The American by Henry James

I have an odd relationship with Henry James. I first came across him on my AP Language exam back when I was in high school. We had to read an excerpt from The Golden Bowl and answer questions on it. I was intrigued by the passage, so I started buying up James novels as I came across them over the following years. I didn't read them, mind you, but I bought them like they were going out of style. As a result, I have several of James' works on my shelves and most of them have been sitting there for over a decade at this point.

What I didn't know back when I was building up my little classics library is that the work of Henry James changes a lot from his early novels to his later ones. He is a key figure in the transition from literary realism to modernism. His early works stick to more traditional literary techniques, while his later works become very experimental. As a rule, I'm not the biggest fan of modernist literature, so a lot of James' work is tough for me to get into. I read The Ambassadors (one of his later works) a few years ago, and really struggled with the stream of consciousness style. I read The Bostonians (one of his earlier works) in college, and really loved it.

So, I'm in two minds about Henry James. I want to read more from him to see if he's truly a favorite of mine or not. To this end, I decided to try reading The American next, which is one of his earlier novels. It also fits in with my Back to the Classic challenge as my 19th century novel, making it a good choice for this month.

The plot concerns Christopher Newman, a young American who has made millions as a successful businessman in New York. As the novel begins, he is taking a break from working to enjoy spending his money on a long vacation in Europe. He is hoping to see what the wider world has to offer and to find a wife while on his trip. He easily accomplishes the first goal, touring cities, churches, and museums all over the continent. As a self-made man with little travel experience, Newman feels a bit out of his depth while exploring the treasures of the Old World. However, his easygoing and positive personality allow him to get along well wherever he goes. He enjoys his time spent touring and succeeds in learning a thing or two.

His second goal of finding the perfect wife is a bit more difficult to accomplish, but he thinks he has achieved it when an acquaintance introduces him to Claire de Cintré, a beautiful young widow from an aristocratic French family. Claire is beautiful, kind, and respectable--in short, she is exactly what Newman is looking for. He begins to court her, but immediately runs into difficulties with her family. They consider a Newman, a common businessman, to be an inappropriate match for an aristocratic woman. However, once Newman elaborates on exactly how much money he has, they relent and allow him to pursue Claire without interference. She accepts his proposal and all seems well.

Before the marriage can take place though, Claire's family backs out of their agreement and forces her to break off the engagement.  Newman  tries everything he can think of to get her back, but she is adamant that she won't go against her family's wishes. Betrayed and devastated, he ends up stumbling onto a scandalous piece of information about the family while trying to change their minds, and he must decide whether to use the information to blackmail the family into reversing their decision.

I found this book to be an absolute pleasure to read. I'm not even sure what it was about it, but I truly enjoyed myself with this one. It might have been Newman's eminently likable nature, or maybe it was  James' clever writing style. It was easy to read and flowed smoothly from beginning to end. I was interested in the story and eager to get to the conclusion and see how everything ended up. It reminded me of the kind of novels assigned in high school English classes - filled with fussy characters and historical details, but still totally accessible to readers. I had fun, and I don't always say that of older works.

The themes in The American mostly revolve around the classic clashes of old money vs. new and rigid social structures vs. more casual ways of life. Throughout the story, Newman must try to operate within the rules of a high-class society that he isn't familiar with in order to win over the woman he loves. As an American born with nothing, this world of titles, property, and soirees puzzles him. He is able to get along well enough due to his amiable nature, but the unchangeable circumstances of his background ultimately hold him back. He tries to insert himself into the world of the aristocracy, first through kindness and deference, then later through anger and blackmail, but it is nearly impossible for him to overcome the social divide between himself and his fiancée's family. His "American-ness" works against him, and it was interesting to see him try to break through this barrier.

I don't mean to say that everything in the novel was perfect. Newman is definitely a self-centered character, and his views on women leave much to be desired. You get the sense though that he is just a street smart kind of guy doing the best he can in a world utterly alien to him, so it's easy to cut him some slack. The book was set in 1868, and his beliefs aren't any worse than what would be commonplace for the time period. The ending was a bit unrealistic as well, a fact which Henry James acknowledged himself. In later years, he actually produced different versions of this text attempting to correct for this, but most consider the original version of the novel (which is the one I read) to be superior.

Despite these flaws, however, I had a great time reading The American. It's exactly the sort of classic novel that I love. It's the right time period, the right plot, and right amount of fussiness for me. I can now say that I've read two novels by Henry James that I liked. I'll most definitely be going back for more in the future. After all, I still haven't read The Portrait of a Lady, which most consider to be his masterpiece. Maybe I wasn't being too foolish when I bought up all those James novels so many years ago.

Challenge Tally:
Back to the Classics (a 19th century classic): 4/12
Classics Club (#31 on my list): 25/100

Total Books Read in 2018:13