The Bostonians (Abridged) Audiobook

" james is just dense enough to be a challenge, as in, undertaking the next book would probably not be a quick read; flip side, his prose is awe-inspiringly good. "

" I think the mere fact that I don't utterly detest this guy's books (and that I actually, for realsies, am reading the entirety of them and not just the first 5 chapters) probably warrants a perfect rating. But I'm not that crazy. It's still just books about old, fancy uppities walking around and talking all old-timey-like. "

" I tried to finish this book, and trudged very nearly all the way through, but I never liked the characters. Truly, I disliked all of them greatly, and at some point I didn't want to endure any more time with them. I couldn't figure out what benefit I was deriving from the whole exercise. So I quit. "

" It's fascinating how the reader's allegiances get pulled one way and then another. "

" Ordinarily, I love the rich detail in Henry James's prose, but the flat, static characters and the lack of any action in this novel were serious drawbacks. Basil is so thoroughly unlikeable in his insistence that a woman's main function is to amuse a man that the ending was immensely disappointing. "

" A brilliant novel...yet irritating in the way that only Victorian novels can be. The fact that James' book gave rise the the term "boston marriage" is the most redeeming factor of this work. "

" Kill yourself before you read this book. Henry James sucks, this book is terrible, I can't believe I made it as far as I did (twenty pages) before I threw up. "

" takes forever to get going, and the prose is really clunky. unsurprisingly, feminists are still really annoying "

" I'll admit, I haven't actually finished. I've decided that I won't ever finish it. It is not worth the amount of time it would take to read the second half of the book. All of the characters in this book aggravate me to no end and James rambles pointlessly fairly regularly. "

" My goodness, Mr. James, I didn't realize how much you hated nascent feminists, nor how dull you were when describing this disgust you had for them. Ugh. "

" Gosh, I hope The Ambassadors is better. "

" Even more interesting if you know the local geography. Fortunately I haven't met too many of Mr. Ransom's ilk here in Boston. "

" I enjoyed this book largely because I was living in the neighborhood it was set in while reading it. From what I remember it was also a slow, but well written story. "

" I suspect this book is quite excellent, though hell if I know what it's about. LOL Henry James. /sophisticated critique "

" I generally enjoy novels like this, but a few chapters in, I was bored almost to tears. It just seemed so Jane Austen-y, and I hate Jane Austen. Oh, woe is the poor girl and all that jazz. "

" Really weird story. I couldn't decide if James was creating purposefully outlandish characters or if he just thought women were insane. "

" I loved the idea of this story and it started off promising, but it took too long to get to the point and then the ending was a disappointment. "

" How this one works, in my opinion: The Bostonians is better than Portrait of a Lady, but only when you've read Portrait first. Love the feminist stuff, love the wierd religious stuff, love the whole book. "

" A very good read for Henry James. There were a few points I ended up getting confused, but overall, I was able to keep track quite easily. "

" An excellent insight into the 1900 class struggle, funtastik "

" Definitely not my favorite Henry James. Long (dry) descriptive passages made it hard to get through, and it was pretty predictable, and unrealistic. But perhaps that was the point? "

" Audio version read by Xe Sands "

" A slow read. Like Proust. The battle between Olivia and her cousin Ransom for the soul of Verena. Olivia wants her for the advancement of women's rights. Ransom wants her for love. He wins. "

" I am not a Henry James fan. "

" This was the first "classic" after "Crime and Punishment" that kept me glued to the book until I finished. The love story of Olive and Venera is very tenderly told, and the ending is one of the most suspenseful and brutal I've ever read--surprising for a James' novel. "

" Wasn't my thing. I got about 35 pages in and still hadn't gotten into it with no hope in sight of a chance of it. On to the next book. :) "

" Henry James, is a bastard "

" thiiiick. it's refreshing to emerge from the swampy male witch territory known as Faulkner and the ominous doom tones of Conrad's Heart of Darkness into the cold dry logic of Henry James. yea. "