Scan barcode
A review by mattyyreadsbooks
The Children by Edith Wharton
4.0
After hearing both Zadie Smith and Esi Edugyan recommend books by Edith Wharton I decided to try her work out. I chose to read The Children first, though not her most famous book it seemed light and simple, a nice one to start with. Light and simple is true, though in hindsight I shouldn’t have started with it.
It is a story of the moral conflict between old New York and the new “nouveau rich”. Wharton endeavours to condemn the stifling morals of her time whilst also criticising the ‘vulgar’ manners of those in 1900. Her writing is straightforward and old-fashioned yet appealing and expressive. It follows the adventures of a boisterous band of children and a bored bachelor who decides to help them. Wharton paints a sweet, melancholy picture apart from the significant issue of an older man desiring a teenager.
The children are funny and endearing, each a memorable character on their own, and Rose Sellers is quite glamourous and sophisticated. However, I do not love the main character Martin and feel completely unattached to him. Apart from the obvious reason being his gross tendency to fancy little girls, I found him boring and insipid. He has no actual characteristics and gets on my nerves for most of the book. I think it’s entirely his fault I rate this book 3.5 stars instead of higher because all my disappointment lies with him. He is rude and emotionless with the woman he has supposedly been in love with all his life, and though knowing he shouldn’t desire Judith, doesn’t seem to feel guilty about it.
I did enjoy the practicality of this book, there is no jubilant happy ending: the story merely ebbs as everyone gives up on the hopes they had. Not necessarily as dreary as I’ve made it sound, more bittersweet. It isn’t a story with great depth but it's easy to read, emotive and as tasteful as a story like this can be. Despite scoring this 3.5 stars it has not put me off reading Wharton and next I plan to try The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth.
It is a story of the moral conflict between old New York and the new “nouveau rich”. Wharton endeavours to condemn the stifling morals of her time whilst also criticising the ‘vulgar’ manners of those in 1900. Her writing is straightforward and old-fashioned yet appealing and expressive. It follows the adventures of a boisterous band of children and a bored bachelor who decides to help them. Wharton paints a sweet, melancholy picture apart from the significant issue of an older man desiring a teenager.
The children are funny and endearing, each a memorable character on their own, and Rose Sellers is quite glamourous and sophisticated. However, I do not love the main character Martin and feel completely unattached to him. Apart from the obvious reason being his gross tendency to fancy little girls, I found him boring and insipid. He has no actual characteristics and gets on my nerves for most of the book. I think it’s entirely his fault I rate this book 3.5 stars instead of higher because all my disappointment lies with him. He is rude and emotionless with the woman he has supposedly been in love with all his life, and though knowing he shouldn’t desire Judith, doesn’t seem to feel guilty about it.
I did enjoy the practicality of this book, there is no jubilant happy ending: the story merely ebbs as everyone gives up on the hopes they had. Not necessarily as dreary as I’ve made it sound, more bittersweet. It isn’t a story with great depth but it's easy to read, emotive and as tasteful as a story like this can be. Despite scoring this 3.5 stars it has not put me off reading Wharton and next I plan to try The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth.