Group Read: The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

Welcome to the group read of The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.

Feel free to post about anything you'd like, but if you plan to reveal any plot spoilers, please include a warning to that effect.

I've read a few Henry James novels, but none of them recently. I'll be reading this one on my Kindle but I believe it's quite a hefty book, upwards of 600 pages, according to Amazon.

It's probably overly ambitious but, as I read the novel itself, I'd also like to read the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book, Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece by Michael Gorra, in order to get additional insights on it.

The Amazon description of the Gorra book says: "Michael Gorra has taken an original approach to this great American progenitor of the modern novel, combining elements of biography, criticism, and travelogue in re-creating the dramatic backstory of James’s masterpiece, Portrait of a Lady (1881). Gorra, an eminent literary critic, shows how this novel—the scandalous story of the expatriate American heiress Isabel Archer—came to be written in the first place."

Yes! I've been waiting for this group read. I won't be able to start it until mid-July, probably, but I'm excited.

Ohhhhh I was going to read the Gorra book too Linda, but I'm not planning to read it until I'm finished with Portrait of a Lady, so probably in August.

I'll join in with this.. I need to read this before the autumn for my Open University course.

I'll be starting shortly. Thanks forsetting up the thread Linda!

Thanks for getting things organized, Linda. I've got the book ready to go. I own a print copy but can't seem to locate it, so I've gotten an audio version from the library. However, it may be a week or so before I get started. Looking forward to this!

I am going to try this on audio and see how it goes. I have a print version, as well, just in case!

Glad to see so many people here.

Two initial things. James went back many years later and rewrote this book. Also, for many of his books, he later wrote long introductions for his novels. This is where I am, still, now. Haven't actually started it yet.

I started a print copy today. I skipped the introduction in mine because I was afraid of spoilers. My intro wasn't by James.

I read this exactly 4 years ago this month, so I'm not ready for a reread, but I want to follow along with your discussion. It is a long book, and James can be daunting, but I found it actually flowed and I enjoyed it very much. Probably my favourite of his novels so far. Have fun, everyone! James has a reputation for being tough to read, and he can be, but this is early James, and it isn't too difficult. Don't worry, sit back, and have a good time.

Thanks for the info, Joyce. I'm not too far into it but, to me, this feels like an autumn book. In summer, I prefer short and/or light.

I'm through Chapter 6. I am enjoying his introductions to his characters. They seem distinctive and interesting. I favorite line is " Living as he now lived was like reading a good book in a poor translation."

Is anyone reading this?

I started it but have so much else going on, reading and personal, that I haven't gotten very far into it. Not sure how far I'll get this month.

I haven't started yet, but have it standing by to start soon.

For those of you who are wondering if you're missing something important while you're reading Portrait of a Lady, or even why you should care, go to the ever-helpful Shmoop.com:

http://www.shmoop.com/portrait-of-a-lady/

I'm finished with Chapter 20. I'm trying to figure out why I like long Victorian novels when I think other books that are over 300 pages are too long. I think it's because they were generally written to be published serially. There is usually a wide variety of characters coming in and out of the story and there's frequently changes in the settings. They were meant to be read over a relatively long period of time which is the way that I read. I suspect some of these contemporary mysteries that I find so long and slow-moving were meant to be skimmed through.

#18 - good observation!

I've been listening to an audio of the book but just downloaded a version for my Kindle to supplement the audio which is going too slowly. I am really enjoying the book. I had not expected the humor, and the characters are so sharply drawn I got a real sense of them quite quickly. I love Ralph and Mr. Touchett and find Miss Stackpole infuriating. Isabel, of course, is an enigma...

I'm on Chapter XV, so still a long way to go!

I've made it to Chapter 14 and let's say it's engaged me. I've tried to read it once before and got very impatient with it, but this time I'm really interested in what is going on in the character's minds. I like most of the characters but am finding Henrietta Stackpole annoying, maybe because James has made her such a conscientious caricature of the forthright, superior American.

I have every intention of getting to it before the end of the month but some other books have to be cleared first. I'm glad to hear people are enjoying it. I love Victorian novels for their humor (Dickens, Trollope and Eliot come immediately to mind).

I really intended to get this read forJuly, but of course I got sidetracked with other books. I will finish it, but when is the question.

I raced through this this weekend and finished it. I loved the miserable, wretched book. I could have done without some of the descriptions of scenery, but other than that I have trouble finding fault. A 4-star read.

I've passed the mid-point and am having trouble working up much sympathy for any of these characters! At least here in the middle, the plot is dragging and no one seems to be very happy. I'm struggling to keep going. Someone please tell me that the 2nd half is worth the effort.

I've finally gotten started. I'm late, but I'm in.

I'm 2/3 through. It is slow going. I wish there was more of a POV. I don't feel like I really know any of the characters. But I'm not a fly on the wall either. I want Henrietta to jump in like a 19th century Barbara Walters and get answers to revealing questions.

Finished the book today. I ended up not hating it. I think I might have appreciated it more if I'd had a reading buddy to discuss things with as I went. I never really liked Isabel Archer, but was beginning to warm to her a little - then the book ended. Some people, you just can't help. It's like they don't really want to be happy.

