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A review by 1outside
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
4.0
The reasons why I'm not giving this a 5/5 are threefold:
1. The melodrama of it all. The reliance on chance and coincidence. Sometimes, it renders the plot kind of soapy.
2. There are a lot of great observations in this book, dressed in some outstanding sentences. But about 30-40% of the book is just simply over-written. In combination with the soapyness, it results in the impression of overall too-muchness.
3. The antisemitism. It's a shame, Rosedale is actually a not-badly written character. But yeah, you can tell this book was written at a time when eugenics was all the rage, and clearly the author was into that scene. Sigh.
I'm glad I read this. My only Wharton so far. Not sure if not my last Wharton as well...but I've not read many pieces of classical American literature, so this was needed, I think.
It was worth the effort to trudge through the depression of the novel and even though the writing was a bit excessive, just trying so, so hard to be taken seriously, it wasn't too challenging to read in the end. A solid 4/5.
1. The melodrama of it all. The reliance on chance and coincidence. Sometimes, it renders the plot kind of soapy.
2. There are a lot of great observations in this book, dressed in some outstanding sentences. But about 30-40% of the book is just simply over-written. In combination with the soapyness, it results in the impression of overall too-muchness.
3. The antisemitism. It's a shame, Rosedale is actually a not-badly written character. But yeah, you can tell this book was written at a time when eugenics was all the rage, and clearly the author was into that scene. Sigh.
I'm glad I read this. My only Wharton so far. Not sure if not my last Wharton as well...but I've not read many pieces of classical American literature, so this was needed, I think.
It was worth the effort to trudge through the depression of the novel and even though the writing was a bit excessive, just trying so, so hard to be taken seriously, it wasn't too challenging to read in the end. A solid 4/5.