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Portrait of Jennie
Who was she? Where had she come from?
Was Jennie a dream, a memory, a lovely ghost from the past? Or had she stepped from anther world into this?
Eben Adams could only guess at the answer. But he understood that Jennie, because she dared to love him, had fused past and present into the delightful delicate magic of "now."
And tomorrow? Could Jennie triumph over tomorrow too?
Was Jennie a dream, a memory, a lovely ghost from the past? Or had she stepped from anther world into this?
Eben Adams could only guess at the answer. But he understood that Jennie, because she dared to love him, had fused past and present into the delightful delicate magic of "now."
And tomorrow? Could Jennie triumph over tomorrow too?
125 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1940
About the author
Robert Nathan
149 books52 followersRobert Gruntal Nathan was born into a prominent New York Sephardic family. He was educated in the United States and Switzerland and attended Harvard University for several years beginning in 1912. It was there that he began writing short fiction and poetry. However, he never graduated, choosing instead to drop out and take a job at an advertising firm to support his family (he married while a junior at Harvard). It was while working in 1919 that he wrote his first novel—the semi-autobiographical work Peter Kindred—which was a critical failure. But his luck soon changed during the 1920s, when he wrote seven more novels, including The Bishop's Wife, which was later made into a successful film starring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young.
During the 1930s, his success continued with more works, including fictional pieces and poetry. In 1940, he wrote his most successful book, Portrait of Jennie, about a Depression-era artist and the woman he is painting, who is slipping through time. Portrait of Jennie is considered a modern masterpiece of fantasy fiction and was made into a film, starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.
In January 1956 the author wrote, as well as narrated, an episode of the CBS Radio Workshop, called "A Pride of Carrots or Venus Well-Served."
Nathan's seventh wife was the British actress Anna Lee, to whom he was married from 1970 until his death. He came from a talented family — the activist Maud Nathan and author Annie Nathan Meyer were his aunts, and the poet Emma Lazarus and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo his cousins
During the 1930s, his success continued with more works, including fictional pieces and poetry. In 1940, he wrote his most successful book, Portrait of Jennie, about a Depression-era artist and the woman he is painting, who is slipping through time. Portrait of Jennie is considered a modern masterpiece of fantasy fiction and was made into a film, starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.
In January 1956 the author wrote, as well as narrated, an episode of the CBS Radio Workshop, called "A Pride of Carrots or Venus Well-Served."
Nathan's seventh wife was the British actress Anna Lee, to whom he was married from 1970 until his death. He came from a talented family — the activist Maud Nathan and author Annie Nathan Meyer were his aunts, and the poet Emma Lazarus and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo his cousins
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February 16, 2019
The Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan was originally published in 1940.
I read this book several times when I was a teenager. Over the years, however, I completely forgot about it- until I saw it pop up on my Goodreads feed a little while back. I knew right away I wanted to re-read this one, but finding a copy of this book is very difficult. My library had an audio version, but I was hoping they would have a physical copy or at least a digital copy on Overdrive- but I was out of luck on that front and eBay- Oy! Too rich for my blood. Finally, I gave up and settled for the Kindle edition, which is only 99 cents.
I wondered if maybe I had mythologized this book. I seem to remember the deep impression the story had on me, more than any specific details of it, if that makes any sense. I was worried it might be one of those books that once I read it as an adult, it would fail to impact me in the same way it did when I was younger.
Well, I needn’t have worried about that. As a teenager, drawn to fantasy and the supernatural, this book would have appealed to me due to the prominence of those elements. But, as an adult, I realize the palpable loneliness, the longing, and the tragedy of the story, as well as the bittersweet and tender love story is what is really at the heart of the story.
The Past isn’t behind us… it’s all around us-
I love this story more than ever! It’s a short story- novella size in length, but wow! It really packs a powerful punch. It’s a so well written, so mysterious, and melancholy. The fantasy elements are really left up to the reader to decipher as they see fit, as no pat answers are given. This only adds to the book's legend, I think, as everyone seems to have a different opinion.
Personally, I lean, not towards the time travel, but a 'time slip' scenario, myself. That’s a fine line, I know, but time slip adds more of a supernatural tone, I think. Either way, Eben Adams will hold Jeannie's memory in his heart, which is the most important thing, no matter which theory you choose to embrace. (I'd love to hear your opinion!)
There is a movie, most people are familiar with, starring Joseph Cotten, but amazingly enough, I have never seen it. Some people really love it, but many believe the book is much better and my understanding is that some liberties were taken especially with the conclusion, so I think I’ll continue to steer clear of the movie. However, if you are interested, you can probably find it on YouTube.
5 stars
I read this book several times when I was a teenager. Over the years, however, I completely forgot about it- until I saw it pop up on my Goodreads feed a little while back. I knew right away I wanted to re-read this one, but finding a copy of this book is very difficult. My library had an audio version, but I was hoping they would have a physical copy or at least a digital copy on Overdrive- but I was out of luck on that front and eBay- Oy! Too rich for my blood. Finally, I gave up and settled for the Kindle edition, which is only 99 cents.
I wondered if maybe I had mythologized this book. I seem to remember the deep impression the story had on me, more than any specific details of it, if that makes any sense. I was worried it might be one of those books that once I read it as an adult, it would fail to impact me in the same way it did when I was younger.
Well, I needn’t have worried about that. As a teenager, drawn to fantasy and the supernatural, this book would have appealed to me due to the prominence of those elements. But, as an adult, I realize the palpable loneliness, the longing, and the tragedy of the story, as well as the bittersweet and tender love story is what is really at the heart of the story.
The Past isn’t behind us… it’s all around us-
I love this story more than ever! It’s a short story- novella size in length, but wow! It really packs a powerful punch. It’s a so well written, so mysterious, and melancholy. The fantasy elements are really left up to the reader to decipher as they see fit, as no pat answers are given. This only adds to the book's legend, I think, as everyone seems to have a different opinion.
Personally, I lean, not towards the time travel, but a 'time slip' scenario, myself. That’s a fine line, I know, but time slip adds more of a supernatural tone, I think. Either way, Eben Adams will hold Jeannie's memory in his heart, which is the most important thing, no matter which theory you choose to embrace. (I'd love to hear your opinion!)
There is a movie, most people are familiar with, starring Joseph Cotten, but amazingly enough, I have never seen it. Some people really love it, but many believe the book is much better and my understanding is that some liberties were taken especially with the conclusion, so I think I’ll continue to steer clear of the movie. However, if you are interested, you can probably find it on YouTube.
