The Custom of the Country -

Edith Wharton

Oxford

1995

380 páginas

12h 40m

ISBN-10: 0192822888

Edith Wharton's satiric anatomy of American society in the first decade of the twentieth century appeared in 1913; it both appalled and fascinated its first reviewers, and established her as a major novelist. The Saturday Review wrote that she had "assembled as many detestable people as it is possible to pack between the covers of a six-hundred page novel," but concluded that the book was "brilliantly written," and "should be read as a parable." It follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the Midwest and determined to conquer high society. Glamorous, selfish, mercenary and manipulative, her principal assets are her striking beauty, her tenacity, and her father's money. With her sights set on an advantageous marriage, Undine pursues her schemes in a world of shifting values, where triumph is swiftly followed by disillusion. Wharton was recreating an environment she knew intimately, and Undine's education for social success is chronicled in meticulous detail. The novel superbly captures the world of post-Civil War America, as ruthless in its social ambitions as in its business and politics.

Resenhas (2)

3 (Bom)

"four divorces?" god forbid a woman know what she wants

"what undine really enjoyed was the image of her own charm mirroed in the general admiration"

sempre acho muito interessante as perpectivas que a edith wharton tinha da elite nova iorquina, tão ambiciosa, tão desiludida, tão puritana, e tão presa à sua própria tragédia. de começo eu achei que a história era sobre o desejo mortal da undine de ascender socialmente, mas na verdade é um livro bem mais profundo sobre divórcio e como a sociedade via isso, principalmente tendo uma mulher no papel principal com o descontentamento matrimonial (a diva teve quatro divórcios). fui fã de algumas partes e de outras nem tanto (tipo as cenas em paris), mas gostei de um modo geral. eu realmente fico imaginando os amigos da edith wharton lendo os livros dela e falando "wait, is this a fucking play about us?"