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misshappyapples 's review for:
The House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton
This is the sort of book that doesn't really need a review. Chances are, if you read books, you've heard of 'The House of Mirth' or at the very least its author, Edith Wharton. I was always aware of this book, understood the intricacies of its plot, mostly from the film version of it with Gillian Anderson from the year 2----, but also from that sort of osmosis that occurs with most English majors. Like plenty of books before it and many afterward people just know what happens. And so, upon entering this novel I already knew what happened to our heroine, Lily Bart. What I did not expect was that she would come so alive for me that I would start to believe she was capable of making choices other than the ones I knew she made. This is, perhaps, the sign of a true classic. Or at least something that deserves to be.
In 'The House of Mirth' our protagonist, Miss Lily Bart, is of the precarious position of being twenty-nine years of age, unmarried, and possessing very little money of her own. As a child Lily was raised by her mother to shun the "shabby" and look down upon those who are not able to achieve a certain standard of living. But when Lily's father loses everything her mother is not long for this world and she ends up in the care of her aunt, Mrs. Peniston, who gives a her a home, some dresses, and a small income. But when one is rubbing elbows with high society, for whom money is never a concern, a small income is not quite enough. Lily travels from place to place on the charity of her friends inviting her to their luxurious mansions, giving her their hand me downs, and introducing her to all the right people. On the outside Lily is as smooth and collected as the rest of them but on the inside she is scrambling to pay her dressmaker to keep up with the constant fashions and pay her debts from the customary playing of bridge for money. This need sends Lily on a trajectory of bad decisions; starting with accepting money from a friends husband, and continuing with the sabotage of several potential good marriages at the thought of a one Lawrence Selden, who Lily has already deemed inappropriate for her lifestyle because of his working background.
I will admit, though I finished this novel loving it thoroughly, it took me some time to get into. The first half of the book is very good and put me right into the scene, but I found that, while I loved it while in hand, I wasn't aching to go back to it. And then I would read several pages and start drifting off in my thoughts, safely ensconced in an imaginary friend's Gilded summer cottage. I loved the idea of the setting and the characters and even the circumstances, but I wasn't enjoying reading the book as much as I had anticipated. Still I made my way through to the midway point where I discovered I was unable to put the novel down. I sped through the second half, anxious to read the specifics of what would happen year and fume in the injustice of it all. This, I am sure, was Wharton's intention. And when I thought back I realized, quite easily, that the first half, though not as fervent, was necessary in setting up for the fall. The whole story floated by as if a dream and even though it took me longer to read than anything else for quite some time, every minute was worth it in the end.
In 'The House of Mirth' our protagonist, Miss Lily Bart, is of the precarious position of being twenty-nine years of age, unmarried, and possessing very little money of her own. As a child Lily was raised by her mother to shun the "shabby" and look down upon those who are not able to achieve a certain standard of living. But when Lily's father loses everything her mother is not long for this world and she ends up in the care of her aunt, Mrs. Peniston, who gives a her a home, some dresses, and a small income. But when one is rubbing elbows with high society, for whom money is never a concern, a small income is not quite enough. Lily travels from place to place on the charity of her friends inviting her to their luxurious mansions, giving her their hand me downs, and introducing her to all the right people. On the outside Lily is as smooth and collected as the rest of them but on the inside she is scrambling to pay her dressmaker to keep up with the constant fashions and pay her debts from the customary playing of bridge for money. This need sends Lily on a trajectory of bad decisions; starting with accepting money from a friends husband, and continuing with the sabotage of several potential good marriages at the thought of a one Lawrence Selden, who Lily has already deemed inappropriate for her lifestyle because of his working background.
I will admit, though I finished this novel loving it thoroughly, it took me some time to get into. The first half of the book is very good and put me right into the scene, but I found that, while I loved it while in hand, I wasn't aching to go back to it. And then I would read several pages and start drifting off in my thoughts, safely ensconced in an imaginary friend's Gilded summer cottage. I loved the idea of the setting and the characters and even the circumstances, but I wasn't enjoying reading the book as much as I had anticipated. Still I made my way through to the midway point where I discovered I was unable to put the novel down. I sped through the second half, anxious to read the specifics of what would happen year and fume in the injustice of it all. This, I am sure, was Wharton's intention. And when I thought back I realized, quite easily, that the first half, though not as fervent, was necessary in setting up for the fall. The whole story floated by as if a dream and even though it took me longer to read than anything else for quite some time, every minute was worth it in the end.