5 stars
October 16, 2023
Lonely and magical, Portrait of Jennie is often cited as a romantic fantasy masterpiece. Thanks to a classic film starring Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones, it is the one book title by this sadly almost forgotten author which is vaguely familiar to modern readers.
Perhaps because there is something pure and lovely in his gentle tales, his oeuvre is incompatible with the crass harshness of modern life, and much of modern literature. That makes them no less wonderful, however, and for some readers, makes them better. Like all of Robert Nathan’s stories, there is something ethereal here in Portrait of Jennie that nearly defies description.
Is it the feeling of loneliness and loss of hope with which Nathan dusts the pages?
Is it Nathan's skill at showing the thin line between desolation and inspiration which so plagues every artist?
Is it Nathan's own tender portrait of the lovely Jennie, using words rather than a brush to paint her as she moves through time and ages, finally becoming the protagonist's great love, and his inspiration?
Or is it Robert Nathan's insightful observations on life, and the living of it?
Perhaps it is all of these things, and much more. Robert Nathan imbued this story with some intangible magic that either touches our heart when it is still open to love and romance, or falls flat and shames us because our heart has been worn down and tainted by our crass modern world, and already moved into a winter too cold to embrace its romantic purity.
While it is somewhat more protracted than many of Nathan’s other wonderful stories, it is still incredibly lovely, with passages and sentiments so touching that once read, they are never forgotten by the reader. An all-time favorite book of mine, one which will certainly be enjoyed by anyone with a romantic heart.
Perhaps because there is something pure and lovely in his gentle tales, his oeuvre is incompatible with the crass harshness of modern life, and much of modern literature. That makes them no less wonderful, however, and for some readers, makes them better. Like all of Robert Nathan’s stories, there is something ethereal here in Portrait of Jennie that nearly defies description.
Is it the feeling of loneliness and loss of hope with which Nathan dusts the pages?
Is it Nathan's skill at showing the thin line between desolation and inspiration which so plagues every artist?
Is it Nathan's own tender portrait of the lovely Jennie, using words rather than a brush to paint her as she moves through time and ages, finally becoming the protagonist's great love, and his inspiration?
Or is it Robert Nathan's insightful observations on life, and the living of it?
Perhaps it is all of these things, and much more. Robert Nathan imbued this story with some intangible magic that either touches our heart when it is still open to love and romance, or falls flat and shames us because our heart has been worn down and tainted by our crass modern world, and already moved into a winter too cold to embrace its romantic purity.
While it is somewhat more protracted than many of Nathan’s other wonderful stories, it is still incredibly lovely, with passages and sentiments so touching that once read, they are never forgotten by the reader. An all-time favorite book of mine, one which will certainly be enjoyed by anyone with a romantic heart.
August 6, 2019
Last night I finished reading this gothic love story, or rather ghost story, I don’t know how to define it.
What a wonder, what a delicacy the narration of Robert Nathan, I was bewitched by the dry but precise descriptions of the human heart and the human effort of living the daily life. The delicate love story, pure and innocent of Eben and Jennie amazes any certainty of the relational dynamics between man and woman...
The supernatural component then, never crushes the narrative itself, making the reader to the end, a continuous uncertainty of events..... real, dreams, apparitions?
A little gem not to be missed!!
Ieri sera tardi ho finito di leggere questa storia d' amore gotica, o meglio ghost story, non saprei bene come definirla
Che meraviglia, che delicatezza la narrazione di Robert Nathan, sono rimasta stregata dalle descrizioni così asciutte ma precise del cuore dell'uomo e della fatica umana del vivere il quotidiano. La delicata storia d'amore, pura e innocente di Eben e Jennie spiazza qualsiasi certezza delle dinamiche relazionali tra uomo e donna....
La componente sovrannaturale poi, non schiaccia mai la narrazione in se, rendendo al lettore sino alla fine, una continua incertezza degli avvenimenti.....reali, sogni, apparizioni?
Una piccola perla assolutamente da non perdere!!
What a wonder, what a delicacy the narration of Robert Nathan, I was bewitched by the dry but precise descriptions of the human heart and the human effort of living the daily life. The delicate love story, pure and innocent of Eben and Jennie amazes any certainty of the relational dynamics between man and woman...
The supernatural component then, never crushes the narrative itself, making the reader to the end, a continuous uncertainty of events..... real, dreams, apparitions?
A little gem not to be missed!!
Ieri sera tardi ho finito di leggere questa storia d' amore gotica, o meglio ghost story, non saprei bene come definirla
Che meraviglia, che delicatezza la narrazione di Robert Nathan, sono rimasta stregata dalle descrizioni così asciutte ma precise del cuore dell'uomo e della fatica umana del vivere il quotidiano. La delicata storia d'amore, pura e innocente di Eben e Jennie spiazza qualsiasi certezza delle dinamiche relazionali tra uomo e donna....
La componente sovrannaturale poi, non schiaccia mai la narrazione in se, rendendo al lettore sino alla fine, una continua incertezza degli avvenimenti.....reali, sogni, apparizioni?
Una piccola perla assolutamente da non perdere!!
July 5, 2019
"Do you think that sometimes people can know what lies ahead?"
In this 1940 classic, we first meet a down-on-his luck, virtually starving artist named Eben Adams who one night happens upon a young child who changes not only his luck, but his life.
When he first sees Jennie in the park, she's so small, oddly old-fashioned and mysterious thus later wonders if she was a figment of his imagination or perhaps a dream....until she appears again and again a bit older each time....until the stormy end....or is it the end?
PORTRAIT OF JENNIE is not some sappy time travel (ghostly?) tale, but so much more, so expressingly written in so few pages. It's hauntingly atmospheric with picturesque descriptions and some intense moments. Didn't want it to end!
"Where I come from, Nobody knows, And where I'm going, Everything goes."
February 9, 2023
I do not know why this book has always gripped me. I first read it when I was rather young and had a more romantic view, but even as an older person there is something that holds me to the story. Nathan wastes no words...every scene and every syllable count.
UPDATE (2/9/23)
He goes skating in Central Park:
“It was one of those days of beautiful weather such as we get in New York in winter, with a blue-white sky and light, high white-grey clouds going slow over from west to east. The city shown in the sun, roof tops gleamed, and the buildings looked as though they were made of water and air. I struck out in a long stride, taking deep breaths, feeling young and strong, feeling the blood run warm in my veins, and the air cold and fresh on my face.”
