A SUMMING UP
363
Since there
is
no conclusive evidence either way, it is just as logical
to assume that James's invalidism, instead of preventing his courtship
of Minny, was itself the symptom of some fear of, or .scruple against,
sexual love on his part, which then sharpened his regret. Regret for the
so sadly attenuated affair he clearly did feel, and even remorse and
guilt. .. . And no doubt remorse was strong
in
him
in
proportion as it
reached beyond the loss of Minny herself to whatever it was in his
nature that made him refuse sex in general, as he appears to have done.
The result of the continuous app lication of this skill and good sense
to J ames's life and works is a book which allows us to see Henry James
emerging from the odd and wonderful J ames family and the oddly self–
conscious America of his day ("our great unendowed, unfurnished, un–
entertaining continent" from which H enry in his youth and William
all his life thought "we ought to have leisure to turn out something
handsome from the very heart of simple human nature"). "Joseph in
Egypt," as Mr. Dupee amusingly remarks, "could not have had a
graver sense of his representative character than J ames assumed in
Paris." We see clearly, if barely, how the mature James with his great
powerful talent, a t once baroque and incredibly restricted, emerged ; we
see the various stages through which his work developed ; and at each
stage we get fine, brief summaries of some representative work-at the
end, summaries of all three of the final great novels.
MACABOOK SHOP
168 West Fourth Street, New York
City
14, WAtkins 4-5043
G. B. SHAW-ILLUSTRATED RHYMING GUIDE TO AYOT
ST. LAWRENCE ..............................................................................................
$
.50
EDITH SITWELL-THE SHADOW OF CAIN .................................................... 1.00
EDITH SITWELL-FACADE AND OTHER POEMS ........................................ 2.00
BAUDELAIRE-TWENTY PROSE POEMS .......................................................... 1.25
FRANK WILSON-SIX ESSAYS ON T. S. ELIOT .......................•.................... 1.50
T. S. ELIOT-POETRY AND DRAMA ................................................................ 1.50
CHARLES WILLIAMS-REGION OF THE SUMMER STARS ........................ 1.50
JOHN GIELGUD-EARLY STAGES-ILLUSTRATED ...................................... 3.00
STEPHEN SPENDER-WORLD WITHIN WORLD ............................................ 3.75
C. DAY LEWIS-A HOPE FOR POETRY ............................................................ 1.50
ROBERT GRAVES-HERCULES MY SHIPMATE ................................................ 1.00
HUYSMANS-LA BAS-A Fine New Translation ............................................ 3.75
OTTO KIEFER-SEXUAL LIFE IN ANCIENT ROME ........................................ 5.25
WILLIAM FAULKNER-ABSALOM, ABSALOM! ............................................ 1.25
JOYCE CARY-THE AFRICAN WITCH ............................................................ 2.25
JOYCE CARY-CHARLEY IS MY DARLING ...............................................•.... 2.25
C. M. BOWRA-THE HERITAGE OF SYMBOLISM ........................................ 3.00
LEONID ANDREYEV-THE SEVEN WHO WERE HANGED ............................ 1.25
Please make check or Money Order payable to Abraham Brook
Send for our latest Catalogue
