Book Review — The pupil

When I first saw the title of the book, I thought it would be a relaxing and happy story. But when I finished reading the book, I lost in my own thoughts. The pupil is a quite touching story. Pemberton, who is a penniless Oxford graduate, became a tutor. And his career linked him to Morgan. Morgan‘s family are an American family wandering around Europe. And their lifestyle is supported by lying, cheating, and bill-jumping. In such circumstances, they met. Morgan always ignored by his parents. And because of that, he would rather believe in a family teacher without blood relationship. As Philip Horn said, ＂his sense of shame is all about his family honor, and only he himself cherishes this family tradition that was first damaged and then completely disappeared.＂ The pupil is a story by Henry James who is an American novelist, literary critic, playwright and essayist. And the essence of the novel identified by James is the choice and reproduction of the representative life impression. Life is the source of novel creation, experience constitutes the material of the novel, which is James' realism. And this book is just like his usual writing style.