On the Bostonians

The Good:

• Really beautiful writing;

• A thoroughly recognizable depiction of Boston—I think that James’s depiction of Bostonian progressivism is still true today, with all of its promise, pitfalls, and hypocrisies;

• Great treatment of the era as a “postwar” to the Civil War—although the end of Reconstruction is usually viewed at the end of the affair, you can clearly see the unresolved tensions between the North and the South which still, sadly, continue to the present;

• A rare moment of a pre-1945 author depicting closeted homosexuality;

• Some really interesting characters.

The Bad:

• The main characters are the actual worst: aforementioned lesbian character is incredibly manipulative, the Southerner is horribly chauvinistic, Verena Tarrant is hopelessly naïve—unlikeable characters are important and good, but I don’t see any redeeming aspect of any of them;

• Nothing happens, at all, whatsoever.