THE MASTER: Deconstructin Henry

In his magnificent novel “The Master”, Colm Tóibín managed to bring us the man behind the genius — in this case American writer Henry James, autor of “The Portrait of a Lady“, among other books. The narrative focus in a period about a year and a half that the author was set in Europe, and working on some of his most sophisticated novels, such as “The Wings of the Dove” and “The Golden Bowl”.

“The Master” deals with the thin line between what is real and what was inspiration to produce fiction. Back and forth, the narrative portrays James’s past and present, his childhood in American, the death of his sister, friends that were important to his life among other things. Somehow everything ends up being inspiration for the master creating his novels and short stories.

At the same time, Tóibín is able to produce a Henry James that is extremely human, dealing with success, failure, frustrated love and things like these. The novel begins with the infamous opening night of the writer’s play that was a huge flop. Depressed, James questions his work and the art itself.

Just like the whole novel that is a meditation about art and its power. Tóibín’s prose follows James’s style, which makes the novel acquire its own rhythm. Fans of the classic writer will be pleased not only to see him as a convincing character, but also because the may feel they are reading one of his best novels. At the same time, Tóibín managed to create his own literary voice, which is very powerful and resonant. It is not his aim to uncover his character’s life, and he doesn’t attempt to do so — what he does is to illuminate some dark corners of the human soul and the result is devastating. 

Originalmente publicado em www.Amazon.com em 30/04/06