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Post by dem bones on Jun 28, 2010 21:49:10 GMT
Henry James - Ghost Stories (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural, 2008) Martin Schofield - Introduction
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO The Turn Of Screw
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO: The Private Life Owen Wingrave, The Friends of the Friends, Sir Edmund Orme, The Real Right Thing and The Jolly Corner
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes
The Ghostly Rental
Sir Edmund Orme
The Private Life
Owen Wingrave
The Friends of the Friends
The Turn of the Screw
The Real Right Thing
The Third Person
The Jolly Comer
NOTES TO THE PREFACES
NOTES TO THE STORIESBlurb: Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche. This edition includes all ten of his ghost stories, and as such is the fullest collection currently available. The stories range widely in tone and type. They include The Jolly Corner, a compelling story of psychological doubling; Owen Wingrave, which is also a subtle parable of military tradition; The Friends of the Friends, a strange story of uncanny love; and The Private Life, which finds a shrewd, high comedy in its ghostly theme. The volume also includes James's great novella The Turn Of Screw, perhaps the most ambiguous and disturbing ghost story ever written.chuck a Henry James thread at the wall and see what, if anything, sticks ... Henry James - Sir Edmund Orme. I've read very little Henry James & so I'm wondering if this is typical of his output - a LOT of social niceties punctuated by a couple of ghostly appearances by the title character, who is haunting the mother of our narrator's intended (so he hopes) because she jilted him at the last moment many years ago & so he did himself in. Not in the least bit scary or atmospheric, I was actually reminded of some of old Ron Chetwynd-Hayes' less successful attempts at 'funny' ghost stories with the ghost causing the old lady to spill tea/faint etc. I've read that this has plenty of Freudian undertones which I suppose it might but it all felt a bit dry to me. i thought i'd read little of Henry James too, but if this selection really collects all of his ghost stories, then i think i've been intimate with all of them bar The Private Life. Fortunately, this was before tragic synopsis mania took a grip, so all i have to go on is the two red asterisks i placed against A Romance Of Certain Old Clothes and The Friends of the Friends (denoting greatness) and single reds against all the rest .... save for The Turn Of The Screw which only rated a double blue (merely good; i think it went on too long for my limited attention span to cope with). It's great when you've just started out on the reading kick and have yet to be told what is and what is not a classic! Anyway, as with Sir Edmund Orme, i believe this next is intended as mild amusement though there's doubtless some dashed clever subtext i overlooked. The Real Right Thing: When famous author Ashton Doyne dies, George Withermore is approached by his widow to write a biography. From the first Withermore feels a presence about him as he leafs through Doyne's papers and it soon becomes apparent that the deceased has no intention of allowing him to write the book. Finally, the dead man's spectre appears on the threshold of his study, effectively barring Withermore's entry. The project is abandoned.
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