read Portrait Of A Lady by Henry James

She holds her head up high until the end…

and that’s all I’m gonna tell you.

I only have about 80 pages left and the last quarter of the book is an incredible scandal. I’m glad I stuck with it. I like the heroine again…Isabel is alright with me.

I started getting into it again. It’s finally reached a point where Isabel admits that she had all the opportunity in the world with her life, a rare condition for a woman in those times….and she basically threw it all away by marrying a sour man.

Her unhappiness is coming to light…and the fact that she keeps it all to herself makes it a little difficult for anyone to feel sorry for her.

The book is still annoying as you still have these wonderful men still pining over her 6 years after she’s already married…it’s just not realistic and I don’t enjoy that part about people being so dedicated to someone who rejected them over such a length of time. I think it propogates the false and self-damaging outlook that many people have that they are in some way still connected with people who wouldn’t have them.

To hope when there is no hope is a waste of time. One has to move on in life and see turns life takes. One can’t continue to focus on lost opportunities, but must figure out what they go and strive for it elsewhere. One can’t be so narrow-minded as to say that only one option will ever do for them and give up on the rest if that one doesn’t work out. That’s a recipe for failure and unhappiness. We only live once….time passes quickly. Don’t waste it on needless efforts.

It is predictable what will happen. Pansy will marry Lord Warburton, although she is in love with Rosier.

Whereas Isabel was free to reject men, even Warburton at one point, her step-daughter is hopelessly caught in being wed to the highest bidder. Such a different standard.

I’m disgusted already but it makes me think of the fortune women in the USA and many other parts of the world have today in not being 100% reliant upon men to support them, and being much more free to select for themselves who is the worthy candidate.

Not that women always do a good job of this…it is very common to see cases where others may make a better decision on behalf of the lady than she does for herself.

Well it’s our world and all we can do is live in it. I dunno..I find the book frustrating but it does get me thinking for sure.

I’m not so terribly taken with this book as I was. And I have 330 pages more to trudge through. It’s turning into a rather sappy portrayal of the several men whom have been rejected by Isabel. They are the lot of them hopeless hangers on.

Love is a moving target…hopefully you and the object of your affection can move in the same direction, but if not, you still move..only elsewhere. Sure, you may be in a rut for awhile, but you will eventually move elsewhere.

In this book, men of fortune, looks, success are devoted to her even through time after rejection and even in the face of her marrying someone else. It’s just not realistic and it’s a bit annoying.

One can hardly feel sorry for people whose sentiment over years does not diminish even though it is unrequited and will lead nowhere. These are not sensible people.

So frankly, I’m not liking these characters and the “heroine” is so cold hearted, I’m not very interested in her either.

I am somewhat disappointed…in the fact that with all the suitors Isabel has, her eye seems to be struck by a lazy lay-about who has not accomplished much in life, although he is somewhat older than she. We also get to read his perspective, and he’s not so very taken with her as he professes.

On the other hand, I’m not very impressed with Isabel’s treating coldly the good Sir Warbarton, a perfect gentleman who has everything in the world to offer…her coldness to the several gentleman who have persued her in good faith almost make one say…well she’s going to get what she deserves…

Should I write more? If anyone is considering reading, I should not reveal the story.

I am amazed at the amount of people in this book that just lay about. Have no job and just wile away the hours and the days doing….little.

This book makes me really want to strive to succeed in my life…because one of my end goals is to take a 3 month vacation in Italy…rent a small home in the south part of Italy and just really lose myself on the other side of the world for just long enough to forget about the USA before I come traipsing back.

This is what they do in this book…they travel from country to country in a life of leisure.

The book is absolutely charming. Henry James is a wonderful story teller. This book details the journey of a young lady away from America and to a complete different way of life in Europe.

The characters are given much depth…I like Ralph particularly….some things that happen are somewhat predictable, but interesting in their drama….I feel like I’m reading a tele-novela from the 1920s.