tradition of Balzac (with a large taste for melodramatic kitsch and wild and improbable plot twists), he came to appreciate Flaubert's exquisite style and measured realism and to write several important essays on him."-- Edmund V. White, New York Review of Books, " Henry James Goes to Paris is a delight to read. Peter Brooks writes with much grace and with an intimate knowledge of James's novels and of the French masters (Flaubert, the Goncourt brothers, Zola) James came to know during his stay in Paris in 1875-76. The central theme of this wide-ranging and original study is James's early misunderstanding and even misreading of the French avant-garde writers that in time, however, contributed to his mature vision of the art of the novel. Brooks treats his subject with much subtlety, solid scholarship, and flexibility of mind." --Victor Brombert, author of Trains of Thought, "A brilliant study of how James's experiences that year lay repressed for two decades in what the novelist called 'the deep well of unconscious cerebration', before he transformed his style. Or, as Brooks, who is one of America's finest literary critics, puts it, how James 'missed much of what he experienced--but missed it, I think, only for the time being.' "-- Frances Wilson, The Daily Telegraph, "This is a perceptive and well-finessed account of the novelist's growth, enlivened by several lightnesses of touch . . . and James should feel well served." ---Ian F. A. Bell, Modern Language Review, In his fascinating new study, Henry James Goes to Paris . . . Peter Brooks . . . gives a detailed account of the year James spent there, a year that would shape him forever. . . . Mr. Brooks weaves together episodes from James's year in Paris with his novels, from Roderick Hudson onward, to make plain how painstakingly James absorbed the lessons of the masters even as he seemed to repudiate them. ---Eric Ormsby, The New York Sun, "[E]ngaging and perceptive. . . . [A]n exceptionally clear-sighted account of James's boldness and importance as a novelist."-- Times Literary Supplement, [A] rich and subtly presented case. . . . Henry James Goes to Paris explores the intersection of narrative and criticism, using an explanatory hypothesis of James's development to frame a series of perceptive critical readings. ---John Attridge, Modernism/modernity, "This critical narrative about James's relations with Paris and the circle of writers he encountered when he took up residence there in 1875 is a great pleasure to read. What makes it especially attractive is the fact that Brooks relies so heavily on primary documents. We have the illusion of learning about James directly, often in his own words. Most people today do not read criticism. They read narrative, and that's why biography is so popular. Yet to the degree that criticism can find a narrative form, it will find readers outside a narrow range of specialists. I expect this book to do that." --Michael Gorra, author of The Bells in Their Silence: Travels through Germany, "In the autumn of 1875, Henry James arrived in Paris . . . yet, a little more than a year later, he left for London, disappointed and disenchanted. In this masterly critique, Peter Brooks reveals why, and why also it would prove in time to be one of the most important years of his life. . . . With skill and sensitivity and unusual readability, Brooks reveals how, as James matured . . . he came to admire the passion and commitment, if not the work, of these men."-- Anne Haverty, Irish Times, "In his fascinating new study, Henry James Goes to Paris . . . Peter Brooks . . . gives a detailed account of the year James spent there, a year that would shape him forever. . . . Mr. Brooks weaves together episodes from James's year in Paris with his novels, from Roderick Hudson onward, to make plain how painstakingly James absorbed the lessons of the masters even as he seemed to repudiate them." ---Eric Ormsby, The New York Sun, [A] rich and subtly presented case. . . .Henry James Goes to Parisexplores the intersection of narrative and criticism, using an explanatory hypothesis of James's development to frame a series of perceptive critical readings., "In his fascinating new study, Henry James Goes to Paris . . . Peter Brooks . . . gives a detailed account of the year James spent there, a year that would shape him forever. . . . Mr. Brooks weaves together episodes from James's year in Paris with his novels, from Roderick Hudson onward, to make plain how painstakingly James absorbed the lessons of the masters even as he seemed to repudiate them."-- Eric Ormsby, The New York Sun, "[W]onderfully lively and original synthesis of biography, criticism and speculation." --Josh Cohen, European Legacy, "This is a thoroughly well-crafted, nuanced, and very Jamesian story about cross-cultural contact, modernity, and how one fine mind assimilated the most advanced (if not necessarily the 'best') artistic theories of his day. The result is a live picture of a crucial moment in the development of the novel." --Nicholas Dames, Columbia University, "[W]onderfully lively and original synthesis of biography, criticism and speculation."