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This had the most amazing first and last lines of anything I‘ve ever read! And while it was a character novel about unlikeable characters, the gorgeous writing style and incisive insights into these people‘s lives made it a joy to read. I kept thinking it would make such an incredible stage play, so I can‘t wait to see Sophia Coppola‘s screen adaptation. #Pantone2023 #PinkCosmos #Roll100 #Sharreadathon #20in4

“Undine Spragg—how can you?” her mother wailed, raising a prematurely-wrinkled hand heavy with rings to defend the note which a languid “bell-boy” had just brought in.

#12booksof2022 my September pick.Undine Spragg, the main character of this novel is a relentless social climber,to reach her next goal she cares not who she damages or leaves behind in her wake.Wharton is so good at nuanced & detailed writing, and doesn‘t hesitate to skewer people of her class .I read several of Wharton‘s books this year , some with the group
#WhartonBuddyRead the discussions are a treat!

I‘m excited about my first stab at a #roll100 challenge next month. I‘m determined to keep all my challenges feeling low-key next year, so we‘ll see if I manage to actually read any of these now that the dice have chosen them. @PuddleJumper

@EvieBee You were right, I did need this one. It‘s so pretty I just couldn‘t resist! I‘ve had no willpower lately when it comes to book buying. Will endeavor to do better 🙈🤞🏼

While I‘m adjusting to life back home, I got some wonderful #bookmail from @penguinrandomhouse 💜 Thank you!

I love this Vitae edition of the Wharton. Just so pretty!

I‘ve been watching HBO since my mom had Saturday Night Fever on when she was on bed rest while pregnant. I‘m looking forward to to reading more about the shows that shaped my Sunday nights in It‘s Not TV.

I‘ve already read and enjoyed the Mamet, so it is headed to a Litsy friend!

I preordered this months ago and it released today! Prettier than I thought it‘d be. Can‘t wait to start it! #bookmail

I‘m a bit late finishing and missed the last part of the discussion, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Undine is a great character… even though the book ended , I‘d say Undine has a lot of changes left in her life yet. Constantly grasping for the next best thing she can imagine. Such a superficial existence is frightening.
#Whartonbuddyread @Graywacke @Lcsmcat Thankyou for the discussions and your insights.

Some pearls for this one.

Wharton created a magnificent villain. Undine Spragg is a stunningly beautiful young girl who cannot be satisfied. She is relentless in pursuit of whatever she thinks she wants. And it‘s never enough; and nothing, nor anyone, is sacred. But what does she wants and why? And why doesn‘t there seem to be anything underneath? She is an allegory of our financial world, the perfect goddess of soulless economy. 👇

A close-up look at the career of a shameless social climber as she seeks to be a central figure in every new grouping of society that comes to her attention, finds she doesn‘t much like the group once she‘s in it and leaves a trail of distress (both financial and emotional) in her wake. Modern parallels abound. Thanks to @Lcsmcat @Graywacke and all the other #WhartonBuddyRead -ers for the interesting discussions.

Here is another option for The Gray Boy by Van Dyke - although I guess it is more of a gray dog…he at least looks more lost in a way that Paul could identify with.

We‘ve all been concerned for Paul, and we get a lot more of his point of view in this book than any of the others. Poor chap! I couldn‘t find a Van Dyke called Gray Boy, but this is his Charles II as a Boy, and I think it fits. (I envision Paul growing up to be the writer his father wasn‘t, drawing on his unhappy childhood.) Did anyone grow? What is the overall message here? Do you loath Undine, pity her, or both? #whartonbuddyread

This week was all about Ralph. I feel like we got into his head more in this section than we have previously. I‘ll post some “open” quotes, but will put my main thoughts under a spoiler tag for anyone who hasn‘t finished the section. #whartonbuddyread

As appalling as Undine‘s behavior was, I was drawn in by the superb writing, character studies, social commentary, and world building. I can‘t say that I loved this book, but I have a deep appreciation for the skill needed to make me not chuck the book across the room when Undine played people like pawns for her greedy, selfish, social climber lifestyle.

