Book Review: RODERICK HUDSON (1875) By Henry James **** out of *****

© Harper Classics

I first discovered Henry James as a teenager. After watching a film adaptation of The Turn of The Screw and becoming fascinated with the story, I bought a cheap TOR paperback copy of the novella, and devoured its prose with ever-increasing joy and awe. It was my first introduction to James, and, in turn, to fine literature. Reading Henry James for the first time is, for people of a certain temperament, an epiphany. His stylistic choices, command of atmosphere, uncanny psychological insight into his characters, and, above all, his restraint, is a marvel to behold.

Roderick Hudson (1875), what Henry James considers to be his first novel (although he'd written a short novel, Watch and Ward four years prior), is a joy to read. It might not be the best introduction to his work (Washington Square, or a collection of his short stories would serve that purpose better), but it is fascinating nonetheless. Reading it, particularly the first version, not the revised one Henry James did for the New York Edition, is akin to watching an artist admirably struggle to hone his craft in front of one's eyes.

At first, Roderick Hudson looks like a simple, even frivolous, tale about the rise and fall of the eponymous young sculptor. But like most of James' work, his book's plot are deceptive, beginning as one thing, and slowly morphing into another. Here, James, like Hudson, keeps refining his sculpture, adding layers, definition, detail. By the end of the book, the characters are fleshed out, their nuances laid bare, and their fates wonderfully unraveled.

Roderick Hudson is somewhat unique in James' oeuvre in that, here, he quite clearly loses control of the novel's tone more than once, veering into melodramatics typical of the era. Even the tragic ending, as effectively shocking as it is, is somewhat abrupt, flawed. In the 1907 preface to the New York revised edition, James criticizes Roderick Hudson, saying it lacks "verisimilitude" and that the "time-scheme" is inadequate. But these blemishes don't take away from the overall effect of the book, which is of a fascinating journey through the minds and hearts of three compelling characters: Hudson; Mallet, Hudson's benefactor; and Christina Light, who would reappear in James work as the Princess Casamassima.

Next, James would go on to write The American (1877), a better, more assured novel, with a splendid third act, and which benefits greatly from the lessons he learned writing Roderick Hudson.

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Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer