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Henry James: The Aspern Papers The Beast in The Jungle The Figure in The Carpet The Lesson of The Master

Henry James was an American-English writer who spent most of his career in Britain. He is regarded as a key figure in 19th century literary realism. James alternated between America and Europe for the first 20 years of his life, eventually settling in England. He is best known for novels depicting Americans encountering Europe and Europeans. James made significant contributions to literary criticism, arguing that writers should have freedom to present their view of the world realistically. He was an extraordinarily productive writer beyond fiction, publishing travel writings, biography, autobiography and criticism. James was born in New York City to a wealthy family and had three brothers, including philosopher William James.

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1K views2 pages

Henry James: The Aspern Papers The Beast in The Jungle The Figure in The Carpet The Lesson of The Master

Henry James was an American-English writer who spent most of his career in Britain. He is regarded as a key figure in 19th century literary realism. James alternated between America and Europe for the first 20 years of his life, eventually settling in England. He is best known for novels depicting Americans encountering Europe and Europeans. James made significant contributions to literary criticism, arguing that writers should have freedom to present their view of the world realistically. He was an extraordinarily productive writer beyond fiction, publishing travel writings, biography, autobiography and criticism. James was born in New York City to a wealthy family and had three brothers, including philosopher William James.

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Alin Ionuț Buţu
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Henry James, OM (15 April 1843 28 February 1916) was an American-English writer who

spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19thcentury literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr. and the brother of philosopher and
psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
James alternated between America and Europe for the first 20 years of his life; eventually he settled
in England, becoming a British subject in 1915, one year before his death. He is best known for a
number of novels showing Americans encountering Europe and Europeans. His method of writing
from the point of view of a character within a tale allows him to explore issues related
to consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist
painting.
James contributed significantly to literary criticism, particularly in his insistence that writers be
allowed the greatest possible freedom in presenting their view of the world. James claimed that a
text must first and foremost be realistic and contain a representation of life that is recognisable to its
readers. Good novels, to James, show life in action and are, most importantly, interesting. His
imaginative use of point of view, interior monologue and unreliable narrators in his own novels and
tales brought a new depth and interest to narrative fiction. An extraordinarily productive writer, in
addition to his voluminous works of fiction he published articles and books of travel, biography,
autobiography, andcriticism, and wrote plays, some of which were performed during his lifetime,
though with limited success when compared to the success of his novels. James was nominated for
the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912 and 1916.

James was born at 2 Washington Place in New York City on 15 April 1843. His parents were
Mary Walsh and Henry James, Sr. His father was intelligent, steadfastly congenial, and a
lecturer and philosopher who had inherited independent means from his father, an Albany, NY
banker and investor. Mary came from a wealthy family long settled in New York City, and her
sister Katherine lived with the family for an extended period of time. Henry, Jr. had three
brothers, William who was one year his senior and younger brothers Wilkinson and Robertson.
His younger sister was Alice.

The Aspern Papers

The Beast in the Jungle

The Figure in the Carpet

The Lesson of the Master

Madame de Mauves

A Passionate Pilgrim

The Story of a Year

A Tragedy of Error

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