-- Josh Cohen, European Legacy, "Brooks's main thesis is that when James lived in Paris he 'missed' much that was new and exciting. He didn't really like Flaubert's writing, he dismissed the Impressionists, and he found Wagner's music 'boring.' But twenty or more years later, Brooks argues, what James failed to appreciate at the time came back to haunt him and to affect his later great work. Though James was more of a Romantic realist in the tradition of Balzac (with a large taste for melodramatic kitsch and wild and improbable plot twists), he came to appreciate Flaubert's exquisite style and measured realism and to write several important essays on him." ---Edmund V. White, New York Review of Books, [E]ngaging and perceptive. . . . [A]n exceptionally clear-sighted account of James's boldness and importance as a novelist., [W]onderfully lively and original synthesis of biography, criticism and speculation. ---Josh Cohen, European Legacy, "Brooks's main thesis is that when James lived in Paris he 'missed' much that was new and exciting. He didn't really like Flaubert's writing, he dismissed the Impressionists, and he found Wagner's music 'boring.' But twenty or more years later, Brooks argues, what James failed to appreciate at the time came back to haunt him and to affect his later great work. Though James was more of a Romantic realist in the tradition of Balzac (with a large taste for melodramatic kitsch and wild and improbable plot twists), he came to appreciate Flaubert's exquisite style and measured realism and to write several important essays on him." --Edmund V. White, New York Review of Books, "Under the guise of simply 'telling a story' about the young Henry James's stay in Paris in 1875-76, Peter Brooks describes the progressive emergence of the whole of novelistic modernity during the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. You have to be, like Brooks, both historian and theorist, a scholar both of things French and American, to so masterfully carry out this project." --Philippe Hamon, Professor Emeritus, La Sorbonne Nouvelle, "In this affectionate study, Brooks concedes that the young James 'missed the point, completely,' but argues that what he observed in Paris deeply affected him, and was especially crucial to his late novels." -- The New Yorker, "In the autumn of 1875, Henry James arrived in Paris . . . yet, a little more than a year later, he left for London, disappointed and disenchanted. In this masterly critique, Peter Brooks reveals why, and why also it would prove in time to be one of the most important years of his life. . . . With skill and sensitivity and unusual readability, Brooks reveals how, as James matured . . . he came to admire the passion and commitment, if not the work, of these men." --Anne Haverty, Irish Times, "Peter Brooks's perceptions have rare depths of sheer human intuition, literary discrimination, and a shared experience of all things Parisian. This book is a masterly piece of scrupulous interior exploration and does honor to James: it will give pleasure to all lovers of his work." -- Marina Warner, "[E]ngaging and perceptive. . . . [A]n exceptionally clear-sighted account of Jamess boldness and importance as a novelist."-- Times Literary Supplement, Peter Brooks is an engaging, lucid writer with a marvelous intuitive grasp of Jamesian complexities and a rare gifting for integrating biography, history, gossip and literary criticism. ---David Laskin, Seattle Times, "[A] rich and subtly presented case. . . . Henry James Goes to Paris explores the intersection of narrative and criticism, using an explanatory hypothesis of James's development to frame a series of perceptive critical readings."-- John Attridge, Modernism/modernity, "Unsurpassed as a James reader, Brooks grounds his larger argument in penetrating analyses of not only What Maisie Knew and The Golden Bowl but of two early signposts of James' development, The American and The Tragic Muse . These readings will surely lend new stature, and generate new interest, in all these novels." --David M. Robinson, American Literary Realism, "This is a perceptive and well-finessed account of the novelist's growth, enlivened by several lightnesses of touch . . . and James should feel well served." --Ian F. A. Bell, Modern Language Review, "Unsurpassed as a James reader, Brooks grounds his larger argument in penetrating analyses of not only What Maisie Knew and The Golden Bowl but of two early signposts of James' development, The American and The Tragic Muse . These readings will surely lend new stature, and generate new interest, in all these novels." ---David M. Robinson, American Literary Realism, Peter Brooks has produced a brilliant and accessible account of a young American landing in Paris and missing the point. InHenry James Goes to Paris. . . Mr. Brooks shows how James' year in the City of Light--1875 to 1876--left him in the dark, baffled about the French avant-garde., Unsurpassed as a James reader, Brooks grounds his larger argument in penetrating analyses of not onlyWhat Maisie KnewandThe Golden Bowlbut of two early signposts of James' development,The AmericanandThe Tragic Muse. These readings will surely lend new stature, and generate new interest, in all these novels., "In Brooks' excellent account of [James's] time in Paris we can begin to understand how the Balzacian disciple became the Master of the novel we know and still love to read today."