I want people to try to be happy too. They don't have to succeed but I want them to try.

Glad that you didn't hate it, Sandy.

I think I'm not going to sign up for any group reads for fiction anymore.

I'll plow through anything nonfiction-related but often don't get pulled in on fiction.

Linda, I'm not sorry I read the book. It was actually one I owned, and now it's one I can send to a new home - making room for something else! I enjoy nonfiction, but probably will always read more fiction. I like doing group reads of books that I wouldn't pick for myself.

I've read a few other Henry James books and liked them. Still, I used to read a whole lot more fiction than I do now.

Are there any other HJ books that you can recommend that might be more appealing than Portrait?

I read Washington Square back in the 1980s. It's short. I liked it, though, at that point, I was reading a lot of serious fiction. I also read The Bostonians and I think I liked that one, too. After 25 years, I could not tell you what they were about though.

I'm not sure that I'd like that the 2013 version of me would like them.

Daisy Miller is short and I enjoyed it.

Regarding group reads; I've found that for lighter books this format of a single thread works just fine, but for more substantial books (not necessarily longer ones) it's better to have both a schedule with several threads (for example, on Monday we will begin discussion on the first ten chapters, next Monday we'll begin discussion on pages 135-200) and someone who is willing to lead the conversation a bit. Anyone can be the guide, no advance knowledge is necessary, but there does need to be someone willing to ask leading questions and find links to helpful information.

Maybe we should consider this when planning next year's group reads?

#36 Good ideas. Thanks.

When I propose the group read, as i did with All Quiet on the Western Front, I try to do that. The questions part at least.

#36 I like that idea, too.

Part of the appeal of doing a group read is having someone to discuss it with as you're reading. But since we are so sensitive to spoilers, I'm reluctant to say much until everyone is finished - by which time I've forgotten the questions and comments I had back in chapter 5, or no longer care. And when there is a "leader" who takes the time to provide background information and offer leading questions to get the discussion started, I enjoy it immensely.

It's no surprise that a Henry James group read thread was launched Jun29, and people are still slogging through it. About two months ago, I picked up and read the fist 5 chapters or so of Portrait, loved it, but got distracted - tripping over this thread is reason enough to pick it back up. Had to read The Ambassadors many years ago for a Lit class in college and was glad I did, am now glad for a reason to focus on another James classic. Looking forward to joining into the discussion.

I'm only about a quarter of the way through, but I am enjoying it. Is she a proto-feminist? I like that she is willing to forgo a "good match" in favor of independence. I don't like that Caspar Goodwood one bit.

She's taking a few steps in the feminist direction. She worries about seeming unconventional though. Henrietta may be annoying but she does things that make sense to her without worrying about what other people say.

I finally finished it yesterday.
>17 Nickelini: I read the Shmoop and lots of other reviews after I finished. I think it improved my opinion of the book.
People who love the book seemed to either relate to Isabel or they like to analyze how novels are written. There is certainly no one correct answer about what you're supposed to take away from the novel. I decided to think about the novel as being about Ralph not Isabel. I did not relate to her and I don't think she's interesting. That is probably just my old junior high loathing of the popular girls cropping up. I think an idea of Daniel Defoe's from Moll Flanders applies to Isabel. Pretty girls are slow to realize when they're being used. People have always adored them so when someone tells them that they are wonderful they naturally believe them. Everyone else loves them. Why should this person be the exception and lie about it? John Malkovich plays Osmond in the film. I can't see Nicole Kidman though. Since HJ leaves a couple of blanks in the plot one of the bloggers got very creative in filling it in. I decided to follow her lead and fixed part of the novel to my liking too.
I will keep following the thread.

I've finished The Portrait of a Lady, which began slowly for me but than became a page-turner -- inconveniently, as I'm too busy to read much. What a fantastic book! Just lovely.

I'd been thinking over the final chapters about BONNIEJUNE's contention that the real main character is Ralph. I don't think so, but he was clearly the most important man in Isabel's life and, perhaps, the only one who liked her for herself.

Isabel started out with such a brave ideal of independence and then was thwarted terribly. Was Mme Merle wicked, or just desperate in her own way to keep the man she loved close? Was there any heart to Osmond? I was rooting for Isabel; it really was intrepid then for a young lady of a certain social standing to choose freedom. I can't fault her too much for her marriage, though it disappointed me. James had a clear admiration for independent, thinking women -- look at his half comic, half admiring portrait of Henrietta, but he was harsh to the women who fulfilled society's expectations. Look at how he describes Pansy. Is it possible to like her, even a little?

And I was frustrated with Isabel's struggle to make her husband happy regarding Pansy. She, of all women, should have known better than to try and manipulate her into compliance, no matter how happily or quickly she capitulated.

Each character was so completely themselves. James writes gorgeously, doesn't he? And does great, understated dialogue. I read far too few novels written during the nineteenth century and I should read more of them since I invariably love the ones I do read.

I think I related to Pansy a bit especially at that age. I was afraid of the world and thinking that if I followed all the rules things would work out.