This book has inspired my next tattoo. That is some fine literature. (And I am sure that if Edith Wharton were alive today, she would appreciate the tribute.)

I have this theory that the mark of great literature is that no matter how many times you read it, you can always plausibly hope, as a reader, that things might turn out differently in the end. Not that the actual ending is wrong; it's just that the character of Lily Bart is so alive for me, I seriously believe she might make a different choice and pull things out in the end.

Also, it has a really good moral, which is: make your own damn money. Um, not that I am judging Lily Bart or anything. Different times and all!

Note to self: Should not review great works of literature after so much beer.

„Belomonte buvo laikomasi sekmadieninių ritualų: tiksliai tuo pačiu metu privažiuodavo prabangus omnibusas ir nuveždavo namiškius iki bažnytėlės vartų. Įlips į tą omnibusą kas nors ar neįlips, būdavo ne pirmos svarbos klausimas, nes omnibuso pasirodymas ne tik liudydavo pamaldžius šeimos ketinimus, bet ir išgirdus jį nuvažiuojant leisdavo poniai Tenor pajusti, kad ji, nors ir netiesiogiai, juo naudojasi.

4.5/5

Man čia yra tobula klasikos knyga. Ok, po Zweigo, jis savo atskiroj lentynoj ir visi kiti rūko kampe, po Maurier ir Poe, kurie vienas kitam cizas prideginėja, bet Wharton išspiria duris ir sako, kad sėdės kur norės. Ir nusipelnė. Čia yra žavi, įdomi, įvairiapusė pagrindinė veikėja Lili, kuri daugeliui susisies su „Pagalvosiu apie tai rytoj“ Skarlet, bet neturės visų kitų jos užknisančių sąvybių. Išsiaiškinkim iš karto: ar galėtų knyga būti per kokį šimtą trumpesnė? Drąsiai. Ar yra problemų, kurias išspręstų pokalbis? Aha, pilna. Bet taip jau su klasika būna. Ir čia toks veikėjų gylis, toks skausmo išjautimas ir tokia nuginkluojanti pabaiga, kad kvapą gniaužia. O svarbiausia, Wharton tikrai ne visą laiką kapoja rimtu veidu: kiek čia bajerių, kiek ironijos, kiek apgalvotos, subtilios kritikos! Ir kiek... Feminizmo. Jeigu „Nekaltybės amžius“ man buvo tik meh, tai „Linksmybės namai“ tikrai paaiškina Pulitzerį – galėjo Wharton jį gaut 15 metų anksčiau – there, I said it.

Skaitydama pagavau save fotkinančią TIEK citatų, kiek įprastai nesivarginu. Toks čia kalbos grožis, kad nežinau, kaip iki šiol nebuvo išversta lietuviškai (pasirūpinom, padėkokit pirkdami, net jei tik dėl grožio lentynoj laikysit), o aš džiaugiuosi, kad apie snobus ir pasipūtėlius, užknisančius ir neįdomius, kažkas sugeba rašyti be patoso, tačiau su neįtikėtinu gyliu, išmintimi, intelektualumu ir milžiniškais literatūriniais užmojais. Tikrai knyga ne greito skaitymo ir sakiniai kartais ne dviaukščiai, o septynaukščiai, vieni tų, kur pabaigęs pamiršai, nuo ko pradėjai, bet skaitant bus galima pasigėrėti ir nuostabiu Emilijos Grigulaitės vertimu, ir prisiminti, kodėl vertingiausia klasika aktualiai skamba tiek prieš šimtą metų, tiek dabar. Tikras perlas.

Considering The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton was one of the very rare books I cast aside as a DNF, I find it quite remarkable that a couple months down the track I have so much to say about it. Let me clarify, despite my aborted first attempt I went back and tried again as a buddy read with my GR friend Celia. Initially we both struggled and found it slow going, extending out the timeframe we'd set ourselves to finish it. But we did finish it and though it was hard work at times it was well worth the effort and I'm so glad I (we) persisted.

To give some context as to why we found it difficult, the book was written in 1905 and the language was often unfamiliar so much of our reading time was spent looking up words. Another reason was that Wharton used a LOT of words meaning her message was often buried layers deep. I regularly had to read, re-read then re-read passages again before I even began to comprehended what she was saying.

At this point you might be thinking " Why bother with a book that makes you work so hard for your entertainment? " I'm delighted to tell you there are many reasons, not just for the great sense of accomplishment at finishing it. The book is filled with thought provoking observations of life in the upper classes in the early 20th Century. Wharton appeared to be passing judgement on that whole class of people, on the way they behaved, on their fixation with appearances and the superficiality of it all. The title itself was seems to give weight to this theory. Not being religious I would never have made this connection alone but good old Google helped me understand that Wharton took the title from the book of Ecclesiastes. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. So yes, her title and content passed judgement.

