The Golden Bowl (Dramatized)

By: Henry James

Narrated by: The St. Charles Players

Relationships...complex and fascinating, often riddled with selfishness, sprinkled with courage, sometimes cruelty, and yes, passion. For an American millionaire and his daughter at home and in turn-of-the-century England, marriages to a pair of former lovers bring complications to their would-be happiness. Amidst social rumors, the imperfection of the fragile bond of relationships weakens similarly to a crack in an otherwise perfect golden bowl.

The St. Charles Players present a unique telling of this classic tale, in a new multi-cast dramatization performed in exciting Radio Theatre style.

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Many roads lead to Henry -- this is a gem

I don't even know why I like this so much. There is something indefinably charming about this dramatization. I own it on near-antique/frail cassette tapes and thought I would never be able to replace it -- what an unexpected joy to snap it up on audible. Not 5 stars because I don't care for Precious the cat's performance. Same old 2 meows all the way through. A small quibble that.

Having read all of H. James' work (and a great deal of Wm. James' work, too) I find this dramatization brings to life the pictures I envisioned when first reading The Golden Bowl. Of course, there is the film with Uma Thurman, which is grand, but I love this little recording. It's hard to adapt James to the stage (real or virtual); even he himself was never able to succeed with a stage play (viz., Guy Domville).

I should add that without recorded James books (Portrait of a Lady unabridged is marvelous) it would have been hard for me to get fascinated enough with "The Master" to read all he wrote, simply for the pleasure of it. (And I started this after turning 40. I had to mature a bit to appreciate Henry James and Proust, at last.) And do check out Colm Toibin's The Master -- it's a tour de force.

Best advice I ever got for reading James: just relax and let the words flow over you!