When Mr. James began writing a generation ago there had been no
American fiction of a high order for twenty years or more, and
the country had grown rapidly in experience and knowledge. Mr.
James showed this more cosmopolitan attitude toward the world,
and his style had a quality which was new in our fiction. It was
clear in those days; it had great flexibility and capacity for
conveying fine distinctions and delicate shadings of thought; it
had a tone of maturity which was lacking in the earlier writers,
and it was the medium of expression of a thoroughly trained man
to whom writing was a fine art. The early short stories, of
which “The Passionate Pilgrim” may serve as an example, arrested
attention by reason of their insight into character and their fine
workmanship. There was an air of romance about them; but it was the
romance of human temperament, not of incident. The early novels
were not popular in the sense of running into large editions; but
“The American” found many readers who were quick to appreciate
its penetrating and searching analysis of character, its sharp
contrasts of American and European traits, and the refinement of a
style which is both rich and restrained.
[Illustration: W. D. HOWELLS’ SUMMER HOME AT KITTERY, MAINE; ALSO
INTERIOR OF LIBRARY]
[Illustration]
All novelists reveal character; but those in whom the dramatic
instinct is strong show it chiefly in action. Mr. James brings out
character largely by means of analysis and description, and for
this reason he is often classed among the psychological novelists.
In his later years the habit of analysis grew on him to such
an extent that the movement of his stories was impeded and his
style became complex and at times obscure. In a time when social
relations between America and Europe were becoming more intimate,
Mr. James found a rare opportunity of studying American character
against a European background, and in the whole range of fiction
there have been few writers of more acute penetration, of greater
delicacy of stroke and line in painting character, than he. He
was one of the small group of American authors to whom the word
“distinction” may be applied.