THE MASTER

TITLE: THE MASTER
AUTHOR: COLM TOIBIN
Pages: 555
Date: 21/01/2009
Grade: 4
Details: Large Print
Library Reading Group book for January.
Library

This book was hard work, and I'm not sure if I would have finished it if it hadn't been the Reading Group book for this month.
"The Master" of the title is Henry James, and although the book declares itself "a novel" on the cover, I found it an easier read once I started to treat it as if it were a non-fiction book. I expect my fiction to be entertaining in a different way then I do non-fiction. And seeing it in such a way made the "wordiness" of this book and its descriptive nature less irritating.
I've got a feeling that I might have enjoyed this book more if I had known more about Henry James and/or had read some of his work before starting this novel.
I'm less likely to do so now though, since I did not like the person described in this book. Maybe it is necessary to be selfish in order to be a great writer, I don't know, but Mr. James was far too obsessed with himself and his comforts and the impression he made on others (in this book anyway) for my liking.