Introduction

Henry James is difficult to read at times, his prose all stubborn and naughty. At times it can feel like you've tossed a log into the fireplace and the damn thing refuses to burn. But often it just means we have to do a little more work and soon enough the fire is raging. We ask our friend Jorge Luis Borges, expert in all things incendiary for a little assistance. And then we light our match. Henry James' great long short story, The Figure in the Carpet, today on the History of Literature.