--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The story had held us, round the fire…" description: "\"The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old hous..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/henry-james-417_breathless_the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-suf_2043419.png" --- # The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently… ![“The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be . . .” quote by Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/henry-james-417_breathless_the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-suf_2043419.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/henry-james-417_breathless_the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-suf_2043419.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/henry-james-417_breathless_the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-suf_2043419.png) > “The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be . . .” [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes a gripping, suspenseful storytelling moment that feels both intense and oddly appropriate for a Christmas setting. **In simple terms:** A story can be intense yet fitting for the season. Key Takeaway Embrace stories that challenge expectations. Themes suspense holiday storytelling Mood thoughtful curious Type literary analytical When to use this quote - reading a scary tale at holiday gatherings - discussing plot twists with friends Key Concepts narrative tension seasonal contrast Questions to Reflect On - Why do we enjoy scary stories during holidays? - How does tension affect holiday mood? A Different Perspective The intensity may overwhelm some listeners. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breathless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathless/) [Christmas eve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-eve/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Gruesome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gruesome-746242/) [Gruesome Christmas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gruesome-christmas-1749441/) [House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/house/) [Obvious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obvious/) [Old house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-house/) [Old houses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-houses/) [Remark Gruesome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remark-gruesome-1749443/) [Remarks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remarks/) [Rounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rounds/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story Held](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-held-1749442/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Strange Tale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-tale-1749444/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/) ## Related quotes > [“The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-sufficiently-breathless-but/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“The full details of the strange tale are recorded in what is perhaps the weirdest case name in American legal history: United States of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wainwright/the-full-details-of-the-strange-tale-are-recorded-in-what-is-perhaps/) [Tom Wainwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wainwright/) > [I had this story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other. I may credit the seductive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-rice-burroughs/i-had-this-story-from-one-who-had-no-business-to-tell-it-to-me-or-to/) [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-rice-burroughs/) > [“A gruesome death is a public event. Cops destroy privacy in order to build a concatenation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-a-david/a-gruesome-death-is-a-public-event-cops-destroy-privacy-in-order-to/) [S. A. David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-a-david/) > [Gruesome� isn't it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daffy-duck/gruesome-isn-t-it/) [Daffy Duck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daffy-duck/) > [So I was asked to do horror film after horror film, a series of about five, after that, and some of those were a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-wray/so-i-was-asked-to-do-horror-film-after-horror-film-a-series-of-about/) [Fay Wray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-wray/) > [I'm not a fan of mysteries, so to prepare for this experience of writing a mystery I started reading the most successful ones in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-m-not-a-fan-of-mysteries-so-to-prepare-for-this-experience-of/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [You must show how gruesome that death is because if you don't, then you turn into some kind of comic book and pain, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-eszterhas/you-must-show-how-gruesome-that-death-is-because-if-you-don-t-then/) [Joe Eszterhas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-eszterhas/) > [Thursday? Oh no, it can't be! It's too gruesome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/thursday-oh-no-it-can-t-be-it-s-too-gruesome/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [It can be kind of gruesome at times, making things alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/it-can-be-kind-of-gruesome-at-times-making-things-alone/) [Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/) > [“-"Death walks, and talks, and occasionally whisks you in a gruesome waltz." -”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-rourke/death-walks-and-talks-and-occasionally-whisks-you-in-a-gruesome-waltz/) [Stacey Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-rourke/) > [Forget trying to be sexy. That's just gruesome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-firth/forget-trying-to-be-sexy-that-s-just-gruesome/) [Colin Firth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-firth/) > [Struggle is gruesome only for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/struggle-is-gruesome-only-for-the-weak/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [“Humans time and again demonstrated they were capable of perpetrating crimes as vile and gruesome as any vampire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebeka-harrington/humans-time-and-again-demonstrated-they-were-capable-of-perpetrating/) [Rebeka Harrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebeka-harrington/) > [You bat your baby blues at tall, dark, and gruesome, and next thing you know, he's trailing you like a lost puppy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/you-bat-your-baby-blues-at-tall-dark-and-gruesome-and-next-thing-you/) [Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/) ## More by Henry James > [Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/though-there-are-some-disagreeable-things-in-venice-there-is-nothing/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“In literature we move through a blest world in which we know nothing except by style, but in which everything is saved by it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/in-literature-we-move-through-a-blest-world-in-which-we-know-nothing/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“I shall stay here as long as I may, I don't want to think — I needn't think. I don't care for anything but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/i-shall-stay-here-as-long-as-i-may-i-don-t-want-to-think-i-needn-t/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“...It often seemed to her that she thought too much about herself, you could have made her blush any day of the year, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/it-often-seemed-to-her-that-she-thought-too-much-about-herself-you/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“I reflected acutely that the sense of such differences, such superiorities of quality, always, on the part of the majority—which could include even stupid,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/i-reflected-acutely-that-the-sense-of-such-differences-such/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“She