The Portrait of a Lady Audiobook By Henry James cover art

The Portrait of a Lady

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The Portrait of a Lady

By: Henry James
Narrated by: Marvin Kane
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About this listen

The Portrait of a Lady is often regarded as Henry James's greatest achievement.

The novel tells the story of beautiful, intelligent, and headstrong Isabel Archer, as she leaves her native America and embarks on a journey of self discovery in Europe.

Published as a book in 1881, it explores his familiar themes including the conflict between American individualism and European social custom and the situation of Americans in Europe. It also treats in a profound way the themes of personal freedom, responsibility, betrayal, and sexuality.

American-born English author Henry James (1843- 1916), was one of the founders and leaders of realism in fiction and is considered to be one of the great British novelists.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Public Domain (P)2008 RNIB
Classics
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What listeners say about The Portrait of a Lady

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Audio issues make a frustrating experience

While the novel provides an intriguing look into the complications of wealth in late 19th century, audio issues distracted from the start--random sounds like bumping into a a table, coughing and throats clearing in the background every few minutes were aggravating.

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    4 out of 5 stars

The worst listen in over 280 audio books!

What disappointed you about The Portrait of a Lady?

The production. The story was good - better than expected in that the lovers actually do consummate their romance and marry even if unhappily. But the narration and the production was not worthy of Henry James. There were long pauses and many errors in the reading. There was no enthusiasm in the reading and no attempt to get in character.

What other book might you compare The Portrait of a Lady to and why?

Dickens, Jane Austen etc.

Would you be willing to try another one of Marvin Kane’s performances?

Never!

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  • Overall
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Tedious

Like watching paint dry

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    1 out of 5 stars

I can't recomend this to anyone.

If you look up the word verbose in the dictionary you will find a picture of Henry James. I listened to the first 5 chapters, hoping things would improve...now I can't bear to listen to another word. The conversations are shallow and boring. Ugh!

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