WhartonbuddyRead

pick

Catch up review from mid year 5/5

I‘m reviewing these 2 together because they are 2 parts of a whole. The tagged book follows the early career of a young man from a small town who achieves literary success but struggles in society. In the sequel (tagged in comments) he struggles to replicate that success while travelling through Europe with his mistress. In both books he is oblivious to making a lot of people unhappy.

Read for #WhartonBuddyRead

CarolynM

The Gods Arrive

52 likes1 comment

LitsyEvents

The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton

repost for @Graywacke:

- #whartonbuddyread
- Feb 1 - Book 1
- Feb 8 - Book 2
- Feb 15 - Book 3

An unfinished novel. We‘ll discuss book 1 in six weeks.

#BuddyRead

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Graywacke

The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton

- #whartonbuddyread
- Feb 1 - Book 1
- Feb 8 - Book 2
- Feb 15 - Book 3

An unfinished novel. We‘ll discuss book 1 in six weeks.

Lcsmcat, Currey

Graywacke @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @Cathythoughts @cindyash @Crazeedi 3w

Graywacke @dabbe @Daisey @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER @IndoorDame @jewright @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie 3w

Graywacke @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Suet624 @Tamra @TheBookHippie @willaful 3w

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Graywacke Special request - let me know if you want to continue to be tagged. I think i tagged everyone who has been involved in the #Whartonbuddyread in the past. But the interest in this late unfinished novel might a lot less than normal - which is fine. (edited) 3w

Currey @Graywacke I am in. 3w

IMASLOWREADER yes pls tnx 3w

CarolynM I‘m in. Thanks Dan. 3w

Suet624 I seem to have abandoned Wharton. 🥴 3w

AllDebooks I really enjoyed the recent tv series. I'm in! 3w

Lcsmcat Looking forward to it! 3w

Liz_M @LitsyEvents 3w

Graywacke @Suet624 that‘s ok. (She‘ll forgive you ☺️) 3w

Graywacke @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @CarolynM @AllDebooks @Lcsmcat wonderful! ❤️ 3w

Suet624 @Graywacke it makes me sad though. 3w

Graywacke @Suet624 hugs. Wharton is always there when the mood strikes. 3w

LapReader I‘m keen. 2w

Graywacke @LapReader hi. Fantastic. I‘ll add you 2w

Graywacke @TheBookHippie @jewright hi guys. Let me know whether you‘ll join in for this one. No pressure, just you guys are regulars. (Ok, and i‘ll miss you if you don‘t join. ☺️) 2w

TheBookHippie Oh yes!!!!! I have a pretty shiny new copy and I watched this on Apple TV 🫣🫠 recently … so I needed a new copy to read it. 2w

Graywacke @TheBookHippie yay. I tried the TV series. Got about two episodes in. The music was just so jarring for the period piece. 2w

jewright I‘m in, please! 2w

Graywacke @jewright oh good. Happy to see that 2w

jewright @Graywacke I‘ve so enjoyed reading Wharton in this group. 2w

Graywacke @jewright ❤️ me too! 2w

34 likes24 comments

Currey

The Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton

#whartonbuddyread
Hello and Happy Holidays to all. I was wondering if we are going to continue or take a break until the New Year. Also, are there many more books to go? Maybe The Gods was her last?

Lcsmcat, Graywacke

Lcsmcat The Buccaneers was her last written (and unfinished) novel, but Fast and Loose was published last. I‘m fine with waiting until January - December is really busy for me - but will make time for it if others want to read in December. 1mo

Graywacke Thanks for the nudge. I‘m thinking Buccaneers in January at a slow pace because i made conflicting plans. There‘s also A Backward Glance. And i was wondering there might be interest in the Hermione Lee biography. @Lcsmcat 1mo

Currey Great. I will assume a Wharton starting in January. Have a wonderful December. 1mo

9 likes3 comments

Graywacke

The Gods Arrive | Edith Wharton

pick

Not sure exactly what Wharton was doing here as her artist wanders through all sorts of writing and social circumstances, and his one time muse, now lover, gets neglected, left behind, forgotten. I waited for her seek independence, but Wharton wasn‘t writing for me. I merely got a wink. Still, it‘s pleasant reading. #whartonbuddyread @Lcsmcat

52 likes

Lcsmcat

The Gods Arrive | Edith Wharton

Searching for analysis of our novel, this poem popped up. If you can‘t read it here it‘s available online here https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50464/give-all-to-love
Wow. Once again Wharton expects us to be well read, as well as well travelled, and it all makes so much more sense. I still don‘t like V and think Halo deserves better, but we all make stupid choices sometimes. 😂 #whartonbuddyread

Graywacke

Lcsmcat @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Suet624 @TheBookHippie @cindyash 2mo

Lcsmcat @mdm139 @jewright @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @Cathythoughts @Crazeedi @Currey @dabbe @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER 2mo

Lcsmcat Now the quotes “He had thought he loved her, and he had failed her; she had accepted the fact, and faced it with her usual ironic courage; and the one service his unstable heart could do her now was to leave her in peace and go his way.” (I almost liked Vance here.) 2mo

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Lcsmcat ‘Some books fail slowly, imperceptibly, as though an insidious disease had undermined them; others plunge from the heights with a crash, and thus it was with “Colossus”‘ (The voice of experience?) 2mo

Lcsmcat “Like most artistic coteries they preferred a poor work executed according to their own formula to a good one achieved without it;” (Definitely the voice of experience!) 2mo

Lcsmcat “They were not used to death at the Westons‘, it did not seem to belong to the general plan of life at Euphoria, it had no language, no ritual, no softening conventions to envelop it.” 2mo

Currey @Lcsmcat As usual great quotes. 2mo

Currey @Graywacke @Lcsmcat It was an extraordinarily rich two books, clearly full of life experiences, deeper and more subtle understanding of the human heart, but Vance is still a selfish, childish man. Did Wharton hope to win me over just a touch? Or was this her way of crafting a damning portrait of a failed artist? Ah, yes. I wish Halo had some hope of better. 2mo

Lcsmcat I think that Halo is one spoken to in the poem, so you have to flip the gender. But it‘s almost like Wharton followed the narrative arc of the poem across the two novels. My head‘s spinning a bit. 2mo

Lcsmcat @Currey I wonder why I hoped for a less-flawed character in these 2 books. It‘s not like Wharton ever gave us one before. But I really wanted Vance to be better. 2mo

Currey @Lcsmcat Yes, I certainly was not expecting a happy ending or a complete turn around of Vance‘s character. Have read too many Wharton‘s for that. 2mo

jewright It‘s sort of a happy ending? I was honestly surprised by Lewis‘s offer at the end. 2mo

Graywacke Halo was too good for Vance. Thanks for the poem. It explains things a bit. I was really puzzled by the title. 2mo

Lcsmcat @jewright Me too. As a matter of fact I also marked this quote “He had been prepared—perhaps—to regret his offer; but not to have it refused. It had never occurred to him that such an extreme of magnanimity could defeat itself.” 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke The title puzzled me too. And none of the things I read addressed it, until the poem popped up. I find knowing the source of a title can be helpful, especially from an author as widely read as Wharton. 2mo

Graywacke Two quotes from me. First the awkward departure from Lewis: "They stood by each other in silence, miles of distance already between them, while they waited for the preliminary rattle and rumble from below; then the mirror-lined box shot up, opened its door, and took her in.” 2mo

Graywacke Halo‘s best line ?: “Did you really come all the way to Paul's Landing just to tell me that you were going away again?" (edited) 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Halo sees right through him, doesn‘t she? The line about having 2 children to raise also rang true to me. 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Re your first quote - Wharton is very good at describing the uncomfortable between people, isn‘t she? 2mo

