The American
Christopher Newman, a 'self-made' American millionaire in France, falls in love with the beautiful aristocratic Claire de Bellegarde. Her family, however, taken aback by his brash American manner, rejects his proposal of marriage. When Newman discovers a guilty secret in the Bellegardes' past, he...
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Christopher Newman, a 'self-made' American millionaire in France, falls in love with the beautiful aristocratic Claire de Bellegarde. Her family, however, taken aback by his brash American manner, rejects his proposal of marriage. When Newman discovers a guilty secret in the Bellegardes' past, he confronts a moral dilemma: Should he expose them and thus gain his revenge? James's masterly early work is at once a social comedy, a melodramatic romance and a realistic novel of manners.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780140390827 (0140390820)
Publish date: December 17th 1981
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Pages no: 480
Edition language: English
Category:
Classics,
Novels,
Academic,
School,
Literature,
Cultural,
American,
Historical Fiction,
Romance,
Literary Fiction,
19th Century,
France
A hundred and however many years later, Newman is still an ideal American type. He's forthright, industrious, fair, and amiable - he doesn't understand, or care to, subtle intrigues and social niceties that exist only to please tradition. He does as he pleases and is above reproach - he's 'Daisy Mil...
Henry James writes beautifully and entertainingly. The book is very slow to unfold and at times tests one's patience, but is ultimately rewarding. It is, on the surface, a comedy of manners about the culture shock experienced by an American entrepreneur in Paris. At a deeper level, it is a sharp ana...
One of Henry James' more accessible novels, like many of works it features a nouveau riche American bore trying to buy his way into European society and in turn being taken advantage of by European aristocrats who have plenty of culture and sophistication but not much cash.
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