William James Henry James Popular Books
William James Henry James Biography & Facts
Henry James ((1843-04-15)15 April 1843 – (1916-02-28)28 February 1916) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. 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 his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting. His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner". James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James." Life Early years, 1843–1883 James was born at 21 Washington Place (facing Washington Square) in New York City on 15 April 1843. His parents were Mary Walsh and Henry James Sr. His father was intelligent and steadfastly congenial. He was a lecturer and philosopher who had inherited independent means from his father, an Albany banker and investor. Mary came from a wealthy family long settled in New York City. Her sister Katherine lived with her adult family for an extended period of time. Henry Jr. was one of four boys, the others being William, who was one year his senior, and younger brothers Wilkinson (Wilkie) and Robertson. His younger sister was Alice. Both of his parents were of Irish and Scottish descent. Before he was a year old, his father sold the house at Washington Place and took the family to Europe, where they lived for a time in a cottage in Windsor Great Park in England. The family returned to New York in 1845, and Henry spent much of his childhood living between his paternal grandmother's home in Albany, and a house, 58 West Fourteenth Street, in Manhattan. A painting of a view of Florence by Thomas Cole hung in the front parlor of this house on West Fourteenth. His education was calculated by his father to expose him to many influences, primarily scientific and philosophical; it was described by Percy Lubbock, the editor of his selected letters, as "extraordinarily haphazard and promiscuous." Once, a cousin of the James family came down to the house in Fourteenth Street and, one evening during his stay, read the first instalment of David Copperfield aloud to the elders of the family: Henry Junior had sneaked down from his bedroom to listen surreptitiously to the reading, until a scene involving the Murdstones led him to "loud[ly] sob," whereupon he was discovered and sent back to bed. Between 1855 and 1860, the James household travelled to London, Paris, Geneva, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Bonn, and Newport, Rhode Island, according to the father's current interests and publishing ventures, retreating to the United States when funds were low. The James family arrived in Paris in July 1855 and took rooms at a hotel in the Rue de la Paix. Some time between 1856 and 1857, when William was fourteen and Henry thirteen, the two brothers visited the Louvre and the Luxembourg Palace. Henry studied primarily with tutors, and briefly attended schools while the family travelled in Europe. A tutor of the James children in Paris, M. Lerambert, had written a volume of verse that was well reviewed by Sainte-Beuve. Their longest stays were in France, where Henry began to feel at home and became fluent in French. He had a stutter, which seems to have manifested itself only when he spoke English; in French, he did not stutter. In the summer of 1857, the James family went to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they set up house at No. 20 Rue Neuve Chaussée, and where Henry was a regular customer at an English lending library. In the autumn of that year, Henry Senior wrote from Boulogne to a friend that "Henry is not so fond of study, properly so-called, as of reading...He is a devourer of libraries, and an immense writer of novels and dramas. He has considerable talent as a writer, but I am at a loss to know whether he will ever accomplish much." William recorded in a letter to their parents in Paris, while the boys were staying in Bonn, that Henry and Garth Wilkinson would wrestle "when study has made them dull and sleepy." In 1860, the family returned to Newport. There, Henry befriended Thomas Sergeant Perry, who was to become a celebrated literary academic in adulthood, and painter John La Farge, for whom Henry sat as a subject, and who introduced him to French literature, and in particular, to Balzac. James later called Balzac his "greatest master", and said that he had learned more about the craft of fiction from him than from anyone else. In July 1861, Henry and Thomas Sergeant Perry paid a visit to an encampment of wounded and invalid Union soldiers on the Rhode Island shore, at Portsmouth Grove; he took walks and had conversations with numerous soldiers and in later years compared this experience to those of Walt Whitman as a volunteer nurse. In the autumn of 1861, James received an injury, probably to his back, while fighting a fire. This injury, which resurfaced at times throughout his life, made him unfit for military service in the American Civil War. His younger brothers Garth Wilkinson and Robertson, however, both served, with Wilkinson serving as an officer in the 54th Massachusetts. In 1864, the James family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to be near William, who had enrolled first in the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard and then in the medical school. In 1862, Henry attended Harvard Law School, but realised that he was not interested in studying law. He pursued his interest in literature and associated with authors and critics William Dean Howells and Charles Eliot Norton in Boston and Cambridge and formed lifelong friendships with Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., the future Supr.... Discover the William James Henry James popular books. Find the top 100 most popular William James Henry James books.
