The Beast in the Jungle
by Henry James
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1903
- Form
- Novel
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 60 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Turn of the Screw and Other StoriesOxford World's Classics, 2008Prints the novella with James's other late tales in a cheap annotated edition.
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A novella first published in the collection The Better Sort. John Marcher has always believed that something rare and strange is reserved for him, crouching like a beast in the jungle and waiting to spring. May Bartram, whom he once told his secret, agrees to watch with him, and for years they meet and wait while he fails to notice that she loves him. She falls ill and dies, hinting that the thing has already happened. Only at her grave, seeing a stranger ravaged by grief, does Marcher understand that the beast was that nothing would ever happen to him.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Beast in the Jungle are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
