Portrait of a Lady

My current book, Portrait of a Lady, was written by Henry James.  James was born in New York City to a wealthy family.  I think, so far, what I really see as one of his strengths, is that he is in many of the characters in this book.  We have the main character who is visiting England from the states, something he did for the first 20 years of his life; her older uncle, who, also American, chose to live out his life in England, which James also did; the traveling newspaper writer from America, something James also did; etc..

This personal investment in his story gives the overall feel of depth and reality to the tale.  There is an early buyin to the story because of this.  Even though this story feels so much like a Pride and Prejudice, the emotional revelations of the characters and the insight they give is much different.   I think I am going to love this book.

A Passage To India

I finished this book some days ago.  I just have to say that it was well written, but it totally failed to engage me at all.  I am sure I totally missed the point of the book, but I came away not caring a whit form the characters and not having learned a thing about India.

On another note, so far, Portrait of a lady has been a pleasure!