ONE must sometimes believe what one cannot understand. That is the method of the scientist as well as the mystic: faced with a universe which must be endless and infinite, he accepts it, although he cannot really imagine it. For there is no picture in our minds of infinity; somewhere, at the furthermost limits of thought, we never fail to plot its end. Yet—if there is no end? Or if, at the end, we are only back at the beginning again?
******************
There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday.
Before there was magical realism, there was this book and the imagination of Robert Nathan. I read it years and years ago, and loved it. I loved the ease of the story and the wisdom of the message that love transcends all time and place; that it thrives in the most hostile environments; and that there is destiny, and we can latch on to it if we will.
Robert Nathan writes beautifully. Near the beginning of the story Eben skates in Central Park and Nathan writes this:
It was one of those days of beautiful weather such as we get in New York in winter, with a blue-white sky and light, high white-grey clouds going slowly over from west to east. The city shown in the sun, roof tops gleamed, and the buildings looked as though they were made of water and air. I struck out in a long stride, taking deep breaths, feeling young and strong, feeling the blood run warm in my veins, and the air cold and fresh on my face.
I felt myself there, skating along with him, alive and full of the weather and the people whizzing by in the brisk air.
He encouraged me to suspend my disbelief and travel with Eben and Jennie on their unusual journey–to feel their connection.
ONE must sometimes believe what one cannot understand. That is the method of the scientist as well as the mystic: faced with a universe which must be endless and infinite, he accepts it, although he cannot really imagine it. For there is no picture in our minds of infinity; somewhere, at the furthermost limits of thought, we never fail to plot its end. Yet—if there is no end? Or if, at the end, we are only back at the beginning again?
The novella is very short, only 123 pages, but it delivers more than many 600 page novels I have read. I have embarked upon a project to reread some of my favorites from the past–the ones that were read so long ago that the details have begun to fade and all that is now left to me is a gentle glow from the joy I remember they once gave me. I hope they all come back to me with the pleasure and delight that this one has given.
UPDATE (2/9/23)
He goes skating in Central Park:
“It was one of those days of beautiful weather such as we get in New York in winter, with a blue-white sky and light, high white-grey clouds going slow over from west to east. The city shown in the sun, roof tops gleamed, and the buildings looked as though they were made of water and air. I struck out in a long stride, taking deep breaths, feeling young and strong, feeling the blood run warm in my veins, and the air cold and fresh on my face.”
ONE must sometimes believe what one cannot understand. That is the method of the scientist as well as the mystic: faced with a universe which must be endless and infinite, he accepts it, although he cannot really imagine it. For there is no picture in our minds of infinity; somewhere, at the furthermost limits of thought, we never fail to plot its end. Yet—if there is no end? Or if, at the end, we are only back at the beginning again?
******************
There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday.
Before there was magical realism, there was this book and the imagination of Robert Nathan. I read it years and years ago, and loved it. I loved the ease of the story and the wisdom of the message that love transcends all time and place; that it thrives in the most hostile environments; and that there is destiny, and we can latch on to it if we will.
Robert Nathan writes beautifully. Near the beginning of the story Eben skates in Central Park and Nathan writes this:
It was one of those days of beautiful weather such as we get in New York in winter, with a blue-white sky and light, high white-grey clouds going slowly over from west to east. The city shown in the sun, roof tops gleamed, and the buildings looked as though they were made of water and air. I struck out in a long stride, taking deep breaths, feeling young and strong, feeling the blood run warm in my veins, and the air cold and fresh on my face.
I felt myself there, skating along with him, alive and full of the weather and the people whizzing by in the brisk air.
He encouraged me to suspend my disbelief and travel with Eben and Jennie on their unusual journey–to feel their connection.
ONE must sometimes believe what one cannot understand. That is the method of the scientist as well as the mystic: faced with a universe which must be endless and infinite, he accepts it, although he cannot really imagine it. For there is no picture in our minds of infinity; somewhere, at the furthermost limits of thought, we never fail to plot its end. Yet—if there is no end? Or if, at the end, we are only back at the beginning again?
The novella is very short, only 123 pages, but it delivers more than many 600 page novels I have read. I have embarked upon a project to reread some of my favorites from the past–the ones that were read so long ago that the details have begun to fade and all that is now left to me is a gentle glow from the joy I remember they once gave me. I hope they all come back to me with the pleasure and delight that this one has given.
May 8, 2020
“Where I come from, nobody knows;
And where I’m going, everyone goes;
The wind blows;
The sea flows…
And nobody knows”
The quiet melancholy in the above quote really captures the haunting beauty of this novella. It’s the story of a painter, told first-person from his perspective, who during a period when he was struggling for inspiration, meets a young girl named Jennie. They walk together, and before she leaves, she asks him to wait for her to grow up. I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s an easy 5 stars.
And where I’m going, everyone goes;
The wind blows;
The sea flows…
And nobody knows”
The quiet melancholy in the above quote really captures the haunting beauty of this novella. It’s the story of a painter, told first-person from his perspective, who during a period when he was struggling for inspiration, meets a young girl named Jennie. They walk together, and before she leaves, she asks him to wait for her to grow up. I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s an easy 5 stars.
June 2, 2017
I love reading books where I have seen the movie and anytime I see one I add it to my list. I loved the movie and can see Joseph Cotton, Jennifer Jones and Ethel Barrymore as their characters which is nice when the director gets it right. I must say that the story even though pretty similar was quite different in certain aspects. First in the movie Jennie was only seen by Eben so it seemed like she was more of a unreality to others but in the book she is seen and felt. Also in the movie she was more out of sync to Eben's time, but in the book especially the ending it was clear to be around that time. It is a mystical book with questions of parallel universes and makes one wonder. I loved the book more than the movie which is a beloved classic of mine.
April 12, 2019
The heart that opens itself to the world, opens itself to sorrow.
Should we then close our eyes to wonder and beauty in order to avoid heartache? Eben Adams is a young artist in New York who has yet to sell a single painting. His subject is mostly whimsical landscapes of the countryside, anachronistic even to himself in the midst of the concrete towers of the metropolis. But he is about to give up in despair.
There is such a thing as hunger for more than food, and that was the hunger I fed on. I was poor, my work unknown; often without meals; cold, too, in winter in my little studio on the West Side. But that was the least of it.
He's just a few steps away from jumping a bridge or from being blown away by a cold wind, a man who dreamed he could change the world with his art and his youthful enthusiasm.
There is a sort of desperation which takes hold of a man after a while, a dreadful feeling of the world's indifference, not only to his hunger or his pain, but to the very life which is in him. Each day the courage with which I started out was a little less; by now it had all run out, like sand from a glass.
