Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2020
“So much living with so little life.”thus did henry James, writing to Mrs. Humphry Ward, describe H. G. Wells, or so I remember it. (I should look this up, and probably will not. My research/scholarly instincts have atrophied, except in instances— more common in old age than formerly—when I cannot remember the source of some haunting phrase or fact.) James's words are perfect for those of us coping with retirement and old age (I am of the “call a spade a spade” school), “living” less and seeking more of life. I have, in this mood, reread Henry James's The Ambassadors.