Graywacke I‘m puzzled on the purpose of this book. Vance‘s WI soul searching is brief at best. A seasonal vacation. (About as deep as Thor‘s in the Avengers movies?) Halo‘s affirmation to Tarrant doesn‘t hold up to Vance. Yes, she establishes control on the relationship - she‘s read her Age of Innocence. But, you know, why not be free? And this is just this last section. We have two books of V & H the lead to - ?? Hmm. 2mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat Tarrant as Hades returning Persephone? 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke I‘ve not seen any of the Avengers movies so I can‘t speak to that, but, Vance is being true to character. He hasn‘t stuck with anything long. I was hopeful when I read “these weeks outside of time gave him his first understanding of the magic power of continuity.” But he didn‘t stick with it. So bye-bye magic power? 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Tarrant as Hades I can see (you‘re exposing my lopsided cultural knowledge here) but I can‘t decide quite that he acted. It was more like he knew he couldn‘t stop it, so he would let it happen with the least fuss possible. Hard on his pride, but true to character as far as his propensity to avoid exertion. 2mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat i think Halo just knew how to manage Tarrant. And she‘s the moment. Vance gone and can‘t undermine or stand for anything, she‘s pregnant. Cards were in her favor when she made that move. 2mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat in the Avengers movies Thor occasionally can‘t pick up his hammer. He‘s not pure enough - always this is plot friendly. But then the movie needs a snap-quick convincing purification scene so can finally pick it up. 🙂 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Thanks. Now I won‘t look so stupid in front of my son-in-law. 😂🔨 2mo

CarolynM Another abrupt ending that left me a bit puzzled. Thanks for the poem, I think it throws light on what EW was doing here. There‘s no doubt H deserves better than V, but for whatever reason she actually does love him, faults and all, so she‘ll accept whatever he offers. This is in stark contrast to V‘s “love” for F which collapsed as soon as he recognised her true character. Very interesting pair of books. Thanks for all your insights. 2mo

Lcsmcat @CarolynM Good observation about the difference in V‘s infatuation with F and H‘s more mature love! 2mo

23 likes28 comments

Lcsmcat

The Gods Arrive | Edith Wharton

Wow. This was a brutal section for me. Vance has sacrificed any sympathy I ever had for him. He‘s not young and impulsive anymore. He‘s selfish and cruel. I wish Halo had better options, but she needs to be shed of V.! Thoughts about either V or H‘s behavior? #whartonbuddyread

Graywacke

Lcsmcat @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Suet624 @TheBookHippie @cindyash 2mo

Lcsmcat Quotes coming, but I‘ll be out of pocket most of today for my grandson‘s birthday, so talk among yourselves as they used to say on SNL. 😀 2mo

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Lcsmcat “But it is almost unbearable to be forgotten. The victim invents a thousand pretexts rather than admit that one fact.” 2mo

Lcsmcat “This man whom she could no longer make happy, who needed her so little that he could disappear for weeks without giving her a sign—how much longer was she going to burden him with her unwanted devotion?” 2mo

Lcsmcat “Ah, happy artists! No wonder they were careless of other people‘s wounds, when they were born with the power to heal their own so easily…” 2mo

Lcsmcat And I won‘t quote it, but the cruel words V used when telling H that F had dumped him but he still wanted her and the way he dismissed H‘s intelligence and contributions to his work make me think Wharton must have had some wrenching scenes with her lover! 2mo

Currey @Lcsmcat it was so painful to watch Halo twisting herself into a pretzel 🥨 really appearing to believe that her love for Vance wasn‘t worthy and leaving him would be the best thing she could do for him. Meanwhile I‘m thinking “get out of there Halo, you deserve so much better” 2mo

Lcsmcat @Currey If everything else hadn‘t done it, his “do I have to use words of one syllable” dig pushed him past redemption in my eyes. Run, Halo, run! 2mo

Currey @Lcsmcat I agree that much of the writing appears to come from personal experience but I suspect her sympathy (as a writer) to Vance is that at some point in her life she had played both parts 2mo

Lcsmcat @Currey Yes, she is much more understanding of him than I can be. But how she could write him that clearly and see herself in that behavior- wow. That‘s a tough self-reflection. 2mo

Graywacke Happy birthday to your grandson! 2mo

Graywacke I wonder what drove this Wharton take on jealousy and unrequited devotion. Vance hurt me most when he called Hale an amateur critic. And she handled all his bitter lines so gracefully. He‘s not worthy 2mo

