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Henry James

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Henry James


Born
in New York City, New York, The United States
April 15, 1843

Died
February 28, 1916

Genre
Literature & Fiction, Short Stories

Influences
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Honoré de Balzac, Ivan Turgenev, Gustave Flaubert ...more


Henry James was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in ...more

Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.57 · 502,263 ratings · 41,347 reviews · 4,559 distinct works • Similar authors
The Turn of the Screw
3.38 avg rating — 179,355 ratings — published 1898 — 4163 editions
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The Portrait of a Lady
3.80 avg rating — 85,052 ratings — published 1881 — 1956 editions
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Daisy Miller
3.37 avg rating — 37,808 ratings — published 1879 — 39 editions
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Washington Square
3.71 avg rating — 25,739 ratings — published 1880 — 1184 editions
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The Wings of the Dove
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3.78 avg rating — 17,514 ratings — published 1902 — 613 editions
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The Ambassadors
3.63 avg rating — 12,977 ratings — published 1903 — 1589 editions
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The Golden Bowl
by
3.77 avg rating — 11,794 ratings — published 1904 — 2 editions
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The Turn of the Screw and O...
by
3.64 avg rating — 9,072 ratings — published 1937 — 58 editions
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Daisy Miller and Washington...
by
3.86 avg rating — 8,367 ratings — published 1880 — 23 editions
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The Turn of the Screw and T...
by
3.75 avg rating — 8,194 ratings — published 1898 — 50 editions
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More books by Henry James…

Series by Henry James

The Portrait of a Lady, Vol... The Portrait of a Lady , Vo...
(2 books)
by
3.80 avg rating — 86,067 ratings

Henry James: Collected Trav... Collected Travel Writings: ...
(2 books)
by
3.66 avg rating — 59 ratings

The Complete Letters of Hen... The Complete Letters of Hen... The Complete Letters of Hen... The Complete Letters of Hen... The Complete Letters of Hen... The Complete Letters of Hen... The Complete Letters of Hen...
(16 books)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7 ratings

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Quotes by Henry James  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”
― Henry James
tags: kindness
4879 likes
Like

“She feels in italics and thinks in CAPITALS.”
― Henry James
2644 likes
Like

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
― Henry James
tags: beauty, english, literature, summer
1524 likes
Like

Polls

October 2014 New School Poll

 
  25 votes, 20.0%

1925, The Trial by Franz Kafka, pages 276
 
  21 votes, 16.8%

 
  12 votes, 9.6%

1920, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, pages 305
 
  9 votes, 7.2%

1952, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 581 pages
 
  8 votes, 6.4%

 
  8 votes, 6.4%

 
  7 votes, 5.6%

1966, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, pages 311
 
  7 votes, 5.6%

 
  5 votes, 4.0%

1957, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, pages 220
 
  4 votes, 3.2%

 
  4 votes, 3.2%

1974, Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, pages 336
 
  4 votes, 3.2%

1952, The Birds by Daphne du Maurier, pages 75
 
  4 votes, 3.2%

 
  2 votes, 1.6%

 
  2 votes, 1.6%

 
  2 votes, 1.6%

1980. Aztec by Gary Jennings, pages 754
 
  1 vote, 0.8%

1903, The Ambassadors by Henry James, pages 528
 
  0 votes, 0.0%

125 total votes
More...

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