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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
A sad book that teaches everyone that SOCIETY, MONEY, NICE AND EXPENSIVE CLOTHES are not the most important things in our lives. Everyone can relate to Lily Bart. This is a classic book that still relates to us currently. I just wish there were more of Lily and Lawrence's moments. I would love to read more about them. If you're expecting that this is a love story then you're wrong, so wrong. I would love to see a "remake" with a different ending, a happy ever after ending.
Read this in my American Realism class. I would say it's on the brink of realism and naturalism.
While discussing the book in class we were all pretty amused by the fact that half the class felt sympathy for Lily Bart and half of her couldn't stand her. We were all in agreement though, that this disparity between the readers is one of the most brilliant aspects of House of Mirth.
There were parts of this book that were hard to read, not because it was boring or slow or bad, but because I became so aggravated with Lily and her fatalistic choices.
I give it four stars only because of Selden's character. His character never seemed whole to me
While discussing the book in class we were all pretty amused by the fact that half the class felt sympathy for Lily Bart and half of her couldn't stand her. We were all in agreement though, that this disparity between the readers is one of the most brilliant aspects of House of Mirth.
There were parts of this book that were hard to read, not because it was boring or slow or bad, but because I became so aggravated with Lily and her fatalistic choices.
I give it four stars only because of Selden's character. His character never seemed whole to me
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know if it was the writing, the subject matter, my mind, or what's going on in my life right now but though I read the book from cover to cover, it never really grasped my attention the way that most other books have. There were very few phrases that stood out of me, even. And I am one that always finds good in a book, I defended this "choice" in my thesis defense - "There is always something that I can learn or take from a book." While I always admire Edith Wharton -- this book did not do much of anything for me.
Wow! How have I not read Wharton before now? One of the best writers ever. Masterful command of diction and depth of character. Sad, sad, sad plot, actually painful to read content-wise, not prose. Will never be as talented as this woman <3 I wanted to punch every character at least once though. Zero redemption.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Secretly better than Age of Innocence. Funnier, sexier, and meaner. While Age of Innocence is a book about social mores, House of Mirth is directly about money, and because of this, Wharton's criticism of the world of the very rich is harsher and all the more satisfying.