On a harsh winter day in 1938, Eben meets his muse in Central Park, although he doesn't yet knows it. He sees a little girl playing hopscotch all by herself. He has found Jenny. Or Jenny has found him. Who can really tell?
"I'll walk a ways with you, if you don't mind. I guess it's a little lonesome here all by myself."
—«»—«»—«»—
I have read this extraordinary short novel a few months back, and somehow I forgot to review it, which I find quite surprising, since it is one of those hidden gems I will be always grateful for, discovering it through my friends here at Goodreads. Who can say today that they know who Robert Nathan was? Yet his writing is magical, every word in its rightful place and weaving together a tale of love and sadness that transcends time barriers.
Perhaps there was something strange about it; but just the same, it felt altogether right, as though we belonged just there, where we were, together. Our eyes met in a glance of understanding; we looked at each other and smiled, as though we had both had the same thought.
I can only think of one soundtrack that I can put on the player as I read the story: Dinu Lipatti playing Chopin's Nocturnes and Waltzes. Like his music, the story flows elegantly, mysteriously, through the long periods of yearning and the short moments of happiness as Eben and Jenny meet only briefly through the years. Eben finds money and recognition once he starts to paint sketches and later a portrait of Jenny, and she seems to grow faster in age that normal peopleevery time she comes back out of nowhere. Something haunts her clear eyes, like she is in a hurry to catch at the few moments of happiness that are allowed to her.
It was the most natural thing in the world. We held each other out at arm's length and looked at each other, smiling, and not saying anything. We couldn't have spoken ... The whole sunny, sweet-smelling spring morning had come in with her.
Eben opens his heart to love, accepting the inevitable, the message that goes between him and Jenny without any need for words. Perhaps, as an artist, he is more preoccupied with beauty than with cold facts. And I envy them for their moment of 'splendor in the grass', for their one day of spring somewhere outside the city. The role of the muse is not an easy one for Jenny, who seems to know much more about the vagaries of time than a mere mortal. Or perhaps she knows that there are things in life more important than money or fame.
I'm thinking how beautiful the world is, Eben; and how it keeps on being beautiful – no matter what happens to us. The spring comes year after year, for us, or Egypt; the sun goes down in the same green, lovely sky; the birds sing ... for us, or yesterday ... or for tomorrow. It was never made for anything but beauty, Eben – whether we lived now, or long ago.
I wish I could quote the whole novel, instead of picking out small tidbits here and there. I wish I had a talent like Eben Adams or like Robert Nathan, to capture life in the stroke of a paintbrush or in a fragment of song. The least I can do is to recommend reading this novel, and hope it will remain in print for a little longer.
Where I come from
Nobody knows;
And where I'm going
Everything goes.
The wind blows,
The sea flows –
And nobody knows.
February 10, 2019
Semplicemente Jennie
«Mi guardò con i suoi occhi scuri e grandi e sinceri. “Non volevo che tu sapessi“. Quando fu sulla porta si voltò: “provo ad aspettare“, sussurrò. “Prova ad aspettarmi“».
Gotico, romantico, sognante.
Velato dalla nebbia lattiginosa e umida che scende su Central Park, carezzato lievemente dai fiocchi di neve che cadono per le strade di una New York su cui inizieranno presto a soffiare i venti di guerra provenienti dall’Europa, illuminato dallo schermo dorato dei raggi del sole che si posano su Jennie, toccato dalla grazia di Robert Nathan, che sono qui a chiedermi dove e perché si fosse nascosto da me fino a oggi.
Una storia bellissima, una scrittura che non permette quasi di staccarsi dalle pagine (pagine bellissime anche al tatto, come sono al solito quelle dei libri di Atlantide Edizioni), per un romanzo breve, troppo breve, di cui non è possibile dire nulla, se non che è una storia in cui la vita e la morte, il passato e il presente, la visione e la realtà, la capacità di passare improvvisamente dal gelido e grigio inverno delle strade della città spazzate dal vento alle acque verde azzurre dell’estate di Cape Cod, diventano arte, e l’Arte, dalla tela, diventa vita.
«Non era in mio potere, nulla era in mio potere; non potevo avvicinare la primavera, né potevo trattenere l’inverno perché non svanisse dietro di me.»
E Jennie, la ragazza in nero, bambina e straniera, persa e sola, uscita da qualche storia del passato, per il lettore e per il giovane pittore Eban Adams, il capolavoro da contemplare.
Autore amato da altri autori, anche molto diversi fra loro, come Fitzgerald e Bradbury, viene considerato il progenitore del fantasy; io, che non amo il fantasy, mi permetto di dire che mi è sembrato più debitore a Henry James e a Edith Wharton, ma, anche qui, di più non dirò.
«“È strano”, disse infine, “a volte non hai mai visto qualcosa , eppure la conosci lo stesso. Come se prima o poi dovessi comunque vederla, e siccome un giorno la vedrai riesci a ricordarti com’è… [...]
“Sì. Immagino di sì. Non si può ricordare quello che non si è mai visto”.»
Grazie di cuore ad Atlantide Edizioni per averlo tradotto e pubblicato nuovamente, e per avermelo consigliato con tale trasporto, nonostante avessi già acquistato altre sue tre pubblicazioni (e chi acquista Atlantide sa quanto siano cari!), da non avermi permesso di lasciare Più Libri Più Liberi senza acquistarne una copia.
Ora il film d’annata, con Joseph Cotton e Jennifer Jones, mi attende.
«Quanto poco c’è, pensai, tra noi e il gelo che ci aspetta, il mistero, la morte - una striscia di spiaggia, una collina, quattro muri di legno o di pietra, un piccolo fuoco - il sole di domani, che sorgerà a riscaldarci, la speranza di domani di pace e di un tempo migliore…
E se domani svanisse nella tempesta? Se il tempo si fermasse? Rimarremo schiacciati, frantumati dall’eternità, da un presente per sempre immobile e sfuggente.
E il passato, se mai smarrissimo la nostra via nella tempesta, troveremmo di nuovo il passato di fronte a noi, dove pensavamo sarebbe sorto il sole di domani?»
«Una cosa ha la distanza: non importa quanto grande sia, può essere comunque colmata.»
«Mi guardò con i suoi occhi scuri e grandi e sinceri. “Non volevo che tu sapessi“. Quando fu sulla porta si voltò: “provo ad aspettare“, sussurrò. “Prova ad aspettarmi“».
Gotico, romantico, sognante.
