Tuesday 25 June 2013

Daisy Miller by Henry James


Daisy Miller is the first book by Henry James I've read.  I have three books of his on my classics club list, as I love the sound of his themes, particularly the culture clash between the Old World (Europe) and the New World (America).  Daisy Miller seemed like the perfect introduction to his work as it's a short tale about a rich American girl who is criticised by the society in Italy for being too free and uninhibited.  The narrator, a young American ex-pat called Winterbourne, meets Daisy whilst she is travelling around Europe with her family.  He is quickly bewitched by her, mainly because she isn't bound by rigid social etiquette; she talks to him without being formally introduced and even agrees to an excursion to the nearby Chillon Castle un-chaperoned.  But Daisy's disregard of social conventions soon makes her the centre of gossip when she is seen out with a local Italian and refuses to take note of Winterbourne's 'well intentioned' warnings.

Daisy Miller was the perfect introduction to Henry James and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Although the theme of 'free American girl comes up against European society living in the past' was fairly obvious, there was a good deal of subtlety in the way James wrote and I didn't feel as though I was being smacked over the head with the message.  This was mainly due to the ambiguity in the main characters; Daisy herself was forward yet innocent at the same time and Winterbourne, for all his high talk, only seemed to like Daisy as he suspected that she was a flirt and would therefore go rather further than other girls.  He may have gone on about upholding social standard, but his motivations were definitely less well intentioned than Daisy's;

"If therefore, Miss Daisy Miller exceeded the liberal margin allowed to these young ladies, it was probable that anything might be expected of her.  Winterbourne was impatient to see her again."

It was this hint of Winterbourne's creepy motives and his jealousy when his affections for Daisy aren't returned with the appreciation he thinks they deserve later in the book that make Daisy Miller such a good read.  There's enough irony and ambiguity in the book to make it thought provoking.  Of course some characters, like Winterbourne's disapproving Aunt, are more straight-forward, but I appreciated the complexity in the leads.

The only disappointment for me was the ending.  It seemed somewhat abrupt and the dramatic event that happened didn't fit with the rest of the story.  It was almost as if James didn't quite know how to resolve things for his characters, so he dealt with it in a rather sledge-hammer like way.  However, the themes and the beautiful writing more than make up for that.  I'm excited to read more novels by James now.

Source: Personal copy (kindle)
First Published: 1878
Score: 4 out of 5


Classics Club: book 11 of 72.
My full list can be found here.

15 comments:

  1. Nice review -- I remember liking this one when I read it and being disappointed in the ending as well! I got What Maisie Saw to read in the next few weeks.

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    1. I've never even heard of What Maisie Saw, but I hope you like it :)

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  2. This was my first James, too. I remember liking it and being surprised by that. Someone must have planted anti-Jamesian propaganda in my head. The Bostonians is on my CC list.

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    1. I was hoping to like it, so I was more relieved than surprised when I actually did!

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  3. Henry James is one of my favorite authors; I really like Daisy Miller, although I think The Wings of the Dove has to be my favorite. It's hard to choose, though. He wrote so many beautiful novels. What James novel are you thinking about reading next?

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    1. My next choice is going to be Portrait of a Lady, as I think it's going to be about similar things? I also have Turn of the Screw, but that would be a complete change of pace...

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    2. The Portrait of a Lady is a good one...it's the first James novel I ever read and I really love Isabel Archer...even if her choices would not have been mine. Turn of the Screw is a bit...odd. Not bad, just...odd.

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  4. I haven't read this one - What Maisie Knew is on my list though and I loved The Turn of the Screw so perhaps I should consider this one too over the Summer :)

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    1. It's short, so it would fit in perfectly with your summer of kindle classics.
      I'm glad you enjoyed Turn of the Screw, as its one of the titles on my list :)

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  5. Lovely review. I haven't read this one YET :) I don't think it's on my Classic Club list either. Hmm. I might have to add a few titles to that list

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    1. You should read it, I really think you would enjoy it...

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  6. I loved this one when I read it a few years ago. I'm not always so fond of James, but this one was a home run.

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  7. out of curiosity, which books by James did you not enjoy?

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  8. It's been a while since I've read Daisy Miller, but I loved her and Winterbourne. I've read a few of Henry James's works and enjoyed them all. You should definitely read Turn of the Screw and What Maisie Knew... I'm going to see what's on your Classic Club list for him.

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  9. Since I don't want to give away the ending for those who haven't read it, I will just say that certain characters get a happy ending and some of them don't. I wonder if James is passing judgement on them for their actions in the story.

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