“The book is clear to those who think Mr. James worth a little trouble. The method, in spite of its inwardness, is detached, cold, and, if the word is possible, a little cruel. But its mental agility, its likeliness, its atmosphere, are perfect.”
| + — | Ath. 1905, 1: 332. Mr. 18. 530w. | |
| Atlan. 95: 696. My. ‘05. 190w. |
“Another two volumes of abstruseness, another long discussion of a situation that only scandal mongers are supposed to discuss; again the same old heavy respectability where nothing is bad because it is not named; again the heroic sweetness of two characters, that is always his saving grace, that makes us read him.”
| + — | Ind. 58: 153. Ja. 19, ‘05. 700w. |
“In the end you have your reward—a story, a situation, which, as you think about it, pierces the obscurities and strikes you in the eyes, like the low red autumn sun pushing out of a mass of black clouds.”
| + + — | Nation. 80: 74. Ja. 26, ‘05. 1380w. |
“A book of mixed ugly and charming aspects. Never has the art of description been brought nearer to that of painting.”
| + + — | Reader. 5: 380. F. ‘05. 1290w. |
“A book so pregnant with fundamental brainwork, so rich in suggestiveness, and so accomplished in execution. The book is clearer, and, for that very reason, more vital, than the works of what one may call his middle period.”
| + + | R. of Rs. 31: 116. Ja. ‘05. 80w. |