The House of Mirth (Blog 15)

By: Edith Wharton

Upon completing this novel, I realized
that I actually did enjoy this book.  There were
a few things that I disliked; however, I thought
that Edith Wharton's writing style was very
unique and successful.

When I first began reading this novel, I absolutely hated it.  I did not like how many long descriptions Wharton included because I found them to be completely pointless.  I also would easily get confused by all of the characters.  I was constantly flipping back in the book to refresh my memory on who everyone was.  In addition, some parts moved very slowly for me.  However, after these slow parts, there was always something exciting or shocking to follow.  Towards the end of Book 1, I actually was really enjoying the story.  I liked the twists that Wharton threw into the mix, such as when Lily was mistaken as Bertha and ended up with Bertha's letters to Selden in her hands.  "The blood rushed to Lily's forehead.  She understood now-Mrs. Haffen supposed her to be the writer of the letters" (Wharton, 85).  When I read this sentence, I was really motivated to continue reading.  It was moments like this that made me appreciate the novel.  As Book 2 started, I honestly was annoyed with Wharton's writing again.  This was because she added in more characters that I had to keep track of.  Once I figured out who everyone was, I didn't mind it anymore.  Overall, I actually really ended up enjoying The House of Mirth.  The plot was very creative, and I liked learning about how people in that time period behaved.  I did find their obsession with money to be disgusting, but I think that Wharton taught her readers an important lesson.  There is more to life than money and material things.  Although this sounds very cliche, money can't buy anyone happiness, and I honestly believe that this is the truth.  Lily had to learn this the hard way, and she ended up never truly finding happiness before she died.  The ending was extremely sad and depressing, but I really did like the book as a whole.