Reading Henry James with Jim Kraft

Reading Henry James
with James Kraft

Saturdays, November 7, 2020- February 27, 2021
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm  

Online via Zoom: registration required

• Saturday 11/7/20: The Europeans (1878) & Daisy Miller (1878)

• Note-- there are excellent film adaptations of both:  "The Europeans" (1979) directed by Merchant and Ivory and starring Lee Remick; "Daisy Miller" (1974) directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Cybill Shepherd

• Saturday 12/5/20: The Portrait of a Lady (1880)

This was adapted into a 1998 film directed by Jane Campion and starring Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Park, Christian Bale, John Gielgud and many others

• Saturday 1/9/21: The Bostonians (1885)

• A 1984 film adaptation was directed by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Reeve, Madeleine Potter, and Jessica Tandy.

• Saturday 2/6/21: “The Author of Beltraffio” (1884), “The Aspern Papers” (1888), “The Lesson of the Master” (1888) and “The Altar of the Dead” (1895) (The first three can be found in this collection of his short stories.)
  

• Saturday 2/27/21: What Maisie Knew (1897) and The Spoils of Poynton (1896)

Please read again any work that you have already read.  A second reading of James is a different and exciting experience.  NOTE: Henry James is not a quick read; we recommend starting the readings well in advance of the discussion session.

Reading Henry James is led by longtime OLLI literature instructor James Kraft, who attended Princeton, King’s College, Cambridge University, and Fordham.  He has a doctorate in literature and has taught at the University of Virginia, Université Laval in Quebec City, and Wesleyan in Connecticut.  He was assistant director of the Whitney Museum for eight years, and now teaches at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College and at the New York Society Library in New York City.

In addition to the above films that supplement the readings, there are several other film adaptations of Henry James--

• "The Innocents" (1961) based on "The Turn of the Screw"-- directed by Jack Clayton and starring Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave and Megs Jenkins
• "The Heiress" (1949) based on "Washington Square"-- directed by William Wyler and starring Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift and Ralph Richardson
• "What Maisey Knew" (2012)-- directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, and starring Julianne Moore, Alexander Skardsgard, Onata Aprile and more
• "The Wings of the Dove" (1997)-- directed by Iain Softley and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache and Alison Elliot
• "The Golden Bowl" (2000)-- directed by James Ivory and starring Kate Beckinsale, Nick Nolte, Anjelica Huston, Uma Thurman and more