American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Part three of my review of RODERICK HUDSON by Henry James. It is his first strong novel but a bit repetitive and banal in the end. I guess the lesson is Americans should stay away from Europe.

The final part of my review of THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD by H. P. Lovecraft. The final chapter is an epic story of the conscious eradication of memory.

We go back to the present in chapter 3 of THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD and witness the consequences of Ward's exploration into his family history. Some strange mysteries are revealed and the horror begins again.

Let's start over with Henry James by looking at his first decent novel, RODERICK HUDSON. In this novel, an aimless rich man adopts a poor artist and brings him to Europe for fame and adventure. What they find is that Europe is a bad place for anyone, especially artists, to be.

A solid second chapter of H. P. Lovecraft's THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD almost works as a stand-alone horror story set in the 18th century, climaxing in the context of the American Revolution. Through this story we see Joseph Curwen as a metaphor for America's founding sins.

More forgettable stuff in the second half of WATCH AND WARD by Henry James. Let's hope his later novels are a bit more interesting. If nothing else, this novel is a good piece of evidence of why certain authors will never be cancelled.

The second of two posthumously published novels by H. P. Lovecraft, THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD also happens to be my favorite Lovecraft story. There is no better place to go for Lovecraft's historical vision.

A new series and a new novel: Henry James' WATCH AND WARD. While it is not a good novel and can be easily forgotten we can at least introduce ourselves to Henry James as we prepare to read his first five novels.