Henry James/Edith Wharton

It was interesting to read Henry James's work "The Art of Fiction." It was a little difficult, but in any event, I took it as a nineteenth century how-to book on a subject which was largely frown upon for many years prior. It took a couple pages to realize that James was in fact, pro-fiction. For any person reading a manual about how to fix something (for argument's sake I will use a car), one would not use a manual for a '79 Ford to fix a 2004. Times change, text books change, but there are numerous things I pulled from "The Art of Fiction" that I whole heartedly agree with. Fiction should be looked at as an art form. Fiction writers should be in the same boat as painters are to painting, or musicians are to an orchestra. Fiction writing is without a shadow of a doubt, a work of art. Writers are always tinkering with their piece hardly ever, sometimes never satisfied with what they write. Fiction should also be about personal experience as well. Although fiction is a work that deals with things that have never happened in reality, fiction still needs a muse to become effective. Fictionalizing real events are what many of the world's greatest works are based upon. Finally, the quote that grabbed my attention the most was on page 556. "The 'ending' of a novel is, for many persons, like that of a good dinner, a course of dessert and ices..." This quote couldn't have rang truer. The ending of a work of fiction is what pulls every loose end together. Since the ending (dessert), is what the reader looks most forward to, a bad ending can ruin the whole story.

James's piece applies greatly to Emily Wharton's work, "Souls Belated". Wharton does a tremendous job using everyday occurances from the eyes of characters like Lydia and Gammet. Both have varying views on how the proper way to live life. There is certainly a romance between the two, but conflict definately arises. These varying views serve as a force that could potentially pull the two away from each other. This case happens every day in modern terms as it could have happened in Wharton's time. I must apologize for the approaching cliche, but the ending was typically the sweetest part of the story. We were lead on for roughly 90% of the story to believe that the relationship between Lydia and Gammet would never work. As we read on, even up until the fourth to last paragraph on the last page (865) it seemed as if the inevitable were to happen. When Gammet finally came to grips with having to be without Lydia, who was already on the wharf awaiting departure, had second thoughts and rushed off the boat to ultimately wed Gammet. This turn, in my eyes, is what makes "Souls Belated" such a powerful work, and ultimately, such an effective fictional story.