The Sense of the Past

E867678

novel time travel novel unfinished novel

The Sense of the Past is an unfinished time-travel novel by Henry James about a modern man who is mysteriously transported into early 19th-century London.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
The Sense of the Past canonical	2
Preface to The Sense of the Past	1
The Sense of the Past: New York Edition text	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T10493404 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Sense of the Past
Context triple: [Berkeley Square (film), basedOn, The Sense of the Past]

A. Sleeping with the Past
Sleeping with the Past is a 1989 studio album by Elton John that draws heavily on 1960s soul influences and features hits like "Sacrifice."
B. Between Past and Future
"Between Past and Future" is a collection of political and philosophical essays by Hannah Arendt that examines the crises of modernity and the challenges of freedom, authority, and tradition in contemporary society.
C. A People Without a Past
"A People Without a Past" is a section of Jaan Kross’s historical novel cycle "Between Three Plagues," focusing on life in 16th-century Estonia under shifting foreign powers.
D. Monuments to an Elegy
Monuments to an Elegy is a 2014 alternative rock album by The Smashing Pumpkins that blends guitar-driven songs with electronic elements as part of the band’s Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project.
E. The Past is Ours
"The Past is Ours" is the motto of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, reflecting the organization's focus on preserving and promoting a particular memory of the Confederate past.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Sense of the Past
Target entity description: The Sense of the Past is an unfinished time-travel novel by Henry James about a modern man who is mysteriously transported into early 19th-century London.

A. Sleeping with the Past
Sleeping with the Past is a 1989 studio album by Elton John that draws heavily on 1960s soul influences and features hits like "Sacrifice."
B. Between Past and Future
"Between Past and Future" is a collection of political and philosophical essays by Hannah Arendt that examines the crises of modernity and the challenges of freedom, authority, and tradition in contemporary society.
C. A People Without a Past
"A People Without a Past" is a section of Jaan Kross’s historical novel cycle "Between Three Plagues," focusing on life in 16th-century Estonia under shifting foreign powers.
D. Monuments to an Elegy
Monuments to an Elegy is a 2014 alternative rock album by The Smashing Pumpkins that blends guitar-driven songs with electronic elements as part of the band’s Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project.
E. The Past is Ours
"The Past is Ours" is the motto of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, reflecting the organization's focus on preserving and promoting a particular memory of the Confederate past.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (41)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	novel ⓘ time travel novel ⓘ unfinished novel ⓘ
adaptedAs	film "Berkeley Square" (1933) ⓘ linked to: Berkeley Square (film) film "Berkeley Square" (1951, as "The House in the Square") ⓘ linked to: Berkeley Square (film) stage play "Berkeley Square" ⓘ
author	Henry James ⓘ
centralTheme	clash between past and present ⓘ historical consciousness ⓘ identity ⓘ romantic relationships across time ⓘ time travel ⓘ
completionStatus	unfinished ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
genre	fantasy fiction ⓘ supernatural fiction ⓘ time travel fiction ⓘ
hasFeature	body exchange across time ⓘ time displacement without machinery ⓘ
hasManuscriptForm	authorial notes and outlines ⓘ incomplete draft ⓘ
hasProtagonistTrait	American expatriate background ⓘ sensitivity to historical atmosphere ⓘ
influencedWork	Berkeley Square ⓘ
literaryDevice	contrast between social manners of different periods ⓘ double life across eras ⓘ time-slip ⓘ
literaryMovement	literary modernism ⓘ
literaryStatus	minor work in Henry James's oeuvre ⓘ
mainCharacter	Ralph Pendrel ⓘ
narrativeForm	third-person narrative ⓘ
originalLanguage	English ⓘ
plotSummary	A modern American man is mysteriously transported into early 19th-century London and assumes the life of one of his ancestors. ⓘ
posthumousPublication	true ⓘ
relatedWorkByAuthor	The Jolly Corner ⓘ The Sense of the Past (play adaptation source for "Berkeley Square") ⓘ linked to: Berkeley Square (film) The Turn of the Screw ⓘ
settingLocation	London ⓘ linked to: London, England
settingTimePeriod	Edwardian era (frame in the early 20th century) ⓘ linked to: Edwardian era early 19th century ⓘ
workPeriodOfAuthor	late phase of Henry James's career ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Berkeley Square (film) → basedOn → The Sense of the Past ⓘ

New York Edition of Henry James’s works → hasPart → The Sense of the Past ⓘ

New York Edition of Henry James’s works → hasPart → The Sense of the Past: New York Edition text ⓘ

linked to: The Sense of the Past

New York Edition of Henry James’s works → hasPart → Preface to The Sense of the Past ⓘ