THE AMBASSADORS is the story of Lambert Strether, a middle-aged man dispatched to Paris by the wealthy widow Mrs. Newsome - a woman Strether hopes to marry and thereby assure his comfort in old age - to retrieve her son Chad. No one has heard from the boy for some time, which has given everyone the illusion that he has been ensnared by loose women and the bohemian lifestyle of Europe. Strether is tasked to inform Chad that if he gives up Paris now, and returns home to respectibility and to run the family business, he stands to gain enormous wealth. Unfortunately for those back home, Strether immediately experiences an existential crisis upon landing on Europe's shores, one which propels him to evaluate his own life as poorly lived, and which, on finally encountering Chad, opens his eyes to the fact that, rather than having fallen into corruption, the lad has matured quite well during his stay.What follows from this may loosely be termed a comedy of manners, albeit a very droll one, although I think that the conventions of that category are simply the framework that James uses to get across his larger points, which boil down to the particular sort of mid-life crisis that Strether experiences, as well as the admonition to 'live all you can.' As Strether feels as though he has missed that train himself, he speaks of it to another young character, hoping to impart the wisdom that 'it doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that what _have_ you had?' No spoilers; this occurs before the mid-point of the book, though a similar incident taken from real life was James' inspiration for the novel. From there, THE AMBASSADORS recounts the minute changes in Strether's character as Europe and Paris continue to work on him, even in the face of reinforcements sent from home - sent because Mrs. Newsome has decided that Lambert may no longer be the man for the job.The most salient point in any discussion of THE AMBASSADORS is the ridiculously difficult prose of Henry James. The main question, to my mind, is not whether it is worth it in the end, but does it in any way meaningfully contribute to the ideas within the novel - does it elicit nuance that would be lost in plainer speech? I suppose that question is as subjective as any other; if it adds to the book's charm for readers, then that may enable the rest of the author's ideas to resonate in a way that they wouldn't have otherwise - but personally I'm on the fence as to whether James' style added or detracted. I thought it was devilishly hard to pierce, and while I freely admit to the possibility that I may have missed particular shades of meaning that would have elevated the book even further, I do feel fairly certain that I was able to puzzle most of it out.There are very few dramatic events on which to rest the narrative though. Most of the characters are so guarded with their comments and true feelings - hamstrung, no doubt, by their sense of propriety by turn of the century standards - that it can be hard to discern immediately whether or not someone actually admitted to something that advances the story, or at least in some way illuminates more of the intrigues between the players. For a nearly four hundred page novel, there is almost no action at all. Of course, that isn't really the objective - instead it is detailing the change in Lambert Strether over the course of the novel, and by doing so in such a meticulous manner, the reader is able to identify with much of his confusion and learning processes as he maneuvers through the currents of society.There were two important aspects I took away from the book, though whether those were a result of the additional attention I was forced to bring to bear because of the book's style, I can't say. The first was the utter straight-jacketing of these character's lives due to the forms and conventions of their time. And whether true or not, James' picture of this society is one dominated by women - at times frustratingly so for this reader. I wanted to yank Lambert up by the collar and tell him to quit letting himself get pushed around by these ladies. He did so, eventually, though in his own way, which was never as strident as I would have liked it to be.The other spot I noted, and appreciated, was at a chapter near the end of the book, where Strether, realizing his time in Europe is drawing to a close, takes a day trip out to the French countryside. In this instance, I do tend to attribute the peculiar charm of this interlude to James' method - I found this chapter most effective and affecting; beautiful, actually, though I suspect it wouldn't have been so if James hadn't prepared me, so to speak, for his way of rendering it with the previous material.Although these two impressions seemed uppermost to me, I quite enjoyed the novel all around, though I'm not such a cynic that I didn't wish for a different ending to the relationship between Lambert and Miss Gostrey. Perhaps James thought that that would have cheapened the overall theme, I don't know. I am also unsure as to whom I would recommend the book. Considered a masterpiece by many, and even listed on Modern Library's top 100 novels of the twentieth century, it is definitely one of the most difficult books _I've_ ever read. I suspect the book itself will cast the deciding vote - as Leon Edel says in the introduction to the edition I have: 'There are readers for whom certain books will always remain closed; and others for whom the same books cannot be opened too often.' The best I think I can suggest is that if you were to try the first few pages and find it to your liking, and also were able to muster up the fortitude to venture on, then I'm confident you'll find it a rewarding experience.At any rate, here at the end, I am split on how to rate the novel - as one I 'liked' or one I 'loved'. Usually in these cases I flake out and rate them four-and-a-half stars, since I try to reserve five for fiction so extraordinary that it changes the way I think about its subject. Here though I think I'll take a stand - demanding, affecting, and thoughtful, THE AMBASSADORS is a novel I'm certain to remember for a long time, and also one I can see returning to again, should time last so long. Five Stars.(And thanks to my Amazon friend H. Schneider, whose previous reviews of James' work convinced me to read this one.)