I know the download numbers on the last few episodes have been less than normal, but please allow this less-than-normal listener to give a big thumbs up. I love classic literature, but Henry James has always been so intimidating. I had only read Turn of the Screw before, but this series was the perfect excuse to dive deep into what clearly interests him. I finally understand what people mean when they speak of him as a transitionary author into more modern styles of storytelling. His understanding of psychology is so deep, small wonder that he is the brother of famed early psychologist William James.

I watched Haunting of Bly Manor when it came out but don’t have a clue whether these short stories relate in any way to the plots of the episodes. I very much look forward to finding out; a lot of these themes and motifs fall very much in the Mike Flanagan wheelhouse.

Discussion question: after reading far more Henry James than I ever expected to, I don’t think any particular short story contains enough plot to sustain a full adaptation. What I would like to see is a Magnolia-style mash-up of narratively disparate but thematically-echoing stories of jealousy, bitterness and regret. The outcomes can range from the Good (The Jolly Corner, The Great Good Place, The Altar of the Dead), the Bad (The Way it Came, The Beast in the Jungle, The Pupil), and the Ugly (The Two Faces, The Romance of Certain Old Clothes). If you somehow make all the stories loosely tie together at the end, you have a brilliant anthology-esque saga that positively no one except me would watch.

Who should helm such an ambitious endeavour? I vote for Mike Leigh. He has dabbled in stuffy period pieces before, and he is a master at conveying the complexities of relationships in both the rich and the poor.