The Portrait of a Lady

Okay, so I've just finished The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.  I actually really liked it! xD  But whether you like this book or not highly depends on your personality.  I'll try to review it to the best of my ability here. xD

Anyways, so at first I didn't like it that much, I'll admit that. xD  I don't really know whether it was because I just had so many other books to read, that Henry James has too much description, or a combination of the two.  but just short of halfway through I decided to start cheating a bit. xD  By cheating I mean nothing more than skimming, though it could be counted a horrible sin for an English major! xD  Either way, once I began to skim it was much more enjoyable.

Despite the fact that Henry James does go a bit overboard with the description, his characters are phenomenal.  Although in many books characters pretty much follow a general mold (otherwise known as archetypes), Henry James' characters are quite outside of the standard.  When I say this, I mean it in the best way possible.  You won't find an exact reproduction of these characters unless they're somebody else's versions of his original characters, and maybe even that doesn't exist.  In any case, James' characters are entirely unique, and entirely set apart from anything I've ever seen before.  Isabel is independent and fancies herself very knowledgeable, but she blinds herself to the real character of a man who should never have fooled her.  Ralph sees everything, and his cynical approach on life makes him one of the most endearing characters in the bunch, but Casper Goodwood follows close behind with his seemingly futile devotion to Isabel and his rash pursuit of her.

If you read this book, though, there are some things you should be aware of.  They are (1.) Don't hate me for the ending, I didn't write it xD, and (2.) Be prepared to skim through the description.  I don't know too many people who'd want to wade through all the description.  If you want to, be my guest.  But be forewarned that not all of it's strictly relevant or really necessary to the story.  But some of it is, so you just have to be sort of careful what you skim and what you don't. xD

On the whole I really enjoyed this book, though, and I give it four stars out of five! xD  I could've stopped in the middle because of the description, but the truth is I couldn't!  No matter how much the description annoyed me, I was just too devoted to the characters by then!  Skimming, I guess, is almost a compliment for me in this case.  I loved the characters so much I couldn't stand it!!  And normally I hate skimming!