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A review by kate66
The Europeans by Henry James
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.