Comments on: Edith Wharton

By: Emily Barton

Emily Barton — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:06:34 +0000

This one most definitely goes into the TBR tome. Thanks for pointing me in its direction.

By: Stefanie

Stefanie — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:59:25 +0000

Grad, don’t let her essay turn you off. Her fiction is quite marvelous, strong and forceful. She frequently takes on the upper class and its beliefs, harsh satire and criticism, especially when it comes to the prescribed roles of women.

Emily, oh yes, you have raved, about it, but keep raving I am really looking forward to getting to that chapter on her library!

Dorothy, you read Infinite Jest over the summer and you are intimidated by the length of the Wharton bio? The biography is a much easier read I am sure I read Lee’s Woolf bio quite a long time ago and liked it very much. I don’t think you could go wrong reading either of them.

andalucy, you’re so kind. No qualifications needed to comment, please don’t feel intimidated Wharton can seem very stern in her books and her women rarely end up happy which is hard, but I her writing style is very uniquely hers and so strongly American that she is compelling reading.

Litlove, I know exactly what you mean, Wharton has such a unique and interesting voice you can’t mistake her for anyone else. You and Dorothy both say you are intimidated by the size of the biography, but don’t be cowed! It is fascinating reading and you will be so interested in her psychology that the pages will fly by!

Rebecca, I hear you. Bios that straight through a life somehow very often seem forced since nothing in life is very linear. Lee is one of the best biographers writing today so I hope you get a chance to read her.

Valerie, Wharton had definite mother issues. And you are exactly right, Wharton ended up having a love-hate relationship with “society” and I think her insider/outsider status is what allowed her to write such fantastic critiques of it.

Softdrink, Lee is a very interesting author. Should you ever read her Wharton bio I guarantee you will end up wanting to read Wharton’s books.

Claire, it is a very sensible approach to writing a biography and because it is so long, she picks up some of the issues from earlier chapters and reintroduces them again later in a different context or to go into more depth. I’ve not read a whole lot of Wharton, but this bio is making me want to read everything she ever wrote!

Danielle, since you love Wharton I think you would really enjoy the biography. Lee is great at bringing Wharton’s fiction into context and using Wharton’s life to illuminate the fiction and vice versa. I’m sure there will be at least one or two Wharton books making into my reading mix during the year.

BookMoot, whatfun plans your book group has to deepen the reading experience. I’m sure the bio would add quite a lot too!

By: BookMoot

BookMoot — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:57:33 +0000

My book group has chosen Age of Innocence for our April read. Then we are going to our fine arts museum for a tour of the Maurice Prendergast and John Singer Sargent paintings also. This biography sounds so interesting. It would add a great deal to the experience.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:11:04 +0000

I love Edith Wharton and really should get a copy of this. I like that she doesn’t stick to telling Wharton’s story in order–things get a little boring that way (why I gave up on an Emily Post bio that I should really go back and finish…). I had heard before the phrase ‘keeping up with the Jonses’ applied to her family, but the rest of this was new to me! And I am definitely going to read more Edith Wharton this year.

By: Claire (The Captive Reader)

Claire (The Captive Reader) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:20:57 +0000

I really like the idea of writing a biography in this style, showing, as you say, how her childhood impacted her development and later life (rather than waiting for later chapters to examine the affect). Particularly in such a long book, it seems a much more sensible approach.

I went on a Wharton-reading binge the summer I was fourteen, but I think I’ve only reread The House of Mirth since then. Perhaps it’s time to have another go at The Custom of the Country or Summer…