“It has made me better loving you... it has made me wiser, and easier, and brighter. I used to want a great many things before, and to be angry that I did not have them. Theoretically, I was satisfied. I flattered myself that I had limited my wants. But I was subject to irritation; I used to have morbid sterile hateful fits of hunger, of desire. Now I really am satisfied, because I can’t think of anything better. It’s just as when one has been trying to spell out a book in the twilight, and suddenly the lamp comes in. I had been putting out my eyes over the book of life, and finding nothing to reward me for my pains; but now that I can read it properly I see that it’s a delightful story.”

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About Henry James

American-British author

Henry James was an American-British author, and a major figure in the shift from literary realism to literary modernism. He lived from 1843 to 1916. He is widely read as one of the leading novelists in English, known for fiction that sits between the detailed social world of realism and the more inward concerns of modern writing. He was the son of theologian Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.

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Books by Henry James

The Turn of the Screw

2003

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Daisy Miller

1987

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The Ambassadors

1957

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Washington Square

1998

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What Maisie Knew

1974

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