Henry James investigates cultural transformations, political changes and art and religion, as well as the essence of travel itself in these articles he wrote about his travels throughout Italy between 1872 and 1909. The countries explored in the book are Rome, Venice, Ravenna, Florence, Siena, and Tuscany. James's fervent admiration of the unrivalled artistic attractiveness of Venice, the vibrancy of Rome, and the boisterous, sensual appeal of Naples is everywhere. What's unique about this travel writing is that James does not gloss over the shortcomings of a place to present them as perfect. He brings forth both the ugly aspects of a place, for example the poor conditions of Venice while also bringing forth all the beauty as a sort of compensation. He heavily focuses on Venice and Rome but James does not neglect the rest of the country making sure that his essays are extensive and provides the readers with a clear picture of the conditions of a place. However, the essays on Rome feels the most personal to James as he includes a lot of his personal experiences in them like his horseback riding and walks through the different neighborhoods.
Henry James OM was an American-born British author born in New York City on 15 April 1843. He is recognized as a crucial figure in the transition from literary realism to literary modernism. Henry James, Sr., an investor, and banker in Albany, was his father. Henry James was medically unfit in 1861 to fight in the American Civil War. For The Nation and Atlantic Monthly, he produced both fiction and nonfiction writing. Later, in 1878, Watch and Ward was published as a book. He left for Paris in 1875 and arrived in London in 1876. The Portrait of a Lady (1878), was released in 1881. He relocated to Sussex in 1897-1898, where he wrote The Turn of the Screw. He wrote The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove, and The Golden Bowl between 1902 and 1904. He received the Order of Merit in 1915 and became a citizen of Great Britain. His memoirs A Small Boy and Others and Notes of a Son and Brother were both published in 1913. He received the Order of Merit in 1915 and became a citizen of Great Britain. He was cremated after passing away on February 28, 1916, in Chelsea, London.
