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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
If my English professor hadn't taught this book, I don't think I would have liked it as much as I do.
I am usually sometimes afraid of classics, and now I’m glad I read it. I liked this tragedy, so so sad for lily. What a life to live. I’m excited to discuss this at book club.
Since I can't seem to find a way to some it up on my own, here's a description from the back of one of the editions: "Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match."
Lily was raised to love splendor and wealth and to be an ornament in that world. She cannot help but strive for the comfort and ease (even if it is marked by falsehoods) that that world offers. And yet there is a part of her that strives for some greater, higher ideal, some deeper truth beyond the finery.
Her downfall is in part due to circumstance (being a woman in her time period and raised to desire wealth and shun shabbiness) and in part due to her own poor choices. There are many times she could have prevented a mishap, only to blindly (out of naiveté) or purposefully (out of selfishness and her desire for wealth) step right into it. And many other times she could have saved herself, only to reject it due to her own sense of morality. Witnessing her mistakes is to see all the little ways she is guilty, while simultaneously discovering the multitude of ways she is innocent. It's all just so profoundly human.
The story was easy to follow and compelling to read. the scenes unfolding with eloquent language and open frankness. By the end of the book, i found that my commute wasn't long enough and I sat in my car upon arriving home listening to the conclusion, unable to wait until morning.
I often cry at books and movies; I'm easily moved (sometimes even a TV commercial will illicit a few tears). But this was an experience beyond mere crying. This was me with my hands pressed to my face, snot running out of my nose, abjectly weeping in the front seat of my car. I can't fully express why this book plucked that inner string in me, but it did.
I'm sure a part of it was the spectacular reading given by Eleanor Bron (who also, as it turns out, played Lily's Aunt Peniston in the 2000 movie adaptation) in the audio. She strikes just the right tone of reserve and emotions, her voice soothing and adaptable to each character. I don't know if my wrought emotional reaction would have been the same had I read it in text, but that's not something one can speculate on, since each individual experience is based on a multitude of circumstances that can't be recreated.
All I know, is I started this book thinking I would merely enjoy it, and ended it being madly in love.
Lily was raised to love splendor and wealth and to be an ornament in that world. She cannot help but strive for the comfort and ease (even if it is marked by falsehoods) that that world offers. And yet there is a part of her that strives for some greater, higher ideal, some deeper truth beyond the finery.
Her downfall is in part due to circumstance (being a woman in her time period and raised to desire wealth and shun shabbiness) and in part due to her own poor choices. There are many times she could have prevented a mishap, only to blindly (out of naiveté) or purposefully (out of selfishness and her desire for wealth) step right into it. And many other times she could have saved herself, only to reject it due to her own sense of morality. Witnessing her mistakes is to see all the little ways she is guilty, while simultaneously discovering the multitude of ways she is innocent. It's all just so profoundly human.
The story was easy to follow and compelling to read. the scenes unfolding with eloquent language and open frankness. By the end of the book, i found that my commute wasn't long enough and I sat in my car upon arriving home listening to the conclusion, unable to wait until morning.
I often cry at books and movies; I'm easily moved (sometimes even a TV commercial will illicit a few tears). But this was an experience beyond mere crying. This was me with my hands pressed to my face, snot running out of my nose, abjectly weeping in the front seat of my car. I can't fully express why this book plucked that inner string in me, but it did.
I'm sure a part of it was the spectacular reading given by Eleanor Bron (who also, as it turns out, played Lily's Aunt Peniston in the 2000 movie adaptation) in the audio. She strikes just the right tone of reserve and emotions, her voice soothing and adaptable to each character. I don't know if my wrought emotional reaction would have been the same had I read it in text, but that's not something one can speculate on, since each individual experience is based on a multitude of circumstances that can't be recreated.
All I know, is I started this book thinking I would merely enjoy it, and ended it being madly in love.
I didn't actually finish the book. I just find it tiring and exhausting - in a way - and I am not sure if I can finish reading it.
I bought this book when I found it at the bookstore (along with The Age of Innocence) because I wanted to read some Edith Wharton, and I also saw an actor I like reading it, so I figured, why not give it a shot. The synopsis also sounded pretty cool. The actual copy of the book is super cool (except for when the cover fell off) because I think it's from the 60s.
Anyway, I did not expect to like this as much as I did. It took me pretty long to read, because I didn't read about 100 or so pages a day or more like I can do with contemporary books. Classics are naturally more dense, and this was no exception. Usually in older books I find there are references and things I don't understand, but every metaphor in this book was really well crafted and made sense to me. Even if the book was dense, the actual writing was really great; I really felt like I understood most things.
It's also just an example of really good writing; the entire storyline with Selden is just so well done. I rarely find myself getting excited over love interests in classics, because they're usually very boring, but Lily and Selden's relationship was so devastating and perfect. Chapter 6 was perfectly done. There were times when I thought they might have a shot at getting together, and I was so mad that they never did, because that was pretty much my ideal scenario for Lily.
