Synopsis:
Graham Greene and E.M. Forster marvelled at it, but F.R. Leavis considered it to be 'not only not one of his great books, but to be a bad one.' As for the author, he held The Ambassadors as the favorite among all his novels.
Sent from Massachusetts by the formidable Mrs. Newsome to recall her son, Chad, from what she assumes to be a corrupt life in Paris, Strether finds his intentions subtly and profoundly transformed as he falls under the spell of the city and of his charge. He is quick to perceive that Chad has been not so much corrupted as refined, and over the course of the hot summer months in Paris he gradually realizes that this discovery and acceptance of Chad's unconventional new lifestyle alter his own ideals and ambitions.
One of Henry James's three final novels, all of which have sharply divided modern critics, The Ambassadors is the finely drawn portrait of a man's late awakening to the importance of morality that is founded not on the dictates of convention but on its value per se. ( Goodreads )
This has been a journey into semantics. One that I will remember for its difficulty instead of the joy that it rendered. Reading this on my e-book (thank you Gutenberg Project) I mainly read this in the wee hours of the night, while nursing my youngest and the words never made coherent sentences in my head, so I definitely can say that its deeper meaning was entirely lost on me.
I struggled through it, because that's just who I am, but I can't give a coherent opinion of its content. I vaguely recall it's set in Paris and starts with the search for a young men to bring him home ( to America ). Slowly the seeker is tranformed into the one that wants to stay, mesmerized by Paris and his parisien friends. It's a coming-of-age story for the elderly, where one has to make amends with the choices made and those left for the future.
(I'm actually amazed I can say as much as I have just now, the sleep depraved mind still has some wonders to it )
I definitely should read this again, to appreciate it more, but the memory of it is just too daunting at the moment. Maybe in a decade or so.
