Symbolism for Breakfast

I rather enjoyed The Talented Mr. Ripley. It wasn't amazingly, painfully beautiful like my absolute favorites are, but it was a lot of fun. It has many of my favorite things, specifically a murder mystery of sorts, Venice, European travel in general, and hotels. Lots and lots of hotels. Really, what more could you want?

I haven't actually seen the movie, but now I want to. I have, though, of course, read The Ambassadors. I think reading that one first definitely increased my enjoyment of this particular book. If you've ever wanted to murder a Henry James character, this truly is the next best thing! It was so much fun for that reason alone. I'm not sure that I would ever need to read the (many, many) additional books in this series, but this one was a good romp. I particularly loved the ending.

As I mentioned earlier, it doesn't have the qualities that make me adore a book, and there isn't a whole lot to really analyze here. It's just fun, and sometimes that's a good thing.

For example, it's a good thing before tackling yet another Henry James, say. I read The Golden Bowl after this one, which was not a coincidence. Did I like this book? No, I did not. There was one scene that was amazing, and the last 100 pages or so were pretty compelling (essentially once Maggie starts to take some control of the situation). Overall, though, I couldn't get past the creepy factor. I ask you, would you set up one of your friends with your father? She's not even an older friend, really. She is two years older than you. That's just creepy. The story already has some creep due to the father/daughter vibe that is a bit sketchy. I do like Maggie's arc a bit, but it was so claustrophobic, the symbolism of the golden bowl was heavy handed, and I do not like his style. I just don't, and I don't care that I should.

That said, drum roll please! Because I have now finished all the Henry James' works on the list! I am so excited. The only one of his that I liked was The Wings of the Dove, and I don't think I liked it in the proper manner.