-- Book Depository, A brilliant study of how James's experiences that year lay repressed for two decades in what the novelist called 'the deep well of unconscious cerebration', before he transformed his style. Or, as Brooks, who is one of America's finest literary critics, puts it, how James 'missed much of what he experienced--but missed it, I think, only for the time being.' ---Frances Wilson, The Daily Telegraph, "In his fascinating new study, Henry James Goes to Paris . . . Peter Brooks . . . gives a detailed account of the year James spent there, a year that would shape him forever. . . . Mr. Brooks weaves together episodes from James's year in Paris with his novels, from Roderick Hudson onward, to make plain how painstakingly James absorbed the lessons of the masters even as he seemed to repudiate them." --Eric Ormsby, The New York Sun, "In the autumn of 1875, Henry James arrived in Paris . . . yet, a little more than a year later, he left for London, disappointed and disenchanted. In this masterly critique, Peter Brooks reveals why, and why also it would prove in time to be one of the most important years of his life. . . . With skill and sensitivity and unusual readability, Brooks reveals how, as James matured . . . he came to admire the passion and commitment, if not the work, of these men." ---Anne Haverty, Irish Times, Peter Brooks has produced a brilliant and accessible account of a young American landing in Paris and missing the point. In Henry James Goes to Paris . . . Mr. Brooks shows how James' year in the City of Light--1875 to 1876--left him in the dark, baffled about the French avant-garde., "This is a perceptive and well-finessed account of the novelist's growth, enlivened by several lightnesses of touch . . . and James should feel well served."-- Ian F. A. Bell, Modern Language Review, "[E]ngaging and perceptive. . . . [A]n exceptionally clear-sighted account of James's boldness and importance as a novelist." -- Times Literary Supplement, In Brooks' excellent account of [James's] time in Paris we can begin to understand how the Balzacian disciple became the Master of the novel we know and still love to read today., This is a perceptive and well-finessed account of the novelist's growth, enlivened by several lightnesses of touch . . . and James should feel well served. ---Ian F. A. Bell, Modern Language Review, "In this affectionate study, Brooks concedes that the young James 'missed the point, completely,' but argues that what he observed in Paris deeply affected him, and was especially crucial to his late novels."-- The New Yorker, Peter Brooks is an engaging, lucid writer with a marvelous intuitive grasp of Jamesian complexities and a rare gifting for integrating biography, history, gossip and literary criticism., "A brilliant study of how James's experiences that year lay repressed for two decades in what the novelist called 'the deep well of unconscious cerebration', before he transformed his style. Or, as Brooks, who is one of America's finest literary critics, puts it, how James 'missed much of what he experienced--but missed it, I think, only for the time being.' " --Frances Wilson, The Daily Telegraph, "Peter Brooks is an engaging, lucid writer with a marvelous intuitive grasp of Jamesian complexities and a rare gifting for integrating biography, history, gossip and literary criticism." --David Laskin, Seattle Times, "In Brooks' excellent account of [James's] time in Paris we can begin to understand how the Balzacian disciple became the Master of the novel we know and still love to read today." -- Book Depository, "[A] rich and subtly presented case. . . . Henry James Goes to Paris explores the intersection of narrative and criticism, using an explanatory hypothesis of James's development to frame a series of perceptive critical readings." ---John Attridge, Modernism/modernity, In the autumn of 1875, Henry James arrived in Paris . . . yet, a little more than a year later, he left for London, disappointed and disenchanted. In this masterly critique, Peter Brooks reveals why, and why also it would prove in time to be one of the most important years of his life. . . . With skill and sensitivity and unusual readability, Brooks reveals how, as James matured . . . he came to admire the passion and commitment, if not the work, of these men., This is a perceptive and well-finessed account of the novelist's growth, enlivened by several lightnesses of touch . . . and James should feel well served., "Peter Brooks has produced a brilliant and accessible account of a young American landing in Paris and missing the point. In Henry James Goes to Paris . . . Mr. Brooks shows how James' year in the City of Light--1875 to 1876--left him in the dark, baffled about the French avant-garde."-- New York Observer, "Peter Brooks is an engaging, lucid writer with a marvelous intuitive grasp of Jamesian complexities and a rare gifting for integrating biography, history, gossip and literary criticism." ---David Laskin, Seattle Times, A brilliant study of how James's experiences that year lay repressed for two decades in what the novelist called 'the deep well of unconscious cerebration', before he transformed his style. Or, as Brooks, who is one of America's finest literary critics, puts it, how James 'missed much of what he experienced--but missed it, I think, only for the time being.', In the autumn of 1875, Henry James arrived in Paris . . . yet, a little more than a year later, he left for London, disappointed and disenchanted. In this masterly critique, Peter Brooks reveals why, and why also it would prove in time to be one of the most important years of his life. . . . With skill and sensitivity and unusual readability, Brooks reveals how, as James matured . . . he came to admire the passion and commitment, if not the work, of these men. ---Anne Haverty, Irish Times, "A brilliant study of how James's experiences that year lay repressed for two decades in what the novelist called 'the deep well of unconscious cerebration', before he transformed his style. Or, as Brooks, who is one of America's finest literary critics, puts it, how James 'missed much of what he experienced--but missed it, I think, only for the time being.'" ---Frances Wilson, The Daily Telegraph, "[W]onderfully lively and original synthesis of biography, criticism and speculation." ---Josh Cohen, European Legacy, Unsurpassed as a James reader, Brooks grounds his larger argument in penetrating analyses of not only What Maisie Knew and The Golden Bowl but of two early signposts of James' development, The American and The Tragic Muse . These readings will surely lend new stature, and generate new interest, in all these novels. ---David M. Robinson, American Literary Realism, "Peter Brooks is an engaging, lucid writer with a marvelous intuitive grasp of Jamesian complexities and a rare gifting for integrating biography, history, gossip and literary criticism."