Sometimes in the night he dreamed about the dead - familiar
faces and the others, half-forgotten ones, fleetingly summoned
up. Now as he woke, it was, he imagined, an hour or more before
the dawn; there would be no sound or movement for several hours.
He touched the muscles on his neck which had become stiff; to
his fingers they seemed unyielding and solid but not painful.
As he moved his head, he could hear the muscles creaking. I
am like an old door, he said to himself.
The Master
Chapter 1, Page 1, opening lines. |
His attempt to be earnest, hesitant and polite had not fooled
women like her who watched his full mouth and the glance of
his eyes and instantly understood it all.
The Master
Henry James and his visitor, a Russian
princess, Chapter 1, page 7. |
You are an American and nobody knows who your father was or
who your grandfather was. You could be anybody.
The Master
English lady to Henry, Chapter 2, page
24. |
He has great charm, does he not, and discretion, I think?
The Master
Lady Wolseley to Henry, about servent Hammond,
Chapter 2, page 27. |
Her gaze was neither puzzled nor hurt, but there was a sense
that she was putting energy into a look of mild contentment
and sweetness.
The Master
Mona, young daughter of one of guests,
at Lord Wolseley's, Chapter 2, page 32. |
His grandfather had come to America in search of freedom,
and in America he had found more than freedom. He had found
great wealth, and that had changed everything. County Cavan
did not cost Henry a thought.
The Master
Henry thinks on Webster's sneering remarks
about Bailieborough in Cavan being the seat of the James family,
Chapter 2, page 37. |
It suddenly struck him that what he longed for now was an
American, preferably someone from Boston, a compatriot who would
understand or at least appreciate, as nobody present seemed
to, the strangeness here.
The Master
Henry is among the English in Ireland,
at the Wolseleys' party, Chapter 2, page 44. |
It is terrible to be an unprotected being.
The Master
Henry's bedridden sister Alice, Chapter
3, page 59. |
You must tell me something that you are sure is true.
The Master
An ill Minny Temple in letters written
to John Gray in last year of her life, Chapter 5, page 103. |
For so many years now he had had no country, no family, no
establishment of his own, merely a flat in London where he worked.
... It was as though he lived a life that lacked a fazade, a
stretch of frontage to protect him from the world. Lamb House
would offer him beautiful windows from which to view the outside;
the outside, in turn, could peer in only at his invitation.
The Master
Henry on prospect of owning a home in Rye,
Chapter 6, page 123. |
You're the consistent one, the one who'll always know how
to mind himself. At least we have you.
The Master
Aunt Kate to Henry, Chapter 7, page 182. |
'I think she deserved a better life,' Lily said, 'But it was
not to be.' In her last phrase there was no air of resignation
or acceptance, but rather one of blame and bitterness.
The Master
Lily Norton on Constance Fenimore Woolson
and her suicide, Chapter 8, page 204. |
He found their indifference to him charming, a relief, and
he wondered if some of his old friends, who demanded his attention
too much and who monitored too closely what he said and did,
might be encouraged to follow the example of the Emmet sisters.
The Master
Henry tours Paris with his young cousins
Rosina and Bay Emmet, Chapter 9, page 211. |
It was as if both he and Constance had risked too much in
their gamble with Venice, and she had lost everything while
he had lost her.
The Master
Henry, captivated by sights and splendor
of Venice, has heavy sence of doom as it was here Constrance
jumped from a terrace, Chapter 9, page 214. |
All of his friends knew not to make demands on him, and Constance
knew that too.
The Master
Henry reassures himself he was not at fault
in Constance's suicide, Chapter 9, page 240. |
And for the sake of something hidden within his own soul which
resisted her, and because of his respect for convention and
social decorum, he had abandoned her there.
The Master
Henry had failed to save his friend Constance,
having left her in Venice for reasons of convenience and social
propriety, Chapter 9, page 242. |
This, he thought, was her last novel. They all played their
assigned roles.
The Master
Henry believes Constance planned her death
like she would plan a book, Chapter 9, page 244. |
As Henry saw Andersen and tried to make sense of him, it was
as though one of his own characters had come alive, ready to
intrigue him and to puzzle him and hold his affections, forcing
him to suspend judgment, subtly refusing to allow him to control
what might now unfold.
The Master
Henry on sculptor Hendrik Anderson, Chapter
10, page 273. |
Past failure did not interest Andersen, who remained fascinated
by future triumph.
The Master
Hendrik Anderson, Chapter 11, page 295. |
Miss Loring was a strong woman in search of a weak friend
to care for. You know, any time I saw them together I thought
that they were the happiest pair on God's earth.
The Master
Henry's sister-in-law Alice on relationship
between carer Miss Loring and Henry's sick sister Alice, Chapter
11, page 307. |
It is easier to renounce bravery than to be brave over and
over.
The Master
Henry explains about people who make leaps
into the dark, to niece Peggy - she had asked why Isabel Archer
returned to her husband in Henry's novel The Portrait of a Lady,
Chapter 11, page 325. |
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