had had a real fright but had fallen back to earth. The odd thing was that in her fall her fear too had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/she-had-had-a-real-fright-but-had-fallen-back-to-earth-the-odd-thing/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [I ought to tell you I'm probably your cousin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/i-ought-to-tell-you-i-m-probably-your-cousin/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“She had never met a woman who had less of that fault which is the principal obstacle to friendship - the air of reproducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/she-had-never-met-a-woman-who-had-less-of-that-fault-which-is-the/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [London is on the whole the most possible form of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/london-is-on-the-whole-the-most-possible-form-of-life/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [If you have work to do, don't wait to feel like it; set to work and you will feel like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/if-you-have-work-to-do-don-t-wait-to-feel-like-it-set-to-work-and-you/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“She answered that she liked standing up and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/she-answered-that-she-liked-standing-up-and/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [It is no wonder he wins every game. He has never done a thing in his life exept play games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/it-is-no-wonder-he-wins-every-game-he-has-never-done-a-thing-in-his/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [Make (the reader) think the evil, make him think it for himself, and you are released from weak specifications. My values are positively all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/make-the-reader-think-the-evil-make-him-think-it-for-himself-and-you/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“It was the air she wanted and the world she would now exclusively choose; the quiet chambers, nobly overwhelming, rich but slightly veiled, opened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/it-was-the-air-she-wanted-and-the-world-she-would-now-exclusively/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [The time-honored bread-sauce of the happy ending.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-time-honored-bread-sauce-of-the-happy-ending/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) [Explore all 571 Henry James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) ## More Breathless quotes > [I live my life, breathless... A life of constant motion and excitement. A life that many will envy and most would avoid!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-burdon/i-live-my-life-breathless-a-life-of-constant-motion-and-excitement-a/) [Eric Burdon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-burdon/) > [This is a modern fairytale. No happy endings. No wind in our sails. But I can't imagine a life without. Breathless moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selena-gomez/this-is-a-modern-fairytale-no-happy-endings-no-wind-in-our-sails-but/) [Selena Gomez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selena-gomez/) > [“Breathless and Wretched, the new fragrance by Calvin Klein.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/breathless-and-wretched-the-new-fragrance-by-calvin-klein/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“You’re so perfect,” I murmured to him as we came up for air. “I can’t believe you’re all mine.” His laugh was rough and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-k-lilley/you-re-so-perfect-i-murmured-to-him-as-we-came-up-for-air-i-can-t/) [R.K. Lilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-k-lilley/) > [“Seeing my breathless reaction causes him to break out with a smug grin. “That was our first official kiss as a couple.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/seeing-my-breathless-reaction-causes-him-to-break-out-with-a-smug/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [Miss Cecily," she gasped, and then her eyes went to Will. She clapped a hand over her mouth, turned, and bolted back into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/miss-cecily-she-gasped-and-then-her-eyes-went-to-will-she-clapped-a/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [There is something about her eyes. Eyes don't breathe. I know that much. But hers look breathless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-e-pearson/there-is-something-about-her-eyes-eyes-don-t-breathe-i-know-that-much/) [Mary E. Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-e-pearson/) > [I pu my finger to her lips. "You have to hush a minute so that I can tell you something." "What?" she says, bites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-barkley/i-pu-my-finger-to-her-lips-you-have-to-hush-a-minute-so-that-i-can/) [Brad Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-barkley/) > [“You're all the places that leave me breathless, and no wonder, you're all the world to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-provenzano/you-re-all-the-places-that-leave-me-breathless-and-no-wonder-you-re/) [Jim Provenzano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-provenzano/) > [You are the promised kiss of springtime that makes the lonely winter seem long. You are the breathless hush of evening that trembles on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sinatra/you-are-the-promised-kiss-of-springtime-that-makes-the-lonely-winter/) [Frank Sinatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sinatra/) > [For Beatrice- When we were together I felt breathless. Now you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-beatrice-when-we-were-together-i-felt-breathless-now-you-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without a matching committment to faithfulness, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/by-our-uncritical-pursuit-of-relevance-we-have-actually-courted/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Save your heart to someone who leaves you breathless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-bianco/save-your-heart-to-someone-who-leaves-you-breathless/) [Tanya Bianco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-bianco/) > [Sometimes, people trying to commit suicide manage it in a manner that leaves them breathless with astonishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-people-trying-to-commit-suicide-manage-it-in-a-manner-that/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“I can't concentrate. I thought I could do this." He put his hands up in defeat. "Can't." Then he came closer. Aria didn't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-rossi/i-can-t-concentrate-i-thought-i-could-do-this-he-put-his-hands-up-in/) [Veronica Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-rossi/) [Browse all 199 Breathless quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathless/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be . . .", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-sufficiently-breathless-but-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Breathless" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-sufficiently-breathless-but-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/henry-james-417_breathless_the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-suf_2043419.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/henry-james-417_breathless_the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-suf_2043419.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/henry-james-417_breathless_the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-suf_2043419.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was…” — Henry James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Henry James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The story had held us, round...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-sufficiently-breathless-but-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-story-had-held-us-round-the-fire-sufficiently-breathless-but-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```