-- David Laskin, Seattle Times, "Peter Brooks has produced a brilliant and accessible account of a young American landing in Paris and missing the point. In Henry James Goes to Paris . . . Mr. Brooks shows how James' year in the City of Light--1875 to 1876--left him in the dark, baffled about the French avant-garde." -- New York Observer, Brooks's main thesis is that when James lived in Paris he 'missed' much that was new and exciting. He didn't really like Flaubert's writing, he dismissed the Impressionists, and he found Wagner's music 'boring.' But twenty or more years later, Brooks argues, what James failed to appreciate at the time came back to haunt him and to affect his later great work. Though James was more of a Romantic realist in the tradition of Balzac (with a large taste for melodramatic kitsch and wild and improbable plot twists), he came to appreciate Flaubert's exquisite style and measured realism and to write several important essays on him. ---Edmund V. White, New York Review of Books, In this affectionate study, Brooks concedes that the young James 'missed the point, completely,' but argues that what he observed in Paris deeply affected him, and was especially crucial to his late novels., In his fascinating new study,Henry James Goes to Paris. . . Peter Brooks . . . gives a detailed account of the year James spent there, a year that would shape him forever. . . . Mr. Brooks weaves together episodes from James's year in Paris with his novels, from Roderick Hudson onward, to make plain how painstakingly James absorbed the lessons of the masters even as he seemed to repudiate them., "Unsurpassed as a James reader, Brooks grounds his larger argument in penetrating analyses of not only What Maisie Knew and The Golden Bowl but of two early signposts of James' development, The American and The Tragic Muse . These readings will surely lend new stature, and generate new interest, in all these novels."-- David M. Robinson, American Literary Realism, Brooks's main thesis is that when James lived in Paris he 'missed' much that was new and exciting. He didn't really like Flaubert's writing, he dismissed the Impressionists, and he found Wagner's music 'boring.' But twenty or more years later, Brooks argues, what James failed to appreciate at the time came back to haunt him and to affect his later great work. Though James was more of a Romantic realist in the tradition of Balzac (with a large taste for melodramatic kitsch and wild and improbable plot twists), he came to appreciate Flaubert's exquisite style and measured realism and to write several important essays on him., "[A] rich and subtly presented case. . . . Henry James Goes to Paris explores the intersection of narrative and criticism, using an explanatory hypothesis of James's development to frame a series of perceptive critical readings." --John Attridge, Modernism/modernity

Dewey Edition22

Dewey Decimal813/.4 B

Table Of ContentIntroduction 1 Chapter 1. To Paris 7 2. The Dream of an Intenser Experience 53 Chapter 3. What a Droll Thing to Represent 79 Chapter 4. Flaubert's Nerds 101 Chapter 5. The Quickened Notation of Our Modernity 129 Chapter 6. The Death of Zola, Sex in the French Novel, and the Improper 156 Chapter 7. For the Sake of This End 177 Epilogue: Chariot of Fire 205 Notes 211 Bibliography 233 Acknowledgments 241 Index 243

SynopsisHenry James's reputation as The Master is so familiar that it's hard to imagine he was ever someone on whom some things really were lost. This is the story of the year--1875 to 1876--when the young novelist moved to Paris, drawn by his literary idols living at the center of the early modern movement in art. As Peter Brooks skillfully recounts, James largely failed to appreciate or even understand the new artistic developments teeming around him during his Paris sojourn. But living in England twenty years later, he would recall the aesthetic lessons of Paris, and his memories of the radical perspectives opened up by French novelists and painters would help transform James into the writer of his adventurous later fiction. A narrative that combines biography and criticism and uses James's writings to tell the story from his point of view, Henry James Goes to Paris vividly brings to life the young American artist's Paris year--and its momentous artistic and personal consequences. James's Paris story is one of enchantment and disenchantment. He initially loved Paris, he succeeded in meeting all the writers he admired (Turgenev, Flaubert, Zola, Maupassant, Goncourt, and Daudet), and he witnessed the latest development in French painting, Impressionism. But James largely found the writers disappointing, and he completely misunderstood the paintings he saw. He also seems to have fallen in and out of love in a more ordinary sense--with a young Russian aesthete, Paul Zhukovsky. Disillusioned, James soon retreated to England--for good. But James would eventually be changed forever by his memories of Paris.

LC Classification NumberPS2127.F7B76 2007