James the Old Pretender
T is not easy to do justice to any writer through the medium of a broadcast talk, and, in the case of Henry James, I think it is attempting the impossible. But for those who are already admirers of James, the recent programme in the BBC series, The Written Word: the Development of the English Novel, dealing with Henry James, would be familiar ground. His detachment, his psychology, his subtlety, his obliquity, and all the other characteristics which defy illustration, would merely serve to confirm what the listener already knew. An ‘outline of one of his incredible plots would ,recall the delight of first reading the novel. And maybe that is what the BBC intended-a programme for the few. But there is, on the other hand, a vast number of people who have never read James; to whom a recital of his characteristics will mean absolutely nothing; and to whom the outlined plot will sound’ as fatuous as it undeniably is. In quotation he sounds bombastic and boring, in anecdote un-/ pleasantly snobbish; yet none of this is the real James, and it is poor recommendation to read him-which is, in the last resort, the best thing you can do with any writer.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19470829.2.18.8
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 427, 29 August 1947, Page 9
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207James the Old Pretender New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 427, 29 August 1947, Page 9
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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