Today I finished another book from the 5001 reading list. And I got serious. I read The House of Mirth by American turn of the century author, Edith Wharton. It is a story of a woman who is in the top echelon of New York society. She is beautiful and charismatic and charming. She has one society flaw. She has no money. The story is about how she falls slowly from grace, and goes down the tiers of society. There is the obvious theme of the life style. But it is important to note that in all of the story, she does not lose her "values" and sink to depths to maintain her position, even though that is what she is accused of.
I really liked the book. However, I doubt if most "modern" readers would like it, or would even get it. The morality is so far distant to what our mores are today. And the language is different and in many cases difficult. Also, nothing ever really happens. There is no adventure or even romance. It is a story about a woman, and that is all. But as a novel, developing a character and revealing that character, it is superb.
( The name comes from a passage in Ecclesiastes 7:4 - "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.")
Reading List 2009
3/6 - The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
2/16 - The Wonderful Wizard of OZ - L. Frank Baum
2/11 - The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
2/9 - Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
2/1 - Next - Michael Crichton
1 comment:
painfully difficult. would you recommend it to your children, or would you say, skip it and read______?
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