Like the man in the infomercials always tells us.....But WAIT, there's more.

Her words definitely had a feminist tone and though she was not the first ever to voice these thoughts she was a front runner in early 20th century literature.

The story itself was sad. Lily Bart, was 29 when we met her. Her beauty unrivalled and widely acknowledged. Her thoughts and actions are consumed with making the right choice of marriage partner and yet at this one task she is completely unsuccessful. This was partly because her ideals and actions never quite aligned, partly because she was a pawn in her appearances based society but primarily because she was not fully committed to travelling that path. Early on, Selden, one of her male acquaintances observed

"Isn't marriage your vocation? Isn't it what you're all brought up for?" to which Lily replied "I suppose so. What else is there?" and added "... you know I am horribly poor—and very expensive. I must have a great deal of money."

Readers watch as Lily slips further down the rungs of the upper-class society until her eventual demise.

Finally, the ending was breathtaking, emotional, but also highly ambiguous. Having read the last sentence I was frantically searching for more. After finally finding my rhythm with Wharton's writing and beginning to enjoy the book now it had to end and in THAT manner?

I was initially astonished but am now unsurprised at just how much has been written about The House of Mirth. Time and again I found myself Googling THOM related topics and there was always a wealth of information. Someone had written a thesis, there were essays and reviews galore, Sparks Notes and more. More than one hundred years later and there's still so much to think about and discuss on the topic of the House of Mirth. As a reader I was taken from antipathy about the book in general to caring a great deal about Lily. It's a book I won't soon forget and I guess, in part, that's why it's considered a classic.

“The House of Mirth” just might be to “The Age of Innocence” what “Tom Sawyer” is to “Huck Finn”: that is, only but a stepping-stone towards a more profound greatness (although why I used that Twain analogy is a mystery even to me—I find that brand of American Literature a bit overrated). “Age of Innocence” is stupendous—utterly amazing. On the other hand, “The House of Mirth” describes the downward spiral of one, Miss Lily Bart, misunderstood by her social “set,” her particular New York niche. Her story is a tragedy as deep as Jude (the Obscure)’s—her plight is both melancholic & devastating—New York has always been a perfect place in which to achieve some sort of victimhood. Another attribute: the story is severely overwritten. I say attribute because that is precisely Mrs. Wharton’s style: you read beautiful sentences, many, to realize that all she really wanted to portray was a character sitting down on his ass, or she tries to show particular psyches without the more-modern, less-roundabout, most efficient manner of, say, Virginia Woolf (alas, if Mrs. Wharton had continued to write well into the 30's we may have seen a different, more radical literary style).

The novel is trapped between novelty (modernity) & antiquity (a European America). Sure, this is an amazing study of turn-of-the-century American society, invaluable, one which seems as foreign as it seems familiar; I was not as impressed with this one as her Pulitzer darling (man, I DO LOVE "Age of Innocence"!!), where the mood is less frigid & less tragic, but the theme pretty much stays the same: mainly, that society is very unforgiving, that

“half the trouble in life is caused by pretending there isn’t any.”

A favorite. I've read it twice.

All the men and women she knew were like atoms whirling away from each other in some wild centrifugal dance...

House of Mirth is a satirical portrait of New York high society at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Opulence and sumptuous life, luxury and carelessness, false glitter, rituals and conventions. All that creates the title house of mirth, world of fun and easy pleasure, fascinating and cruel at the same time. Absolute vicious circle.

Lily Bart is charming and beautiful girl, woman in fact she regained the girlish smoothness, the purity of tint, that she was beginning to lose after eleven years of late hours and indefatigable dancing , from impoverished aristocratic family trying to keep in that world not only her social position, but also personal dignity.

But who are you in such a society without money ?Nobody, really. So Lily needs a husband, a rich one. However, embroiled in the web of intrigue, struggling against slanders, and finally incapable to meanness remains defenceless against ruthlessness of elegant milieu. Her naivety, also lack of reflection and some inner emptiness makes her an easy prey.

Wharton precisely describes the mechanism of gossip and libel, slow losing social position and in consequence ostracism and exclusion. Series unfortunate decisions, some stupid mistakes and small fluffs at first do not herald any major catastrophe but finally influence on the fate of Lily Bart. One day darling Lily, the next ...

She was appalled by the intense cleanness of the vision; she seemed to have broken through the merciful veil which intervenes between intention and action, and to see exactly what she would do in all the long days to come .

Aquí la videoreseña: https://youtu.be/rfCaN-cKRHc

4,5 estrellas.

