WhartonBuddyRead

👆Land‘s End - Wharton‘s Newport RI home

A Backward Glance - Chapters I-V
(Next week, Nov 29, chapters VI-VIII )

Before Newport, there is Rome, Alhambra, Paris, Bad Wildbad (Germany), old brownstone Manhattan, Florence and a yacht tour of the Aegean. We also meet Egerton Winthrop, Ogden Codman, Walter Berry, and kinda/sorta Mr. Wharton. Lush stuff, presented as natural and even middle class. The leisure class world. Thoughts?

Graywacke #whartonbuddyread
@CarolynM @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @jewright @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie 20h

Graywacke @CarolynM - looks like your handle didn‘t take above 20h

Graywacke Scroll down for a video of Land‘s End. It recently sold for $8.6 million. Be sure to check out the backyard views. https://liladelman.com/listing/42-ledge-rd-newport/ 20h

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Currey @Graywacke ah, yes, nice middle class views 19h

Leftcoastzen Her writing is just wonderful , as always! I knew we were not going to get true confessions! 😁Her descriptions of her travels with such details of the art & architecture, great . I love the details of how NYC changed from her youth . And her love of books and her father‘s library ! I know people of means loved the long vacation tours . It was harder then , but they had nothing to compare it to . Part of their education indeed ! 19h

Currey @Graywacke She does indeed seem to believe that she was middle class but during that era, the life she describes is not middle class. Her father‘s reversals of fortunes even did not leave them destitute but only forced them to live a cheaper life in Europe. 19h

Currey @Graywacke @leftcoastzen I really enjoyed the section about her mother‘s English and how that reflected exactly their place in society. And as always, it is wonderful to be back in Wharton‘s prose. I also was delighted to see how her life travels turned up later in her books 19h

Graywacke @Leftcoastzen that prose. How does she do it? It‘s the first thing I notice here is how lovely that voice is. Relaxes this reader immediately 19h

Graywacke @Currey right. I think she is clearly advertising the lost joys of the leisure class. But she can‘t bring herself to acknowledge it wasn‘t the fairest of lives. So she pleads denial, while fronting amazing travel, food, books and houses. But - what a childhood! And I love the visual impressions of 1870‘s Manhattan (edited) 19h

Graywacke @Currey one side trip to the accidentally wrong part of the Alps formed the basis of 3 books! I was also fascinated by the focus on the proper spoken English 19h

Graywacke @Leftcoastzen @Currey i‘m so happy you‘re enjoying. I didn‘t know what to expect. It feels lovely so far 18h

Lcsmcat Wow. If that‘s middle class, I‘m destitute. 😂 I think it shows how many even more wealthy people she hung around with! 17h

Lcsmcat I loved her mention of the (then) unpublished Fast and Loose “It was destined for the private enjoyment of a girlfriend, and was never exposed to the garish light of print.” 17h

Lcsmcat She did seem to be trying to justify her privilege. “In every society there is the room, and the need, for a cultivated leisure class” Is there really, Edith, is there really? 17h

Graywacke @Lcsmcat can i volunteer to take that role - for the civic wellbeing? 17h

Graywacke She was a wonderful reader. A quote: “There was in me a secret retreat where I wished no one to intrude, or at least no one whom I had yet encountered. Words and cadences haunted it like song-birds in a magic wood, and I wanted to be able to steal away and listen when they called.” 17h

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Why not? Edith says we need one. 😂 17h

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Per your quote, I wonder if that desire of hers was part of the reason her marriage failed - a la Hudson River Bracketed. She needed more interior life than her society was willing to allow her? 17h

Graywacke @Lcsmcat there were larger issues. He mentally broke down (and emptied her trust secretly) 17h

Lcsmcat @Graywacke And yet she (so far at least) makes no attempt to foreshadow this, which I find odd. 15h

Graywacke @Lcsmcat yes. She hasn‘t said his name, or anything significant about their relationship or his personality. 15h

TheBookHippie Sorry so late! I love the prose. I just love it. As for the leisure class is there a sign up?? The video was a WOWOWOW. Do you think she thought she was middle class??? As for the English it reminded me of my Grandmother who knew the upper and lower class French, Dutch and Yiddish (as it was used) she would say that‘s a scrub woman‘s French of Dutch- I would about pass out ..however she used that in ⬇️ (edited) 14h

TheBookHippie ⬆️volunteering in nursing homes with senile or Alzheimer patients as they‘d lose English immediately if they were immigrants and or refugees like she was- (back in the 1960- 1980s) she felt she owed it to help. 14h

