The American (Everyman Paperback Classics) - Softcover

James, Henry

3.68

6,755 ratings by Goodreads

9780460876575: The American (Everyman Paperback Classics)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0460876570 ISBN 13: 9780460876575

Publisher: Phoenix, 1997

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First published in 1877, and dramatised by James himself 11 years later, the novel is concerned with the contrast between American and European social codes.The central protagonist is a wealthy American who falls in love with a widow of noble birth while on a trip to Paris. He supports her brother, but the rest of the family discourage his courtship of Claire but he persists until his proposalis accepted; unfortunately this only marks the beginning of his troubles.

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Review:

Henry James' great theme is the collision of cultures, of New World American energy encountering Old World European aristocracy; and his supreme skill is in the delineation of the unspoken subtleties that govern human interaction-- the meanings behind people's words, the delicate signals by which people communicate more than the conventions of conversation or society allow.

The American is built around a moral dilemma that dramatises this clash of cultures. Wealthy, open-hearted Christopher Newman (the New Man in the Old World) visits Paris and falls in love with impoverished French aristocrat, Claire de Cintre. However, her snobbish family bully her into breaking off the engagement. When Newman discovers that his former fianc�e's family are hiding a dark secret, corrupt Old World morals suggest he should use it to take his revenge; but his simpler American sense tells him that this would be wrong. What should he do? The fine touch with which James explores the complexities of this scenario markes an extraordinary advance over his first novel, Roderick Hudson; and The American looks forward to the mature classics of James' middle period, books like Daisy Miller and Portrai t of a Lady--all novels that explore the classic Jamesian theme of Americans in Europe. --Adam Roberts

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