En esta novela Edith Wharton realiza figuradamente, usando siempre un lenguaje muy educado, el acto de pillar un bate de béisbol y meterle una paliza a los miembros de las clases altas de Nueva York durante la llamada "Edad dorada". Pero paliza, paliza. De mandarlos a todos a la UVI. Supongo que nadie podía hacerlo mejor que ella, que sabía de lo que hablaba.

Edith Wharton es como Jane Austen, pero en americana y en más detallista y directa en su crítica. Es normal, 100 años (mínimo) las separan, y el realismo y el naturalismo habían influenciado la Literatura. Además, Edith Wharton escribe para (o es consciente de que puede ser leída por) un grupo más amplio de personas que Jane Austen, quien no esperaba que nadie fuera de su misma clase social leyera su obra, y por lo tanto hay mucho que no explica, porque quien la leía en la época ya sabía de lo que hablaba. Edith Wharton no. Edith Wharton te lo explica todo. TODO. Y en esa detallísima descripción de la clase alta, de lo que visten, lo que comen, dónde viven y, sobre todo, cómo actúan, es donde se desarrolla la historia de Lily Bart, una mujer que tal vez no sea la persona más inteligente del mundo siempre, pero que no es tonta, es perfectamente autoconsciente de su situación, quiere lo que quiere... pero le falta maldad. Lily Bart tiene demasiados escrúpulos para el mundo en el que se mueve. La verdad es que lo pasé mal al leer sus desventuras, porque Lily Bart me cae bien. Creo que es porque Edith Wharton explica muy bien dos conceptos que a día de hoy están muy presentes: el concepto de "pobreza relativa" y la depresión; la depresión causada por la ansiedad por no saber si vas a llegar a fin de mes. Me ha parecido fascinante cómo Edith Wharton aborda y describe estos dos temas.

En definitiva, un clásico que me ha encantado y que me alegro de haber leído. Y ojalá a Bertha Dorset mal dolor de tripa le entre, que cuanto más se mueva más le duela y si para reviente.

I saw the film of this book a few years ago. Gillian Anderson

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never looked lovelier, but both she & the film struggled to show me Lily Bart's motivations. I think the film should have started earlier than the book did, rather than from the point where Lily started to fall off the tightrope that was her careful trip through New York Society.

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I've always enjoyed (& had a sneaking admiration for) the Society Adventuress characters, like Becky Sharp & Amber from Forever Amber In her circumstances, that is who Lily should be - but she is not. Even before the book's start she sabotages her own goals. I think she enjoys her own precarious freedom

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& it is only when she reaches the age of 29 that she realises her beauty will fade & it is time she snared a rich husband. She finds her victim prospective husband, but any time her true love Lawrence Selden enters the picture she loses her grip on this goal & this plus, her own naivety & lack of killer instinct contribute to her downfall.

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I loved the beautiful language Wharton uses. I never once lost interest in Lily's plight, although I was frequently exasperated with her, I always understood her. She was a fallible human being & that is a great part of this book's allure.

I made the mistake of seeking out a synopsis of this novel early on in the reading because I didn’t know who one of the characters was ….I was getting confused as to who Judy Trenor was versus Bertha Dorset, so anyhoo I looked up who-was-who, and got my answer, but after I got my answer and I was still on Google there were a whole bunch of other questions that Google could supply the answers to just by a click of the computer mouse….and there was the question “Why does Bertha Dorset hate Lily Bart?” and like the damn fool that I am I had to click on the question to get the answer which was  ‘A woman universally known for her manipulation and cruelty, Bertha Dorset feels threatened by Lily Bart and experiences no remorse at taking revenge on her, ultimately condemning her to poverty and social exclusion.  Why did I have to click on that question??? What was I expecting? Something other than a direct answer which would have somehow satisfied me yet maintained my ignorance as to why Betha hated Lily even though that was a key element of the book that Edith Wharton in due time would tell me if I was just patient enough!!! But no…I had to go to a modern-day version of Cliff Notes. I had to know the answer with still over 250 pages to go in the damn book. So, I already know how the book is going to end regarding the main character…fer chrissake!!! What was I thinking???

This book started off slow for me, but then again, I started it when I was feeling distracted. At some point though, It just clicked and I could not put it down.

I can’t say I know too much about the Gilded Age, other than what I’ve seen on the TV series. It’s a fascinating period- for the rich, at least. Edith Wharton, with a very deft touch, skewers the rich for their shallowness and vacuous personas.

