Henry
James, great though his name remains, can be something of an acquired taste for
some readers. Lest it be said, in terms a lay person unacquainted with this
writer’s indeed impressive array of both products and talents, that this
particular artist of the written word might, on occasions perhaps far too
frequent to count, might occasionally employ one or two - let us fall short of the word ‘many’ - employ
just a few too many of the aforementioned raw materials of his craft - words -
for good measure. And sometimes this opacity of prose does obscure rather than enhance
meaning, of that there is no doubt. Equally obvious, however, is the writer’s
complete mastery of elegance and pace. So what better place for the still wary
to start than a pair of short works, The Turn Of The Screw and The Aspern
Papers?
The
Turn Of The Screw is a classic ghost story. It’s told as the first person
account of a governess appointed to a well-to-do family that has no mother. A
distant father and a housekeeper live alongside a young girl and an older boy,
who has just returned from school with a letter that suggest he does not
return.
There
is something strange about the children. They seem worldly wise beyond their
years, almost political in the way they seem to require adults always to comply
with their wishes. And then there are the sightings, apparitions of previous
employees, perhaps, people who might have looked after these same children.
What is the history? What are the circumstances that led to these poor souls
being apparently trapped in this place in the psyche of two small children?
Turn
Of The Screw is a ghost story, but it certainly avoids the clichés and falsely
hyped drama that so often affect the genre. It thus, in the hands of Henry
James, achieves a status that is merely fiction. No genre need claim to
intervene, since its development and indeed denouement is always more about the
characters rather than the events.
The
Aspern Papers is another first person account, but here the storyteller is
engaged in a search, a pursuit, in fact, and not a self-analysis. The Aspern of
the title was himself a writer, but one active in the early part of the
nineteenth century. By the time our narrator goes in search of the writer’s
papers, we are decades into the future, well past the writer’s death.
Aspern’s
former lover, now known as Miss Bordereau, who, it is believed, still holds the
archive of this revered but little-documented genius, lives in Venice with the
young and attractive niece, Miss Tina, who is likely to inherit. The narrator
travels to Italy, makes contact with the household by renting rooms in their
dilapidated canal-side home.
Miss
Bordereau proves to be something of a recluse, so even arranging an audience
where the narrator might discuss the Aspern Papers proves difficult. But the
old lady knows how to do business and exacts a high rent from her tenant,
meaning that the mission must be completed as quickly as possible, before funds
run out. The eventual financial beneficiary of the arrangement will be the
young Miss Tina, who soon becomes an object of interest for our storyteller.
The
Aspern Papers is a thoroughly successful short novel that works by layering
various plots and motives so they can all progress together via luscious, if
rather dense prose. For a reader unused to James’s style, these two often
coupled classics perhaps form a perfect introduction.
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