What Maisie Knew Audiobook By Henry James cover art

What Maisie Knew

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What Maisie Knew

By: Henry James
Narrated by: Maureen O' Brien
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Maisie is an innocent six year-old, torn between her divorced parents, pathetically isolated yet tragically involved. The only emotional constant in Maisie's life is Mrs. Wix, a motherly old governess.

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Insightful Child Perspective • Relevant Societal Story • Excellent Narration • Poignant Emotional Depth
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The best thing about this story that it is „what Maisie Knew.“ Generally reading James is a pleasure that requires concentration and a pencil and dictionary to hand— just to get the nuances of the rich sentences. Reading carefully paragraph-long. sentences can be a little disconcerting. Consequently, the second best thing about the recording was the reader‘s grasp of the meaning and then interpretation and control of those wonderful sentences, making them Actually
easily comprehensible.
The strangest thing about this recording was that included 5 extra chapters, repeated in the middle of the book. Now

James at his best ( of course).

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Maureen O'Brien's narration bring this story to life. The story of a the insecurity of a child being tossed about from one parental figure to the next is, unfortunately, still relevant in today's society. It is told from Maisie's perspective, you learn what she learns. There are gaps in time that are experienced without explanation as it would pass for a child. James magnificently brings the reader into Maisie's vantage point to the extent that I felt myself being pulled in several directions right along with her. The main characters complexities are written beautifully.
The one let down was the repulsive treatment that is given to a black woman who has a very minor role. It is offensive and hard to read.
Also, a technical glitch: 5 chapters are repeated about 2/3 into the story.

Exquisite Narration of a timeless James Novel

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This reading is as good as it gets, and shows the value of audiobooks. Hearing this book read out loud by such a capable reader brings, for me at least, a new dimension of pleasure and understanding. I thought I knew the novel well from reading off the page, but there are so many nuances that hearing it at the pace of the spoken word adds a great deal. The reading is just right -- it's a reading, but not a performance, and not overdone.

Perfect reading of a unique, fascinating novel

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How deeply James sees into the social order he knows. Except for a horrific portrayal of a black woman this novel is sublime. We come to understand the mores of the gentle class by watching through Maudie’s eyes. She is a great creation, the precursor of Lyra!

Wonderful performance of James at his most subtle

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James is a hard writer to read aloud. He's a hard writer to read off the page. His sentences are long, with lots of subordinate clauses, that express delicate shades of meaning. They are often beautiful, but it's a difficult beauty. Maureen O'Brien does more than make James' book understandable, she makes it live in all its subtlety.

A great reader reads a great writer

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Maisie appears to be the pawn of her feckless, self-involved parents; and then the adored darling of her subsequent stepparents. The story is told more or less from Maisie's point of view. We only know as much as she does -- no, let's take that back. She might know far more than we realize she knows. Who is playing who in this bitter game?

What other book might you compare What Maisie Knew to and why?

It's a psychological study, alive to every nuance of expression and unstated communication, but Maisie, as all humans do, remains a mystery. I'm sure some perfect comparisons will spring to mind as soon as I finish this review. But it's safe to say that if you found Turn of the Screw unsatisfying, you will not like this either. James hands you nothing but complexity and ambiguity. In other words: life.

Which scene was your favorite?

The very last scene. It is not a spoiler to say that it is a play on the title of the book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I returned to this book after seeing the updated movie version of the book with Julianne Moore and Steven Coogan as the irresponsible, self-involved parents. But in the film, Maisie is played by a darling girl whose sweetness is touching and beautiful. Here, Maisie is far more complex.

Any additional comments?

Maureen O'Brien does an amazing job capturing the accents (with all the class connotations) as well as the emotions of the characters, which requires great insight into both human nature and literature as well as great acting skills. I will search out more books read by her.

Unexpectedly Modern Story, Beautifully Read

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Reading What Maisie Knew was one of the most entertaining - and surprisingly funny - experiences I've had with a classical novel. Yes, it's deeply sad, and yes, it's about a child being used and passed around like a piece of baggage in a bitter divorce , but Henry James manages to make it feel wickedly clever, psychologically rich and at times even absurd.
The adults are all engaged in a relentless game of deceit, jealousy and vengeance - motivated by sex, control , and social posturing . They lie, cheat, switch partners and constantly shift alliances and poor Maisie is left trying to piece together what little she can understand. It's like Les Liaisons Dangereuses viewed through the eyes of a child !
What struck me was how modern this all felt . The themes of custody battles, toxic parenting, passive-aggressive manipulation and money ( it's rarely mentioned but it's always there , of course ! ) could easily belong to a contemporary drama. And yet, James wrote it in 1897 . If the plot sometimes felt hard to follow, this only deepened my admiration : If I , as an adult, struggled to keep up with the betrayals , imagine how confusing the world must have seemed to Maisie .

Victorian Soap Opera Written By A Genius

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Any additional comments?

I wasn't sure I'd like a book about a little girl being manipulated by her parents, but I bought it because I love Henry James' writing. This is an excellent story and is made fabulous by Maureen O'Brien's narration. At first, I was startled by her rather high pitch and thought I would tire of it and never get through the book, but you know, I never did tire of it, and I have come to believe I would not have enjoyed the written novel as well without her voice. All characters are distinct, and I was actually able to conjure up particular actors for each character, so well were they portrayed.

Of course, there's so much more to the story than Maisie being manipulated by her parents; in fact, nearly every adult with whom she comes in contact tries to use her for their own personal gain. She is precocious enough to resist being pulled in completely by any one person, though, and we're never really certain "what Maisie knew" because there is so little internal analysis for her.

I was very frustrated with never being told how old she is as the story progresses, and I couldn't tell whether she had aged a few years or several. I had to assume we see her last as a teenager. I think it may be the only criticism I have of the book.

The writing, oh, the writing! It's beautiful, and O'Brien enhanced it.

Nobody writes like Henry James. Perfect narration!

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The narcissistic and impulse driven adults who surround Maisie (name of my childhood kitten, btw), remarkably, tragically continue to dominate too many blighted childhoods today. Her guileless reactions to it all, intent upon pleasing, choosing her words and responses accordingly, are heartwarming and heartbreaking. While James’ insights into a child’s heart are acutely accurate, poignant and revelatory—children see and know so much more than adults think they do—he omits, in my opinion, most of the darker internalized elements which would unavoidably result from such unrelenting personal attacks and/or lack of constancy from both her parents and all “caregivers.” Further, while her physical needs are never neglected, threats of even that being taken away are ever hovering over her to compound the shifting sands of Maisie’s reality.

The tendency to cling to hope, readily accepting all that is perceived as good, is innately at the core of the childlike heart, but James omits the gaping abyss of fear, hurt, sorrow and anger that would begin, early on, to lacerate that heart under those depraved, amoral conditions. Maisie’s verbally abused, lied to and overexposed to many of the worst characteristics of human nature from her cradle. She could not escape a deeper, darker response to it all, inseparably woven into and around the sweetness in her that James so beautifully conveys.

Still relevant—sadly

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What brilliant novel that deals with child's psychology! Such things are rare and precious. Please read this masterpiece. Nabokov hated this novel, but Nabokov's own novel that involves a child.... well you know what it is about. Nabokov liked only one writer in this world- himself. What he says about Dostoevsky in his lectures is absolute rubbish.

Loved it.

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