[*] James, Henry. Question of our speech: The lesson of Balzac; two lectures, [**]$1. Houghton.
“In the first essay, delivered as a commencement address at Bryn Mawr, Mr. James has well emphasized the overlooked needs in America of ‘a virtual consensus of educated people to impart to our speech a coherent culture.’ ... The second essay in the volume, ‘The lesson of Balzac,’ is a notable piece of literary criticism in its concentrated vigor, its elucidation of the novelist’s art, and its nicety of phrase. Recognizing in Balzac the master-artist of modern fiction.”—Dial.
[*] “These essays will raise a divergence of opinion, as does all of Mr. James’s literary work; but however widely readers may differ from his point of view, all will recognize the stimulating intellectual quality.”
| + | Dial. 39: 311. N. 16, ‘05. 620w. | |
| * | + | Pub. Opin. 39: 764. D. 9, ‘05. 200w. |
James, Montague Rhodes. [Ghost stories of an antiquary.] $1.50. Longmans.
Eight old fashioned ghost stories with all the gruesome and hair-raising qualities which a story of their kind could possess. The eight are Canon Alberic’s scrap-book, Lost hearts, The mezzotint, The ash tree, Number 13, Count Magnus, “Oh, whistle, and I’ll come to you, my lad,” and The treasure of Abbot Thomas.
“Mr. James manages at times to give you a pretty well-defined creepy feeling—but his ghost stories are not quite the real thing in spite of the pains he takes to pile up detail in the setting and leave the horror itself as undefined, shapeless, and elusive as may be.”
| + — | N. Y. Times. 10: 483. Jl. 22, ‘05. 580w. |
“There can be no question about the literary merit of these eight stories, and of the ingenuity which Dr. James has shown in their construction.”
| + + — | Spec. 94: 925. Je. 24, ‘05. 170w. |