We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)
(9) Mount Everest
We ain't gonna lie: this book is a toughie. That's the long and the short of it. And speaking of long, check out one of James' opening sentences: "The same secret principle, however, that had prompted Strether not absolutely to desire Waymarsh's presence at the dock, that had led him thus to postpone for a few hours his enjoyment of it, now operated to make him feel he could still wait without disappointment" (1.1).
If you didn't lose the thread there, bully for you. James loves himself a good mental tangent, and it can be really tough to follow him as he buzzes around our heads.
So what's the reason for all of this difficulty? Well, James is basically writing sentences that function the same way your brain does. Think about it with that lovely brain we just mentioned. It's not like you just concentrate on one thought and maintain it for an hour. Your brain buzzes around like a bee, changing directions suddenly when it finds something new and interesting, then getting back to its main mission.
For James, literature was supposed to be realistic, and that means that books had to accurately reflect how the mind flitted all over kingdom come and not just carve life into a clear beginning, middle, and end. But as important as all that is, we admit that it doesn't make for easy reading.