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The Touchstone
Review: It’s been a while, a long time really since I read anything by Edith Wharton and I realize now how much I have missed that. Edith Wharton rarely disappoints and this is no exception. The Touchstone was Wharton’s first published novel, although she did have one self published in her teens called Fast and…
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My Mortal Enemy
Review: Another excellent novel from Willa Cather! The ending kind of left me hanging. Like, no real resolution, none of the ends tied up. All Jews in Cather novels are bad guys. She has a lot in common with all 1900 and on novelists. See Edith Wharton for the correct usage of Hebe in a…
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Son at the Front
Review: A powerful, moving, intensely captivating piece of Whartonian brilliance. This one is not one of her noted masterworks, but it really should be. Mobilization and the Great War seen through the lens of Paris from 1914-1918, and seen through the experience of Americans before they joined the war. Fascinating. It emphasized to me how…
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The House of Mirth
Review: A classic among classics. This is the story of Lily Bart, a product of society in the Gilded Age, that rises and falls completely from grace. Though innocent (mostly) of the charges society brings against her, she can never regain her former status and is thus excluded from the tribal group that constitutes the…
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Fast and Loose
Review: She was 14 when she wrote this, so what can you really expect? It was still a good read, and a fast one at that, but the cardboard characters and predictable plot leaves a lot to be desired. But now, when I am done all of Wharton’s writing, I can say I read all…
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The Marne
Review: One of the lesser known works of Edith Wharton, but also one of her best in my opinion. A brilliant little glimpse into how Americans viewed World War One. Overall rating: How I discovered or acquired this book: In Our Time podcast Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: Tiddy Check out author’s other books?…
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The Great Gatsby
Review: Perfect. Like if Edith Wharton got high on coke. At once thoughtful, funny, provoking, sentimental. Just a great novel that deserves to be called a classic. Overall rating: How I discovered or acquired this book: — Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: Adding herring to taquitos is not as good as I thought Check…
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The Age of Innocence
Review: My first glimpse into the New York Gilded Age. Not like Europe, not like Russia, but distinct society. A little tribe who did not want outsiders in the tribe. Beautiful imagery and really, nothing much happens. Will read her other work. Overall rating: How I discovered or acquired this book: RNG4LRP Noteworthy experiences while…
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Babbitt
Review: This was an extraordinary novel, and I was not expecting that at all. How I came to read this was due to a trivia question that I got wrong a few weeks ago. The question was: Who was the first American author to receive a Pulitzer Prize? So I looked at the choices and…