The Figure in the Carpet
Enwrapped in indescribable mysteriousness, `The Figure in the Carpet' (1896) is a short story by the American-born British writer Henry James. It explores the meaning of art and how it is found in what other people see.
Hugh Vereker is a famous author who says the secret to his greatness and skill is hidden in his works `like a complex figure in a Persian carpet'. When the narrator of the story meets Vereker, he becomes obsessed with discovering the secret meaning of his favourite author's works.
Those who enjoy Henry James' short story will likely find ´Eureka´ by Anthony Quinn interesting as The Figure is an important part of the plot.
Henry James (1843-1916) was an American-born, British author, and one of the founders of the school of realism in fiction. His inventive use of interior monologues and unreliable narrators, brought a complexity and depth to his work that made him hugely popular.
A prolific writer, he published numerous novels, articles, travel books, biographies and plays. Many of his stories have been adapted for TV and film, such as `What Maisie Knew' (2012) starring Steve Coogan and Julianne Moore.
However, it is his celebrated Gothic novella `The Turn of the Screw' (1898), regarded as one of the greatest ghost stories ever written, that has been adapted more than any other. Most recently, the eponymous 2009 BBC TV series starring Michelle Dockery, and the Netflix series, `The Haunting of Bly Manor' (2020).
James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916.
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Hugh Vereker is a famous author who says the secret to his greatness and skill is hidden in his works `like a complex figure in a Persian carpet'. When the narrator of the story meets Vereker, he becomes obsessed with discovering the secret meaning of his favourite author's works.
Those who enjoy Henry James' short story will likely find ´Eureka´ by Anthony Quinn interesting as The Figure is an important part of the plot.
Henry James (1843-1916) was an American-born, British author, and one of the founders of the school of realism in fiction. His inventive use of interior monologues and unreliable narrators, brought a complexity and depth to his work that made him hugely popular.
A prolific writer, he published numerous novels, articles, travel books, biographies and plays. Many of his stories have been adapted for TV and film, such as `What Maisie Knew' (2012) starring Steve Coogan and Julianne Moore.
However, it is his celebrated Gothic novella `The Turn of the Screw' (1898), regarded as one of the greatest ghost stories ever written, that has been adapted more than any other. Most recently, the eponymous 2009 BBC TV series starring Michelle Dockery, and the Netflix series, `The Haunting of Bly Manor' (2020).
James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916.
Henry James
Henry James ((1843-04-15)15 April 1843 – (1916-02-28)28 February 1916) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of theologian Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
James's novels deal with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady (1881). His later works, such as The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904) were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been described as Impressionist.
His novella The Turn of the Screw (1898) has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner" (1908).
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, he spent much of his life abroad. James largely relocated to Europe in his thirties, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said, "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."
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![ebook cover of Le tour d´écrou [édition intégrale revue et mise à jour], by Henry James](https://mysmartbook.fr/media/7b/a3/29/1775562130/le-tour-decrou-edition-integrale-revue-et-mise-a-jour-henry-james-9791023203301-cover.jpg?ts=1790064676 "ebook cover of Le tour d´écrou [édition intégrale revue et mise à jour], by Henry James")
