--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: His indirect way of approaching a…" description: "\"“His indirect way of approaching a character or an action, striving to realize it by surrounding rather than invading it, is ideally suited to the inde..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/herbert-a-wise-97456_ghost_his-indirect-way-of-approaching-a-charac_2665011.jpg" --- # His indirect way of approaching a character or an action… ![“His indirect way of approaching a character or an action, striving to realize it by surrounding rather than invading it, is ideally suited to the indefinite and suggestive presentation of a ghost story. (introduction to "Sir Edmund Orme" by Henry James)” quote by Herbert A. Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/herbert-a-wise-97456_ghost_his-indirect-way-of-approaching-a-charac_2665011.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/herbert-a-wise-97456_ghost_his-indirect-way-of-approaching-a-charac_2665011.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/herbert-a-wise-97456_ghost_his-indirect-way-of-approaching-a-charac_2665011.jpg) > ““His indirect way of approaching a character or an action, striving to realize it by surrounding rather than invading it, is ideally suited to the indefinite and suggestive presentation of a ghost story. (introduction to "Sir Edmund Orme" by Henry James)”” [Herbert A. Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-a-wise/) ## 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 subtle, atmospheric storytelling method suited for ghost stories, emphasizing indirectness. **In simple terms:** Ghost stories work best with suggestive, indirect narration. Key Takeaway Use indirect techniques to evoke mystery. Themes literature ghost stories writing style atmosphere suggestion Mood eerie thoughtful Type critical descriptive When to use this quote - creative writing - literary criticism - storytelling workshops Key Concepts narrative technique psychology of fear genre analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does indirect narration affect suspense? - When is direct description more effective? A Different Perspective Some may find indirect style less engaging for modern audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approaching Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approaching-character-2458638/) [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Ghost stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost-stories/) [Ghost-story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost-story/) [Henry james](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/henry-james/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Indefinite Suggestive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indefinite-suggestive-2458637/) [Indirect Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indirect-way-2458636/) [Presentation Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presentation-ghost-2458639/) [Suggestive Presentation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suggestive-presentation-2458640/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-style/) ## Related quotes > [How you treats others is indirect way of saying how you feel about yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaze-olamiday/how-you-treats-others-is-indirect-way-of-saying-how-you-feel-about/) [Blaze Olamiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaze-olamiday/) > [Persecution is a bad and indirect way to plan religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/persecution-is-a-bad-and-indirect-way-to-plan-religion/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [“Very soon you will find yourself at the end of a dirt road, only inches from a threshold . . . a threshold into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ristau/very-soon-you-will-find-yourself-at-the-end-of-a-dirt-road-only/) [Mark Ristau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ristau/) > [“It seemed for a moment as if something was there, loitering between the knurled and towering cherry trees, a flash of a presence as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-butler/it-seemed-for-a-moment-as-if-something-was-there-loitering-between/) [Hazel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-butler/) > [“I am who I am and always shall be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-elizabeth/i-am-who-i-am-and-always-shall-be/) [Laura Elizabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-elizabeth/) > [“No woman will ever take care of my children but me, she said. I will not allow it, do you understand? And after I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyne/no-woman-will-ever-take-care-of-my-children-but-me-she-said-i-will/) [John Boyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyne/) > [“We ask our brain to stop worrying, stop obsessing, stop dreaming the same scary dreams again and again. But our brain rarely takes requests.