I also think the character of Lily is super good. She's rich and frivolous, but we get to see why she is the way she is. We get a slight backstory when she's at the Trenor's in the beginning (which I think is a great place to put it, too). We get to hear about her parents, and how her mom is responsible for a lot of Lily's spending problems. As the book goes on, Lily wants to maintain this expensive lifestyle, but the only way to do that in her society is to get married. She tries this a couple of times, but always ends up backing off before she goes through with it. She has the power to entice someone to marry her, and to keep living how she's living, but it's always interrupted by Selden in some way. Like Selden said, when you're in society you don't realize there are other people outside of it; as desperately as Lily wanted to remain in society, she couldn't make that permanent a decision, and she also would be completely removing any chance she had with Selden.
There are also moments when she pretty much loses everything. She loses her friends, she loses her money. We get to see Lily Bart try to live as a poor woman; she even goes to work. She gets helped by Gerty Farrish, and she's pretty much the only loyal friend Lily has. Even though Lily confidently condemns her lifestyle at the beginning of the book, and Gerty even admits to hating her at one point. They needed a companion at times, and Lily was able to find some solace in her. What I find interesting is that Lily is of course looking for a way to keep spending money, but she tries her hardest to do it nobly. Even though her character is extremely privileged, and she's never had to work for anything, she's willing to if it means saving mooching off of her friends. When Lily looses all of her friends, it's pretty eye opening, and it let me know more into what the 1900s New York society was really like. It also shows how the word of men often ruined her reputation; men were rarely condemned for having affairs, and Lily is frequently condemned for the suspicion, even when she's taken advantage of and doesn't actually do anything, I suppose it's not much different from today. Rich and privileged people stay with rich and privileged people. She had few genuine friendships and people to help her.
I am saddened by her fate. Even though she was not perfect, I was rooting for her to get her life back together, because she wanted to do it honestly. She was trying her best to do the right thing. We have this little internal soliloquy going on at the end, and she's thinking over pretty much everything that's happened to her recently, including the girl from Gerty's place. I like that the ending is pretty ambiguous, and we don't really know if Lily mean to overdose on her sleeping pills. I still am not sure; I really was confident that Lily was trying to start a new life, but I'm afraid that maybe after seeing what it's like to live in poverty, the girl was the last straw. She may have decided that she'd rather be dead than live a life like that. Gerty and the others seems to think it's an accident, because it was common to overdose on sleeping pills, and maybe it was an accident, but there was something more behind it, and there was something leading to this moment. When Lily buys those letters, she can decide if she wants to cheat and blackmail her way back into society, or if she wants to try to do it honestly, or even forget society. Lily eventually burns the letters, which pretty much confirms that she's not willing to cheat her way into society. Society has always been a place where she fit. By doing this, it would mean that she didn't really belong.
This book says so much about women in society (in a rich and privileged society), and there's probably more I could be saying, but overall I really really enjoyed this book. There was something that was so resonant about it to me, and it really felt relevant to today, which is rare to find in a classic. Aside from my favorite books of all time, this might be my favorite classic.
Anyway, I did not expect to like this as much as I did. It took me pretty long to read, because I didn't read about 100 or so pages a day or more like I can do with contemporary books. Classics are naturally more dense, and this was no exception. Usually in older books I find there are references and things I don't understand, but every metaphor in this book was really well crafted and made sense to me. Even if the book was dense, the actual writing was really great; I really felt like I understood most things.
It's also just an example of really good writing; the entire storyline with Selden is just so well done. I rarely find myself getting excited over love interests in classics, because they're usually very boring, but Lily and Selden's relationship was so devastating and perfect. Chapter 6 was perfectly done. There were times when I thought they might have a shot at getting together, and I was so mad that they never did, because that was pretty much my ideal scenario for Lily.
I also think the character of Lily is super good. She's rich and frivolous, but we get to see why she is the way she is. We get a slight backstory when she's at the Trenor's in the beginning (which I think is a great place to put it, too). We get to hear about her parents, and how her mom is responsible for a lot of Lily's spending problems. As the book goes on, Lily wants to maintain this expensive lifestyle, but the only way to do that in her society is to get married. She tries this a couple of times, but always ends up backing off before she goes through with it. She has the power to entice someone to marry her, and to keep living how she's living, but it's always interrupted by Selden in some way. Like Selden said, when you're in society you don't realize there are other people outside of it; as desperately as Lily wanted to remain in society, she couldn't make that permanent a decision, and she also would be completely removing any chance she had with Selden.
There are also moments when she pretty much loses everything. She loses her friends, she loses her money. We get to see Lily Bart try to live as a poor woman; she even goes to work. She gets helped by Gerty Farrish, and she's pretty much the only loyal friend Lily has. Even though Lily confidently condemns her lifestyle at the beginning of the book, and Gerty even admits to hating her at one point. They needed a companion at times, and Lily was able to find some solace in her. What I find interesting is that Lily is of course looking for a way to keep spending money, but she tries her hardest to do it nobly. Even though her character is extremely privileged, and she's never had to work for anything, she's willing to if it means saving mooching off of her friends. When Lily looses all of her friends, it's pretty eye opening, and it let me know more into what the 1900s New York society was really like. It also shows how the word of men often ruined her reputation; men were rarely condemned for having affairs, and Lily is frequently condemned for the suspicion, even when she's taken advantage of and doesn't actually do anything, I suppose it's not much different from today. Rich and privileged people stay with rich and privileged people. She had few genuine friendships and people to help her.