We meet Lily Bart- she should be part of this world but after her father’s death, she and her mother are left quite penniless. But Lily has one major factor going for her- she is beautiful, and on the outside, very self assured. She is great to have around, but if anything goes wrong, she is the easy fall person. These rich people we meet care only for themselves. For a reasonably smart person, I really wanted to shake Lily. Of course, as an onlooker, it is easy for me to feel this way. And of course, Lily was stuck- she had no money!
“Since she had been brought up to be ornamental, she could hardly blame herself for failing to serve any practical purpose; but the discovery put an end to her consoling sense of universal efficiency.”

The ending when it came was perfect. Edith Wharton does not take the easy way out.

This is my fourth book by Wharton. Her writing is sublime. So many phrases just spoke to me:

“ She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate.”

“ If I were shabby no one would have me; a woman is asked out as much for her clothes as herself.”

Women, in this time period, walked a fine line. One wrong step and you were ostracized. Wharton really brought this time period and New York at that time to life.
There are so many messages in this book. It’s one of those books that after you finish it, you have to let it sit!

Published: 1905

This is my first Edith Wharton novel and the first book in a challenge my book group is doing of 20th Century women. The House of Mirth was published in 1905 and, to be honest, I am pleased that I finished it before Christmas week – although beautifully written, it is utterly tragic and not really festive reading.

Lily Bart is a beautiful, but aimless, young lady. Her parents spent much of their time trying to keep up appearances, and, on their death, she is taken in by her aunt Julia. When she first emerged in Society, it seemed her beauty and grace would ensure her a great marriage, but, without a mother to guide her, the money to help her beauty become more attractive, and any real sense, she has been on the marriage market too long. Her reliance on her friends goodwill and invitations, bores her. Being at her aunt’s house, when her gambling debts become too large, bores her. However, like so many before her, she will find that what first appeared dull is not nearly as bad as things can become…

All the way through this novel, Lily makes poor judgements and takes bad decisions. This starts at the very beginning of the book, where she takes tea with young Lawrence Seldon and is spotted leaving by Mr Rosedale, a Jewish businessman who aims to break into society. Indeed, this novel is populated by those who aim to buy their way into a society which requires money to buy those luxuries and pleasures. They are luxuries and pleasures that Lily Bart feels she is unable to live without – that she needs to be surrounded by beauty and she is unable to look beyond this narrow strata, even when it becomes inevitable that she has to.

Despite her faults, Lily is genuinely kind and does not take advantage of situations that would help her. Meanwhile, as social disasters, and debts, mount up, she finds herself excluded from her previous life. Socially non-existent, she seems not able to find a place for herself. Meanwhile, ‘society did not turn away, but simply drifted by….’ This is a compelling novel and Edith Wharton tells of the tragic Lily Bart with sympathy. Despite her faults, you feel for this young woman, who is disinherited, misunderstood, preyed upon and used by the Society she never truly belonged to as an equal.

The tragedy of the novel changes, I suspect, depending on your own age and experience. Is it longing for an empty existence, as so many young people dream of ‘fame,’ now, without understanding what it entails? Is it that so many of Lily’s friends and acquaintances, are so keen to drop her and this discovery that becoming an embarrassment shows how easily people can be shut out, lonely and reviled? Is it Lily’s lack of control and, often poor judgement, simply makes her more fallible and human? Whatever the reason, this novel is still very relevant, as all great novels are, and still very much worth reading.

***La lectura de este mes del club pickwick me la he devorado en la mitad del tiempo que me había programado, ¡No pude evitarlo! Aún así seguiremos comentando durante todo el mes cumpliendo las fechas por aquí, no me matéis: Club Pickwick

La historia de Lily Bart me atrapó de principio a fin. Es la historia de una mujer que se acerca peligrosamente a los 30 años sin haberse casado . Una mujer sin apenas recursos, con una renta mínima pero criada en la alta sociedad por lo que debe cumplir con todos sus requisitos. Dada su educación y la infancia que llevó, el máximo objetivo de Lily (como el de tantas mujeres de la época) es casarse con un hombre rico. Lily, dada su belleza y encanto, ha tenido multitud de oportunidades, pero al final, en el último momento siempre termina perdiendo la ocasión. Nuestra protagonista quiere ser rica, por supuesto, pero ¿A costa de perder su libertad e independencia?
El libro es una crítica brutal a la sociedad hipócrita de la época , a las dificultades de las mujeres para salir adelante sin poder desempeñar ninguna función más allá de ser esposa y madre. Es un libro que te atrapa desde el principio y te rompe el corazón en mil pedazos.
A mi me ha parecido una maravilla , sin duda de mis preferidos de Wharton, que ya desplegaba aquí, en segunda novela, su increíble habilidad para cada detalle social y del carácter e intención de sus personajes.