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Product Description
With a decaying Venetian villa as a backdrop, an anonymous narrator relates his obsessive quest for the personal documents of a deceased Romantic poet, one Jeffrey Aspern. Led by his mission into increasingly unscrupulous behavior, he is ultimately faced with relinquishing his heart's desire or attaining it at an overwhelming price.
Customer Review: Funny and well written novella from James
A fine novella by Henry James. In the closing decades of the 19th century, an unnamed narrator travels to Venice from the United States under a false pretext, in order to ingratiate himself to an elderly woman living there, so as to get possession of papers that once belonged to a famous poet, who decades ago was the lover of the old lady. The papers are, of course, to use an apt anachronism, a McGuffin for this story. While at the beginning, it looks like the American gentleman is using and exploiting the lady, soon it will seem the opposite situation is taking place, as the lady seems to know more about his intentions than the narrator originally believed. Very well written, it helds one's interest to the very end, and it shows a fine and somewhat corrosive sense of irony that was uncommon in the literature of the time. Very elegant work, yet fairly easy to read. It's quite a modern book, as well, as its obsession with texts is somewhat reminiscent of many 20th century novels.
Customer Review: Assault on past memories
This is one of the best short novels by James, luxuriantly set in Venice. The young and unnamed narrator is an American who has developed sort of a monomania on the life and work of the deceased poet Jeffrey Aspern. He one day learns that Aspern's old mistress, Juliana, is living in Venice, in an old castle, with a niece of hers. There is word that this Juliana keeps important and revealing papers, possibly including some lost poems by Aspern and about his life. Other attempts by letter having failed, the man decides to travel to Venice in order to retrieve those treasured papers, whatever the cost. The two spinsters live in total solitude and utter poverty, so he tempts them by presenting an offer to rent a room, at a high price. Reluctantly, the women accept, and he starts then a shrewd strategy to win them into his favor, by doing things like remodelling the abandoned garden and sending them flowers every day. Little by little, he concentrates on the younger, shy, and insecure woman, until he gets her out to Saint Mark's piazza. No more will be revealed about the plot, but suffice it to say that his strategy is based on emotional assault, on the merciless and continuous smothering of every barrier the women have been building to protect their intimacy, their memories, and their secrets. Other reviewers have correctly pointed out the immorality of these moves, and it should also be said that they are depicted with a cruel sense of humor.
James shows here his great skills as a narrator, his ability to transform an apparently frivolous incident into a game of chess, deceit, pure and cold manipulation, in the magnificent scenario of old Venice. Both women are perfect characters: the decrepit, wicked and also manipulative Juliana, and the niece, devoid of will, without knowledge of the world, with nothing to hold on to. In the end, the question is who is manipulating who. The main character acts with total amorality, but great intelligence. As said before, the lush depictions of Venice give the final touch to this story by one of the masters of literature.
Customer Review: Superbly Written and Psychologically Astute
This story of an unnamed narrator ingratiating himself into the household of a elderly lady, once the mistress of a famous poet with whom the narrator is obsessed, and her middle-aged niece, in order to obtain papers written by the poet is superbly written and psychologically astute. As often is the case with the works of Henry James it is an exegesis on how people use other people. Often times it isn't exactly clear who is using whom more. The Aspern Papers is an excellent introduction to Henry James for those first approaching The Master's work. It is a novella, approximately 100 pages in length. The writing style is elegant and clear, unlike his style in later works like "The Wings of the Dove" and "The Golden Bowl" which tend to be convoluted and vague.
Customer Review: who is using who?
what a breath of fresh air this is to james' turn of the screw. the writing is so much clearer and easier to read. it makes the flow of the story much better thereby adding to the suspense. at the same time it contains some of the same ambiguities. is the narrator amoral? yes his intentions are to become a boarder in the home of a former lover to the famous poet john aspern in order to get the letters he wrote to her. he does this through subterfuge. yet he has his limits. he won't court the spinster niece in order to get her help. he is actually quite honest and up front with her regarding his intentions when the time for deceipt comes. he also refuses to force her to do what she cannot. the question becomes--is he the duper or the dupee? the actions of the women can easily be interpreted to reflect that they are willing to use the letters to entrap him to "become part of the family". he is continually induced to stay on by inference of help from the neice. the aunt also is part of a potential plot. she teases him with visits and a picture of aspern. does he get what he wants when he marries the niece? as in the turn of the screw, this turn in the story is not made clear until the end. in order to find out who gets what, you'll have to read the book. this story is good enough to make me think again about reading more james.
Customer Review: an excellent introduction to Henry James and his style
"The Aspern papers" is a surprisingly short, sexy and suspenseful novel. It will completely change your opinion of Henry James; he shows himself to be an master of suspense and well played out drama instead of the ambiguous pussyfooting plodder that most people think him to be. There is a definite touch of evil in this novella. It takes place in a stuffy interior world dominated by an old sinister woman in a green shade. The narrator's intentions are quite amoral and evil. The narration is deftly created through sure touches of insecurity and self pity. The trick of the unreliable narrator is used to great effect. And at no point does it seem anything other than a seamless and effective method of narration.
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