Roderick Hudson - Couverture souple

James, Henry

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0192815474 ISBN 13 : 9780192815477

Editeur : Oxford Paperbacks, 1980

Synopsis

In James's first novel an awkward, innocent, and eager young sculptor from Massachusetts travels to Rome, where his creative impulse is frustrated by the conflict between his puritan conscience and the artistic freedom and cultural sophistication of the Eternal City.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Mallet had made his arrangements to sail for Europe on the first of September, and having in the interval a fortnight to spare, he determined to spend it with his cousin Cecilia, the widow of a nephew of his father. He was urged by the reflection that an affectionate farewell might help to exonerate him from the charge of neglect frequently preferred by this lady. It was not that the young man disliked her; on the contrary, he regarded her with a tender admiration, and he had not forgotten how, when his cousin had brought her home on her marriage, he had seemed to feel the upward sweep of the empty bough from which the golden fruit had been plucked, and had then and there accepted the prospect of bachelorhood. The truth was, that, as it will be part of the entertainment of this narrative to exhibit, Rowland Mallet had an uncomfortably sensitive conscience, and that, in spite of the seeming paradox, his visits to Cecilia were rare because she and her misfortunes were often uppermost in it. Her misfortunes were three in number: first, she had lost her husband; second, she had lost her money (or the greater part of it); and third, she lived at Northampton, Massachusetts. Mallet's compassion was really wasted, because Cecilia was a very clever woman, and a most skillful counter-plotter to adversity. She had made herself a charming home, her economies were not obtrusive, and there was always a cheerful flutter in the folds of her crape. It was the consciousness of all this that puzzled Mallet whenever he felt tempted to put in his oar. He had money and he had time, but he never could decide just how to place these gifts gracefully at Cecilia's service. He no longer felt like marrying her: in these eight years that fancy had died a natural death.

Biographie de l'auteur

Henry James, OM (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford Paperbacks
• Date d'édition: 1980
• ISBN 10: 0192815474
• ISBN 13: 9780192815477
• Reliure: Broché
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 444
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible