The Golden Bowl (Annotated)

by Henry James

Overview

• This edition includes the following editor's analysis: Henry James, the master of realism captured in "The Golden Bowl"

“The Golden Bowl” is a 1904 novel by American-British author Henry James.
One of the first novels considered to belong in the modernist literary genre, but also the last great realist work, “The Golden Bowl” penetrates deeply into the psyches of its main characters, often detailing their innermost thoughts almost to the point of absurdity.
The novel is a complex, intense study of marriage and adultery that completes the most relevant phase of James's career.
James borrowed the book’s title from a verse in Ecclesiastes 12 that depicts a cracked golden bowl as a metaphor for the inevitable decay or destruction of all beautiful things.

Set in England, Henry James' novel tells the story of the marriage of two couples and the impact the prior relationships of these couples have on each other. The story revolves around a beautiful, but cracked, golden bowl and the secrets this bowl allows to surface. Maggie, the heroine of the book, goes into full battle mode to keep her husband, but protect others from her knowledge of an adulterous affair. As the novel ends, all Maggie's husband can see is…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9791220894647
Publisher:	ePembaBooks
Publication date:	04/18/2022
Sold by:	StreetLib SRL
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Henry James, OM (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an American-born writer. He is 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.
He is best known for a number of novels showing Americans encountering Europe and Europeans. His method of writing from a character's point of view allowed him to explore issues related to consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting. His imaginative use of point of view, interior monologue and unreliable narrators brought a new depth to narrative fiction.
James contributed significantly to literary criticism, particularly in his insistence that writers be allowed the greatest possible freedom in presenting their view of the world. James claimed that a text must first and foremost be realistic and contain a representation of life that is recognisable to its readers. Good novels, to James, show life in action and are, most importantly, interesting.
In addition to his voluminous works of fiction he published articles and books of travel, biography, autobiography, and criticism, and wrote plays. James alternated between America and Europe for the first twenty years of his life; eventually he settled in England, becoming a British subject in 1915, one year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916.

Date of Birth:

April 15, 1843

Date of Death:

February 28, 1916

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

Attended school in France and Switzerland; Harvard Law School, 1862-63