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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Honestly delightful! My favorite Wharton I’ve read so far! Part of the reason I only gave it four stars is because Nick got on my nerves — luckily this is a reading app and not an English seminar so I can be as petty as I want hee hee
In this more than the other Wharton novels/stories I’ve read she so often has characters just “knowing” major things that it’s much too much of a coincidence for them to guess — but when a book/story is this fun… who cares?
In this more than the other Wharton novels/stories I’ve read she so often has characters just “knowing” major things that it’s much too much of a coincidence for them to guess — but when a book/story is this fun… who cares?
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
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
reflective
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:
No
emotional
reflective
slow-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
Anyone who’s read my blog for a while should know by now that I’m a fan of Edith Wharton. In working my way through the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list, I love that I have an excuse to discover the less-famous works of authors I already love. This works out better for my opinions of some authors rather than others—Edith Wharton is one of the former. The Glimpses of the Moon is not a novel of hers that I have heard discussed much as far as what gets recommended when Wharton’s work is brought up—but it should be.
Susy Branch, like many Wharton heroines, has been born and raised in the wealthiest circles of society and struggles to maintain her place there though much of her family’s fortune is gone. She sustains herself through the kindness—and favors—of her female friends. Accepting their castoffs and presents comes with a price and while Susy may occasionally despise her position, she doesn’t see any way out of it. When she meets Nick Lansing, he shares a similar place in their circle and they are able to commiserate and find themselves drawn each other. With the way their set sees marriage, Susy proposes that they go ahead and marry each other using the generosity of their friends’ gifts—checks, jewelry, offers of a few weeks or a month at various vacation houses around Europe—to sustain themselves for a year. At the end of that year when their funds dry up, they would release each other (a.k.a. divorce) so that they could then make more profitable though less personally desirable matches. They embark on marriage in agreement over the theory but putting it into practice proves a greater challenge as personal feelings, principles, and simply being around their “set” begins to affect how they each view themselves, each other, and the dictates of their arrangement.
For my full review, please visit my blog:
http://wp.me/pUEx4-IS
Susy Branch, like many Wharton heroines, has been born and raised in the wealthiest circles of society and struggles to maintain her place there though much of her family’s fortune is gone. She sustains herself through the kindness—and favors—of her female friends. Accepting their castoffs and presents comes with a price and while Susy may occasionally despise her position, she doesn’t see any way out of it. When she meets Nick Lansing, he shares a similar place in their circle and they are able to commiserate and find themselves drawn each other. With the way their set sees marriage, Susy proposes that they go ahead and marry each other using the generosity of their friends’ gifts—checks, jewelry, offers of a few weeks or a month at various vacation houses around Europe—to sustain themselves for a year. At the end of that year when their funds dry up, they would release each other (a.k.a. divorce) so that they could then make more profitable though less personally desirable matches. They embark on marriage in agreement over the theory but putting it into practice proves a greater challenge as personal feelings, principles, and simply being around their “set” begins to affect how they each view themselves, each other, and the dictates of their arrangement.
For my full review, please visit my blog:
http://wp.me/pUEx4-IS
Why shouldn't they marry; belong to each other openly and honorably, if for ever so short a time, and with the definite understanding that whenever either of them got the chance to do better he or she should be immediately released? The law of their country facilitated such exchanges, and society was beginning to view them as indulgently as the law. As Susy talked, she warmed to her theme and began to develop its endless possibilities. "We should really, in a way, help more than we should hamper each other," she ardently explained. "We both know the ropes so well; what one of us didn't see the other might—in the way of opportunities, I mean."
So Susy Branch and Nick Lansing start their marriage, on this obviously terrible premise. Both are American socialites, but penniless ones who live on the fringes of the lives of their wealthy friends. Susy is a true hanger-on, one whose beauty and vivacity - and willingness to go along with the sometimes tawdry behavior of those who support her lifestyle - make them willing to house and clothe her, at least for short periods of time. She floats around Europe, from one friend's home to another, ignoring any twinges of conscience she may feel about her way of life because she can't imagine not having the luxuries she's always been used to.
Nick is also part of the circle of upper-crust Americans in Europe, hobnobbing with British aristocrats and minor royals, taking advantage of their hospitality and invitations to travel with them. He draws the line at being supported by them fully, however, working as a writer for an encyclopedia and living in a humble apartment in an unfashionable part of town. He dabbles in archaeology and ultimately wants to be a novelist.
After meeting Nick and falling in love, Susy comes up with the plan mentioned above. With no way to support themselves as a long-term couple in the manner they're accustomed to, Susy decides some time living together is better than none at all. They'll marry and spend a year together in honeymoon bliss, living off the checks given to them as wedding gifts and staying in a string of villas and mansions loaned to them by their rich friends. All the while they'll each keep an eye out for wealthy suitors, letting each other off the hook by divorcing when one or the other is ready to marry someone else.
