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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Loved it! Kind of a long book to read it fits and starts on my iPod, but totally worth it!
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Classism
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Death of parent
One can't help but wonder what would have happened if Lily had accepted one of the marriages for money. And then you remember Anna Karenina.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
what a weird one
Wonderful story of high society in New York. Lily Bart is a witty, ambitious and ultimately sad character. Her attempts to marry seem to be derailed by her own deeds. Makes you realise how far women's rights have come in the first world at least.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well, I'm hugely out of step on this one.
"The House of Mirth" was recommended by two trusted friends, listed by one as a competitor for the title of Great American Novel. I could not get into it at all.
The novel is about a young socialite of the Gilded Age, and how one innocent mistake can lead to another and another until she falls out of Society and -gasp!- actually has to get a job. It has much to say about group dynamics and the gaps between intention, action, and perception. It's also painfully dull. I couldn't relate to the novel's protagonist and felt repulsed by her milieu. With her every stupid decision, I felt increasingly impatient with her. As her eventual expulsion from Society drew ever nearer, all I could think was, "Well, to hell with them." As her downward trajectory gathered speed, I looked forward to the obvious and inevitable conclusion.
I dreaded my appointments with this book. I listened to an audio version and repeatedly checked the time remaining in the vain hope that this could somehow speed Chronos’s relentless march. "The House of Mirth" fails in the most basic requirement of storytelling: it fails to enrapture its audience.
And yet ... and yet, this book spoke to two valued friends of mine. Let's chalk this up as yet another example of the truism that not every book is for every reader.
"The House of Mirth" was recommended by two trusted friends, listed by one as a competitor for the title of Great American Novel. I could not get into it at all.
The novel is about a young socialite of the Gilded Age, and how one innocent mistake can lead to another and another until she falls out of Society and -gasp!- actually has to get a job. It has much to say about group dynamics and the gaps between intention, action, and perception. It's also painfully dull. I couldn't relate to the novel's protagonist and felt repulsed by her milieu. With her every stupid decision, I felt increasingly impatient with her. As her eventual expulsion from Society drew ever nearer, all I could think was, "Well, to hell with them." As her downward trajectory gathered speed, I looked forward to the obvious and inevitable conclusion.
I dreaded my appointments with this book. I listened to an audio version and repeatedly checked the time remaining in the vain hope that this could somehow speed Chronos’s relentless march. "The House of Mirth" fails in the most basic requirement of storytelling: it fails to enrapture its audience.
And yet ... and yet, this book spoke to two valued friends of mine. Let's chalk this up as yet another example of the truism that not every book is for every reader.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated