What Maisie Knew (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

James, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 019953859X ISBN 13: 9780199538591

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2008

Synopsis

What Maisie Knew (1897) represents one of James's finest reflections on the rites of passage from wonder to knowledge, and the question of their finality. The child of violently divorced parents, Maisie Farange opens her eyes on a distinctly modern world. Mothers and fathers keep changing their partners and names, while she herself becomes the pretext for all sorts of adult sexual intrigue.

In this classic tale of the death of childhood, there is a savage comedy that owes much to Dickens. But for his portrayal of the child's capacity for intelligent `wonder', James summons all the subtlety he devotes elsewhere to his most celebrated adult protagonists. Neglected and exploited by everyone around her, Maisie inspires James to dwell with extraordinary acuteness on the things that may pass between adult and child. In addition to a new introduction, this edition of the novel offers particularly detailed notes, bibliography, and a list of variant readings.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About this title

Review:

"James' finest working of his preoccupation with the theme of innocence corrupted... James is the master of making what is not said the most important thing on the page" (Kate Atkinson)

"A brilliant social comedy seen wholly from a child’s point of view, this is a dazzling technical feat that, as always with James, deepens as it develops ― like the life of the child herself. An exhilarating prelude to the great novels of his famous late phase" (Alan Hollinghurst New York Times)

"Contains some of his best comedy and some of his most melancholy insights...embodies everything that James excelled at in fiction" (Paul Theroux)

"Henry James is as solitary in the history of the novel as Shakespeare is in the history of poetry" (Graham Greene)

"Perfect" (F. R. Leavis)

Book Description:

'A very modern story about aimless lives and messy marriages' Paul Theroux

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 019953859X
• ISBN 13: 9780199538591
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Poole Adrian