I am saddened by her fate. Even though she was not perfect, I was rooting for her to get her life back together, because she wanted to do it honestly. She was trying her best to do the right thing. We have this little internal soliloquy going on at the end, and she's thinking over pretty much everything that's happened to her recently, including the girl from Gerty's place. I like that the ending is pretty ambiguous, and we don't really know if Lily mean to overdose on her sleeping pills. I still am not sure; I really was confident that Lily was trying to start a new life, but I'm afraid that maybe after seeing what it's like to live in poverty, the girl was the last straw. She may have decided that she'd rather be dead than live a life like that. Gerty and the others seems to think it's an accident, because it was common to overdose on sleeping pills, and maybe it was an accident, but there was something more behind it, and there was something leading to this moment. When Lily buys those letters, she can decide if she wants to cheat and blackmail her way back into society, or if she wants to try to do it honestly, or even forget society. Lily eventually burns the letters, which pretty much confirms that she's not willing to cheat her way into society. Society has always been a place where she fit. By doing this, it would mean that she didn't really belong.
This book says so much about women in society (in a rich and privileged society), and there's probably more I could be saying, but overall I really really enjoyed this book. There was something that was so resonant about it to me, and it really felt relevant to today, which is rare to find in a classic. Aside from my favorite books of all time, this might be my favorite classic.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very eloquently written and drawn-out tragedy. Reading this book was in no way fun, there‘s precious little mirth in it.
You watch Lily as she creates opportunities for herself but ultimately ends up missing them because deep down she‘s an idealist that wants nothing but happiness in life on top of riches. I think her friend Mrs Fisher (who was my favorite character) described it pretty well:
‚That‘s Lily all over: she works like a slave preparing the ground and sowing her seed; but the day she ought to be reaping the harvest she oversleeps herself or goes off on a picnic.‘
This is how the entire novel feels. You stumble from one big chance to the next with Lily but she takes none of them although they would make her life better in a materialistic sense (I get it, she wouldn‘t have found happiness). So those chances diminish and become smaller as the years pass.
And with Selden, the only one you feel she loves, fate just ain‘t having it. That and his wallet is too slim, it seems.
I could go on about how her parents basically wrecked Lily‘s life for her but I feel like a big part of it was how she kept surrounding herself with her toxic relations - and I‘m too weary for that.
All in all, I can say I‘m unhappy now so even though Edith Wharton‘s writing is balm for the sore reader‘s heart, I can‘t give this book more than two stars for making me suffer.
PS: If this were a Jane Austen novel, Selden would have made it in time and we‘d have gotten an epilogue. I would have loved to see Lily happy, not just on her moral high ground ;
You watch Lily as she creates opportunities for herself but ultimately ends up missing them because deep down she‘s an idealist that wants nothing but happiness in life on top of riches. I think her friend Mrs Fisher (who was my favorite character) described it pretty well:
‚That‘s Lily all over: she works like a slave preparing the ground and sowing her seed; but the day she ought to be reaping the harvest she oversleeps herself or goes off on a picnic.‘
This is how the entire novel feels. You stumble from one big chance to the next with Lily but she takes none of them although they would make her life better in a materialistic sense (I get it, she wouldn‘t have found happiness). So those chances diminish and become smaller as the years pass.
And with Selden, the only one you feel she loves, fate just ain‘t having it. That and his wallet is too slim, it seems.
I could go on about how her parents basically wrecked Lily‘s life for her but I feel like a big part of it was how she kept surrounding herself with her toxic relations - and I‘m too weary for that.
All in all, I can say I‘m unhappy now so even though Edith Wharton‘s writing is balm for the sore reader‘s heart, I can‘t give this book more than two stars for making me suffer.
PS: If this were a Jane Austen novel, Selden would have made it in time and we‘d have gotten an epilogue. I would have loved to see Lily happy, not just on her moral high ground ;
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I approached this book with caution, as I tend to most classics. I always question whether I will enjoy reading them as they often require so much focus that the experience is no longer relaxing. So this was a surprise indeed.
There are many twists and turns, and I was clamouring for the end to discover what was the result of Lily Bart's social demise. I found it interesting as this is a very American novel, and generally, I much prefer British social commentaries.
I felt for Lily Bart. She was born and raised to be a society maiden, but a lack of money and family importance, and just a few social misdemeanours and your world will come crashing down. She may have brought about her own downfall, but how could it be helped when it was all she knew?
There are many twists and turns, and I was clamouring for the end to discover what was the result of Lily Bart's social demise. I found it interesting as this is a very American novel, and generally, I much prefer British social commentaries.
I felt for Lily Bart. She was born and raised to be a society maiden, but a lack of money and family importance, and just a few social misdemeanours and your world will come crashing down. She may have brought about her own downfall, but how could it be helped when it was all she knew?