The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 23 September 2008
by Colm Tóibín
American author Henry James is one of the giants of our literature. He is well known, of course, for great works like Washington Square, Portrait of a Lady and The Turn of the Screw. We've all seen at least one costumed epic movie version of his work. His writing is emblematic of the Gilded Age in this country, those productive years of his between the Civil War and the First World War (more or less). Less is generally known, these days, about his life story, though much has been written about it, even in fiction. In this novel, Irish writer Tóibín takes James's life from January of 1895 to January of 1900, a period in which he settled in Rye, England and traveled to Ireland. We witness James already arrived at notoriety, prolifically writing stories and novels (though, perhaps, his less-famous books arose in this period). The book opens with the disastrous premiere of his play, Guy Domville, which is overshadowed by the work of Oscar Wilde down the street in London. James retreats to Ireland and slowly recovers his creative powers as he watches the people around him and reflects on major events from earlier in his life. We meet many characters in his literary circle, the obscure sources of people in his books, and some of those who most affected the man, particularly Constance Fenimore Woolson, the troubled author who threw herself to her death in Venice. Much of James's feelings about the people around him are explored in Tóibín's dense and revealing prose. James is ambivalent in engaging with the great events of his time (like the Civil War) and, in his reluctance to be deeply known, ends up hurting some of those closest to him. Evidently, James's sexuality remains somewhat ambiguous, and Tóibín exploits that uncertainty, convolving it with the trials of the creative mind. James meets with some attractive young men, struggles with the social strictures of his time, and remains unfulfilled, like some of his own characters. He seems to be denying what is closest to his heart, though there are precious moments of intimacy. What would a reader who has read few of James's works take away from this novel? It is a compelling portrait of the troubled soul of an artist who lives in a time in which a man of his personality simply has difficulty living as he wishes. James, as Tóibín portrays him, is certainly not perfect. He is boorish with his family, ambivalent to a fault in the face of personal relationships, selfishly withdrawn in the face of tragedy, and stubbornly attached to his particular view of the world. But he is also deeply frustrated in receiving or even recognizing genuine affection. He is sharply perceptive of the people around him, but fails to recognize elements of his own character. His is, perhaps, a familiar tale, but a tale not often told with such depth and understanding as here, in The Master. A virtuoso work.
Also by Tóibín: [The Heather Blazing] [Brooklyn]
See Also: [The Turn of the Screw by Henry James]