The Figure in the Carpet

Author(s): Henry James

Genre(s): General Fiction

Narrators: Nicholas Clifford (1930-2019)

Number of Chapters: 11

Length: 1 hour and 39 minutes

Language: English

The story ostensibly concerns a young literary critics who greatly admires the writer Hugh Vereker. A meeting with Vereker, however, shows him that he – and all other critics – have in fact missed the great point of Vereker's work, and the critic (and his editor) thereupon devote themselves to trying to unravel the mystery. James's story, however, almost certainly has an autobiographical side to it, perhaps itself criticizing those critics who couldn't see, or wouldn't see, the figures lost in the carpet of his own writing. (Summary by Nicholas Clifford)