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Title details for The Golden Bowl by Henry James - Wait list

The Golden Bowl

by Henry James
Juliet Stevenson
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
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Wealthy Maggie Verver has everything she could ever ask for—except for a husband, and a title. While in Italy, acquiring art for his museum back in the states, Maggie's millionaire father Adam decides to remedy this and acquire a husband for Maggie. Enter Prince Amerigo, of a titled, but now poor, aristocratic Florentine family. Amerigo is the perfect candidate. Delighted, Maggie then reciprocates by choosing a partner for her widower father: childhood friend Charlotte Stant. The stage is set, and what unfolds is a deep and gripping exploration of fidelity and the politics of love and marriage. Published in 1904, The Golden Bowl displays Henry James at his finest: James weaves scene upon scene, set piece upon set piece, into a seamless whole, through a richly dense tapestry of beautiful, flowing prose. Along with The Ambassadors and The Wings of the Dove, it constitutes James's final, and most rewarding, phase as a novelist.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 8, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781781981337
      • File size: 723389 KB
      • Duration: 25:07:03

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The St. Charles Players enliven this typical Henry James tale of an American father and daughter navigating through very sticky British relationships. The pomp and snobbery of James's work play out complete with sound effects, such as crackling fires, braying horses, and a different actor for each character. Surprisingly, these effects enhance the overall presentation, adding color to the predictable and intricate plot line. The varied performers artfully weave this story of complicated relationships and social mores, with its symbolism of the cracked golden bowl, into a fresh story. Where James can be tiresome and mired in heavy text, the St. Charles Players bring air and light into his weighty prose and stifling English gentry. H.L.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Award-winning actress Juliet Stevenson guides the listener through the complex social world and moral ambiguity of this convoluted story. Maggie Verver's upcoming marriage to Prince Amerigo seems perfect. Just before Maggie and he are to wed, Amerigo's good friend and former lover, Charlotte, comes back into his life for a brief shopping trip for a wedding present. Even though Charlotte and Maggie have been friends since childhood, Maggie, strangely, has no idea of Charlotte's intimate connection to Amerigo and happily sets her up with Mr. Verver, Maggie's father. Stevenson gracefully guides the listener through the various emotional outbursts, possibly infidelity, and subtle miscommunications. Stevenson carefully balances James's comedic and sometimes tragic timing in a performance that feels effortless to the listener. V.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      The great Henry James's last completed novel (1904) concerns a young American woman who marries an impoverished Italian prince, who is having an affair with his wife's best friend, who, in turn, is married to her lover's father-in-law. If you think the relationships are complex, wait until you read the prose--page-long sentences full of qualifiers, asides, and every type of dependent clause. These elements do not merely snake along, but intertwine in complex grammatical relationships that together communicate the subtlest and most perceptive distinctions. Christopher Cazenove, having either the bravery or hubris to take the book on for listeners, gives them a sonorous, indeed beautiful, reading. It is, however, also pretentious and mannered; Cazenove has not bothered to learn his text, but fakes his way throughout via his masterful technique and fine pipes. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      For those who love Henry James, THE GOLDEN BOWL is often a favorite. For those who don't, it may be better tolerated than some of the others. Whichever category is yours, this version is an ideal place to revisit your position on The Master. Katherine Kellgren does a miraculous job with James's famously endless sentences. She keeps the rhythm and structure of each one clear without losing sight of its emotional content and its pace within the story--a feat something like running a hurdle course. Best of all, she creates vivid characters and makes the tensions among them truly absorbing as a sweet, rich American father and daughter find themselves in the toils of European sophisticates and in crisis everyone behaves beautifully. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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