Many of his later novels failed to recoup their advances, and latterly he made more money from short stories placed in magazines.Even in his lifetime, James had a reputation as a difficult writer for clever readers.In January 1916, James was awarded the Order of Merit for services to literature over a 50-year career, during which he had written some 20 novels and over 100 short stories. He had a history of heart trouble and depression, and he found the anxiety and grief of wartime exhausting. One hundred years later, James’s cultural standing is higher than ever.
Many of his later novels failed to recoup their advances, and latterly he made more money from short stories placed in magazines.Even in his lifetime, James had a reputation as a difficult writer for clever readers.In January 1916, James was awarded the Order of Merit for services to literature over a 50-year career, during which he had written some 20 novels and over 100 short stories. He had a history of heart trouble and depression, and he found the anxiety and grief of wartime exhausting. One hundred years later, James’s cultural standing is higher than ever.
His private life has been scrutinised and reinvented repeatedly in biography and bio-fiction – sometimes more creatively than accurately.
His fiction and letters – over 10,000 still exist – are both in the process of being re-edited and republished.
Henry Sr., the son of an Irish immigrant, was one of thirteen children, born in Albany, New York.
By the time his own children were born, he had inherited a great deal of wealth from his father, and the James family.
His brother’s widow Alice braved the hazardous war-time Atlantic crossing to be by his bedside.
Devoted literary friends such as Edmund Gosse and Edith Wharton visited or kept in touch.
James knew him, and wrote to a mutual friend that this loss was so “stupid and hideous” that one could only “stare through one’s tears”.
James’s piece formed the introduction to Brooke’s travel essays, Letters From America, and was also a response to the mythology that sprang up around Brooke immediately after his death.
In fact, this reputation was part of his value in the magazine market, where his name on the contents page added a touch of literary class – whether his stories were read or not.
Yet in a world of cut-throat literary reputations, the author of The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw and The Golden Bowl has survived while contemporaries like Sarah Grand, Hall Caine and Marie Corelli who outsold him spectacularly have all but vanished.
Comments Henry James Essay Writing
What are Henry James' views on the art of fiction? eNotes
In his essay "The Art of Fiction," Henry James argued for artistic freedom. that writers should limit themselves to writing about only what they knew James.…
Henry James - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read.
Biography of Henry James and a searchable collection of works. schools to study science and law, by 1864 James decided he would become a writer. which inspired his series of essays first published in North American Review, Harper's.…
Henry James - James on Art and the Novel - Presses.
In his theoretical and critical essays James insists now on the freedom, now on the form, depending on the writer he criticizes or the audience to which he.…
Henry James Biography List of Works, Study Guides.
Henry James 1843-1916 was born on April 15, 1843 to Henry James, Sr. and his wife, Mary Walsh. Henry was attracted to the idea of writing for the theater.…
Library of America Collected Nonfiction of Henry James
Henry James Autobiographies LOA #274 by Henry James / Philip Horne. French writers, along with more general essays and the Prefaces Henry James.…
WHAT HENRY KNEW - The New York Times
HENRY JAMES LITERARY CRITICISM. Essays on Literature; American Writers; English Writers. 1,484 pp. New York The Library of America.…
Henry James Literary Criticism French Writers. -
It includes reviews of a great number of European writers, especially French writers, along with more general essays and the Prefaces Henry James wrote for the.…
Henry James Poetry Foundation
Traveling often throughout his long and productive life, Henry James wrote fiction. The essay ends with James's only paragraph of travel writing about Spain.…
Books of The Times; Henry James's Criticism - The New York.
LITERARY CRITICISM. Essays on Literature. American Writers. English. Writers. By Henry James. Edited by. Leon Edel and Mark Wilson. 1484.…
The real Henry James will never stand up – that's his greatest.
The last piece of writing James worked on before he fell ill was an essay about the young English soldier-poet Rupert Brooke. Brooke had died.…