--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've never managed to get very far with…" description: "\"I've never managed to get very far with Henry James.\" — Sarah Waters" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/sarah-waters-2758_far_i-ve-never-managed-to-get-very-far-with_1561175.png" --- # I've never managed to get very far with Henry James. ![“I've never managed to get very far with Henry James.” quote by Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/sarah-waters-2758_far_i-ve-never-managed-to-get-very-far-with_1561175.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/sarah-waters-2758_far_i-ve-never-managed-to-get-very-far-with_1561175.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/sarah-waters-2758_far_i-ve-never-managed-to-get-very-far-with_1561175.png) > “I've never managed to get very far with Henry James.” [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker admits difficulty in reading or appreciating Henry James's works. **In simple terms:** Struggles with Henry James. Key Takeaway Acknowledge personal literary limits. Themes reading literature personal taste Mood frustrated reflective Type personal literary When to use this quote - book clubs - academic study - personal reading choices - literary criticism Key Concepts modernism complex narrative authorial style Questions to Reflect On - Why does Henry James challenge you? - What reading strategies could help? A Different Perspective Personal taste may differ from critical consensus. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far/) [Far Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far-henry-5857249/) [Get](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get/) [Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/henry/) [Henry james](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/henry-james/) [James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/james/) [Managed Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/managed-far-5857250/) [Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never/) [Very](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/very/) ## Related quotes > [My interior is very, very dense - Proustian-looking, sort of Henry James. The walls are covered in pictures, and I transformed the big drawing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamish-bowles/my-interior-is-very-very-dense-proustian-looking-sort-of-henry-james/) [Hamish Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamish-bowles/) > [There are plenty of writers, past and present, from Shakespeare to Henry James to Lydia Davis, who test the limits of coherence and put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/there-are-plenty-of-writers-past-and-present-from-shakespeare-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [A trio of reputations lie at the heart of Henry James's 'The Portrait of a Lady.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-brown/a-trio-of-reputations-lie-at-the-heart-of-henry-james-s-the-portrait/) [Tina Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-brown/) > [You can't learn to write in college. It's a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-can-t-learn-to-write-in-college-it-s-a-very-bad-place-for-writers-3/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [The lawyer refused to tell me my brother's name, and my colleagues started a betting pool. The leading candidate: John Travolta. I secretly hoped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/the-lawyer-refused-to-tell-me-my-brother-s-name-and-my-colleagues/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [If you look at my personal library, you will notice that it ranges from Henry James to Steig Larsson, from Margaret Atwood to Max…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bohjalian/if-you-look-at-my-personal-library-you-will-notice-that-it-ranges/) [Chris Bohjalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bohjalian/) > [ Once you've put one of his \[Henry James\] books down, you simply can't pick it up again. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/once-you-ve-put-one-of-his-henry-james-books-down-you-simply-can-t/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I liked teaching Henry James. 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Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/i-had-the-idea-in-my-twenties-that-a-writer-could-immediately-become/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [The craftless anarchy of the Beat poets on the one hand, and the extreme control of Henry James on the other, suggest that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/the-craftless-anarchy-of-the-beat-poets-on-the-one-hand-and-the/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [The nearest we have to a Henry James or an Edith Wharton of the East Coast's Wasp upper classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-curtis/the-nearest-we-have-to-a-henry-james-or-an-edith-wharton-of-the-east/) [Charlotte Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-curtis/) > [Some people might be surprised that 'Rambo's creator has a doctorate in American literature. One of my influences is Henry James, whose major theme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-morrell/some-people-might-be-surprised-that-rambo-s-creator-has-a-doctorate/) [David Morrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-morrell/) > [Henry James chews more than he bites off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/henry-james-chews-more-than-he-bites-off/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [And it's impossible for me to read Henry James.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maccaig/and-it-s-impossible-for-me-to-read-henry-james/) [Norman MacCaig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maccaig/) ## More by Sarah Waters > [“Now, from the crown of my head to the curve of my toe-nails, there was an unguent for every part of me - oil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/now-from-the-crown-of-my-head-to-the-curve-of-my-toe-nails-there-was/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Miss Craven held up a pair she thought would fit me—monstrous great things they were, of course, and I thought she smiled as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/miss-craven-held-up-a-pair-she-thought-would-fit-me-monstrous-great/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [I barely knew I had skin before I met you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-barely-knew-i-had-skin-before-i-met-you/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [My nan was a nursery maid. 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And at my throat there was a velvet collar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/and-yet-i-seemed-to-feel-my-eyes-bound-too-with-bands-of-silk-and-at/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“No-one speaks. No-one moves (…). We glide, softly, in silence, into our dark and separate hells”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/no-one-speaks-no-one-moves-we-glide-softly-in-silence-into-our-dark/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“She loved these walks through London. She seemed, as she made them, to become porous, to soak in detail after detail; or else, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/she-loved-these-walks-through-london-she-seemed-as-she-made-them-to/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Oh, for shame! Nancy, have you never seen Florrie's face in a chrysanthemum, or a rose?' 'Never.' I said. 'Though there was a flounder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/oh-for-shame-nancy-have-you-never-seen-florrie-s-face-in-a/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“My locket hangs in my closet beside the glass, the only shining thing among so many shadows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/my-locket-hangs-in-my-closet-beside-the-glass-the-only-shining-thing/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Mr Bliss looked grave. 'Your brother was very sensible to warn you, Miss Astley - but sadly misinformed. 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