Divorce in South Dakota (who knew?) dragging her parents around Europe, being befriended by a princess only to find out she was being used as a “shield” and being shamed for leaving her child by someone without shame. How low can she go?? I‘m at a conference but I‘ll check in on comments as I can. #whartonbuddyread

While everything is always (in her mind) all about Undine, Book 2 seemed to be about the various types of men orbiting around her. We get more details on Moffatt, Van Degen, and Bowen, and a new French aristocrat joins the party. (Funny side note - autocorrect tried to change Van Degen into the French word for degenerate. Wharton‘s intention perhaps?) Lots of social commentary in this section too. Thoughts? #whartonbuddyread

The way she writes ! And , what Undine acknowledged she and Van Degen have in common! Really enjoying this.#WhartonBuddyRead

I'm a terrible #whartonbuddyread participant, as I didn't have time for the discussion last weekend and now I've ignored the schedule and finished it. Really enjoyed this one!

Also, fairly sure whoever did the cover for this ebook edition didn't read the book... Who are those girls supposed to be? Presumably one is Undine, but the other?

So what do you think of Undine? And who is Wharton being (more) critical of, the Invaders or the Invaded? I confess to liking Undine Spragg (what a name!) better this time around than the first time I read this book. She elicits more sympathy this time for being so clueless. The Stentorian Hotel (stentorian meaning brash, loud) makes me chuckle - if Wharton were writing today would she have put them in Trump Tower? 👇🏻

Join @lcsmcat and @graywacke for the #whartonbuddyread

‘Presently her attention was drawn to a lady in black who was examining the pictures through a tortoise-shell eye-glass adorned with diamonds and hanging from a long pearl chain. Undine was instantly struck by the opportunities which this toy presented for graceful wrist movements and supercilious turns of the head ‘

Book One , Oh Undine I see trouble ahead
Enjoying this one
#WhartonBuddyRead

Beautiful edition from Paula @Centique Thankyou ♥️

Started today
#whartonbuddyread

Friendly reminder to the #whartonbuddyread that we start next week. @jewright @Louise @Sace @Suet624 @arubabookwoman @Currey @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @crazeedi @mdm139 @emilyhaldi @rubyslippersreads @KathyWheeler @llwheeler @CarolynM @Cathythoughts @BookishTrish @graywacke @leftcoastzen @tamra @ann_reads @sparklemn @sarahbellum @imaslowreader

The next #whartonbuddyread is The Custom of the Country, starting in August. https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2430660

So I read Age of Innocence @Lcsmcat invited me to join #WhartonBuddyRead for their next book ,The Reef. I had checked both out of the Library.Digging around today I find this ! Perhaps it‘s time to really review all the books I already own?!?! 😁🤔well , at least I‘m ready for next month with The Custom of the Country !

Here‘s the schedule for our next #whartonbuddyread. I‘ll post a reminder closer to time. @jewright @Louise @Sace @Suet624 @arubabookwoman @Currey @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @crazeedi @mdm139 @emilyhaldi @rubyslippersreads @KathyWheeler @llwheeler @CarolynM @Cathythoughts @BookishTrish @graywacke @leftcoastzen @tamra @ann_reads @sparklemn

Put Age of Innocence and Ethan Fromme down right now. Now! And pick this up. If you want to know why Fitzgerald admired Wharton or want to see my full review go here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/spbookdiscussion/permalink/363344881795995/

Look at this beautiful book that has arrived in the post for me ! ❤️ I wonder who sent this ? & I Thankyou very much ! .. I love it 😍

Undine Spragg. The heroine‘s name is reason enough to read this novel, one of the four great novels that Wharton produced imho; others being, House of Mirth, The Reef, and Age of Innocence. Custom is distinct for the success, however empty and short-lived, of the heroine‘s social climb. She‘s Lily Bart from House of Mirth, if Lily Bart had “made it.” Much needed indictment of the patriarchy, it left me disenchanted as opposed to heartbroken.

