American James Henry is a remarkable writer, prose writer and playwright who possessed an excellent artistic style. He wrote a lot about the events of the Civil War, the relationship between the Old and New Worlds. His works were appreciated at home, and were little known in Russia.
Henry James is a famous literary classic at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, who lived most of his life in Europe and became a British citizen a year before his death. He became the first author to experiment with novel formulation. His works are an attempt to look at the world in a different way, to express the thoughts and the style of the narrative. On this topic, the essay "The Art of Prose" was published, where the writer explained the essence of the genre: "a personal, direct impression of life, set out on paper, the value of which is measured only by the" power of impressions "."
Biography
Henry James was born into the family of a theologian on April 15, 1843 in New York. The future writer spent his early years in Europe, where he received education, got acquainted with the culture and life of those places. By the will of fate, he had to change more than one school, study at home with tutors and teachers. On trips with his father, a publicist, he read a lot, visited theaters, museums, while walking, he observed the behavior and communication of people. He mastered the mixing of the cultures of Europe and the New World during the civil war. Subsequently, this significantly influenced his first works, which combined American and English cultures.
As an adult, he moved to Cambridge and plans to become a lawyer, even studying law. However, the passion for poetry outweighs all the pros and cons, and the writer, having chosen the literary path in his work, publishes his first works. The main direction that was traced at that time in his articles was the comparison of two societies: England and America. The stories often mention the adaptation of representatives of one class to another. Emphasis is placed on disagreements in society, irreconcilability in behavior and conversations.
Creative career
In 1861, James suffered a minor back injury while extinguishing a fire. She did not deprive him of the opportunity to walk, but did not allow him to actively participate in the Civil War.
In 1862 he was enrolled in Harvard law department, but did not finish his studies and left, deciding to write books.
1865 saw the publication of the first article in the Atlantic Monthly for Henry.
Four years later, James decides to follow the path that he once made with his father and travel through the cities of Europe, but on his own. First there was London, then other cities, and everywhere he saw the clash of the Old and New Worlds. After spending more than a year on the trip, he finally became disillusioned with the intransigence of cultures.
During his trips, Henry wrote several short stories, novellas, which indescribably surprised and interested critics in the young author. True, they noted that the author pays too much attention to the character's attitude, not paying attention to the environment and events around.
Returning from a trip, in 1870, James publishes the novel "Guardian and Ward", several short stories and novellas. However, after not staying at home for very long, in 1875 he again left for long 20 years in London, where he continued to write his books. From the pen were published such works as: "Roderick Hudson", "Europeans", "Fiery Pilgrim".
During the 90s he completed and published several books: "Watch and Ward", "Poynton's Trophy", "Princess Casamassima", "An Inconvenient Age". In addition, as a playwright, Henry produced the play "Guy Domville", which was fully accepted and approved by the public. But this was the end of the test in this direction, since all subsequent attempts at writing did not bring satisfaction to either the author or the public.
The twentieth century was for Henry a new, final stage of writing. He wrote and published his greatest novels: The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, The Golden Vase. After making a short voyage to his homeland, he published an essay "Scenes of American Life", which reflected pessimism and decadence in American culture.
During his creative life, James wrote more than 20 novels and 100 short stories, about 12 stories and a lot of essays and articles. I planned to write a five-volume autobiography, but managed to manage only two parts of it - "Little Boy and Others", "Notes of a Son and Brother". The third part, "Mature years", remained unfinished on the bureau on the day of his death.
All his works are distinguished by subtle psychologism and excellent knowledge of human nature. He masterfully describes to the smallest detail the souls of the heroes, conversations and monologues, even how a person thinks mentally in a given situation. Thus, showing the entire emotional essence of the plot in any novel or story.
Personal life
In his entire life, Henry never married, he had no children. The meaning of his life was work, writing books, which really did not find a worthy response from that generation of readers. Much later, readers became interested in his work, the theme of the civil war.
The last years of his life he spent in the purchased villa Lamhaus, which was located in the seaside town of Rae. Henry led a beautiful and interesting social life, socializing and welcoming, and hiking in the surrounding countryside along the coast.
The writer died on February 28, 1916, all alone.
An interesting moment in life
In 1875, while in Paris, Henry James met Ivan Turgenev by chance. He told Henry that storytelling should focus more on interesting characters, rather than the factual side of the story, events or actions. Under the influence of communication with the Russian classic, James wrote his short story "Daisy Miller". In it, the author revealed the character of a young American woman, which is so incomprehensible in Europe. Subsequently, it was noted that the storylines of the works of the two authors are very similar, "Daisy" Henry was compared with "Asya" Turgenev.
In addition, he also introduced James to the greatest masters of that century: Flaubert, Daudet, Émile Zola and Maupassant. Studying their works, Henry learned to present the plot in his stories and novels as if from a third person, an observer of events from the outside.
