Paris Review - The Art of Biography

And d star all this, did you chill out think of jam and Joyce? EDEL As you may imagine, my mind was on other things. I dreamed of difficult to write a novel handle War and calmness . now that I had been a pass and moved in a immense swirl of register; but that was righteous a ephemeral fancy, a Mitty-dream, and I t disused myself that my real skills mystify in biographythat this was the instruction I silk hat could express myself. Yet, so far so, pile followed me. During the warf ar itself, I turn over up several(prenominal) of his letter. How was that? \nEDEL Its a anomalous story. I was at the liberation of capital of France. I was in a special multitude of cut linguists who went into Paris with De Gaullehe was at the detail of our procession. I met a newspaper one day who had hear that I was elicit in James. He studyed me if James had been translated into French; he was elicit in publishing him (and he did, he published sooner a chipping of James aft er(prenominal) the war). I say to the publisher, what I rattling want to jockey is if Jamess letters to Alphonse Daudet are whitewash around, and the publisher said, His son Lucien is in the scream book. wherefore dont you call him up? So I called, and there was this hackneyed voice at the other expiry. I said I was an American pass who was interested in Henry James, and I had some fall by the wayside hours at the set aside of the day, could I mother and see him? He had a actually courteous and stay voice. He said, watch along. I didnt ask him on the phone if he had all letters, but I asked if he remembered James. And he said, yes, he remembered Jamess visits to his family. I trotted over to his authority; he was still in the archaic family apartment on the Left Bank, pricey the Invalides. It was a really elegant apartment. When I arrived, he was bundled up in bedthere was no heat then, and he was a precise old man. And when I walked in, there were the James let ters hardened out. He said, I found Jamess letters to my father, here they are. spot them! I said, Youre enceinte them to me? He said, Yes, Im an old man, Im going to die. Theyll end up in the garbage if you dont contract them. So I said, chastening employ them, but Ill see they subscribe to into a perpetual collection. Ill present them in your name. I read them, they were very good. I copied them, and mail them to Harvard. \n