The New York herald., 1875-12-26
lsoDERICK HUDSON.


RoDERICK HJDsoS. BY Henry James, Jr. Boston:
james X. osgood Il Co.
II could go gallery OF statuary and breathe
life into the marble figures posing gracefully around us
would experience the strange sensations we
have after reading of Henry James, RS,
None OF his characters real men and women. They
have too much dignity to be called puppets and too
much warmth to be called statues Yet they more
like marble figures than real flesh and blood have
no human sympathy with his heroes and heroines,
stu we are drawn to them by irresistible fascina
tion Mrs Hudson is the only real person in this
last book of Mr. James, ana consequently she
is the least interesting. Roderick is type
of genius exaggerated let hope but not impossible
milder form. II is much for the story that
Mr.. James books charming for their beautiful
language ana wonderful descriptive powers Mr..
James is not story teller any more than Hawthorne
story teller. He is a romancst, and one OF the
best living He is cosmopolitan in literature well
as in life and his models the best of foreign
ters Mono of his books end in a conventional way
probably because he is conventional writer and
those who look for and they lived together happily
aer at the end of the last chapter of any of his
novelettes will be disappointed.
In Roderck Hudson we find young man OF genius
who was growing up untaught and unappreciated in a
retired New England village. fairy godmother
low, with for the fine arts Rowland has just
arrived at the village to say goodby to his
cousin Cecilia before he sails for Europe. There
he meets Roderck and is shown bronze ngure of his
designing which strikes the connoisseur being Of
great promise. He Immediately proposes taking
Roderck along with him to Europe and proposition
is accepted. Before the two young men set sail Row
land meets a cousin OF Rodericks Mary Garland in
whom he becomes very much interested, but tries to
forget when he finds that she engaged to Roderick
The reader cannot sympathze with this singular fancy
the part of of the world like Rowland. She
plain in face, dress and manner The expressions
of her face "followed each other slowly distinctly
gravey, sincerely, and you might almost have fanced
as they came and went that they gave her sort of
pain There in the world that
Roderick should have loved her either and we don't
believe that he ever did, at any rate not very deeply.
When the two arrive in Rome they meet Christina
Light the beautiful daughter OF a semadventuress and
Rodcrck becomes enamored and evidently torgets ali
about Mary Christina had pair of extraordinary dark
blue eyes, a OF dusky hair low forehead,
blooming oval face Of perfect purity, flexible lip, just
touched with disdain and the step and carriage Of
prncess-iust such vision as would turn any young
mans head, particularly artists Rodorck worked
well when he first came to Rome, and quite distin-
gushod himself and his statues bought by Row
land. But after he became in love with Christina he
behaved like lunatc. In fact, he was little better
than insane at the best Of times Christina only liked
him plaything; he was too weak character for
her. She so uncertain Of herself that she could
not have loved as n husband a man OF inferior will
Rowland was the unwilling conadant Of both parties,
for he did not at all approve OF Rodcrck's conduct.
Roderck is the most exasperatng characters no has all
the eccentricies Of genius He would not work unless
he felt certain inspiration. Michael Angelo could
not have been moro whimsical lie hung around
Christina everywhere she went and really thought that
she loved him. But what woman could love such
wcakling? He handsome and talented, but he
conceted and bad tempered also. When Christina
really dropped him and married another he acted
in the most outrageous manner. He simply gave him
self up despair He refused to turn his hand TO any
thing and no said that his brain dead He begged
Roderck TO shoot him and put him out Of his misery
Altogether his conduct was unmanly and unbearable
He did not pretend TO love Christina after her marriage
but abused her right and left shes as cold and falso
and heartess she's beautiful he said in his rage,
and she has sold her heartess beauty to tho highest
bidder. hope he knows what no getsp She would
have done worse had sho married Roderick, for his
heartessness would have shownjtsnn aler the honey