TheBookHippie The not mentioning the MR is saying A LOT. I‘m very much loving this. Do you think she wanted to be single but society didn‘t allow it? 14h

Lcsmcat @TheBookHippie I don‘t know if she wanted to be single when she was young, but I think she didn‘t want to repeat the experiment when older. 😀 10h

Graywacke @TheBookHippie a scrub woman‘s French of Dutch. 🙂 You‘re not late. No clocks here. And I‘m with you on the prose! 10h

TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat For sure that! 10h

TheBookHippie @Graywacke my Bubbe was something ELSE. The prose is so very good. 10h

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Graywacke

A Backward Glance | Edith Wharton

Lush life 2 - the books! #whartonbuddyread

Lcsmcat Loved this section. I can visualize that library! 3d

Leftcoastzen Yes ! I loved this section! 1d

35 likes2 comments

Graywacke

A Backward Glance | Edith Wharton

Lush life. The food! #whartonbuddyread

32 likes

Graywacke

A Backward Glance | Edith Wharton

#whartonbuddyread - I‘m finally starting. Chat Saturday!

IMASLOWREADER, Lcsmcat, CarolynM, TheBookHippie, Leftcoastzen, Currey, jewright

Leftcoastzen I need to start ASAP!😄 4d

Lcsmcat I‘m finding it a quick read so far. (Love the 🐈‍⬛mug!) 4d

Graywacke @Leftcoastzen I need to get going too. 🙂 I‘m behind my planned schedule. @Lcsmcat glad it‘s fast! The opening chapter reminded me how wonderful her prose can be. 4d

49 likes3 comments

Graywacke

Fast and Loose: A Novelette | Edith Wharton

so-so

What happens when a teenager marries for the money? Edith Wharton wrote this novella when she was 14. It was published posthumously.

I was surprised to see something of Wharton's prose voice already. Also she was really funny. Teenager sass, but still literary.

It has problems everywhere. But it's still fun, and I enjoyed reading it. #whartonbuddyread

38 likes

Graywacke

A Backward Glance | Edith Wharton

#whartonbuddyread - how committed are you? 🙂 Here‘s the plan for Wharton‘s notoriously unrevealing autobiography. We‘ll learn what she wants us to learn about her parents and Henry James, etc - I think.

Are you in?

Plan:
Nov 22 chapter I-V Friendship and Travels
Nov 29 chapter VI-VIII Henry James
Dec 6 chapter IX-XI Paris
Dec 13 chapter XII-XIV And After

Lcsmcat, CarolynM, TheBookHippie, Leftcoastzen, Currey, jewright

Lcsmcat I‘m in! 3w

TheBookHippie Looks okay to me. I don‘t have much on my plate reading wise currently. 3w

Graywacke If you‘re tagged here and would like to join, let me know and I‘ll add you: @IMASLOWREADER @kenw3 @vikaplus321 @AllDebooks @arubabookwoman @dabbe @llwheeler @Louise @Suet624 @Tamra @willaful 3w

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Graywacke @Lcsmcat ❤️ 3w

Leftcoastzen I‘m in ! 3w

Graywacke @TheBookHippie then you must join! 😁🙂 3w

Graywacke @Leftcoastzen ❤️ yay 3w

jewright I‘m in! 3w

Liz_M @LitsyEvents 3w

Currey Yes, I‘m in 3w

Graywacke @jewright @currey ❤️ 3w

CarolynM I‘ll try😬 2w

Graywacke @CarolynM ❤️ 2w

31 likes13 comments

CarolynM

Fast and Loose: A Novelette | Edith Wharton

so-so

Edith Wharton was only 14 when she wrote this, and it shows. An interesting bit of juvenilia nonetheless. #WhartonBuddyRead Thanks @Graywacke @Lcsmcat and fellow buddy readers.

Photo is Dunedin harbour from the turret of Lanarch Castle

Centique I love Larnach Castle! So glad you got to see it. I found walking up that spiral staircase a bit claustrophobic! 1mo

CarolynM @Centique It‘s quite something! Beautiful gardens too. The guide was trying to put us off climbing up to the turret by going on about the spiral stairs, so it seemed ok to me versus what I was expecting😆 And the view was definitely worth it! 1mo

LeahBergen Beautiful photo! 1mo

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Hooked_on_books Your picture is gorgeous! 🤩 1mo

sarahbarnes Wow, only 14?! That‘s crazy. 1mo

Cathythoughts Beautiful spot 💚 1mo

CarolynM @LeahBergen @Hooked_on_books Thank you 😘😘 1mo

CarolynM @Cathythoughts It really is! We didn‘t get to spend enough time in Dunedin, hopefully we will get to visit again sometime. 1mo

63 likes8 comments

Graywacke

Fast and Loose: A Novelette | Edith Wharton

So #whartonbuddyread - what did you think?