At first all is glorious and happy in their loved-up honeymoon bubble, but before long the expectations of their friends encroach on their relationship, causing a moral and ethical clash between the two of them. While staying at a married couple's villa in Venice, Susy keeps something serious from Nick, knowing he'd be appalled by her collusion, however unwilling, in their hostess' adulterous behavior. When he inevitably learns the truth he's appalled and leaves her, concluding that their experiment was a mistake. So begins an angst-filled journey of self-discovery for each of them as they go their separate ways and try to find a path forward in life, all while still feeling a passionate connection to one another.
I liked this novel a lot. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, as I always expect from Edith Wharton, full of insight into the wealthy, elite society she was a part of but saw with a jaundiced and realistic eye. This book was published in the early 1920s, and the changing attitudes toward marriage and divorce beginning to be felt at that time are a big part of this story. Society is beginning not to shun divorced people as it used to, but at the same time the greater ubiquity of marriages splitting up has painful ramifications for those involved and she explores that.
Also explored is the ethical compromise necessary when one lives a life where luxury is seen as a necessity, but a necessity that can't be obtained except by clinging to cynical, morally suspect people. You can't get something for nothing, as the saying goes, and Susy learns that the hard way. I really love Susy Branch Lansing as a character. She's not a bad person at all, but her moral compass has to undergo some adjustments in order for her to develop a true sense of self-worth and find her own happiness.
The offer gave her a salutary glimpse of the way in which, as the years passed, and she lost her freshness and novelty, she would more and more be used as a convenience, a stop-gap, writer of notes, runner of errands, nursery governess or companion. She called to mind several elderly women of her acquaintance, pensioners of her own group, who still wore its livery, struck its attitudes and chattered its jargon, but had long since been ruthlessly relegated to these slave-ant offices. Never in the world would she join their numbers.
Nick Lansing I found harder to like. Though he is the morally correct one, he can be very harshly critical and judgmental, and his running away from Susy at the first sign of real conflict is difficult to take. Though his absence gives both of them time to grow and realize the mistakes they've made, and though he admits at the end that he was an ass and his behavior had been wrong, I was still left feeling that he wasn't truly good enough for her. They both had to mature and change before they could come back together, but Susy's journey was the more sympathetic one to me.
Still, all in all this was an excellent book that made me think and feel and even well up a time or two. The writing is beautiful and intelligent, and I really enjoyed reading a book by Edith Wharton that didn't end tragically! That was a treat in and of itself. It was almost like a lighter version of [b:The House of Mirth|17728|The House of Mirth|Edith Wharton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328729186l/17728._SY75_.jpg|1652564] - one in which Lily Bart and Lawrence Selden take a different path - one that allows them a different kind of ending.
So Susy Branch and Nick Lansing start their marriage, on this obviously terrible premise. Both are American socialites, but penniless ones who live on the fringes of the lives of their wealthy friends. Susy is a true hanger-on, one whose beauty and vivacity - and willingness to go along with the sometimes tawdry behavior of those who support her lifestyle - make them willing to house and clothe her, at least for short periods of time. She floats around Europe, from one friend's home to another, ignoring any twinges of conscience she may feel about her way of life because she can't imagine not having the luxuries she's always been used to.
Nick is also part of the circle of upper-crust Americans in Europe, hobnobbing with British aristocrats and minor royals, taking advantage of their hospitality and invitations to travel with them. He draws the line at being supported by them fully, however, working as a writer for an encyclopedia and living in a humble apartment in an unfashionable part of town. He dabbles in archaeology and ultimately wants to be a novelist.
After meeting Nick and falling in love, Susy comes up with the plan mentioned above. With no way to support themselves as a long-term couple in the manner they're accustomed to, Susy decides some time living together is better than none at all. They'll marry and spend a year together in honeymoon bliss, living off the checks given to them as wedding gifts and staying in a string of villas and mansions loaned to them by their rich friends. All the while they'll each keep an eye out for wealthy suitors, letting each other off the hook by divorcing when one or the other is ready to marry someone else.
At first all is glorious and happy in their loved-up honeymoon bubble, but before long the expectations of their friends encroach on their relationship, causing a moral and ethical clash between the two of them. While staying at a married couple's villa in Venice, Susy keeps something serious from Nick, knowing he'd be appalled by her collusion, however unwilling, in their hostess' adulterous behavior. When he inevitably learns the truth he's appalled and leaves her, concluding that their experiment was a mistake. So begins an angst-filled journey of self-discovery for each of them as they go their separate ways and try to find a path forward in life, all while still feeling a passionate connection to one another.
