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The Golden Bowl Audiobook
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(3.00) - 3,863 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
"The Golden Bowl" by Henry James delves into the intricacies of marriage and deception. The novel revolves around a complex web of relationships between two couples: American expatriates Adam Verver and his daughter Maggie, and the aristocratic Prince Amerigo and his wife Charlotte. Unbeknownst to Maggie, Amerigo and Charlotte once had a passionate affair. As the story unfolds, a golden bowl symbolizing their relationships becomes a metaphor for the secrets and compromises hidden within. Maggie, despite her innocence, gradually suspects her husband's past with Charlotte. The tensions escalate, leading to a collision of desires, betrayals, and emotional entanglements.
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"I loved this book yet it was a labour to finish it. As an example of the period or just Henry james' style - its great! Well if you think about things so much as these people do. The fact that the book though long winding has left no thought unstated is its particular greatness. I am abrupt and brief usually and prefer the kind of penmanship still, this book broke all rules for me."
— Madhu (4 out of 5 stars)
The Golden Bowl Listener Reviews
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" Not a fan of Henry James "
— Beth, 2/19/2014 -
" Skip the preface, give yourself time, and James is surprisingly rewarding. "
— Tasha, 2/16/2014 -
" Reread for bookclub. "
— Stephanie, 2/5/2014 -
" Very very dense 567 pages. I'm still trying to work out if it was worth it. "
— Gregory, 1/18/2014 -
" If you can get past the convoluted style and the frustration of reading it, you will enjoy its depth. "
— Donna, 1/1/2014 -
" I wouldn't have finished this - wouldn't have made it through if not for the fact it was for a book group. I find James difficult to read - laborious, taxing, slow. "
— Mckinley, 12/31/2013 -
" Even more subtle than James' other work. Plot consists in around a dozen or so conversations between characters, and the perceptions and changing moods of those characters as they make up their minds on a course of action. "
— Dan, 12/6/2013 -
" The late James... virtuoso of the English sentence "
— Jacob, 10/31/2013 -
" I have listened to the first half of this book 3 times...I feel like I'm in purgatory "
— Aurora, 10/28/2013 -
" An intriguing story, it isn't at all what I expected. Well written, it is a somewhat sadly pathetic story that explores the meaning of "love" in all of it's forms. "
— Karie, 10/25/2013 -
" This was my first James and pretty hard for me to get through. I appreciated the plot and liked some of the images created along the way, but it was kind of a slog. "
— Laura, 10/15/2013 -
" I don't care if this is a classic. I loathe it. "
— Lurple, 7/1/2013 -
" Hopefully the last Henry James book I will read in a very long time... "
— Joe, 6/29/2013 -
" really a loooong read!(haha, that is what I have written down!) "
— Annie, 4/5/2013 -
" Beginning to trudge through some Henry James for fun (is it possible to read Henry James and find it fun???). This may end up constipating my mind, but I've always wanted to read him. I guess it goes along with my love of classic literature. "
— Tanya, 12/20/2012 -
" A complex and wordy novel about an affair. The story isn't much, but the detail and the exploration of the characters is well worth the read "
— Rob, 12/17/2012 -
" sorely tried my patience. masterful self-parody. "
— Tom, 10/23/2012 -
" I read about 100 pages, and didn't find it too interesting so I took it back to the library early. "
— Jennifer, 10/21/2012 -
" Obsessively self-analytic characters, half-innocent social gestures supersaturated with significance, self-mocking-yet-serious flashes of grotesque melodrama, architecturally ornate similes of the inner-life, and delphically weird, beautiful sentences -- who can say no? "
— Will, 9/24/2012 -
" I think this one is my favourite of Henry James' work. Sad, subtle look at a four-sided relationship in 1900's England. Made into a superb film as well. "
— Rebecca, 9/7/2012 -
" i love H.J. but this book can suck my dick. "
— Kristin, 8/27/2012 -
" The best from the best. "
— Hugh, 10/21/2011 -
" I might have liked this book if it weren't so damn depressing. People lying and hiding secrets from each other. People hurt so badly. Selfishness. Maybe I should give it a better rating because it read like Henry James wanted it to but I had such a hard time finishing it. "
— Carolyn, 9/1/2011 -
" i can never remember whether or not ive read henry james books - as i'm reading this one i could swear ive read it before...but maybe that was jsut the movie. this is hard going...don't know if im that engaged to finish it anytime in the near future. "
— Eliza, 4/14/2011 -
" Rated: F <br/> <br/>I struggled through about 10% of this classic. James' writing style, for me, was a beating. Long flowing sentences and paragraphs the lost me at times. Hard for me to enjoy, so I stopped reading. First book to drop in years. "
— John, 4/13/2011 -
" I don't care if this is a classic. I loathe it. "
— Lurple, 1/29/2011 -
" Weird - I had forgotten that I read this, and I have no idea when I read it, it could have been during high school or college or maybe even 1999-2001. I remember liking it, and I seem to remember reading it during slow times when I worked at Mt. Tam, but I could be wrong about that. "
— Kathryn, 12/11/2010 -
" I wouldn't have finished this - wouldn't have made it through if not for the fact it was for a book group. I find James difficult to read - laborious, taxing, slow. "
— Mckinley, 10/6/2010 -
" That there are certain books you are glad to have read even though you did not necessarily enjoy reading them and that anti-semitism appears to have been the norm during James's time. "
— Andrea, 9/7/2010 -
" I think this one is my favourite of Henry James' work. Sad, subtle look at a four-sided relationship in 1900's England. Made into a superb film as well. "
— Rebecca, 8/21/2010 -
" This was my first James and pretty hard for me to get through. I appreciated the plot and liked some of the images created along the way, but it was kind of a slog. "
— Laura, 8/12/2010
About Henry James
Henry James (1843–1916), American novelist, short-story writer, and man of letters, was born in Washington Place, New York, to a family of distinguished philosophers and theologians. He attended schools in New York, Boston, and throughout Europe, where he later settled. A major figure in the history of the novel, he is celebrated as a master craftsman who brought his great art and impeccable technique to bear in the development of abiding moral themes.