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The american dream and the american nightmare in literature by William D. Howells and Henry James
Carolina HeinThis term paper deals with the origin of the American Dream, with the American Nightmare and with the two novels "The Rise of Silas Lapham" written by William D. Howell (1885) and ...
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William Ross and Henry King, Plaintiffs in Error v. James S. Duval and Others
United States Supreme CourtIN error to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Virginia. On the 7th of December, 1821, James S. Duval, Lewis Duval, and John Rheinhart obtained a ju...
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Philosophical Siblings
Jane F. ThrailkillAlice James: an exemplary nineteenthcentury neurasthenic and diarist. William James: a foundational figure for American psychology and philosophy. Henry James: a preeminent author ...
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Coronation
Roy StrongThe definitive history of coronations and the Royal Family, from acclaimed writer Roy Strong.’What is the finest sight in the world? A Coronation.What do people talk most about? A ...
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Political Suicide
Erin McHughPolitical Suicide is a history of the best and most interesting missteps, peccadilloes, bad calls, back room hijinks, sordid pasts, rotten breaks, and just plain dumb mistakes in t...
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The Figure of Consciousness
Jill M. KressThrough analysis of metaphors of consciousness in the philosophy and fiction of William James, Henry James and Edith Wharton, this work traces the significance of representations o...
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Speaking of America
Jared CohenFrom New York Times bestselling author Jared Cohen comes an encouraging and engaging debut children’s book that brings United States history to life through fortyfive compelling pr...
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James S. Brander and Hugh L. Mckenna, Plaintiffs in Error v. William E. Phillips and Henry Bell
United States Supreme CourtERROR to the Circuit Court for the Southern District of Alabama. The case, as stated in the opinion of the court, was as follows: Brander & McKenna, in 1833, 1834, 1835, were c...
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The Complete English Poems
John DonneNo poet has been more wilfully contradictory than John Donne, whose works forge unforgettable connections between extremes of passion and mental energy. From satire to tender elegy...
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Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Thomas De Quincey & Barry Milligan"Thou has the keys of Paradise, oh just, subtle, and mighty opium!" Determined to counter the lies about opium that had been told by travellers to the Orient and the medical profes...
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New York Sketches
E.B. White & Martha WhiteE. B. White’s greatest stories, asides, essays, jokes, and tall tales about the city he arguably saw clearest, loved best, and skewered most mercilessly.Over more than fifty years ...
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Crossing the Lines
Melvyn BraggFollowing The Soldier’s Return, heralded as “a novel written in fine steel sentences and granite paragraphs” by the Washington Post, and the equally brilliant A Son of War, Melvyn ...
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The Founding Fortunes
Tom ShachtmanIn The Founding Fortunes, historian Tom Shachtman reveals the ways in which a dozen notable Revolutionaries deeply affected the finances and birth of the new country while making a...
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American Lit 101
Brianne KeithFrom poetry to fiction to essays, American Lit 101 leaves no page unturned! Edgar Allan Poe. Willa Cather. Henry David Thoreau. Mark Twain. The list of important American writers g...
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The Men Who Killed the News
Eric BeecherCrikey owner and exNews Corp and Fairfax editor lifts the lid on the abuse of power by media moguls – from William Randolph Hearst to Elon Musk – and on his own unique experience o...
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The Daemon Knows
Harold BloomNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND KIRKUS REVIEWSHailed as “the indispensable critic” by The New York Review of Book...
