Product Description

A rich American art-collector and his daughter Maggie buy in for themselves and to their greater glory a beautiful young wife and a noble husband. They do not know that Charlotte and Prince Amerigo were formerly lovers, nor that on the eve of the Prince's marriage they had discovered, in a Bloomsbury antique shop, a golden bowl with a secret flaw. When the golden bowl is broken, Maggie must leave the security of her childhood and try to reassemble the pieces of her shattered happiness. In this, the last of his three great poetic masterpieces, James combined with a dazzling virtuosity elements of social comedy, of mystery, terror, and myth. The Golden Bowl is the most controversial, ambiguous, and sophisticated of James's novels.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #532227 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Customer Reviews

Brilliant and challenging...
Definitely the most demanding read I've had in a long time, Henry James' THE GOLDEN BOWL is not to be missed. In James' final novel, he has created a true masterpiece. Not only must the reader concentrate, but he/she must also actually participate and think in order to take anything away from the book. It's basic plot is quite straightforward: Adam Verver and his daughter, Maggie, are affluent art collectors living in Europe. Maggie marries Amerigo, an Italian prince in reduced circumstances, and Adam marries Maggie's longtime friend Charlotte. What father and daughter don't know is that Charlotte and Amerigo were formerly lovers, and that they have rekindled their affair.

Written in a beautifully ambiguous style, BOWL is full of ingenious symbolism, and must be experienced to be fully appreciated. James has decided to tell a story with a very unique voice, and it is likely that most readers will be scared off by the decidedly difficult prose. However, it is an absolute must for any serious reader who wants to challenge him/herself with what is arguably Henry James' best novel. It may take months to trudge through (as it did for me), but it is worth it!

Not his best
As a Henry James lover, having read everything he's written, & waded through The Golden Bowl twice, I feel I've earnt the right to say it's not his best book.

The epicurean connoisseur at life's feast indulges himself in his last book with a fault he confessed himself prone: "to over-treat".

The writing is marred by endless empty sub-clauses, needless repetition, rhetorical flourishes, & very affected, stagey dialogue. The metaphors are over-blown, the description of characters hyperbolic, the drama suffocated by its own 'written-ness'. His late style marks a form of literary inflation: here he uses 50 words where in earlier work he would have used 5 to more powerful effect.

The 'Master' has, in short, run to fat.

Death by sub clause
If anyone had told me before I read this book that such a thing as death by sub clause existed I would have laughed in their face. I am not denying this book it's place in Literature, I am saying it is not an enjoyable read. I love beautiful prose as much as the next person, and i advise you to find it in D H Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. This novel tortures, wrapping an average plot in alot of flowery window dressing.