Daisy Miller Tough-o-Meter

(5) Tree Line

You can easily plough through Daisy Miller in one or two sittings, especially if it's raining or you're trying to carve some space out for yourself at an awkward family visit. It's one of James's most accessible pieces, and though he still writes with somewhat elevated prose (e.g., "Her conversation was chiefly of what metaphysicians term the objective cast; but every now and then it took a subjective turn" [1.43]), none of the plot points are buried very far beneath its shimmery surface. That said, this is definitely one of those texts where you can keep digging if you want to find some very weird stuff for building your esoteric beach sculpture of analysis.