Thoughts on Edith Wharton?

[Anonymous]

What do you guys think of her works?

[Anonymous]

I read Age of Innocence ages ago and loved it. But then could never get into any of the others. At the time I was going through a stage and loved Anna Karenina, The Awakening and the like as well. Certainly set me on a path to doing my best to empower myself as a female.

[Anonymous]

Age of Innocence is really great. I also really enjoy her ghost stories.

[Anonymous]

Ethan Fromme too !! Age of Innocence and Custom of the Country .

[Anonymous]

She's actually very funny.

[Anonymous]

I have a soft spot for "House of Mirth" read over a summer with grandparents, though I though the ending didn't fit the rest of the book.
Also, The Buccaneers, because of the Masterpiece film the led me to reading it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a soft spot for "House of Mirth" read over a summer with grandparents, though I though the ending didn't fit the rest of the book.
Also, The Buccaneers, because of the Masterpiece film the led me to reading it.

I think I read once that her editor made her change the ending

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's actually very funny.

This. One of my favorites.

[Anonymous]

I read The Age of Innocence long ago but remember the general story well.

The ending was haunting. Archer refuses to meet with Ellen and instead sits on a bench outside while his son visits with Ellen. His son later reveals that his mother, May, had asked him to take his father to visit Ellen. So it turns out May had known all along about the love that had developed between Ellen and Archer. Archer had turned his back on that love because he was betrothed to May. In the insular social world in which they existed, he would have done May a grievous wrong to leave her in the lurch and run off with Ellen. So he married May, despite his love for Ellen. When he was tempted to leave May and join Ellen, because he couldn't bear to be separated from Ellen any longer, May told him she was pregnant. That was it. He never left May. Ellen had left for Europe. A few decades later, on her deathbed, May asks their son to take his father to visit her cousin Ellen in Europe. Their son doesn't know the full story but dutifully takes his father to see Ellen, only Archer refuses to see her. He walks away from the opportunity to finally be with his long lost love.

Such a haunting ending. It calls to mind all the people who can't forget their first love, but build their life in the here and now. It calls to mind King Charles, a less faithful and more selfish man caught in a similar predicament. King Charles is a modern rendition of a high society man, but light years different from a man like Archer.

I felt the old WASP NYC society to be rather similar to a modern Latino gang in the sense they have parallels, such as a strict code of conduct you abide by. It's kind of ironic to compare the old WASP society, pinnacle of American high society, with the new Latino gangs, city rats.

Excellent book. A few books make a big impression, and this is one of them.

[Anonymous]

I really really like House of Mirth for some reason. I think I really enjoy how the plot is constructed as a slow, gradual decline for Lily's character.

Those who enjoy this book might also enjoy Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.

[Anonymous]

I enjoy her novels. My favorites are Age of Innocence, House of Mirth, and Custom of the Country.

I recently reread Age of Innocence and this time through, even though it's mainly from Archer's point of view, I was loving the details that Wharton subtly throws in about how much more May understands than Archer realizes. I didn't catch it all the first time I read it.

[Anonymous]

I love House of Mirth, it remains a favorite read for me. It's tragic but also funny and insightful. There are passages in it about how Lily's friendships operate that I think have relevance even in a world where single women are not reliant on others for housing and food. Wharton writes about how Lily essentially has a job or service to perform, to be charming and good company and to enliven parties and balance out dinners, and that she knows she must do these things in order to maintain her friendships and earn her way into her friend's homes. It's transactional, yes, but I also think this is also often how friendships even now operate. If you've ever fallen on hard times and rapidly discovered that many of your friends lose interest in you once you are no longer simply a fun and rewarding party guest, you can relate. The first time I read this book, I wound up staying home all weekend to finish it because I was so engrossed. I read it again a few years ago and was worried it would disappoint, but if anything I got more out of it the second time around. It's terribly sad but I think worth the read.

I read Ethan Fromme in high school and hated it and have no interest in revisiting it. The setting is too dreary and the core conflicts too upsetting to me. I think there was also something about having it assigned, and then discovering that it was such a stark and kind of depressing narrative, that poisoned it for me. I was the kid who loved doing assigned reading in HS but this was a book that truly felt like homework and I couldn't embrace it.

I think Age of Innocence is very good but as a social commentary, I think it lacks the soft touch of other authors, including Austen. I know, I know -- different places, different eras. But AoI left me with a harsh taste in my mouth. Unlike HoM, it doesn't feel tragic so much as cynical. Though some of the comments in this thread make me think I should reread it.

Despite my varied opinions on her books, I think Wharton is one of the greats in American literature. I also think she's emblematic of her era and in some way has come to define turn-of-the-century America -- I see her fingerprints all over the show The Gilded Age, for instance. An essential read IMO, even if I would not start most people off with Ethan Fromme.

I've also read a handful of her short stories in writing classes I've taken over the years but none jump out at me. I think she shines as a novelist because the length gives her time to build in these layers of meaning and understanding (or lack thereof) that give her work so much complexity.

[Anonymous]

I like her books and I find it odd that I am drawn to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love House of Mirth, it remains a favorite read for me. It's tragic but also funny and insightful. There are passages in it about how Lily's friendships operate that I think have relevance even in a world where single women are not reliant on others for housing and food. Wharton writes about how Lily essentially has a job or service to perform, to be charming and good company and to enliven parties and balance out dinners, and that she knows she must do these things in order to maintain her friendships and earn her way into her friend's homes. It's transactional, yes, but I also think this is also often how friendships even now operate. If you've ever fallen on hard times and rapidly discovered that many of your friends lose interest in you once you are no longer simply a fun and rewarding party guest, you can relate. The first time I read this book, I wound up staying home all weekend to finish it because I was so engrossed. I read it again a few years ago and was worried it would disappoint, but if anything I got more out of it the second time around. It's terribly sad but I think worth the read.

I read Ethan Fromme in high school and hated it and have no interest in revisiting it. The setting is too dreary and the core conflicts too upsetting to me. I think there was also something about having it assigned, and then discovering that it was such a stark and kind of depressing narrative, that poisoned it for me. I was the kid who loved doing assigned reading in HS but this was a book that truly felt like homework and I couldn't embrace it.

I think Age of Innocence is very good but as a social commentary, I think it lacks the soft touch of other authors, including Austen. I know, I know -- different places, different eras. But AoI left me with a harsh taste in my mouth. Unlike HoM, it doesn't feel tragic so much as cynical. Though some of the comments in this thread make me think I should reread it.

Despite my varied opinions on her books, I think Wharton is one of the greats in American literature. I also think she's emblematic of her era and in some way has come to define turn-of-the-century America -- I see her fingerprints all over the show The Gilded Age, for instance. An essential read IMO, even if I would not start most people off with Ethan Fromme.

I've also read a handful of her short stories in writing classes I've taken over the years but none jump out at me. I think she shines as a novelist because the length gives her time to build in these layers of meaning and understanding (or lack thereof) that give her work so much complexity.

+1
Very much similar to the "bright young things" of the current young generations.

[Anonymous]

I loved House of Mirth and enjoyed Age of Innocence and Buccaneers. I hated Ethan Frome and don't understand why it seems to be the most widely assigned of her novels (I know there are some other EF haters on this forum, but this is my first time posting about it).