Washington Square - A Big Read Documentary
From: National Endowment for the Arts
Series: The Big Read
Length: 28:41
Henry James is one of the monuments of American Literature. He is so monumental in fact, that many people never read him. He seems too detached, forbidding, and Olympian. If you have been intimidated by James's formidable reputation, read the first few pages of Washington Square.
This compelling novel presents Catherine Sloper, a young society woman, in her thwarted search for love-from her cold, disapproving father and the man he forbids her to marry. With psychological insight and perfect narrative pacing, James creates the heartbreaking story of a woman unable to escape the past that imprisons her or to create the future she desires.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
Henry James is one of the monuments of American Literature. He is so monumental in fact, that many people never read him. He seems too detached, forbidding, and Olympian. If you have been intimidated by James's formidable reputation, read the first few pages of Washington Square.
This compelling novel presents Catherine Sloper, a young society woman, in her thwarted search for love-from her cold, disapproving father and the man he forbids her to marry. With psychological insight and perfect narrative pacing, James creates the heartbreaking story of a woman unable to escape the past that imprisons her or to create the future she desires.
Transcript
Washington Square
by Henry James
Audio Guide Script - May 2009
Music up and under
Jo Reed Now, The Big Read.
Annette Bening [Reads from Washington Square, page 34]
She was a healthy, well-grown child, without a trace of her mother’s beauty. She was not ugly; she had simply a plain, dull, gentle countenance. The most that had ever been said for her was that she had a ‘nice’ face; and, though she was an heiress, no one had ever thought of regarding her as a belle. […] Catherine was decidedly not clever; she was not quick with her book, nor, indeed, with anything else. […] She was extremely fond of her father, and very much afraid of him; she thought him the cleverest and handsomest and most celebrated of men.
Reed That’s Annette Bening reading from Washington Square by Henry James.
Welcome to the Big Read, a program created by the National Endowment for the Arts in par...
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Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selections of Beethoven's piano sonata | Seymour Likpin | Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas. | Newport Classic, Ltd. | 2004 | 00:00 |
| Violin Sonata #3 in D Minor, Op. 108 - Adagio | Ilya Kaler (violin) and Alexander Peskanov (piano) | Brahms: Sonatas for Violin and Piano . | Naxos of America | 2002 | 00:00 |
| "Steyrische Tanze," Op. 165 | Tanzquartett Wien | Dance Music from Old Vienna . | Naxos of America | 2002 | 00:00 |
| Piano Trio in E Minor, Dumky, Op. 90 (B. 166): I. Lento maestoso - Allegro | Joachim Trio | Dvorák: Piano Trios, Vol. 1, Opp. 65 and 90. | Naxos of America | 1998 | 00:00 |
Additional Credits
Written and produced by Dan Stone at the National Endowment for the Arts, 2008.
Music permissions by Adam Kampe.
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