Graywacke Why does Frenside always offer such inadequate advice that never helps anyone? 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Frenside is a puzzle. He seems intelligent and caring, but always at a remove. Like he can‘t quite connect. I wonder if that‘s why his advice doesn‘t quite work? 2mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat he is a puzzle. He‘s so nice, though. 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Yes, he is one of the likable ones in this story. 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke As to why these themes now, what makes a 70 year old tackle doomed love. It seems like a subject for a young romantic, doesn‘t it? Was she looking back at her relationship with Walter Berry? Maybe trying to justify to herself why it went the way it did? I‘m not sure. 2mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat i think about Berry a lot. Of course, she‘s the Vance artistically. He‘s the Halo. 2mo

CarolynM You have summed up my response to this part perfectly. As an aside, I think it was a bit mean of EW to take a swipe at Belgium😆 2mo

Lcsmcat @CarolynM 😂 Everyone mistreats Belgium! 2mo

jewright Vance is so self-absorbed. My word. In a sense, Flossy treats him just like he treats everyone else in his life. I do wonder if his new book is any good, or if Halo is right. 2mo

Lcsmcat @jewright I so want Halo to be right! 2mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat 🙂 ( @jewright ) 2mo

Graywacke @Currey @CarolynM @jewright - just, a bit random, but I‘m really proud of Halo in chapter 34. Not sure how it will play out, but, for now, thank goodness 2mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke 😀 Me too. 2mo

Currey @Graywacke @Lcsmcat @jewright @CarolynM Me too! 2mo

22 likes27 comments

Lcsmcat

The Gods Arrive | Edith Wharton

Vance goes to extremes, although all his extremes are selfish, even when he thinks he‘s being noble. And the double standard is spotlighted clearly. It‘s ok to “know” a man who‘s living nonmarried, but the woman of the couple must be cut dead. Is there any hope for this pair? Especially with Lewis being so poutily stubborn? (Picture is a detail of a painting by Corot of the forest at Fontainebleau.) #whartonbuddyread

Graywacke

Lcsmcat @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Suet624 @TheBookHippie @cindyash 3mo

Lcsmcat Also, so many diss at James Joyce! I don‘t think Wharton liked his work. 😂 3mo

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Currey @Lcsmcat I am not sure that Wharton liked many other authors. She had a long strong relationship with Henry James evidently and other writers mention Andre Gide and Sinclair Lewis - by the time that this book was published would they have been considered “old school”. I don‘t know enough. 3mo

Lcsmcat @Currey I think they would have been, and Wharton may be indulging in the older generation‘s game of “everything is going to pot.” 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3mo

Currey @Lcsmcat I was able to take Vance a bit better this round. He was still completely selfish but at least he had some thought of Halo. Halo on the other hand; where is our feisty witty and oh so capable woman gone to? She is just “cut” and bowed it seems. She is now shown as capable at finding a place to live instead of intellectually capable. 3mo

Lcsmcat @Currey Yes, Halo has become so domestic. I wish she were willing to confront Vance more, but her position is so precarious that I understand why she doesn‘t. One of the quotes I highlighted: “It seemed to her that she was gazing at herself stripped and exposed, between these two men who were disputing for her possession.” 3mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat that line struck me too. Halo is managing Vance the same way she managed Tarrant - strengthening them at her own expense. I do like the Halo who found Vance ruining any chance of her divorce romantic. It was kind of funny. @Currey 3mo

Graywacke I like this section a lot better. It flowed, was more interesting. Halos fears and Vances realities both clash and have parallels. It‘s interesting to me. No Vance isn‘t cheating, but those sandaled feet showed he was susceptible. 3mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat Wharton hated stream of consciousness. Some quotes from a book on Hemingway and Faulkner: Edith Wharton, nearing the end of her career, wrote to a friend in 1934: "What a country! With Faulkner and Hemingway acclaimed as the greatest American novelists, & magazine editors still taking the view they did when I began to write! Brains & culture seem nonexistent from one end of the social scale to the other, & half ? 3mo

