THE BOSTONIANS is a very upsetting novel

I've read some really gory and awful books (The Naked Lunch and I Was Dora Suarez being amongst the worst), but I've rarely read a book as upsetting as this Henry James book I just finished: The Bostonians. Nor have I read a character who I hated as much as its male lead: Basil Ransom. He's unbelievably awful! Like a Mr. Darcy but with no sense of integ…