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gillgill99's review against another edition
It’s a book to be picked up at leisure and read over the course of a year but it’s a library book and it was cluttering up my apartment
readingoverbreathing's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Be it the series of Gilded Age fashion that was covered on the Dressed podcast, my recent dabbling in The Gilded Age TV show, or the Sargent exhibition I attended at the MFA back in November, the Gilded Age has really been on my mind lately, and thus, naturally, Edith Wharton as well. I stumbled upon a used copy of this, her memoir, at the height of this interest and was eager to learn a little more about one of my all-time favorite authors.
I was naturally most looking forward to Edith's account of her childhood and early adulthood, growing up in one of the richest families in America in one of its most glamorous periods. And the Newport and New York scenes certainly did not disappoint — Edith's memories unfold in a blur of parties, faces, and especially clothes, for which she has a vivid recollection. I ate up every last detail.
But around the time of her marriage, the book shifted a bit and became much more focused on the people and places she interacted with in her adulthood. A lot of this was utterly fascinating — I had no idea how well-connected she was with so many of the famous figures of her day. And who, of course, can grow tired of her descriptions of traipsing around Europe?
However, it felt to me like any sense of Edith herself was very much in the background of all of this. I do understand that she was writing from a place of highlighting the important people and events in her life, rather than focusing on herself, but I just wish I could have seen more of her emerge in these pages. I felt like I got to know Henry James better than I did Edith.
The author of the introduction at the beginning of this edition points out that Edith hardly even alludes to her unhappy marriage and especially to her divorce, or even her husband at all, really, all of which must have made up a significant aspect of her adult experience, but which she only ever briefly mentions in passing. While I can understand all her unhappy reasons for avoiding this, it was still an obvious gap that created a slight sense of distrust for me as a reader.
Overall, though, this truly is a fascinating, extremely well-written look not only into the world of one of America's best writers, but into life in the early twentieth century from one of the most cosmopolitan women of the time. From start to finish, despite some dips and turns, I absolutely adored this as a reading experience. I wish all of my favorite authors had a memoir as detailed as this!
I was naturally most looking forward to Edith's account of her childhood and early adulthood, growing up in one of the richest families in America in one of its most glamorous periods. And the Newport and New York scenes certainly did not disappoint — Edith's memories unfold in a blur of parties, faces, and especially clothes, for which she has a vivid recollection. I ate up every last detail.
But around the time of her marriage, the book shifted a bit and became much more focused on the people and places she interacted with in her adulthood. A lot of this was utterly fascinating — I had no idea how well-connected she was with so many of the famous figures of her day. And who, of course, can grow tired of her descriptions of traipsing around Europe?
However, it felt to me like any sense of Edith herself was very much in the background of all of this. I do understand that she was writing from a place of highlighting the important people and events in her life, rather than focusing on herself, but I just wish I could have seen more of her emerge in these pages. I felt like I got to know Henry James better than I did Edith.
The author of the introduction at the beginning of this edition points out that Edith hardly even alludes to her unhappy marriage and especially to her divorce, or even her husband at all, really, all of which must have made up a significant aspect of her adult experience, but which she only ever briefly mentions in passing. While I can understand all her unhappy reasons for avoiding this, it was still an obvious gap that created a slight sense of distrust for me as a reader.
Overall, though, this truly is a fascinating, extremely well-written look not only into the world of one of America's best writers, but into life in the early twentieth century from one of the most cosmopolitan women of the time. From start to finish, despite some dips and turns, I absolutely adored this as a reading experience. I wish all of my favorite authors had a memoir as detailed as this!
ricefun's review against another edition
5.0
In Wharton's autobiography she reveals herself to be a woman of letters, stories, books and relationships. She makes no pretext about saying that the great love of her life is her writing and traveling. While her romantic and married life remains in the shadows, only to be revealed later by scholars and sensationalists, her literary life takes center stage of this work. Her resources and connections shape her experience, but also hamper her passion, as women of New York society are not meant to write. The memories of her childhood, travel, and friendships are her most treasured 'resources' and she encourages her readers to build their own trove of memories. The entire work is tinged with melancholy as her life draws nearer its end and she watches the lives of her friends pass away one by one.
deanna_1963's review against another edition
4.0
This is a well-written autobiography, but I it can be hard to follow as Edith Wharton drops names and places and adds foreign phrases that need to be deciphered. Her life appears to have been a whirlwind of parties and socials and things out of place in today's world. I feel I can better understand her novels, having spent some time with her life.
indecisivespice's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this and now want to visit The Mount even more than before. Even if I didn't enjoy this as a whole, the chapter on Henry James alone would've been worth the read.
sabaileyreads's review against another edition
good to know more details about one of my fave classic authors -- especially her really sweet friendship/mentorship with Henry James -- but not nearly as enjoyable as her fiction. My favorires are Age of Innocence and House or Mirth. Check those out!!
robyn_m's review against another edition
3.0
If you had to choose one hundred people from your life to include in a memoir, whom would you choose? What would you write about each person? Such is the essence of A Backward Glance. Key details of Wharton's own life are often glossed over or excluded.
ratthew86's review against another edition
1.0
Really found this tedious. As much as I love Wharton’s fiction, I do not want to read nearly 400 pages of how much fun her and her rich friends had yachting across Europe.