Velato dalla nebbia lattiginosa e umida che scende su Central Park, carezzato lievemente dai fiocchi di neve che cadono per le strade di una New York su cui inizieranno presto a soffiare i venti di guerra provenienti dall’Europa, illuminato dallo schermo dorato dei raggi del sole che si posano su Jennie, toccato dalla grazia di Robert Nathan, che sono qui a chiedermi dove e perché si fosse nascosto da me fino a oggi.
Una storia bellissima, una scrittura che non permette quasi di staccarsi dalle pagine (pagine bellissime anche al tatto, come sono al solito quelle dei libri di Atlantide Edizioni), per un romanzo breve, troppo breve, di cui non è possibile dire nulla, se non che è una storia in cui la vita e la morte, il passato e il presente, la visione e la realtà, la capacità di passare improvvisamente dal gelido e grigio inverno delle strade della città spazzate dal vento alle acque verde azzurre dell’estate di Cape Cod, diventano arte, e l’Arte, dalla tela, diventa vita.
«Non era in mio potere, nulla era in mio potere; non potevo avvicinare la primavera, né potevo trattenere l’inverno perché non svanisse dietro di me.»
E Jennie, la ragazza in nero, bambina e straniera, persa e sola, uscita da qualche storia del passato, per il lettore e per il giovane pittore Eban Adams, il capolavoro da contemplare.
Autore amato da altri autori, anche molto diversi fra loro, come Fitzgerald e Bradbury, viene considerato il progenitore del fantasy; io, che non amo il fantasy, mi permetto di dire che mi è sembrato più debitore a Henry James e a Edith Wharton, ma, anche qui, di più non dirò.
«“È strano”, disse infine, “a volte non hai mai visto qualcosa , eppure la conosci lo stesso. Come se prima o poi dovessi comunque vederla, e siccome un giorno la vedrai riesci a ricordarti com’è… [...]
“Sì. Immagino di sì. Non si può ricordare quello che non si è mai visto”.»
Grazie di cuore ad Atlantide Edizioni per averlo tradotto e pubblicato nuovamente, e per avermelo consigliato con tale trasporto, nonostante avessi già acquistato altre sue tre pubblicazioni (e chi acquista Atlantide sa quanto siano cari!), da non avermi permesso di lasciare Più Libri Più Liberi senza acquistarne una copia.
Ora il film d’annata, con Joseph Cotton e Jennifer Jones, mi attende.
«Quanto poco c’è, pensai, tra noi e il gelo che ci aspetta, il mistero, la morte - una striscia di spiaggia, una collina, quattro muri di legno o di pietra, un piccolo fuoco - il sole di domani, che sorgerà a riscaldarci, la speranza di domani di pace e di un tempo migliore…
E se domani svanisse nella tempesta? Se il tempo si fermasse? Rimarremo schiacciati, frantumati dall’eternità, da un presente per sempre immobile e sfuggente.
E il passato, se mai smarrissimo la nostra via nella tempesta, troveremmo di nuovo il passato di fronte a noi, dove pensavamo sarebbe sorto il sole di domani?»
«Una cosa ha la distanza: non importa quanto grande sia, può essere comunque colmata.»
March 4, 2019
Such a little gem of a book
February 4, 2017
It is reported that no less a masterful writer than F.Scott Fitzgerald considered Robert Nathan to be one of his favorite writers. That alone would have attracted my attention. I am pleased to agree that Mr. Nathan is a wonderful writer.
PORTRAIT OF JENNIE is probably his most famous book, owing to a very high-profile motion picture made of it from the Selznick studios. As is so often the case, the movie is no substitute for the book.
This is a romantic fantasy in a similar style of later writer Richard Matheson's BID TIME RETURN (also made into a film called SOMEWHERE IN TIME.) If you enjoyed Matheson's tale, you owe it to yourself to seek out this book.
A struggling artist finds an ideal subject for his canvas in a young girl he meets one evening in the park in New York City. Something about her both immediately impresses him and disturbs him. She is charming and beautiful, but she seems out of place in her surroundings. Also, every time he sees her, she seems years older. There's no doubt that she's favorably influencing his work, though, as art dealers spot his talent.
One character remarks that the beauty of a woman should be eternal, and the artist tries to capture that beauty ... especially since she has already captured his heart. But, why does she seem so ill-informed about common things, and constantly referencing things that occurred decades before? The answer will likely surprise you (meaning, no, this isn't a ghost story).
Nathan writes a romance story that is very much apart from the romance novel as we think of it today. It is not about lust, but about endearing and enduring love. His narrative style seems poetic without becoming florid ... in fact, it felt like a person would feel when falling in love. He also roots his fantasy within a very real world, filling it with situations and characters who the Reader would expect to see, and not stylized at all. The juxtaposition could be awkward in the hands of a lesser writer, but Nathan merges them beautifully. I believed in all of his characters.
Nathan wrote another story that became one of my favorite Christmas movies, THE BISHOP'S WIFE. I have added that one to my reading list for this year.
In the meantime, I definitely recommend PORTRAIT OF JENNIE.
PORTRAIT OF JENNIE is probably his most famous book, owing to a very high-profile motion picture made of it from the Selznick studios. As is so often the case, the movie is no substitute for the book.
This is a romantic fantasy in a similar style of later writer Richard Matheson's BID TIME RETURN (also made into a film called SOMEWHERE IN TIME.) If you enjoyed Matheson's tale, you owe it to yourself to seek out this book.
A struggling artist finds an ideal subject for his canvas in a young girl he meets one evening in the park in New York City. Something about her both immediately impresses him and disturbs him. She is charming and beautiful, but she seems out of place in her surroundings. Also, every time he sees her, she seems years older. There's no doubt that she's favorably influencing his work, though, as art dealers spot his talent.
One character remarks that the beauty of a woman should be eternal, and the artist tries to capture that beauty ... especially since she has already captured his heart. But, why does she seem so ill-informed about common things, and constantly referencing things that occurred decades before? The answer will likely surprise you (meaning, no, this isn't a ghost story).
Nathan writes a romance story that is very much apart from the romance novel as we think of it today. It is not about lust, but about endearing and enduring love. His narrative style seems poetic without becoming florid ... in fact, it felt like a person would feel when falling in love. He also roots his fantasy within a very real world, filling it with situations and characters who the Reader would expect to see, and not stylized at all. The juxtaposition could be awkward in the hands of a lesser writer, but Nathan merges them beautifully. I believed in all of his characters.
Nathan wrote another story that became one of my favorite Christmas movies, THE BISHOP'S WIFE. I have added that one to my reading list for this year.
In the meantime, I definitely recommend PORTRAIT OF JENNIE.
Read
January 19, 2024This came into my hands at work, this tattered-edge old pale soft brown clothcovered novel, and something about it made me want to know at least a little more, so I gave it a goog. It sounded like a book I'd like to take home and keep as company for a bit, see if it's one it strikes me to read.
It turned out I was struck with the desire to read it, and quickly--I finished this little novella over two nights. It is 32000 words, which can be a very cozy yet filling length to read. A couple nights ago I read all of The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist in one go in an extravagantly long hot soapy open-window-onto-the-icy-night bath (rereading it; I didn't consume it so mindlessly the first time I read it), and I have to say there's really a very special charm to a piece of moving, effective literature that can be wholly met and digested in such a teeny window of time.
Anyway that is all sort of meta and meaningless but the point is this novel is incredible, I loved the hell out of this. A ghost story can make even me, a romance-detester, love a love story. Beautiful. So sad. A good novel to read beneath the winter skies at night. Paired coincidentally well with Past Lives which I watched the other day.
It turned out I was struck with the desire to read it, and quickly--I finished this little novella over two nights. It is 32000 words, which can be a very cozy yet filling length to read. A couple nights ago I read all of The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist in one go in an extravagantly long hot soapy open-window-onto-the-icy-night bath (rereading it; I didn't consume it so mindlessly the first time I read it), and I have to say there's really a very special charm to a piece of moving, effective literature that can be wholly met and digested in such a teeny window of time.
Anyway that is all sort of meta and meaningless but the point is this novel is incredible, I loved the hell out of this. A ghost story can make even me, a romance-detester, love a love story. Beautiful. So sad. A good novel to read beneath the winter skies at night. Paired coincidentally well with Past Lives which I watched the other day.
November 8, 2019
Seit ich vor fünfundzwanzig Jahren zum ersten Mal William Dieterles Verfilmung von "Portrait of Jennie" sah, übt diese sonderbare Geschichte noch immer die gleiche Faszination auf mich aus.
Allerdings macht mir dieser Umstand es auch schwer, die literarische Vorlage angemessen zu beurteilen. Das mysteriöse Auftauchen und Verschwinden sowie das schnelle Altern Jennys sind mir bekannt, ebenso wie das Finale, auch wenn es hierbei auffallende Unterschiede zwischen Buch und Film gibt.
Dennoch übt die melancholische Handlung ihren Reiz auf mich aus und wenn sich Eben an Jennys trauriges Lied "Nobody knows" erinnert, spukt mir prompt die Melodie im Kopf. Natürlich bin ich dadurch auch befangen, mir Eben und Jenny aus eigener Phantasie vorzustellen und habe stattdessen stets Joseph Cotten und Jennifer Jones vor Augen.
Ich mag die leise Stimmung dieser außergewöhnlichen Liebesgeschichte, die ohne leeres Geschwafel und typisches Hollywood-Ende lebt und zum Schluss nur von einem tosenden Hurrikan überrollt wieder in stille Gewässer zurückfindet und ebenso sanft ausläuft wie sie begonnen hat.
Es spielt keine Rolle, ob sich Eben all dies nur eingebildet haben möge und Jenny seinem künstlerisch-kreativen Geist entsprungen ist; die Handlung macht Sinn, das Ende passt und lässt mich als Leserin einerseits melancholisch und gleichzeitig glücklich zurück. - Ein sonderbares wie zauberhaftes Buch, was einfach zu mir gehört und das ich regelmäßig lesen muss.
Allerdings macht mir dieser Umstand es auch schwer, die literarische Vorlage angemessen zu beurteilen. Das mysteriöse Auftauchen und Verschwinden sowie das schnelle Altern Jennys sind mir bekannt, ebenso wie das Finale, auch wenn es hierbei auffallende Unterschiede zwischen Buch und Film gibt.
Dennoch übt die melancholische Handlung ihren Reiz auf mich aus und wenn sich Eben an Jennys trauriges Lied "Nobody knows" erinnert, spukt mir prompt die Melodie im Kopf. Natürlich bin ich dadurch auch befangen, mir Eben und Jenny aus eigener Phantasie vorzustellen und habe stattdessen stets Joseph Cotten und Jennifer Jones vor Augen.
Ich mag die leise Stimmung dieser außergewöhnlichen Liebesgeschichte, die ohne leeres Geschwafel und typisches Hollywood-Ende lebt und zum Schluss nur von einem tosenden Hurrikan überrollt wieder in stille Gewässer zurückfindet und ebenso sanft ausläuft wie sie begonnen hat.
Es spielt keine Rolle, ob sich Eben all dies nur eingebildet haben möge und Jenny seinem künstlerisch-kreativen Geist entsprungen ist; die Handlung macht Sinn, das Ende passt und lässt mich als Leserin einerseits melancholisch und gleichzeitig glücklich zurück. - Ein sonderbares wie zauberhaftes Buch, was einfach zu mir gehört und das ich regelmäßig lesen muss.
May 23, 2015
A lot of people seem to want more explanation from this story: how does Jennie show up in Eben's life at different points? Why doesn't she just show up as an adult from day one? Why does he get this privilege when no other soul mates seem to have it? Is she a ghost or a time traveler? If those questions were addressed and answered this would be a different book.
None of those questions matter to the characters. Eben's easy acceptance of extraordinary circumstances is part of what gives this book a beautiful simplicity. We're not supposed to know. We're just supposed to go on the emotional journey with Eben and Jennie.
From the very beginning, in the young Jennie's song we're told that: "The wind blows/ the sea flows/ and nobody knows". The true significance of those lyrics isn't learned until the end of the book, but we're told right from the start not to expect explanations.
None of those questions matter to the characters. Eben's easy acceptance of extraordinary circumstances is part of what gives this book a beautiful simplicity. We're not supposed to know. We're just supposed to go on the emotional journey with Eben and Jennie.
From the very beginning, in the young Jennie's song we're told that: "The wind blows/ the sea flows/ and nobody knows". The true significance of those lyrics isn't learned until the end of the book, but we're told right from the start not to expect explanations.
September 27, 2016
An intriguing take on time travel. The whole "true love across time" trope seems well covered at this point, but "Portrait of Jennie," coming out in 1940, could be one of the first times it appeared. Unfortunately, however, I found the book boring. I feel it would have been better as a short story.