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-poblocki/we-ask-our-brain-to-stop-worrying-stop-obsessing-stop-dreaming-the/) [Dan Poblocki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-poblocki/) > [“The lamps were lit, and a good fire crackled in the great stone fireplace. There was a discreet chink of china, the brightness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/the-lamps-were-lit-and-a-good-fire-crackled-in-the-great-stone/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [“A shade flickered to my left, an eerie shadow balanced even more precariously on the railing than I. Her plimsolls struggled to grip the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-butler/a-shade-flickered-to-my-left-an-eerie-shadow-balanced-even-more/) [Hazel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-butler/) > [“Mackenzie, our profession courts death, madness is always just over the next rise, the next hillock…” Sherman’s voice dropped off, “I’m out in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cherry/mackenzie-our-profession-courts-death-madness-is-always-just-over-the/) [Jim Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cherry/) > [“There must be something ghostly in the air of Christmas — something about the close, muggy atmosphere that draws up the ghosts, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/there-must-be-something-ghostly-in-the-air-of-christmas-something/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“Strange though it may seem, people rarely show such enthusiasm as when they are seeking the proof of a ghost story—the soul gathers all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/halld-r-laxness/strange-though-it-may-seem-people-rarely-show-such-enthusiasm-as-when/) [Halldór Laxness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/halld-r-laxness/) > [“Like the feeling of a carbonated beverage slipping down the throat, the bubbles rushing and popping as they make their descent, the air around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eda-j-vor/like-the-feeling-of-a-carbonated-beverage-slipping-down-the-throat/) [Eda J. Vor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eda-j-vor/) > [“The past had already been dealt with, to one end or another, it was certain, fixed, the horror of it was already over. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-butler/the-past-had-already-been-dealt-with-to-one-end-or-another-it-was/) [Hazel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-butler/) > [“It looks like a funeral parlour in here. Am I dead?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-williams/it-looks-like-a-funeral-parlour-in-here-am-i-dead/) [Jackie Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-williams/) ## More by Herbert A. Wise > [“The tales of pure terror, of course, are completely naturalistic in their content, and must stand or fall by their merit alone. But what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-a-wise/the-tales-of-pure-terror-of-course-are-completely-naturalistic-in/) [Herbert A. Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-a-wise/) [Explore all 2 Herbert A. Wise quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-a-wise/) ## More Ghost quotes > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [I was overcome by the Holy Ghost one time, but in a Baptist way. I was six or seven, and I was saved. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-was-overcome-by-the-holy-ghost-one-time-but-in-a-baptist-way-i-was/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [“Who is this ghost ordered into music?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuko-shiraishi/who-is-this-ghost-ordered-into-music/) [Kazuko Shiraishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuko-shiraishi/) > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Maybe I could be friends with a ghost. I wouldn’t be able to kill him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/maybe-i-could-be-friends-with-a-ghost-i-wouldn-t-be-able-to-kill-him/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [I love ghost stories, I love to read them, and I love the idea of being haunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-love-ghost-stories-i-love-to-read-them-and-i-love-the-idea-of-being/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) > [The Holy Ghost is the greatest guarantor of inward peace in our unstable world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-faust/the-holy-ghost-is-the-greatest-guarantor-of-inward-peace-in-our/) [James E. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-e-faust/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [She knows not loves that kissed her She knows not where. Art thou the ghost, my sister, White sister there, Am I the ghost,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/she-knows-not-loves-that-kissed-her-she-knows-not-where-art-thou-the/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [Pity the planet, all joy gone from this sweet volcanic cone; peace to our children when they fall in small war on the heel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/pity-the-planet-all-joy-gone-from-this-sweet-volcanic-cone-peace-to/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-the-church-needs-to-day-is-not-more-machinery-or-better-not-new/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do I believe in ghosts?...I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-r-james/do-i-believe-in-ghosts-i-am-prepared-to-consider-evidence-and-accept/) [M. R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-james/) > [Just live that life. It doesn't matter whether it is life or hell, life of the hungry ghost, life of the animal, it's okay;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taizan-maezumi/just-live-that-life-it-doesn-t-matter-whether-it-is-life-or-hell-life/) [Taizan Maezumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taizan-maezumi/) [Browse all 2,175 Ghost quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“His indirect way of approaching a character or an action, striving to realize it by surrounding rather than invading it, is ideally suited to the indefinite and suggestive presentation of a ghost story. (introduction to \"Sir Edmund Orme\" by Henry James)”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Herbert A. 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