Critical Evaluation
Critics have generally rated this tale very high among James' works, with some calling it a "glorious fable," "magnificently written," and "one of his finest." James himself proudly placed the story at the head of volume 17 of the New York Edition (1907–09) of his fiction, before even "The Beast in the Jungle". The tale has appeared in a number of later anthologies.
So it is a little odd that in his Notebooks James seemed dissatisfied with the story after he had started work on it. Some have speculated that James had not yet imagined the back-story of Acton Hague and Stransom's unnamed woman friend when he expressed his impatience with the tale. James was unable to place the story in any magazine, something which many critics have found almost ridiculous for work of such quality.
Read more about this topic: The Altar Of The Dead
Famous quotes containing the words critical and/or evaluation:
“If our entertainment culture seems debased and unsatisfying, the hope is that our children will create something of greater worth. But it is as if we expect them to create out of nothing, like God, for the encouragement of creativity is in the popular mind, opposed to instruction. There is little sense that creativity must grow out of tradition, even when it is critical of that tradition, and children are scarcely being given the materials on which their creativity could work”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“Good critical writing is measured by the perception and evaluation of the subject; bad critical writing by the necessity of maintaining the professional standing of the critic.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)