The Grasping Imagination: The American Writings of Henry James (Heritage) - Softcover

Buitenhuis, Peter Martinus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802062253 ISBN 13: 9780802062253

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 1970

Synopsis

There has been almost no study of the American writings of Henry James, that is, the fiction, essays, and travel literature with an American setting. The great bulk of Jamesian criticism deals with the international novels, particularly his late works.

This study places James’s career in a new perspective by discussing its American aspect. It gives the critic an opportunity to come to grips with the evolution of James’s technique from his second short story to his penultimate, unfinished novel, The Ivory Tower.

About this title

About the Author:

Peter Martinus Buitenhuis (1925-2004), English Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University (SFU), was a prolific scholarly writer and literary critic. His academic career—which included teaching positions at Yale University, University of Toronto, McGill University, and University of California at Berkeley—saw the production of numerous books, articles, and reviews, including works on Henry James, E.J. Pratt, and Hugh MacLennan. Buitenhuis also conducted research and wrote on various topics pertaining to propaganda and World Wars I and II.

Review:

‘Unsensational and eminently readable, it brings the best kind of “key” to a reading of James: a lucid intelligence and knowledge illumined by personal insights. It is [the author’s] contention, amply documented and convincingly argued, that the more obvious international aspect of James’s fiction has overshadowed its equally distinct American aspect. In charting that course for the first time, Mr. Buitenhuis does more than enforce James’s American roots, which have so often been questioned; he also helps to clarify and heighten the dramatic confrontation of the Old World and New, which was the central concern of his fiction.’  (Nona Balakian The New York Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 1970
• ISBN 10: 0802062253
• ISBN 13: 9780802062253
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 310