My #20best2020. At least for the moment. Ask me next week and I might have a different answer. 😀 And I didn‘t count rereads, which eliminated some I rated higher than these. Thanks for the tag @merelybookish ! Feel like playing @KVanRead @TheSpineView ?

1913 Wharton's The Custom Of The Country is a novel of ambition featuring Undine Spragg, beautiful but very materialistic. Her rise to the top of New York's high society provides a commentary on the aspirations that eventually caused her ruin. Her misplaced values of greed and power is as relevant today as when it was written over a century ago. I found the book to be well-written with unique characters and enjoyed the book very much. recommended

Another indictment of the “social world” of the gilded age, the protagonist does not claim our sympathy. Yet Wharton makes clear how few choices were open to women and how harshly they were judged for taking an active role in bettering their social position. At one point Bowen, a minor character, makes it explicit when he says that American men brought it on themselves by not trusting their wives and daughters to have brains. 👇🏻

Just started this for #authoramonth2020. I love Wharton, but haven‘t read this one yet. @Soubhiville

#Wharton #authoramonth

My #firstpost on Litsy was about the tagged book (a "pick"), got five likes and my #firstlike was from @EvieBee . Two years and many likes later I'm still very happy to be on Litsy!

@DebinHawaii @daisydo @LeahBergen @BookishTrish

Not sure who started this #firstlike thing, I've just seen it on my feed!

How is it possible to hate a main character so much but thoroughly enjoy a book? Wharton definitely accomplished that with this one. I hated Undine but I couldn‘t stop reading to see what awful thing she did next. A social climber that would do about anything to reach to the top.
Towards the end I felt it started to drag a bit but overall I enjoyed!

Started this one and I was unsure about it. Undine is quite the character and I can‘t help but keep reading. She is awful but I want to know what she does next.

#Rocktober #IntheEnd I didn‘t bail on my bookclub read and I actually grew to appreciate this novel of vanity, satire and social climbing. Edith Wharton has a mighty wit and a sharp pen...perfect for flinging zingers🙌🏻 While Undine Spragg is a total vamp, I give her credit for pursuing her wants😉I did do some #pageskimming but #IntheEnd I‘m glad I did not #TakeTheBail

Guess who's the odd man out in my RL bookclub? Everybody seems to be enjoying this Wharton, sadly I have zero interest in this overly cliched story. However with this group, #BailingIsNotAnOption

She arrived safely! Treated myself to this beautiful omnibus after finishing THE HOUSE OF MIRTH. #bookhaul #bookmail

So I decided to revamp my #TBRBingo card to concentrate on classics, which is a little more challenging for me, and includes some Kindle books as well. My treat when I Bingo? I'm going to go for a Folio classic! Already got a budget approved from "the board" for this project. ??

'And so with his inner world. Though so coloured by outer impressions, it wove a secret curtain about him, and he came and went in it with the same joy of furtive possession.'

Good-bye Undine, I've enjoyed our time together. I will catch up with you again one day.

Undine Spragg of Apex and lately New York is a force unto herself: self obsessed and an actress in her own life. Dazzling and materialistic, she sets a goal and will reach it, even though she likes to think of herself as a "good girl." She really knows nothing else. Vanity is her engine and flattery her fuel. Wharton writes amazing portraits of 1913 characters. Undine herself is a startling beauty. I both loved and despised her journey.

Happy New Year and a beautiful 2017, reader friends! ❌⭕❌⭕❤

"She might have been some fabled creature whose home was in a beam of light...She therefore watched herself approvingly, admiring the light on her hair, the flash of teeth between her smiling lips, the pure shadows of her throats and shoulders as she passed from one attitude to another." Undine loves herself.

I wish I had written this!

I find the connections Wharton draws between the heroine's social climbing and her dad's Wall Street dealings so fascinating. Undine has her father's ambition and skills, but bc her only outlet social climbing, she's maligned. She's still completely heinous, but it's fascinating to think about.