January 15, 2016
Years ago, I saw an old black and white film on television, called Portrait of Jennie. I loved it. It was moving, magical. Released in 1948, it starred Joseph Cotton and Jennifer Jones. Recently, I found out that the film was based on a novel by Robert Nathan, so I decided to read it, and I am glad that I did. I was not surprised to learn that Robert Nathan wrote poetry as well as prose, for his short novel Portrait of Jennie is a poetic work. I felt sympathy for its narrator, a young painter, trying to earn enough money to get by in New York, selling his paintings, especially when his life is invaded from outside by Jennie, who he comes to learn is his soul mate. He never refers to her as a ghost, never mentions the supernatural. When she goes, he just wants to see her again, be with her all the time. In the end, he knows that even death will not part them.
Portrait of Jennie is a powerful love story. Its supernatural element high lights how disturbing love is when it comes out of nowhere to upset and change the routine of ordinary life. It is a book well worth reading. The film of the book is now available as a DVD. A magical, memorable film, made with a restraint, now lost.
Portrait of Jennie is a powerful love story. Its supernatural element high lights how disturbing love is when it comes out of nowhere to upset and change the routine of ordinary life. It is a book well worth reading. The film of the book is now available as a DVD. A magical, memorable film, made with a restraint, now lost.
February 21, 2015
First line - There is such a thing as hunger for more than food, and that was the hunger I fed on.
There was a song by Nat King Cole inspired by this story - A portrait of Jennie (1948). And more surprisingly, one by Madness . Also, the film is there on YouTube too - I kid you not.
RE-VISIT 2015 is via the film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df-zi...
April 16, 2019
Hauntingly beautiful time travel love story. For the record, I generally do not like time travel books but I adored this. It is lovely from start to finish.
Also worth noting is that this was a film as well which has the same haunting and timeless quality as the book. Highly recommended.
Also worth noting is that this was a film as well which has the same haunting and timeless quality as the book. Highly recommended.
October 1, 2018
Subtle fantasy/love story which is easy to read and has lots of atmosphere. I have to say though, as much as I love this book and much of Nathan's other work, I think the film is even better! Nathan's current neglect is a crying shame. Lots of love, warmth and mystery in his work. As this is his most famous work I suspect it'll be the one that many will read first. If you liked this I would recommend The Married Look (my favourite), The Enchanted Voyage and One More Spring next.
April 18, 2014
I've had this gem of a book on my shelf for years, and I finally read it. Great story.
April 9, 2011
Written by Robert Nathan and published in 1940. The story starts out with a painter in New York named Eben Andrews. He’s poor, never pays rent on time, and can barely sell any of his paintings around the city. He’s strolling through the park one day, and here he meets a young girl named Jennie. She talks of her parents and how they work at the Hammerstein Music Hall. Eben recalls this particular music hall being torn down many years ago. She also talks about having a best friend named Cecelia. She asks Eben to wait for her to grow up. He paints a sketch of this young girl, and to his advantage, stumbles across an art gallery who falls in love with the sketch. Eben lands another job painting a mural above a bar at a restaurant. His payment is to eat for free while he works. When he meets Jennie again, she’s seemed to have aged. She explains how her and her best friend Cecelia died recently. Later, Eben asks Jennie when her friend died, and she says two years ago. He does more sketches of the girl, and sells every single one to the gallery. After several months, Jennie comes to visit Eben again at his apartment. Here, she acts more grown up, tidying the place and what not like a wife. She is also heartbroken, mourning over her parent’s recent death. Eben paints a huge portrait of Jennie this time, and once done, she says she’ll come visit him again soon and that he should wait for her. Eben is able to sell his portrait of Jennie to the museum in New York. In the summer, Jennie returns again as a young lady. Eben and Jennie become romantically involved now, and sit together on Eben’s bed to talk about her future at a private school, when Eben’s landlord kicks her out for being improper. This causes Eben to move out of the apartment and use his money from the portrait to move to the coast. He calls the private school and asks for Jennie, but as he expected, there is no one there by that name. A huge hurricane hits while he’s out sailing. He notices Jennie down by the water once he reaches shore, and he rushes over to save her. However, a huge wave takes them both, and Eben is left unconscious in a tree. When he awakes, he reads in a newspaper that Jennie was on a ship returning to America after a stay of eight years abroad, was swept overboard by a wave.
“I went over to Fifth Avenue; because that was the avenue I wanted to walk on. For the first time I felt that I t was my world, my city, that it belonged to me, to my youth and to my hopes; there was a taste of exultation in my mouth, and my heart, filled with joy, lifted like a sail and carried me along with it. The windy, high walls over my head, the wide and gleaming ship windows strung out before me with their mingled colors, the women’s bright, hard faces, and the sun over everything–the sun and the wind–I thought of Jennie’s song. And then I thought to myself that I didn’t know where she lived, or even how to find her; and the light went out of everything.”
“I went over to Fifth Avenue; because that was the avenue I wanted to walk on. For the first time I felt that I t was my world, my city, that it belonged to me, to my youth and to my hopes; there was a taste of exultation in my mouth, and my heart, filled with joy, lifted like a sail and carried me along with it. The windy, high walls over my head, the wide and gleaming ship windows strung out before me with their mingled colors, the women’s bright, hard faces, and the sun over everything–the sun and the wind–I thought of Jennie’s song. And then I thought to myself that I didn’t know where she lived, or even how to find her; and the light went out of everything.”
April 14, 2014
The movie has long been, for all its flaws, a favourite of mine, but this was the first time I'd read the book.
Eben Adams is a starving artist in NYC when one wintry night, strolling through Central Park, he comes across a little girl playing hopscotch. Alarmed that she should be out alone in this hazardous spot at night, he enters a conversation with her; the next day, trying to make a sale of a landscape painting or two to Henry Mathews of the Mathews Gallery, he's getting nowhere until Mathews notices -- and immediately buys -- a sketch that Eben did of the little girl, Jennie Appleton. If only Eben could do more like this -- indeed, a properly painted portrait of the girl would be a great start . . .
But, of course, Eben has no idea where Jennie is.
Weeks pass, and the next time Jennie suddenly enters Eben's life he's aware that she's grown far older in the interim than seems possible. As they talk, he discovers that much more time has passed for her than for him; further, she belongs not to his own time but to an earlier era. And she's earnest that Eben should wait for her to catch up with him in age, because she has fallen in love with him . . .
Portrait of Jennie is a wistful and really quite moving timeslip romance (although it could be read as a ghost story, too). I found myself completely captivated by it -- far more so than I have been by comparable tales like Richard Matheson's Bid Time Return (1975; vt Somewhere in Time) and Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife (2003). There's nothing wasted in the telling here, no attempt to rationalize the unrationalizable: we're presented with the tale as a recollection rather than an encumbered artifact.
