Other editions of book Roderick Hudson

This ebook includes a biographical introduction, a short, critical analysis of James' career and a brief introduction to this work.Originally serialised in the Atlantic Monthly during 1875 and published in book form later in the same year, Roderick Hudson was James' first novel notwithstanding the earlier Watch and Ward, which the author preferred to disregard. Strong with autobiographical elements, the plot concerns travails and travels of the eponymous character, a talented sculptor, and his relationship with Rowland Mallet. Recognising Hudson's talent as an artist, Mallet resolves to fund a move to Europe. On the same day he falls in love with Mary Garland, a house guest to the Hudsons. Unable to declare his love, he leaves for Europe with Hudson only to discover that before he left the artist had proposed to Garland and she had accepted. With such a tension between the two characters, James fashions a plot to take advantage of it.

Roderick Hudson was first published in serial form in Atlantic Monthly in 1875. Later that year it was published in book form by James R. Osgood Company, Boston.The title character is a young New England man who is a very talented sculptor who is studying to become a lawyer. He lives in Northampton with his mother and is her only surviving son, Roderick's brother having died during the recent Civil War.

Henry James (1843-1916), born in New York City, was the son of noted religious philosopher Henry James, Sr., and brother of eminent psychologist and philosopher William James. He spent his early life in America and studied in Geneva, London and Paris during his adolescence to gain the worldly experience so prized by his father. He lived in Newport, went briefly to Harvard Law School, and in 1864 began to contribute both criticism and tales to magazines.

*This Book is annotated (it contains a detailed biography of the author). *An active Table of Contents has been added by the publisher for a better customer experience. *This book has been checked and corrected for spelling errors.Roderick Hudson is a novel by Henry James. Originally published in 1875 as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly, it is a bildungsroman that traces the development of the title character, a sculptor.

When impoverished American sculptor Roderick Hudson creates what is described as a work of genius, he is sent to Rome, where he becomes the talk of the city. But Roderick soon loses his inspiration and falls in love with a woman he'll never be with. Now on a path to self-destruction, can he be saved from himself?One of Henry James' first novels, Roderick Hudson is a compelling depiction of an artist whose inflated ambition and temperament gets the better of him.

"Roderick Hudson" is the coming-of-age story of its title character, a young sculptor who falls under the patronage of Rowland Mallet. Rowland, who is about to depart for Europe, offers to pay for Roderick to come along so that he may study in Italy and improve his art. Originally published serially in "The Atlantic Monthly" during 1875, "Roderick Hudson" is Henry James' story of the development of an artist and the development of a man.

CHAPTER I. RowlandMallet had made his arrangements to sail for Europe on the first of September, and having in the interval a fortnight to spare, he determined to spend it with his cousin Cecilia, the widow of a nephew of his father. He was urged by the reflection that an affectionate farewell might help to exonerate him from the charge of neglect frequently preferred by this lady. It was not that the young man disliked her; on the contrary, he regarded her with a tender admiration, and he had not forgotten how, when his cousin had brought her home on her marriage, he had seemed to feel the upward sweep of the empty bough from which the golden fruit had been plucked, and had then and there accepted the prospect of bachelorhood. The truth was, that, as it will be part of the entertainment of this narrative to exhibit, Rowland Mallet had an uncomfortably sensitive conscience, and that, in spite of the seeming paradox, his visits to Cecilia were rare because she and her misfortunes were often uppermost in it. Her misfortunes were three in number: first, she had lost her husband; second, she had lost her money (or the greater part of it); and third, she lived at Northampton, Massachusetts. Mallet's compassion was really wasted, because Cecilia was a very clever woman, and a most skillful counter-plotter to adversity. She had made herself a charming home, her economies were not obtrusive, and there was always a cheerful flutter in the folds of her crape. It was the consciousness of all this that puzzled Mallet whenever he felt tempted to put in his oar. He had money and he had time, but he never could decide just how to place these gifts gracefully at Cecilia's service. He no longer felt like marrying her: in these eight years that fancy had died a natural death. And yet her extreme cleverness seemed somehow to make charity difficult and patronage impossible. He would rather chop off his hand than offer her a check, a piece of useful furniture, or a black silk dress; and yet there was some sadness in seeing such a bright, proud woman living in such a small, dull way. Cecilia had, moreover, a turn for sarcasm, and her smile, which was her pretty feature, was never so pretty as when her sprightly phrase had a lurking scratch in it. Rowland remembered that, for him, she was all smiles, and suspected, awkwardly, that he ministered not a little to her sense of the irony of things. And in truth, with his means, his leisure, and his opportunities, what had he done? He had an unaffected suspicion of his uselessness. Cecilia, meanwhile, cut out her own dresses, and was personally giving her little girl the education of a princess.

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