Decoration of Houses, The (The Collected Works of Edith Wharton

Book Description

European 18th and 19th century architecture and decoration are discussed and contrasted with modern concepts in this detailed study which is chock-full of "do's" and "don'ts". Four 90-minute cassettes.

Customer Reviews:

design reflection and illumination .......2007-07-21

Amidst today's seemingly endless supply of domestic guides and treatises on interior decoration, Edith Wharton might be surprised that her The Decoration of Houses (co-authored with architect Ogden Codman, Jr.) would still be as relevant and necessary as it is a century after its first publication. Long before "simplicity" and "classic" became catchwords for branding, Wharton took a public stand against the bland, trite excesses of Victorian décor in America. Favoring the considered, informed and complex processes of design rooted in architectural principles, her graceful humility was matched only by her assertive plea against the contemporary dominance of thoughtless, conspicuous consumption visible in New York society. As she determinately decreed: "According to the creed of the modern manufacturer, you have only to combine certain `good' to obtain a certain style."

Often associated with the frivolity connected to historical descriptions of femininity, this volume might be a surprise for those who prefer to view Wharton as a New York literary powerhouse. While her 40 books in 40 years (many of which were devoted to travels through European residences and gardens) are a testament to the force of her pen, it's the themes of beauty, pleasure, societal indulgence, cultural education and cosmopolitanism in America's modernity that make her analysis, and eventual ruling on the importance of design and space, a necessary extension of her literary thought. As she aptly begins her historical and aesthetic analysis, "Rooms may be decorated in two ways: by a superficial application of ornament totally dependent of structure, or by means of those architectural features which are part of the organism of every house, inside as well as out." And it's through these sixteen chapters that reflect on everything from the front door to the dining room to bric-a-brac that she offers readers a glimpse at the historic function of furnishings, as well as her claims about taste, beauty and the impact of residential design.

The Italian, French and British capacity for decorating in accord with the Grecian edict of "wise moderation," so admired by Wharton, is illustrated by black and white plates. The illustrations also reveal that the author's penchant for "classic" beauty wasn't about recreating kitschy historic facades or stoic sparseness. Rather, a considered pleasure seems to be her goal as she concludes, "There is no absolute perfection, there is no communicable ideal; but much that is empiric, much that is confused and extravagant, will give way before the application of principles based on common sense and regulated by the laws of harmony and proportion." True to her appreciation for sincerity in the application of decorative principles, readers can see the realization of her rules if they visit the Mount, a 113-acre Lenox estate designed by Wharton in 1902.

Recreated by Rizzoli using photographs of the original 1897 pressing, the only change made by the publishers in this edition is the use of the original interior dust jacket as the model for the printed design that now covers the book. But I don't think Wharton would mind, as she truly believed that design was about the external reflection and illumination of what's on the inside.

Decoration of Houses as a gift, and as an owner.......2007-01-18

The "Decoration of Houses" allows a comparison of styles from antique to modern, with variations for each time period. I own it, but gave it to my daughter too, since she does set design in New York. The only one tht is better, is one that is out of print. My father used as a decorator in Boston.

Custom of the Country, The (The Collected Works of Edith Wharton - 43 Volumes)

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Custom of the Country, The (The Collected Works of Edith Wharton - 43 Volumes)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Classic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 1582019738

The Age of Innocence (Virago Modern Classics)

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Societal Pressures
Wharton is a genius.
The Age of Innocence
A Well Written Novel and a Compelling Read
Age of Good Writing...

The Age of Innocence (Virago Modern Classics)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 086068069X
Release Date: 1988-09-27

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Somewhere in this book, Wharton observes that clever liars always come up with good stories to back up their fabrications, but that really clever liars don't bother to explain anything at all. This is the kind of insight that makes The Age of Innocence so indispensable. Wharton's story of the upper classes of Old New York, and Newland Archer's impossible love for the disgraced Countess Olenska, is a perfectly wrought book about an era when upper-class culture in this country was still a mixture of American and European extracts, and when "society" had rules as rigid as any in history.

Book Description

Set in turn-of-the-century New York, Edith Wharton's classic novel The Age of Innocence reveals a society governed by the dictates of taste and form, manners and morals, and intricate social ceremonies. Newland Archer, soon to marry the lovely May Welland, is a man torn between his respect for tradition and family and his attraction to May's strongly independent cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska. Plagued by the desire to live in a world where two people can love each other free from condemnation and judgment by the group, Newland views the artful delicacy of the world he lives in as a comforting security one moment, and at another, as an oppressive fiction masking true human nature. The Age of Innocence is at once a richly drawn portrait of the elegant lifestyles, luxurious brownstones, and fascinating culture of bygone New York society and a compelling look at the conflict between human passions and the social tribe that tries to control them.

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Newland Archer saw little to envy in the marriages of his friends, yet he prided himself that in May Welland he had found the companion of his needs--tender and impressionable, with equal purity of mind and manners. The engagement was announced discreetly, but all of New York society was soon privy to this most perfect match, a union of families and circumstances cemented by affection. Enter Countess Olenska, a woman of quick wit sharpened by experience, not afraid to flout convention and determined to find freedom in divorce. Against his judgment, Newland is drawn to the socially ostracized Ellen Olenska, who opens his eyes and has the power to make him feel. He knows that in sweet-tempered May, he can expect stability and the steadying comfort of duty. But what new worlds could he discover with Ellen? Written with elegance and wry precision, Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece is a tragic love story and a powerful homily about the perils of a perfect marriage.