Graywacke ? the morons yell for filth, & the other half continue to put pants on piano-legs." 3mo

Graywacke She also is quoted as complaining that stream of consciousness was sort of an incomplete novel. The writer had to put them together before they become a novel. And these writers just neglected to do this 3mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke I have to agree with Wharton on stream of consciousness. I struggled through Joyce in school but have no desire to read him now! And the whole art scene “between the wars” was full of experiments like that. There was a rejection of form that went along with philosophical nihilists like Sartre. It makes her comment about filth & piano legs true and funny. 3mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Halo played the scene as romantic, but there‘s the bit when Vance sees her sleeping after he comes back that I‘ll quote below that makes me afraid for her. 3mo

Lcsmcat “When he pulled himself out of his brooding, and went to bed, Halo was asleep. He had carried in the lamp from the studio, and stood shading it with his hand while he looked down on her. Usually, when she slept, her features regained their girlish clearness; and she was once more the Halo Spear who had lit up the dark old library at the Willows; 3mo

Lcsmcat but now youth and laughter were gone, her face was worn and guarded. “This is the real Halo,” he thought; and he knew it was the effort to hide her anxiety behind a laughing welcome which had left those furrows between her eyes.” 3mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat she‘s sacrificing herself. It‘s hard to watch. He only sort of gets it before he‘s distracted again 3mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat regarding stream of consciousness - I haven‘t read Joyce, but I love when Faulkner uses it. He does it brilliantly. (Also, interesting that Faulkner‘s name was so prominent in 1934. He wasn‘t selling. Although he was better known in France, where Wharton was. than the US.) 3mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke I find Faulkner easier than Joyce, but maybe that‘s because I‘m southern, not Irish. 😀 I just listen to he words as if one of my elder relatives was talking. 3mo

Currey @Lcsmcat @Graywacke I am with you. I am not against stream of consciousness if it is effective and with Faulkner it is “voice”. I appreciate Faulkner. I have only read one Joyce and that was the easy one: Portrait of a young man. So I don‘t know about him really. 3mo

jewright I like Faulkner much better than Joyce. I‘m not really sure why. 3mo

Lcsmcat @jewright That seems to be the consensus here. Do you suppose people who like Cather and Wharton all prefer Faulkner to Joyce? 3mo

jewright Vance is a little less annoying in Book 2. At least he finally stands up for Halo at the end by going to demand answers of Lewis. Vance is just so dense that he drives me crazy. 3mo

jewright @Lcsmcat Perhaps Faulkner is easier to understand? I feel like there‘s more plot to his works and less just abstract musing. 3mo

Lcsmcat @jewright I didn‘t feel like Vance was standing up for Halo when he went to Lewis. It felt disrespectful to go without her knowledge or desire. He just can‘t seem to think about anyone but himself. 3mo

21 likes25 comments

Graywacke

The Gods Arrive | Edith Wharton

#whartonbuddyread

Must be on the shortlist of the worst covers ever. I‘ve been reading this for a week, but forgot to post here. ☺️ Wharton is making her readers uncomfortable so far. Harried mistress renationalizing away all her obvious problems. I‘ve read book I of IV, on pace with our buddy read.

Lcsmcat OMG! That‘s an awful cover! 3mo

dabbe Wowza! That is one ugly cover! 😱 3mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat @dabbe It‘s lesson in how to make a graphic designer cringe. And they certainly have not read the or anything else by Wharton. 3mo

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quietlycuriouskate It's hard to believe someone actually designed that monstrosity. 3mo

xicanti I see this cover and I assume it‘s attached to a self-published conspiracy theory about how aliens will soon return to answer all mankind‘s questions. 3mo

Lcsmcat @xicanti 😂🤣😂 3mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Anyone with eyes would cringe! 3mo

Graywacke @quietlycuriouskate I want to agree. But it‘s not really that hard for me to imagine possible situations… 3mo

Graywacke @xicanti so close! 😂 @Lcsmcat I feel a little bad for all the cringing i have caused here. 3mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Unless you‘ve changed careers and designed that cover art, you are blameless. 😀 3mo

41 likes10 comments

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