A little tour in France Henry James Books
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This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
A little tour in France Henry James Books
Although there were plenty of typos, as it was evident the typist was in a hurry, this book nevertheless inspired me to actually see what areas where James travelled. I wondered during his tour how much the landscape was changed over that more-than-hundred year span through wars, two big ones, as well as many places he mentioned that had not been renovated, but now are. All I had to do was google each place of interest, since obviously in a volunteer-typed kindle book, there are no accompanying photos. I began to collect many pictures which I shared on social media, to much delight of friends. I also was inspired to zoom in with google earth's little man, who carried me to street level to see the streets and monuments where James had walked. This was a tour well worth doing, even if I had to do it virtually. Oh by the way, I picked up on this book after reading David McCullough's Americans in Paris, which I also highly recommend to history buffs. Henry James was one of those Americans McCullough talked about. Anyone familiar with McCullough will know he does extensive research, and this one is no exception.Product details
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A little tour in France Henry James Books Reviews
Henry James was a prolific American (and British, taking the nationality before he died) writer, known for his dense, rich prose, and long, sometimes convoluted descriptive passages. In particular, he preferred to "straddle" the Atlantic, focusing on the respective characteristics of Europeans and Americans which seemed to define and differentiate them. His most famous works are novels, such as Daisy Miller (Dover Thrift Editions),The Bostonians (Penguin Classics), and The Ambassadors (Penguin Classics). James travelogue of France is less well-known than another work which covered portions of France and was written 15 years earlier, Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad (Wordsworth Classics), but is equally worthy of a reader's attention.
The "Little Tour" starts in the autumn of 1882, and lasts six weeks. James commences in the Loire Valley, touring most of its chateaux, then heads out to the Atlantic coast at Nantes, south to Bordeaux, east to Provence, covering primarily the portion west of the Rhone River, and then north to Burgundy. It rained a lot, and that, coupled with a rather ambitious itinerary, forcing him to move virtually every day, which seemed to accent James' dyspeptic mood. For sure, it is not all "Chamber of Commerce" gloss.
The true strength of the book is James' astonishing erudition. He KNOWS what has occurred historically in the various towns, and "points of interest," perhaps better than the natives themselves. Consider "Normandy is Normandy, Burgundy is Burgundy, Provence is Provence; but Touraine is essentially France. It is the land of Rabelais, of Descartes, of Balzac, of good books and good company, as well as good dinners and good houses. George Sand has somewhere a charming passage about the mildness, the convenient quality, of physical conditions of central France `son climat souple et chaud, ses pluies abondantes et courtes.'" James likes the chateau at Blois, as for Chambord, "...a touch of that quality of stupidity." Before departing for the coast, James takes a side trip south, to see the magnificent cathedral at Bourges, one that certainly rivals Notre Dame in Paris. He does not take the opportunity to visit the home of George Sand, who died six years earlier, in nearby Nohant. In Nantes he is impressed with the work of the sculptor, Paul Dubois, who created "...one of the purest and most touching of modern tombs."
Bordeaux does not even merit three pages; James finds Toulouse of more interest, in particular Saint-Sernin, "one of the noblest churches in southern France..." James admits spending only a few hours at Carcassonne, and considers "...those hours had rounded felicity." He had a better day than I; at least in its more modern incarnation it reeks "tourist trap." Narbonne is a "dirty little town." In Nimes, he heaps a fair amount of abuse on the "Maison Carree." He also takes in the Fountaine de Vaucluse, famous as the site where Petrarch composed his love sonnets to Laura; as well as Pont du Gard, Arles, and Les Baux. His guide of over a century ago was responsible for me visiting the Aliscamps in Arles, and "seeing" the Elysian Fields that he proposed. Then he turns north, heads to Burgundy, via Macon. He concludes his tour visiting Beaune and Dijon.
Like numerous others before and since, James concludes his "Little Tour" by expressing admiration for the planning and use of public space. In particular, it was a "charming public garden" in Dijon, which he enjoyed almost exclusively by himself as autumn deepened... "and as the light fade in the Parc the vision of some of the things I had enjoyed became more distinct."
Overall, my own pace would have necessitated the elimination of at least half the places on the tour, not that they were without merit, but simply so as to savor the others the better. "The pleasures of travel do not go to the swift..." Still, if you are going to France, or are fortunate to live there, this book will be more valuable than many a normal tourist guide. 5-stars.
Henry James wrote a lovely book, but the typography in this edition is amazingly poor. There are unneeded hyphenations, misspelled words and other oddities, as if it had been transcribed by a non-English-speaker. I haven't read other editions, but I find it hard to believe that James intended it this way.
This is an elegant edition of elegant writing about elegant France. It is hard cover and has a beautifully illustrated dustcover and pretty drawings and paintings of buildings in fin de siecle France.
If you appreciate Henry James you will find it delightful both physically and 'literarily'.
The only thing is, it took its time getting through the mail to me. i had begun to despair.
Planning a trip to France's countryside? This is a must read for one who enjoys taking your time strolling the grounds and interiors of some of France's most lovely cathedrals, chateaux, etc. With lots of history thrown in, Henry James works his dreamy magic on the senses. And it's free.
This is a little book that Henry James wrote to describe his impressions of the France in the 1880s. Art work has been added. Please understand that this is Not up to the level of this writers best literature(which I consider to be his short stories). I therefore give Mr. James writing of this book 3 stars and add 1 star for the artwork. I do not recommend this book if you are planning a trip to France-much has changed since the 1880s. But if you are looking to spend a few hours reading about another place and another time, this is a pleasent read.
Although there were plenty of typos, as it was evident the typist was in a hurry, this book nevertheless inspired me to actually see what areas where James travelled. I wondered during his tour how much the landscape was changed over that more-than-hundred year span through wars, two big ones, as well as many places he mentioned that had not been renovated, but now are. All I had to do was google each place of interest, since obviously in a volunteer-typed kindle book, there are no accompanying photos. I began to collect many pictures which I shared on social media, to much delight of friends. I also was inspired to zoom in with google earth's little man, who carried me to street level to see the streets and monuments where James had walked. This was a tour well worth doing, even if I had to do it virtually. Oh by the way, I picked up on this book after reading David McCullough's Americans in Paris, which I also highly recommend to history buffs. Henry James was one of those Americans McCullough talked about. Anyone familiar with McCullough will know he does extensive research, and this one is no exception.
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