Four Meetings

James, Henry, 1843-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 55K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Four Meetings by Henry JamesAuthor: James, Henry, 1843-1916,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 8, 2007

Editor's review

Henry James's novella Four Meetings strings together a series of encounters through which the narrator observes a woman; it is short in length yet concentrates the essence of Jamesian psychological realism: plot recedes, and what matters is consciousness, misunderstanding, and the unspoken. The prose is refined and the sentences circuitous, with narrative viewpoint nested in layers—well suited to appreciating how James carries complex feeling in a limited scene. As a public-domain ebook it has no notes or introduction, so readers new to James may find the pace slow and the cues oblique. Read a synopsis first, then go closely through the dialogue and psychological description—or read it alongside a novella such as Daisy Miller to sense the consistent interest in the "international theme" and narrative technique.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate to advanced English readers who want a sense of Henry James's novella style
Literature students interested in psychological realism and narrative viewpoint
Readers of classic fiction who like a slow pace and a focus on inner life

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced storytelling
Beginners with little English reading experience who are intimidated by long sentences
Readers who need notes and an introduction to enter a text

Reading tips

Read once to grasp the number of meetings and the relationships, then return to key dialogues
Watch whether the narrator's judgments are reliable; take brief notes marking shifts in viewpoint
Read alongside other James novellas and compare his habitual methods of psychological description

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a full-length novel?

No. It is a novella by Henry James—not long, but dense in narration and detailed in psychological description. It is not a book to rush; it rewards slow reading and rereading.

Can I understand it without notes?

With intermediate-to-advanced English you can follow the general sense, but James's sentences are circuitous and his narrative viewpoint subtle. Without notes, first clarify the relationships and the period background, then read the dialogue closely.

Is it suitable for learning English?

It suits learners who can already read original English texts and want to train long-sentence analysis and language feel, but it is not an introductory text; beginners should start with more plainly written material.

Comments

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About the author

James, Henry, 1843-1916 Author

Henry James (1843–1916) was a novelist born in the United States who later became a British citizen, known for his psychological realism. He advances his narratives through his characters' consciousness and moral dilemmas, in a delicate, restrained style with carefully crafted sentences, often using limited points of view to leave meaningful gaps. His works frequently explore themes such as the collision between European and American cultures, marriage and freedom, and innocence versus worldly sophistication. The collection holds 81 of his works, including the two-volume The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, The Beast in the Jungle, and the novella The Turn of the Screw. These works range from novels to novellas and show his fine, detailed portrayal of inner life across different lengths. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted, but these works alone reveal his important place in the tradition of psychological narrative in English literature.