Publisher's Synopsis
The Figure in the Carpet is a novella by American author Henry James, first published in 1896. The story follows an unnamed narrator who is obsessed with discovering the ""figure in the carpet"" of a famous author, Hugh Vereker. The narrator, who is also a writer, becomes friends with Vereker and his wife, and is convinced that Vereker has a secret, hidden meaning in all of his works. The narrator spends years trying to uncover this secret, even going so far as to travel to America to meet with Vereker's former lover. However, he is ultimately unsuccessful in his quest, and the story ends with the narrator reflecting on the futility of his search. The Figure in the Carpet is a complex exploration of literary criticism, obsession, and the nature of art. James' writing is characterized by his dense, intricate prose and his psychological insight into his characters. The novella has been widely praised for its intellectual depth and its exploration of the relationship between artists and their work.RETURNING to town I feverishly collected them all; I picked out each in its order and held it up to the light. This gave me a maddening month, in the course of which several things took place. One of these, the last, I may as well immediately mention, was that I acted on Vereker's advice: I renounced my ridiculous attempt. I could really make nothing of the business; it proved a dead loss.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.