I liked this novel a lot. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, as I always expect from Edith Wharton, full of insight into the wealthy, elite society she was a part of but saw with a jaundiced and realistic eye. This book was published in the early 1920s, and the changing attitudes toward marriage and divorce beginning to be felt at that time are a big part of this story. Society is beginning not to shun divorced people as it used to, but at the same time the greater ubiquity of marriages splitting up has painful ramifications for those involved and she explores that.
Also explored is the ethical compromise necessary when one lives a life where luxury is seen as a necessity, but a necessity that can't be obtained except by clinging to cynical, morally suspect people. You can't get something for nothing, as the saying goes, and Susy learns that the hard way. I really love Susy Branch Lansing as a character. She's not a bad person at all, but her moral compass has to undergo some adjustments in order for her to develop a true sense of self-worth and find her own happiness.
The offer gave her a salutary glimpse of the way in which, as the years passed, and she lost her freshness and novelty, she would more and more be used as a convenience, a stop-gap, writer of notes, runner of errands, nursery governess or companion. She called to mind several elderly women of her acquaintance, pensioners of her own group, who still wore its livery, struck its attitudes and chattered its jargon, but had long since been ruthlessly relegated to these slave-ant offices. Never in the world would she join their numbers.
Nick Lansing I found harder to like. Though he is the morally correct one, he can be very harshly critical and judgmental, and his running away from Susy at the first sign of real conflict is difficult to take. Though his absence gives both of them time to grow and realize the mistakes they've made, and though he admits at the end that he was an ass and his behavior had been wrong, I was still left feeling that he wasn't truly good enough for her. They both had to mature and change before they could come back together, but Susy's journey was the more sympathetic one to me.
Still, all in all this was an excellent book that made me think and feel and even well up a time or two. The writing is beautiful and intelligent, and I really enjoyed reading a book by Edith Wharton that didn't end tragically! That was a treat in and of itself. It was almost like a lighter version of [b:The House of Mirth|17728|The House of Mirth|Edith Wharton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328729186l/17728._SY75_.jpg|1652564] - one in which Lily Bart and Lawrence Selden take a different path - one that allows them a different kind of ending.
4.5 stars.
"Good books, good music, and good talk had been their daily food..."
Glimpses of the Moon was published in 1922, seventeen years after Wharton's great success with House of Mirth. I decided to read this in conjunction with House of Mirth (both were rereads) because the stories share parallel themes with different outcomes.
SYNOPSIS:
Nick and Susy Lansing are on their honeymoon and in love, having decided to marry even though they both know it's a bad match. Both are too poor to support the lush lifestyle they desire (and grew up with), so they make a deal: live in bliss off their rich friends for one year, and then after that both are free to leave, no questions asked, if a better opportunity comes along.
Like HoM, Glimpses deals with the question of what to do with the life you're given - what is essential to be happy, to lead a life of fulfillment? This novel is sort of the "What if?" of House of Mirth. What if the main characters of that book decided to give it a chance? While I think that House of Mirth is the superior novel, I love reading these two books as a pair. Glimpses has more of a lighthearted, tragic comedy feel than HoM, and feels more escapist. The characters grapple with similar problems, but are able to connect - unlike Lily and Selden. Though it's another sharp examination of society, wealth, morality, and how these all interconnect, Glimpses differs in that Wharton shows her characters mercy (that never happens
"Good books, good music, and good talk had been their daily food..."
Glimpses of the Moon was published in 1922, seventeen years after Wharton's great success with House of Mirth. I decided to read this in conjunction with House of Mirth (both were rereads) because the stories share parallel themes with different outcomes.
SYNOPSIS:
Nick and Susy Lansing are on their honeymoon and in love, having decided to marry even though they both know it's a bad match. Both are too poor to support the lush lifestyle they desire (and grew up with), so they make a deal: live in bliss off their rich friends for one year, and then after that both are free to leave, no questions asked, if a better opportunity comes along.
Like HoM, Glimpses deals with the question of what to do with the life you're given - what is essential to be happy, to lead a life of fulfillment? This novel is sort of the "What if?" of House of Mirth. What if the main characters of that book decided to give it a chance? While I think that House of Mirth is the superior novel, I love reading these two books as a pair. Glimpses has more of a lighthearted, tragic comedy feel than HoM, and feels more escapist. The characters grapple with similar problems, but are able to connect - unlike Lily and Selden. Though it's another sharp examination of society, wealth, morality, and how these all interconnect, Glimpses differs in that Wharton shows her characters mercy (that never happens
Romanul a fost ușor de citit, cu un scris plăcut, focalizând imaginea mai mult pe Susy, pe când Nick apare mai mult ca o entitate din umbra eroinei; lectura mi-a făcut plăcere datorită stilului interesant, a firului narativ ușor de urmărit, dar și a finalului, oarecum neașteptat.
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This was an enjoyable criticism of society and privilege. Nick and Suzy were flawed but likable characters and the world which they inhabited was rich with detail. A beautifully written, realistic romance. (Jennings)