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#EdithWharton
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Graywacke
Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton
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Twilight Sleep : Book one
#whartonbuddyread

Flapper shocker? 🤷🏻‍♂️ What are your thoughts on Nona, Lita, Pauline and her men?

We are in Wharton‘s later books. She‘s experimenting, and she‘s bringing middle aged women to life. So as we sigh at her Pauline satire, also take a moment to think why Wharton spends so much time on her.

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Currey @Graywacke Both Pauline and Lita were closer to caricature than Wharton usually goes. Pauline‘s defense of the “dark” man because she wants her retreat made me very uneasy. (I know, I know….the time it was written in). However, I am liking Nona and of course simply reading Wharton‘s prose. (edited) 5d
TheBookHippie I love the prose. I had to remind myself several times the time it was written in because 😬… however I think it makes you think, and makes you feel the characters and did it when it was written as well? She writes flawed very well. 5d
Graywacke @Currey Pauline‘s ability to rationalize all contradictions, even contradictory public speeches, was quite interesting. I‘m puzzling about Wharton and Lita - Wharton‘s controlled prose and her intention that might be counter to our understanding (or misunderstanding). 5d
Graywacke @TheBookHippie i agree, she does do flawed writing well. I‘m trying to remind myself of the time and perspective too, but she‘s making me question what i do and don‘t understand of the era. 5d
TheBookHippie @Graywacke I agree, has me wishing my grandma was alive to ask her questions. 5d
batsy This is so different and so Wharton at the same time. The way she deftly satirises the busy days of the wealthy who don't have to work for a living—Pauline has days filled in order to assure herself that her days are filled. I also have to read up more on "twilight sleep" births because I vaguely knew it was a thing, but didn't realise the extent of it being an early 20th-century trend. The Dexter and Lila situation is ringing alarm bells?! ? 5d
Graywacke @batsy I‘m wondering about those ⏰s. And the births, which is new to me. However, I‘m quite intrigued with what Pauline fills her days with. Non-Christian spiritual stuff, very, you know, 1970‘s. Also, what she and Lita are doing have parallels. 5d
Lcsmcat @batsy The Dexter situation made me wonder what happened to Wharton that she was exploring these pseudo-incest scenarios. 😱 5d
Lcsmcat The prose is excellent, and the wit sharp. I highlighted several quotes, of course. But this one made me laugh out loud: “Yet what did Episcopal Bishops know of “holy ecstasy”? And could any number of Church services have reduced her hips?” 5d
Graywacke @Lcsmcat that‘s interesting about Dexter. Wonder what Hermione Lee says. 4d
Graywacke @Lcsmcat Pauline, right? That quote. I kinda understand Dexter‘s affection. She‘s entertaining. 4d
batsy @Graywacke Yes, great point. Who knew there was a precursor to the 60s and 70s mysticism? It's fascinating that these ideas were circulating among the rich earlier on in the US. Also loved that Pauline described her regimen as "Taylorized effort against the natural human fate". The Taylor system being implemented in late 19th-century I think. Wharton's incorporating quite a bit in this book. 4d
batsy @Lcsmcat Right. It also made me wonder exactly what was going in upper crust NY society at the time (perhaps a tale as old as time and maybe no less different now? Idk 🤢) 4d
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Yes, that was Pauline. 4d
Lcsmcat @batsy @Graywacke I think we tend to see religion /religious fervor as something that was stronger in “the old days” (whenever that was) whereas in reality it comes and goes, is displaced by various fads, then something bad happens (war, economic crisis) and we scuttle back. The founding fathers were not so Christian as today‘s far right would have one believe, for example. (Jefferson rewrote the Bible to include only the bits he liked.) 4d
batsy @Lcsmcat So true. I'm not as well versed in American history so that is interesting indeed about Jefferson! 4d
Graywacke @Lcsmcat I think education and religion have a poor track record everywhere always. Not completely contrary, but rarely hand-in-hand. Wharton seems to present a very casual relationship with religion in her writing. 4d
jewright @batsy I was surprised by the twilight births too. My grandma had them in the 50‘s and 60‘s, but it sounds as if this was only specially available to the wealthy maybe because most people would have been having home births. 4d
Leftcoastzen I forgot to start it! Not looking at comments. I‘ll be back! 🫤😁 4d
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen you can catch up! 🙂 3d
Leftcoastzen Whartons writing is just so good! Being over scheduled seems like an avoidance tactic somewhat for Pauline . I love the debates about what to do about Michelangelo! Pay his debts , which would lead to bad behavior again .That marrying money is a career choice or Dexter can just hire him, like you can just say, yep, now I‘m a lawyer! 10h
Leftcoastzen Actually, there is a lot of history of Theosophy, Yoga, eastern religions in those years. It did take the place of more traditional religions for some people, & some , just a fad.But usually with the rich & comfortable , regular people worked too hard for a living. Like anything else, there were serious scholars of these traditions, and people just out to make a buck. 10h
Leftcoastzen And Lita ! I get the impression she is not going to be tied down to the trappings of adulthood, a husband,a baby. Being a flapper can nearly be a modern “religion”too. 10h
43 likes26 comments
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Graywacke
Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton
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Suet624 Jeepers, I really appreciate Wharton. 6d
batsy Her satirical eye is unforgiving 😆 5d
40 likes2 comments
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Graywacke
Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton
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Getting going #whartonbuddyread

