A novel of incredible intimate contemporaneity and social oblivion.

Reading Note

The Cult of the Dead

by Henry James — read in November 2025

A novel of incredible intimate contemporaneity and social oblivion. The way we relate to the death of those we love. The book gets lost in a series of forced coincidences, which undermine the claim to realism, essential to literature. It's commendable that decades are recounted in such a brief booklet. Not a speech, not a dialogue, only description of the protagonist's inner state. Hints about his life make us understand he is affluent, but nothing more. A non-character who acts and interacts with his dead and his living. Even his past is only hinted at. What remains crucial, besides the relationship of the living with their dead, is the relationship of the individual with others. The protagonist meticulously designs an inner temple. In this way, he makes it evident, objective, real. Thus, it can be internalized by others, leading to the misunderstanding between him and the woman with a single dead.