James the Minimalist: An Essay on the Late Novels

An experiment in criticism that explores Henry James's late works through the lens of minimalism.

Henry James's last completed novels-The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove, and The Golden Bowl-are among the greatest and most demanding achievements of modern fiction. The stories they tell are perverse: characters are compelling even at their most cruel, their actions often calculating and loving at the same time. The novels draw on deep-seated myths but end with an unsettling lack of fina...