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

A young adult biography that serves as an excellent introduction into who Wharton was. It‘s a library book that I picked up to scan through and found myself wanting to keep reading. I liked that it's a nice efficient take that covers the essentials of Wharton's very complicated life. It explained a lot of stuff I was only loosely aware of or didn't know at all. #whartonbuddyread

Graywacke Things I found interesting:

- Wharton met her husband when she and her family were in a rush to get her married before their own financial problems became apparent. But she was always much wealthier than her husband.

- Wharton's marriage was happy until he started having mental health issues that were inherited, and neither understood nor treatable. The book suggests he had later-stage bipolarism.
2w
Graywacke - Wharton surrounded herself with bachelors. She avoided married men to keep from jealousies and scandals, even if these relationships were not romantic but friendships.

- Her closest relationship was with Walter Berry, an American diplomat who she once expected to ask for marriage, but he didn't. Unmarried his whole life, he read every one of works before they were sent to publishers and was with her during most of her difficult times.
2w
Graywacke - I knew about Wharton's extra-marital affair and how it was only found out years after her death. What I didn't know was that she left a love book about this affair with her papers, written to "you". So for years there was a mystery about who this lover might be. (Until his own letters were found in the 1960's)

- She needed the money from her book sales, and she made a lot from her books.
2w
See All 6 Comments
Graywacke - she hated James Joyces's and Virginia Woolf‘s stream of consciousness writing #, considering it a bunch of novel elements that weren‘t actually put together as a novel (and she thought Ulysses was vulgar with too much low-level humor) 2w
CarolynM How interesting! Thanks for sharing. 1w
Graywacke @CarolynM you‘re welcome. Anything surprise you? 🙂 1w
46 likes6 comments
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Graywacke
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Leftcoastzen Interesting! 3w
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen i really love that we have this sketch. 🙂 2w
40 likes2 comments
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Graywacke
Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton
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A little prep for our next #whartonbuddyread - Twilight Sleep. We discuss Book One on March 23.

These are all library books I checked out today

Graywacke Left stack, top down

After the fall: The Demeter-Persephone Myth in Wharton, Cather, and Glasgow (1989) by Josephine Donovan
Edith Wharton: matters of mind and spirit (1995) by Carol J. Singley
Edith Wharton‘s prisoners of consciousness: a study of theme and technique in the tales (1994) by Evelyn E. Fracasso
Felicitous space: the imaginative structures of Edith Wharton and Willa Cather (1986) by Judith Fryer
Edith Wharton (2007) by Hermione Lee
3w
Graywacke Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life: An Illustrated Biography (1994) by Eleanor Dwight 3w
Graywacke Right stack - left to right

