"The American" was assigned reading in a college class many years ago, but for whatever reason I did not finish it. Most likely, I just got overwhelmed with other reading and didn't get to it in time. My original impression from reading the first half of it seems to have been fairly off however. I remember it being intimidatingly precise in it's language, but I did not feel that way about it on this reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first half or so of the novel; James shows many interesting differences between American and European perspectives, and he does so in a very elegant way. The second half becomes somewhat melodramatic. I don't want to give anything away, so I'm not going to go into details here. The ending was surprising, and I think satisfactory.

The overarching style is Realism, but there are several Romantic elements, and interestingly a lot of Gothic elements as well. The Bellegarde family, including their manners, their secrecy, and their homes, is Gothic. Newman though is modern, rational, and realistic. ( )