Tag: literary blog uk

“I want to bring them down,—down, down, down! I want to turn the tables upon them—I want to mortify them as they mortified me. They took me up into a high place and made me stand there for all the world to see me, and then they stole behind me and pushed me into this bottomless pit, where I lie howling and gnashing my teeth! I made a fool of myself before all their friends; but I shall make something worse of them.” 

The American is my third foray into James’ literary repertoire (after The Bostonians & What Maisie Knew) and once again I was not disappointed. However, this novel is different from the previous two that I’ve read, given that as well as the tragicomedy typical of James, there are also overwhelming elements of a crime thriller. I found The American to be a gripping read that at once reveres and admonishes the unbreakable customs of European polite society, from the perspective of an American outsider.

James’ protagonist is wealthy American businessman Christopher Newman. Having made his millions, Newman descends on Europe seeking a beautiful wife to complete his fortune. While staying in Paris, he meets the arrestingly beautiful Claire de Cintré of the ancient House of Bellegarde. Newman is determined to make Claire his wife and while Claire likes him back, she is always cautious due to her family’s haughty expectations. The House of Bellegarde is a longstanding unbroken aristocratic French bloodline; as a result of the family’s pride in keeping their ancestry ‘pure’, they are running out of money. This is perhaps the only reason Claire’s mother, the intimidating Old Marquise, and Claire’s eldest brother, Urbain, even consider Newman’s courtship of Claire, given his immense riches. The only family member truly allied with Newman is Claire’s energetic younger brother Valentin, who becomes a firm friend of the American. James uses this dilemma to tell a tale of clashes between the old and new world, resulting in thwarted desire, comedy, tragedy, romance and crime.

The tensions that arise from the collision of the old and new world in the novel are worthy of further discussion. In the late 1800s, American society was less constrained by stiff social customs than its European counterparts. For example, it celebrated people from any background, such as Newman, going out and making their own fortune, both socially and financially, from commercial enterprise. In fact, many upper-class Americans at this time were self-made. Newman, and others like him, were ‘nouveau riche’. There was also such a thing as the ‘American Gentry’, quasi-aristocratic families whose wealth stretched back to the British colonial period, but I’m not sure that someone from this background would even be good enough for the Bellegardes. 

Newman’s bid for Claire’s hand is met with an extremely icy reaction from her mother and eldest brother, though they let him visit Claire frequently for six months. Evidently, they are trying to see if they can swallow their pride and stomach Newman’s American manners, outlook and background for the sake of the boost of wealth that he would bring them. In his innocence to the deeply ingrained prejudices and traditions of the Bellegardes, Newman believes his visits and introductions to their friends are all working in his favour, meaning it is an even bigger blow when they simply say, after all that time, ‘no’. It is interesting to observe the struggle between Newman and the Old Marquise; their views of the world are completely incongruous and represent the wider tensions between old and new money in the West. It is at this point sadly that Claire rejects Newman’s proposal after being forced to do so by her mother, even though she loves him and would like to escape with him to America. This leads the devastated Newman to sniff around for the leverage the Bellegardes have over Claire, resulting in a shockingly criminal discovery.

As an American who lived much of his adult life in Europe, I wonder how many comparisons James drew between himself and Newman. In his early novels such as The American and The Portrait of a Lady (1881), his aim was to analyse the impact of older European civilisations on American life. James himself had a distinct affiliation with Great Britain rather than France, living in London for twenty years before moving to Rye, East Sussex. I have seen his house in De Vere Gardens many times while strolling through Kensington. Some people find James’ writing style unwieldy, but I rather like it; he has managed to use consistent, extremely long sentences to excellent narrative effect in each novel of his that I’ve read so far. While reading The American, I was nothing short of hooked, firstly by the colourful nature of the characters and secondly by the climactic finale, in which James uses the tensions built up throughout the novel to culminate in a melodramatic and unexpected end.

Generally, it is James’ later novels that are considered his greatest, but I think a case should be made for The American to join this roster. If you’re after an eye-opening insight into the social norms of late nineteenth-century Europe and America, with a good dose of drama thrown in, then please step this way.

Happy reading,

Imo x