House of Mirth

After reading a review on The Millions about this book (www.themillions.com/2014/12/year-in-reading-edan-lepucki-3.html), I figured I'd give it a read over my winter break. I loved it. Wharton's prose is sharp, her sentences capturing depth while confining flight. She manages to convey both cynical critique and the warmth of humanity, captured in the unique character of Lily Bart. This classic remains fresh and relevant today.

Boy, this novel kind of bummed me out. Nothing ever goes right for Lily and sometimes it seems as even Lily is out to get Lily. It was overkill actually and it got to be painful reading after a while. No happy ending here Gs. The rich get richer, their ranks more exclusive and once you're on the outs, you out, sucka. This was a very good book but I kind of hated it. Weird.