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holtfan's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 stars
Not my favorite vintage read—though I'm sure for the time it was properly scandalous.
The story follows a wealthy, wounded soldier who splits his time feeling sorry for himself, paying prostitutes, and feeling superior to his friends. He eventually hires a secretary and becomes intrigued when he realizes she wears hideous, tinted glasses to hide her beauty from loutish employers like him. His obsession grows and eventually he bribes the girl into marrying him, all with the hope of winning her love.
Any story that describes an ideal woman as possessing the mind of a man, heart of a woman, and spirit of a child will make me cringe. But this story in particular hammers home all kinds of dated, unpleasant romance tropes. I found it particularly hard to like the main character, who justifies his abusive, asshole behavior because he "worships the ground" his lady-love walks on.
The main theme of the story seems to be that love only exists if unattainable. As soon as love is reciprocated, it ceases to matter. Lovers must therefore always play hard-to-get, otherwise they will lose. Unless you meet your soulmate...and then perhaps it doesn't matter? I'm sure it got hammered out somewhere (the book is 80% vaguely offensive philosophizing.)
Overall the story has a Cinderella-esque quality about it that might have made it really good. Even perhaps getting a POV from the secretary could have saved it. But instead we get a truly insufferable narrator, long chunks of musings about love and romance, and an ending that left a bad taste in my mouth. Our poor heroine deserved better.
Not my favorite vintage read—though I'm sure for the time it was properly scandalous.
The story follows a wealthy, wounded soldier who splits his time feeling sorry for himself, paying prostitutes, and feeling superior to his friends. He eventually hires a secretary and becomes intrigued when he realizes she wears hideous, tinted glasses to hide her beauty from loutish employers like him. His obsession grows and eventually he bribes the girl into marrying him, all with the hope of winning her love.
Any story that describes an ideal woman as possessing the mind of a man, heart of a woman, and spirit of a child will make me cringe. But this story in particular hammers home all kinds of dated, unpleasant romance tropes. I found it particularly hard to like the main character, who justifies his abusive, asshole behavior because he "worships the ground" his lady-love walks on.
The main theme of the story seems to be that love only exists if unattainable. As soon as love is reciprocated, it ceases to matter. Lovers must therefore always play hard-to-get, otherwise they will lose. Unless you meet your soulmate...and then perhaps it doesn't matter? I'm sure it got hammered out somewhere (the book is 80% vaguely offensive philosophizing.)
Overall the story has a Cinderella-esque quality about it that might have made it really good. Even perhaps getting a POV from the secretary could have saved it. But instead we get a truly insufferable narrator, long chunks of musings about love and romance, and an ending that left a bad taste in my mouth. Our poor heroine deserved better.
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