Henry James

Henry James

James in 1913
James in 1913
Born(1843-04-15)15 April 1843
New York City, U.S.
Died28 February 1916(1916-02-28) (aged 72)
Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom
OccupationWriter
CitizenshipAmerican (1843–1915)
British (1915–1916)
Alma materHarvard University
Period1863–1916
Notable worksThe American (1877)
Daisy Miller (1879)
Washington Square (1880)
The Portrait of a Lady (1881)
The Bostonians (1886)
The Aspern Papers (1888)
What Maisie Knew (1897)
The Turn of the Screw (1898)
The Wings of the Dove (1902)
The Ambassadors (1903)
The Golden Bowl (1904)
RelativesHenry James Sr. (father)
William James (brother)
Alice James (sister)
Signature

Henry James OM ((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.[1]

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.[2] 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."[3]

  1. ^ Wolf, Jack C. (1976). "Henry James and Impressionist Painting". CEA Critic. 38 (3): 14–16. JSTOR 44375939.
  2. ^ "Nomination Database". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Henry James – Library of America". loa.org. Retrieved 7 April 2023.