false 222630 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172849442m/222630.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172849442s/222630.jpg The House of Mirth -- Edith Wharton's sadly insightful tale of Lily Bart's descent from the stratosphere of New York society into a disheveled life of drugs and desperation -- may well be the author's most powerful accomplisment. Lily will haunt you, leaving you with great a sense of personal loss. . . .]]> 17728 151 1652564 book 1905 The House of Mirth total:8143|5:2755|4:3000|3:1782|2:446|1:160| 8143 32173 11604 800 16 3.68 39766 3576 9547110 180396 267297 0451527569 9780451527561 14 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173282421m/267297.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173282421s/267297.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/267297.The_House_of_Mirth 4.04 112 One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library of her bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that she appears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we're told, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger than what this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would be nothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton, such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the book unfortunately--wander through the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it's hard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless, it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is why The House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak

]]> 1905 5 13 false Mon Nov 26 04:25:52 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 29 10:41:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 11208906 9278 2314 0486420493 9780486420493 22 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1160891020m/2314.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1160891020s/2314.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314.The_House_of_Mirth 3.93 428 One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library of her bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that she appears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we're told, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger than what this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would be nothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton, such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the book unfortunately--wander through the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it's hard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless, it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is why The House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak

]]> 1905 5 9 false Sat Dec 29 06:39:38 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 19:14:32 -0800 2007
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, ...more...]]> 4655837 47020 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 6690 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 4 4 false Thu Aug 16 13:52:33 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 07:36:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 18914870 879659 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 3 8 false Sat Mar 29 08:25:32 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 08:29:58 -0700 2008 more...]]> 15581174 381149 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 4 4 false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Sat Feb 16 14:07:09 -0800 2008 Wed Jun 25 11:54:23 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4735417 26852 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 2 2 false Sat Aug 18 10:30:22 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 17 05:48:04 -0800 2009 more...]]> 20728474 1040930 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 4 7 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1996 Tue Apr 22 11:05:35 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 11:07:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4754363 173702 805271 0553213202 9780553213201 15 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178553890m/805271.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178553890s/805271.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/805271.The_House_of_Mirth 4.14 69 One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library of her bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that she appears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we're told, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger than what this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would be nothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton, such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the book unfortunately--wander through the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it's hard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless, it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is why The House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak

]]> 1905 4 2 false Tue Dec 04 20:07:17 -0800 2007 Sat Aug 18 21:56:30 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 13:33:52 -0700 2007
9/27: Indeed, sarcasm begins with Edith. Hilarious! It makes one wonder how many people actually read her work thinking she was somehow in favor of th...more...]]> 44097541 1412754 267270 0460873970 9780460873970 2 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173282210m/267270.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173282210s/267270.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/267270.The_House_of_Mirth 4.32 19 1905 5 2 false Thu Feb 05 07:41:38 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 14:33:29 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 07:41:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 34952283 1096417 2314 0486420493 9780486420493 22 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1160891020m/2314.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1160891020s/2314.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library of her bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that she appears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we're told, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger than what this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would be nothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton, such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the book unfortunately--wander through the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it's hard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless, it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is why The House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak

]]> 1905 4 4 false Thu Oct 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 19:36:18 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 16:01:55 -0700 2008 49166933 260861 17846 1593081537 9781593081539 5 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1234643830m/17846.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1234643830s/17846.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17846.The_House_of_Mirth 3.78 23 Edith Wharton’s dark view of society, the somber economics of marriage, and the powerlessness of the unwedded woman in the 1870s emerge dramatically in the tragic novel The House of Mirth. Faced with an array of wealthy suitors, New York socialite Lily Bart falls in love with lawyer Lawrence Selden, whose lack of money spoils their chances for happiness together. Dubious business deals and accusations of liaisons with a married man diminish Lily’s social status, and as she makes one bad choice after another, she learns how venal and brutally unforgiving the upper crust of New York can be.

One of America’s finest novels of manners, The House of Mirth is a beautifully written and ultimately tragic account of the human capacity for cruelty.

</div>]]> 1905 4 1 false Mon May 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 12:07:43 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 22:18:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 32493568 1434754 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 3 1 false Fri Oct 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 20:40:10 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 23:02:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 30989395 617156 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 5 3 false Fri Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 10:30:40 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 09:12:35 -0700 2008 more...]]> 30693289 1375548 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 5 3 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Aug 20 12:58:42 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 12:59:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 28846407 113906 822808 0140187294 9780140187298 6 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179329874m/822808.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179329874s/822808.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/822808.The_House_of_Mirth 3.87 60 One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library of her bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that she appears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we're told, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger than what this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would be nothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton, such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the book unfortunately--wander through the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it's hard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless, it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is why The House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak

]]> 1905 3 1 false Thu Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 23:36:25 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 30 13:49:35 -0800 2008 Undecided

It's hard to feel any sympathy for, or identification with, Lily Bart. Moving among the nouveau riches of New York City, she aspires to marry someone wealthy. In her better moments, she wishes to transmute the money into something finer in life, to create beauty. But, more often...more...]]> 21365955 22896 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 5 1 false Fri May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 19:39:02 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 27 15:52:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 17641856 989477 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 5 1 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Wed Mar 12 20:02:33 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 00:49:25 -0700 2008 Set amongst the affluent society of the New York upper-class ...more...]]> 8965783 32870 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 4 1 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 11 12:37:43 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 13:53:56 -0800 2007 I was inspired to pick up this book when a 50 year old female director that I worked with in NYC did not know who Edith Wharton was. Mind you, this woman is rolling in dough, top of her respective game. I guess I thought that people who make it in NYC, especially in that age group, have a clue...more...]]> 4792587 291407 17728 1844082938 9781844082933 653 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537m/17728.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166853537s/17728.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17728.The_House_of_Mirth 3.95 8143 The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. Lily Bart, beautiful, witty, and sophisticated, is accepted by "old money" and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears 30, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her life in the luxury she has come to expect. While many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a "suitable" match.</DIV>]]> 1905 5 1 false Sun Aug 19 21:26:08 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 19 21:39:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1420279 95337 822809 0393959015 9780393959017 7 <![CDATA[The House of Mirth (Norton Critical Edition)]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/822809.The_House_of_Mirth 3.98 51 One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library of her bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that she appears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we're told, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger than what this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would be nothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton, such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the book unfortunately--wander through the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it's hard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless, it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is why The House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak

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