The brave escape of Edith Wharton: a biography (2010) by Connie Nordheim Woolridge
Edith Wharton: sex, satire and the older woman (2011) by Avril Horner and Janet Beer
Edith Wharton in context (2012) edited by Laura Rattrey
The gilded age: Edith Wharton and her contemporaries (1995) by Eleanor Dwight
Edith Wharton: Revised Edition (Twayne‘s United States authors series) (c1976, 1991) by Margaret B. McDowell
3w
See All 8 Comments
Graywacke not in sisterhood: Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Zona Gale, and the politics of female authorship (2001) by Deborah Lindsay Williams 3w
TheBookHippie Wowie!!! 3w
Lcsmcat Impressive stack! 3w
dabbe Yowza! 🤩🤩🤩 3w
batsy Whoa 🙌🏾 3w
48 likes8 comments
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TheBookHippie
Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton
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March 👀📗💚📗

So far…🫠

BeeCurious My first thought was yikes, that's a lot of books, but I'll wish you good luck instead. 🤗📚🌷 4w
TheBookHippie @BeeCurious a few I‘ve been reading since January 🙃 I‘ve massive insomnia currently so at least I‘ll put it to good use.😵‍💫🫠🤣 4w
IndoorDame Such a pretty copy of Heidi! Very springlike 💚 4w
See All 7 Comments
TheBookHippie @IndoorDame it was a gift from a student years ago! Finally cracking it open. I have a very old copy I‘ll have to post. 4w
IndoorDame @TheBookHippie I still have to scour my shelves and see if my very old copy is still around somewhere 😁 4w
dabbe What a gorgeous stack! 🤩💚🤩 (edited) 4w
Meshell1313 Woah! 😍 4w
72 likes7 comments
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LitsyEvents
Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton
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Here is the next book in the #whartonbuddyread hosted by @graywack and @lcsmcat

Lcsmcat Thanks for reposting. 1mo
35 likes1 comment
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Graywacke
Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton
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Wharton takes on the Jazz Age. It was apparently a best seller in 1927. This will be our next #whartonbuddyread

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Lcsmcat Look forward to seeing what she means by the title, as my mind immediately jumped to the drug they used to give women during labor. 😂 1mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat I think you‘re roughly on theme (minus the childbirth?) 1mo
AllDebooks This sounds really good 1mo
Suet624 Hmmm… I haven‘t seen this on any of my library searches. May have to purchase this one. (edited) 1mo
IMASLOWREADER i have never heard of this book…but sound interesting 1mo
jewright The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books. I wonder how this one will compare. 1mo
batsy Looking forward! I've had a copy for *decades*... 😳 1mo
Graywacke @AllDebooks I‘m excited for it. 1mo
Graywacke @Suet624 it‘s free electronically, or $1 on Kindle or Nook. On paper it‘s trickier to find. 1mo
Graywacke @IMASLOWREADER yes, new to me too. 1mo
Graywacke @jewright hmm. I saw somewhere we need to bring Eudora Welty‘s take as well. I read The Great Gatsby in high school. It‘s all a blur and a green light and some bad driving now. 1mo
Graywacke @batsy really? I guess it‘s time to read it. But, that‘s cool you have had it for so long. (It will be out 19th !! Wharton) 1mo
Suet624 Where would I find it electronically? 1mo
Graywacke @Suet624 for free? project Gutenberg? I only checked nook and amazon, so not sure 😁 1mo
Suet624 I always forget about Gutenberg. Thank you! 1mo
Graywacke Just a reminder that we discuss book one in 8 days. 2w
CarolynM Thanks, Dan. Looking forward to it. I‘m intrigued by the title too @Lcsmcat 2w
Cathythoughts Thanks for still including me. I havnt been a great participant. But Im going to try and read this one. Sounds good. 2w
Graywacke @CarolynM 💜 me too. I read a little Friday, but hope to get going today 2w
Graywacke @Cathythoughts fantastic! Glad you‘re joining this one. 2w
35 likes27 comments
review
CindyMyLifeIsLit
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Pickpick

I love Wharton‘s writing and this was another great one. Undine Spragg is a memorable character, indeed! She is like a chameleon, adapting herself to every new environment to ensure that she achieves her goals. The changes are surface-level only—inside, her character stays the same: selfish, self-centered, greedy, and ambitious. She hasn‘t a thought to spare for anyone but herself. She actually makes Scarlett O‘Hara look sympathetic! 🤔