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A Woman of Influence
Vanessa WilkieThis “engrossing, fastpaced, extremely wellresearched biography” (Booklist) transports us to Tudor and Stuart England as Alice Spencer, the daughter of an upstart sheep farmer, bec...
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Richard III
William ShakespeareThe authoritative edition of Richard III from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.In Richard III, Shakes...
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The Conservative Mind
Russell Kirk"It is inconceivable even to imagine, let alone hope for, a dominant conservative movement in America without Kirk's labor." WILLIAM F BUCKLEY "A profound critique of co...
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Classic Horror Tales
Editors of Canterbury ClassicsCurl up with this collection of classic scary stories from the masters of the genre.With dozens of stories of the macabre, fantastic, and supernatural, Classic Horror Tales is sure...
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The Complete Works of William Dean Howells
William Dean HowellsThis carefully crafted ebook: "The Complete Works of William Dean Howells: 27 Novels & 40+ Short Stories, Including Plays, Poems, Travel Sketches, Historical Works & Au...
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James S. Morsell, Special Ball of William Smith, Plaintiff in Error v. Henry A. Hall
United States Supreme CourtMr. Dulany. The ground taken by the plaintiff in error in his second plea is, that, in the affidavit made by the defendant in error, in his original suit against William Smith, he ...
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Classic Tales of Horror
Editors of Canterbury Classics & Ernest HilbertSpinetingling tales that will keep you on the edge of your seat!This chilling collection of scary stories will keep you awake for hours! Psychological horrors, disturbing dramas, a...
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The Complete Poems
William Blake & Alicia OstrikerOne of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (17571827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innoce...
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Stand Up Virgin Soldiers
Leslie ThomasThe worst has happened. On the eve of their return to Blighty, Brigg and his fellow National Servicemen find themselves sentenced to another six months in Panglin Barracks...Many o...
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Avoca at Home
AvocaAn inspiring new cookbook from the home of Ireland's most indulgent and comforting foodFor decades, Avoca cookbooks have been staples in kitchens in Ireland and beyond, filled with...
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents, Part 1
Larry SchweikartA book to challenge the status quo, spark a debate, and get people talking about the issues and questions we face as a country!
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The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper
Maxim JakubowskiUpdated and expanded edition of the fullest ever collective investigation into Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel Murders.This volume collects not just all the key factual evidenc...
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Henry James and Pragmatistic Thought
Richard A. HocksThis brilliant new study is the first comprehensive and penetrating exploration of the complex and important aesthetic and intellectual relationship between the Jameses. Hocks rela...
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The Modern Library
Carmen Callil & Colm TóibínFor Colm Toíbín and Carmen Callil there is no difference between literary and commercial writing there is only the good novel: engrossing, inspirational, compelling. In their sele...
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Mrs God
Peter StraubFrom New York Times bestselling author Peter Straub, the tale of a literary sojourn that turns into something far more sinister.Esswood House. Home and estate of the Sene...
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Rumble Road
Jon RobinsonIF YOU THINK ALL THE WWE DRAMA UNFOLDS INSIDE THE RING, THEN THINK AGAIN. . . . ALLNEW ROAD TRIP STORIES FROM: CHRISTIAN, CHRIS JERICHO, SHELTON BENJAMIN, RANDY ORTON, TED DI...
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Redburn
Herman MelvilleWellington Redburn is a fifteenyearold from the state of New York, with only one dream to run away to sea. However, when he does fulfil this longheld fantasy, he quickly finds t...
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Valley Forge
Bob Drury & Tom ClavinThe #1 New York Times bestselling authors of The Heart of Everything That Is return with “a thorough, nuanced, and enthralling account” (The Wall Street Journal) about one of the m...
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Selected Essays
Samuel JohnsonThis volume contains a generous selection from the essays Johnson published twice weekly as 'The Rambler' in the early 1750s. It was here that he first created the literary charact...