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kate66's review against another edition
3.0
I fear that Henry James will be adding to the Jane Austen pile of "Books I'm Supposed to Appreciate But Don't". I'll read another to give him a fair crap at the whip. However, ve now read all Austens books and been bored by every one so don't hold your breath that I'll love the next one.
So to The Europeans. Mt first Henry James. I picked it because it was short. I listened to it because it was free on Audible.
The narration by the sublime Eleanor Bron was beautiful. The story was not. We meet Felix and his sister Eugenia, recently arrived in the US from Europe where Eugenia has been cast aside by her husband (although not divorced). They come to the Boston area to find their cousins.
What follows after the cousins meet is Austen-like, 15 minutes of meandering until someone gets to the point (or even says hello), misunderstandings, men being bewildered by women, fathers trying to bore the excitement out of their daughters, lots of romantic meddling and endless dialogue about nothing in particular.
My conclusion is that if you like Austen, you'll like James. If, however, you are like me and find Austen irritating then you probably won't. Still, at least the narration was heavenly.
I want to add here that I find Austen the woman an absolute goddess. She was a pioneer. I just don't like her books. Don't try and persuade me (no pun intended). It won't work.
So to The Europeans. Mt first Henry James. I picked it because it was short. I listened to it because it was free on Audible.
The narration by the sublime Eleanor Bron was beautiful. The story was not. We meet Felix and his sister Eugenia, recently arrived in the US from Europe where Eugenia has been cast aside by her husband (although not divorced). They come to the Boston area to find their cousins.
What follows after the cousins meet is Austen-like, 15 minutes of meandering until someone gets to the point (or even says hello), misunderstandings, men being bewildered by women, fathers trying to bore the excitement out of their daughters, lots of romantic meddling and endless dialogue about nothing in particular.
My conclusion is that if you like Austen, you'll like James. If, however, you are like me and find Austen irritating then you probably won't. Still, at least the narration was heavenly.
I want to add here that I find Austen the woman an absolute goddess. She was a pioneer. I just don't like her books. Don't try and persuade me (no pun intended). It won't work.
tamzinlittle's review against another edition
3.0
Henry James has a lot of books, and this one is just straight up meh. Didn’t really care much for the characters, I wouldn’t go so far as to say they where caricatures but they were not many dimensional. I think I liked Robert Acton’s character the most because he shows development and is able to actually assess the situation rather than taking the biased view of either the Americans or the Europeans. He freely associates with the Europeans until he realised they have crossed a line.
I see people on here saying that this is a great place to start with Henry James and I’m going to have to hard disagree. I think from my previous readings of his I have identified strength in his complex characterisations as well as amazing plots and endings which can make you rethink the whole story that you have just read. I just don’t think that this book displays any of them and if this was the first Henry James book I read I think I’d be a bit bored and put off.
At the end of the day, it’s just a simple comedy about the contrasting natures of Americans and Europeans, which probably was good for him when he was starting out, but he developed so much as a writer that I think I’ll be avoiding his earlier works.
I see people on here saying that this is a great place to start with Henry James and I’m going to have to hard disagree. I think from my previous readings of his I have identified strength in his complex characterisations as well as amazing plots and endings which can make you rethink the whole story that you have just read. I just don’t think that this book displays any of them and if this was the first Henry James book I read I think I’d be a bit bored and put off.
At the end of the day, it’s just a simple comedy about the contrasting natures of Americans and Europeans, which probably was good for him when he was starting out, but he developed so much as a writer that I think I’ll be avoiding his earlier works.
eranada's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
rissaleighs's review against another edition
3.0
Binge listened to the Librivox recording of this last night. Light and entertaining, but by the end the characters had all grown tiresome. Most of them started out that way. The story keeps one's interest, but I wasn't particularly struck by anything in it.
upyourmother's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
3.0
Eugenia and Felix, French-speaking siblings who resided in Germany, come to Boston in order to impose upon the hospitality of their wealthy cousins. They give no warning of their arrival, but are met with a generous welcome. Eugenia has been married to a poor German prince, but her marriage is in the process of being dissolved, and she hopes to find her fortune in Boston. Felix, meanwhile, is a happy-go-lucky artists who is simply following his sister. Their relaxed and effusive European spirits exist in sharp contrast to their American cousins, who are descended from puritans, and worry about becoming too worldly. Sometimes this book can feel like a bad stand-up comedy routine – Americans are like this, and Europeans are like this, haha! – and just as unsubtle. But that’s describing it as its worst: at its best it is a considered study of characters trying to find harmony in unfamiliar surroundings, and to respond to people who challenge their ways of life. James doesn’t give his Americans or Europeans preferential treatment, but uses them to ask questions about what the best ways to live are: how can we escape from the ways society traps us, what it means to live a moral life, and whether being moral means we must give up being happy. It’s also a generous study of characters, especially Eugenia and her American cousin Gertrude Wentworth, and, like many of James’ novels, grants women a rich inner life rare in literary work of the period. It’s not James at his best, but it’s well worth reading.
cblueweaver's review against another edition
4.0
The prose is good even if some of the historical observations are a bit muddled. The characters and the narrative voice, in particular, are often delightful.
cakefairy's review against another edition
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
James' answer to the rom com.