Edith Wharton wrote this novella (or novelette) in 1876/77 when she was 14. And she gave herself a man‘s name as author - David Olivieri.

I have things to say, but i‘ll wait to hear what others thought. I will leave you with one word: ‘and‘ - one of many missing ‘and‘s in the text. Please make free use of it, as needed or desired

Graywacke - @CarolynM @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @jewright @kenw3 @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie @vikaplus321 1mo

Currey Yes, yes, yes, the missing and. A writer even at 14, finding the right word, the right rhythm and being inclusive of possible words instead of picking exactly which one was the correct one. At times it came across as “modern” and at times just immaturity as a writer. 1mo

Currey @Graywacke and at times, it worked. I felt the dialogue was not Wharton but amazing that many of the themes were already beginning to show themselves. 1mo

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Lcsmcat It reminded me of Austen‘s juvenilia in that the style was more “what‘s popular now” than truly Wharton. But the unhappy marriage theme started early with her, didn‘t it??? 1mo

Currey @Graywacke the plot a teenager‘s melodrama but even the neutral/sad ending reflected endings to come. 1mo

Lcsmcat @Currey We posted simultaneously or I‘d think I copied your opinion. 😂 1mo

Currey @Lcsmcat was her parent‘s marriage unhappy that we know of? 1mo

Lcsmcat @Currey I don‘t know. I need to read her biography. 1mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat i want to read A Backward Glance next, and then Hermione Lee‘s biography. 🙂 1mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke The next #whartonBuddyRead? 1mo

Graywacke @Currey on your first post - it struck me that the opening section (which i think was the best part of the book) had a Wharton prose feel. It was very look-at-this-clever-playful-teenager-writing. But it also felt like Wharton‘s voice doing that. I was entertained. Because it‘s actually really funny. But also fascinated at seeing it. 1mo

Graywacke @Currey on your second comment - there are definitely better and worse parts. I assumed she hated Madeline, because the section that introduced her (and those Persephone flowers) felt like the worst written part of the book. The author wasn‘t interested… ☺️🙂 1mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat if there‘s interest. Definitely. Both are commitments. (edited) 1mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat and @Currey - unhappy marriages and killing off the best character - two resilient Wharton themes in nascent form. 1mo

Graywacke Another thing that struck me was obviously fun this teenager was having writing this book. It‘s always playful. 1mo

rubyslippersreads I enjoyed it, as an entertaining if melodramatic story, and as a glimpse of things to come. 1mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke @Currey She really didn‘t seem to like Madeleine! She seems more interested in unhappy people. I wonder if she read a lot of Bronte or Dickens? 1mo

Leftcoastzen Yes I just finished! Some of the melodrama was a bit eye rolling, yet , the themes that she would use in her most masterful works are already coming out . I enjoyed it . I agree there was some delightful playfulness in the book . 1mo

CarolynM I‘m glad to see she was so young when she wrote it because my overall impression was how juvenile it was. It was melodramatic, predictable and often somehow just a little off the mark - someone writing about things they didn‘t really understand. But interesting to see that she was already concerned with the roles women play. 1mo

Graywacke @rubyslippersreads I felt that glimpse too! 1mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat M was a nauseating Miss Perfect. ☺️ 1mo

Graywacke @Leftcoastzen glad you enjoyed! And saw the playfulness 1mo

Graywacke @CarolynM no question. That‘s all true - your melodramatic sentence 1mo

Currey @Graywacke @Lcsmcat I can imagine a 14 yr old Wharton aiming her venom at all those sweet prissy NY debutants and naming them Mad. 1mo

Graywacke @Currey 🙂 1mo

TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat I got Brontë from this! 1mo

TheBookHippie @Graywacke busy protest day sorry for the lateness! I too could see her in the beginning and I also wonder what did she see of marriage and or did it not appeal to her ? I enjoyed this look into her writing. 1mo

TheBookHippie @Currey for sure .. re: venom. 1mo

TheBookHippie @Leftcoastzen yes! Playfulness! 1mo

TheBookHippie My reading til end of year and next is open to more Wharton. I don‘t have a huge load. 1mo

Graywacke @TheBookHippie go you on the No Kings or pumpkins protests! I‘m thinking A Backwards Glance Nov/Dec… 1mo

TheBookHippie @Graywacke sounds good. No Kings was amazing here. Good boost of hope and many literary signs. 1mo

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