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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Agradezco a novelas eternas por traer en su catálogo obras que no conocía y me han dado una gran satisfacción.
Esta novela es oro puro.
Y Edith Wharton hoy por hoy se suma a mi lista de escritoras (es) favoritas (os).
Esta novela es oro puro.
Y Edith Wharton hoy por hoy se suma a mi lista de escritoras (es) favoritas (os).
Review of The House of Mirth
By Edith Wharton
Lily Bart is an orphan living with her aunt and looking for a wealthy husband. Unfortunately, she has inherited her mother’s lack of financial awareness and finds herself indebted to a friend’s husband. She also finds herself caught in a scandal when she mistakenly trusts the wrong people.
There is something sophisticated and lyrical about Wharton’s writing, but it is dry at times. Lily is vain and spoiled but she is not mean. She doesn’t have the kind of ambition necessary to protect herself. I felt pity for her, but also frustration at her mistakes and obliviousness. I hated Bertha as she is cruel, but she makes a clever foil for Lily. The story highlights how easily a reputation can be ruined just by one simple word and how people easily believe rumors. This story is bitterly realistic to how society during this time period.
By Edith Wharton
Lily Bart is an orphan living with her aunt and looking for a wealthy husband. Unfortunately, she has inherited her mother’s lack of financial awareness and finds herself indebted to a friend’s husband. She also finds herself caught in a scandal when she mistakenly trusts the wrong people.
There is something sophisticated and lyrical about Wharton’s writing, but it is dry at times. Lily is vain and spoiled but she is not mean. She doesn’t have the kind of ambition necessary to protect herself. I felt pity for her, but also frustration at her mistakes and obliviousness. I hated Bertha as she is cruel, but she makes a clever foil for Lily. The story highlights how easily a reputation can be ruined just by one simple word and how people easily believe rumors. This story is bitterly realistic to how society during this time period.
Läste inte klart den... jag försökte verkligen ta mig igenom den men det kändes som tortyr att läsa de sista 46 sidorna som jag hade kvar nu i slutet. Boken var inte dåligt, men ooooj vad den var långt utdragen och rent av tråkig. Det var för mycket detaljbeskrivning, för många personer att hålla koll på och det kändes som att den aldrig skulle ta slut. Jag förstår att boken handlar om Lily Bart som vill på något sätt bli förmögen, men annars har jag ingen aning om vad som händer. Ingen aning alls.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
I was impressed by how effortless the prose seems, and how well-structured the narrative is to allow for such a flow. There are few narrative “pauses” to provide the reader with pieces of background information or to introduce new characters; those parts are instead elegantly slipped into the narrative, mostly from the perspective of Lily Bart, like an unbroken thread. A stream, not of consciousness, but of… cleverly formulated paragraphs relating Lily Bart’s thought process. Although you know that Wharton probably labored intensively with the wording, it felt like she had sat down and written it all in one go. The impressive result comes off as less contrived than, say, the impressive results of Henry James or Fitzgerald.
I also liked how the story never gave in to my predictions about how it might develop. Wharton in some parts introduces scenes whose seeds could have grown into a soaplike intrigue, but the story rarely took the direction I imagined. I became emotionally engaged in Lily’s struggles and at some point I tried to discard her as a silly character – condemning herself to her destiny and with only herself to blame – to be able to detach myself from her and the emotions the book stirred. But trying to write Lily off as such was only to deceive myself, because I did care about her, and the story, enough to crave more.
Much of that craving was due to Wharton’s wonderful writing, already mentioned above, with sentences such as,
The quote might not seem “all that” on its own, but in a book full of them it represents not a salient line to be found here and there, but the character of the entire book – a pure joy to read.
I also liked how the story never gave in to my predictions about how it might develop. Wharton in some parts introduces scenes whose seeds could have grown into a soaplike intrigue, but the story rarely took the direction I imagined. I became emotionally engaged in Lily’s struggles and at some point I tried to discard her as a silly character – condemning herself to her destiny and with only herself to blame – to be able to detach myself from her and the emotions the book stirred. But trying to write Lily off as such was only to deceive myself, because I did care about her, and the story, enough to crave more.
Much of that craving was due to Wharton’s wonderful writing, already mentioned above, with sentences such as,
It seemed to him necessary, at that moment, to proclaim, by some habitual gesture of this sort, his recovered hold on the actual: he had an almost puerile wish to let his companion see that, their flight over, he had landed on his feet.
The quote might not seem “all that” on its own, but in a book full of them it represents not a salient line to be found here and there, but the character of the entire book – a pure joy to read.
First published in 1905, this tells a sad story about high society in Manhattan. Lily Bart, an aging 29-year-old beauty, is in search of a husband in order to continue in her accustomed luxury. A future of wealth is the only end goal she has ever envisioned, a “life of fastidious aloofness and refinement in which every detail should have the finish of a jewel, and the whole form a harmonious setting to her own jewel-like rareness." She moves among the truly wealthy, accepted for her beauty and grace, but never having the security of money to make her feel permanently at home. She lives by forever accepting the hospitality of her lady friends, accompanying them on vacations and wearing their cast-off dresses, but obligated to serve their wishes in many ways. Lily faces several constraints – she has to keep up her appearance and act as if she is carefree and charming. She has to be extremely careful to maintain a spotless reputation. And so on.
How has Lily, famous for her beauty and social graces, made it to 29 without a husband? Each time she is in a position to accept a proposal, she sabotages herself somehow. Unconsciously, she knows what it means to marry for wealth, and her soul deflects and ducks. The only person who might understand this about Lily is Lawrence Selden, an aristocratic lawyer who has chosen a simple life for himself. Lily and Lawrence sometimes find themselves strolling in gardens or sitting on park benches, having conversations that are honest and real. They are drawn to each other, but Lily’s whole existence has always been aimed like an arrow at Money, not love.
This novel follows a downward trajectory describing the indifference of the wealthy to the plight of others. As Lily strides toward understanding herself and the truth of her constrained situation, she is betrayed by her upper-class friends. She can’t bring herself to fight back. When she considers her options, she sees “…a future of servitude to the whims of others." What can she do? The answer to that is not a happy one, and although beautiful writing describes the imperfect redemption of love, the ending is tragic.
How has Lily, famous for her beauty and social graces, made it to 29 without a husband? Each time she is in a position to accept a proposal, she sabotages herself somehow. Unconsciously, she knows what it means to marry for wealth, and her soul deflects and ducks. The only person who might understand this about Lily is Lawrence Selden, an aristocratic lawyer who has chosen a simple life for himself. Lily and Lawrence sometimes find themselves strolling in gardens or sitting on park benches, having conversations that are honest and real. They are drawn to each other, but Lily’s whole existence has always been aimed like an arrow at Money, not love.
This novel follows a downward trajectory describing the indifference of the wealthy to the plight of others. As Lily strides toward understanding herself and the truth of her constrained situation, she is betrayed by her upper-class friends. She can’t bring herself to fight back. When she considers her options, she sees “…a future of servitude to the whims of others." What can she do? The answer to that is not a happy one, and although beautiful writing describes the imperfect redemption of love, the ending is tragic.
challenging
sad
tense
slow-paced
such an incredible book!!! but now i want a diamond
Страхотна книга! Изтънчено написана, изпълнена с проникновения за човешкия характер. Много хубав сюжет, страхотен финал!