This is a novel that perfectly fills its 125 pages. It's a great joy to read books that don't feel they must be 300 or 500 pages long in order to exist.
Eben Adams is a starving artist in NYC when one wintry night, strolling through Central Park, he comes across a little girl playing hopscotch. Alarmed that she should be out alone in this hazardous spot at night, he enters a conversation with her; the next day, trying to make a sale of a landscape painting or two to Henry Mathews of the Mathews Gallery, he's getting nowhere until Mathews notices -- and immediately buys -- a sketch that Eben did of the little girl, Jennie Appleton. If only Eben could do more like this -- indeed, a properly painted portrait of the girl would be a great start . . .
But, of course, Eben has no idea where Jennie is.
Weeks pass, and the next time Jennie suddenly enters Eben's life he's aware that she's grown far older in the interim than seems possible. As they talk, he discovers that much more time has passed for her than for him; further, she belongs not to his own time but to an earlier era. And she's earnest that Eben should wait for her to catch up with him in age, because she has fallen in love with him . . .
Portrait of Jennie is a wistful and really quite moving timeslip romance (although it could be read as a ghost story, too). I found myself completely captivated by it -- far more so than I have been by comparable tales like Richard Matheson's Bid Time Return (1975; vt Somewhere in Time) and Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife (2003). There's nothing wasted in the telling here, no attempt to rationalize the unrationalizable: we're presented with the tale as a recollection rather than an encumbered artifact.
This is a novel that perfectly fills its 125 pages. It's a great joy to read books that don't feel they must be 300 or 500 pages long in order to exist.
February 22, 2024
A love story that crosses time.
June 17, 2018
I saw the movie many years ago and remembered loving it and finding it quite intriguing. A little girl from another time keeps crossing paths with an impoverished artist trying to find his Mojo. Every time he sees her she is alone and seems to be several years older. After a brief while she is an alluringly beautiful adult and he asks her if she'll sit for a portrait. She does and that portrait makes him famous and wealthy. I won't give away the ending. I stumbled across the book and ordered a used hardback copy from Amazon. The writer Robert Nathan was completely unknown to me. What a delight to read the first page and discover an author of rare talent. His way with words is almost Capote-esque and the story is so fascinating and compelling I read this book in two sittings. Brilliant storytelling combined with exquisite language. Highly recommended.
January 3, 2018
I first read this book years ago and wondered if it would hold up to a reread. It did although I did not remember the ending. The writing is poetic and the story is haunting. I wish I knew where I heard about this book originally. Now I need to pursue some of his other books!
April 28, 2009
Beautifully written, a love story that spans time itself.
February 1, 2016
Economically and elegantly told in only 125 pages; Nathan captures an ethereal and wistful mood.
February 17, 2014
Classic Robert Nathan!
A haunting and romantic tale where true love transcends time and space.
I highly recommend.
A haunting and romantic tale where true love transcends time and space.
I highly recommend.
October 22, 2019
This was a very quick read. The eBook was only 103 pages long, and I literally finished it in about 90 minutes, including several interruptions and conversations.
There was a very dreamy, unreal quality to this book. It wasn't scary at all, though it was sad at times. If anything, it gave me more of a sense of foreboding.
In general, I liked the book, except for the ending. It seemed surprisingly detached and unemotional, considering what had just happened.
There was a very dreamy, unreal quality to this book. It wasn't scary at all, though it was sad at times. If anything, it gave me more of a sense of foreboding.
In general, I liked the book, except for the ending. It seemed surprisingly detached and unemotional, considering what had just happened.
September 5, 2015
“Everything goes. / The wind blows, / The sea flows--/ And nobody knows. (11)
Robert Nathan’s “Portrait of Jennie” is a poetic, haunting and beautiful surprise of a novel. I find it interesting that there seems so much ink spelled on discussing whether this is a ghost story, or a time-travelling romance. But the idea of a time-traveler, a ghost, a haunting is really one in the same. We have a person here, Jennie, who is from another time, and has ended up in the present, somehow, of 1930s New York City and Cape Cod.
In the hands of a lesser writer, this story could so easily fall apart. Nathan chooses not to give us complex and contrived explanations for the ghost of Jennie, and the connection that this hand from the past has reached out and made with our narrator Eben. In the place of such conclusions made for the reader is Eben’s bearing witness to his experience, and wondering; accepting only the mystery of it all. There are many ways to read this story, and lines to read light between. Whether Jenny is a ghost, a person intentionally bending the limits of time and space, or a person struggling to find another to be with and be remembered—the tale works; literally, metaphorically, allegorically, as simply a story.
The ending of the novel leaves more questions than answers, and there is a sad beauty in that. Nathan’s writing is simple, direct and frequently beautiful. The best ghost stories are those that end up being about the living just as much as those who have gone before. A few stories could be as true, simple or haunting as this one.
“Summer is the worst time of all to be alone. The earth is warm and lovely, free to go about in; and always somewhere in the distance there is a place where two people might be happy if only they were together. It is in the spring that one dreams of such places; one thinks of the summer which is coming, and the heart dreams of its friend.” (64)
Robert Nathan’s “Portrait of Jennie” is a poetic, haunting and beautiful surprise of a novel. I find it interesting that there seems so much ink spelled on discussing whether this is a ghost story, or a time-travelling romance. But the idea of a time-traveler, a ghost, a haunting is really one in the same. We have a person here, Jennie, who is from another time, and has ended up in the present, somehow, of 1930s New York City and Cape Cod.
In the hands of a lesser writer, this story could so easily fall apart. Nathan chooses not to give us complex and contrived explanations for the ghost of Jennie, and the connection that this hand from the past has reached out and made with our narrator Eben. In the place of such conclusions made for the reader is Eben’s bearing witness to his experience, and wondering; accepting only the mystery of it all. There are many ways to read this story, and lines to read light between. Whether Jenny is a ghost, a person intentionally bending the limits of time and space, or a person struggling to find another to be with and be remembered—the tale works; literally, metaphorically, allegorically, as simply a story.
The ending of the novel leaves more questions than answers, and there is a sad beauty in that. Nathan’s writing is simple, direct and frequently beautiful. The best ghost stories are those that end up being about the living just as much as those who have gone before. A few stories could be as true, simple or haunting as this one.
“Summer is the worst time of all to be alone. The earth is warm and lovely, free to go about in; and always somewhere in the distance there is a place where two people might be happy if only they were together. It is in the spring that one dreams of such places; one thinks of the summer which is coming, and the heart dreams of its friend.” (64)
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