Wm & H'ry: Literature, Love, and the Letters Between William & Henry James

Hallman (In Utopia) offers perceptive commentary and quotations from the correspondence of the James brothers: William, the "father of modern psychology", and Henry, the literary institution. These letters find William frequently criticizing or misunderstanding Henry's work as well as praising the work he admired. The ambiguity in Henry's fiction was one thing William could not abide, noting of his style: "yours being to avoid naming [anything] straight, but by dint of breaking and sighing all round and round it, to arouse%E2%80%A6the illusion of a solid object." Meanwhile, William's psychological work inspired Henry a great deal, particularly the concept of "stream of consciousness" and the idea of the unconscious mind. As his scientific career flourished, William lamented leaving behind aesthetics, and Henry shared the disappointment at his own failures as a playwright, complaining of critics' shortcomings. Hallman remarks on Henry's grappling with realism and impressionism and William's feelings toward pragmatism that resulted in his writing "The Moral Equivalent of War", the original inspiration for the Peace Corps. The letters themselves are compelling, but Hallman's eloquent analysis of their subtext and the brothers' changing relationship over the years makes this an indispensable read for literary scholars. (Mar.)