Customer Reviews:

Societal Pressures.......2007-05-10

This classic is set in New York after World War I when high society was a way of life. You'll see how each decision made affects life.

Wharton is a genius........2007-04-20

Edith Wharton was (and still is) one of the greatest American authors to have lived. Her ability to capture the the ridiculous of the traditions her society clung to so desperately shows her forward thinking and liberal attitude towards life. The conflict Newland Archer goes through after meeting the Countess, the decision he must make between freedom and tradition is incredible. This book is not a blatant attack on society, but rather it is a foray into the interworkings of a man in a certain place at a certain time who must decide the course of his life; the choice between what is right in his head and what is right in his heart. The countess offers a world where there is the chance of something more, something different, at the expense of leaving his fiance, his family, his whole previous way of life. His struggle with this choice is eartbreaking, as is his decision in the end--and yet it is exactly what should have happened.
At the same time, it's also a story of a woman trying to find happiness in a world she does not completely understand, nor perhaps wish to understand. Countess Olenska is not a rebel, she is merely a woman ahead of her time. She desires a life where she makes the decisions, where she can have options beyond those traditionally given to her. Wharton's book is beautifully written and so incredibly natural, she doesn't preach, she doesn't push her agenda. She merely presents the facts as they are, the way life really operated in her time and her New York society and shows how people would truly and honestly react in these situations. Overall, this is one of the greatest books ever written and should be in everyone's library.

The Age of Innocence.......2007-02-19

While radical for its time, this novel now seems somewhat superficial and dated. The main characters are more two-rather than three-dimensional. The international theme, the conflict between American and European values, is not well developed. Compared to a Henry James novel, such as The Ambassadors,
that deals with the international theme, The Age of Innocence, functions on a lesser level.

A Well Written Novel and a Compelling Read.......2006-11-05

This is the last major novel of Edith Wharton (1862-1937). She was a New York writer who moved to France in 1910; and, she wrote six well-known novels starting with "The House of Mirth" in 1905. The present novel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1921 for best novel. I bought and read the Penguin Classics Red version. My version had the text only and there was no analysis. The edition posted here for sale has additional comments. The red version is slightly cheaper and from what I can determine ít is the same novel. The 363 pages are a fairly quick read and I read it in two evenings. The prose is straightforward and there are not too many characters. It is a well-constructed novel, i.e.: it is medium length, it has a good plot with interesting characters, well balanced, and it has some mystery.

The setting for the novel is a bit reminiscent of Henry James or F. Scott Fitzgerald. Wharton's characters are a bit more level headed and easy going than those writers. The characters do not go through violent swings of emotion as one sees with the Fitzgerald characters.

Without giving away the plot, the story is set in 1870s New York, among the wealthy social families. It is a love triangle among three wealthy people: two women and one young man. The man is Newland Archer, a young New York lawyer. She describes their balls and dinners and nights out at the opera. We follow them to Boston and out into the country on vacations and weekends off. There are no "common folk" here among the characters. They are all in a few related and wealthy families.

The novel is very well written. It is clear, concise, and it is an interesting and a compelling read. She generates enough interest to keep our attention throughout. Once you start to read, one will look forward to getting back to the novel during breaks. The main three figures are sympathetic characters and mostly an interesting story.

Wharton has an easy going and clear style that is easy to read. Most will enjoy this novel.

I recommend the read: 5 stars.

Age of Good Writing..........2006-10-16

I preface this review with an admission: any and all of Edith Wharton's works so far are like candy to me. Once I start one of her books, it will take quite a while before I put it down.

Age of Innocence to me is like a good Monet painting. It is surreal, interesting and sad, and yet there are so many layers to it. How you interpret it and how you decipher it's layers, is the key to enjoying it. Her verse is also intricate, careful and precise.

Note of caution: The movie is much better after you've read the book. There is great meaning in the pregnant stares and the social layers of society, something that is not easily expressed in a two hour long movie.

Italian Villas and Their Gardens (The Collected Works of Edith Wharton)

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FYI - Original illustrations in color still are!
FYI - Maxfield Parrish illustrations are not in color
intellectually stimulating garden history

Italian Villas and Their Gardens (The Collected Works of Edith Wharton)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Classic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 1582019851

Customer Reviews:

FYI - Original illustrations in color still are!.......2001-01-24

I am a lucky owner of the 1904 original edition. I bought this reissue so that I could enjoy reading the text without worrying about damaging my 1904 edition. Comparing the two, the orignal's Parrish color and black & white illustrations are all there in the reissue. Please note that several were NOT color in the original too. The only difference is that the reissue has the color prints situated in a group in the center of the book, whereas (in the original) they are sprinkled throughout and have tissue paper protection. The color print quality is not as crisp as the original, but it is color. The b&w print quality is just as un-crisp as in the original.

FYI - Maxfield Parrish illustrations are not in color.......2000-06-13

I bought this book looking for Maxfield Parrish illustrations. I kept this book because Edith Warton is an incredibly soothing writer.

It should be of note that the text was so wonderfully written that it kept me from returning the book.

Imagine, however, what an incredible book this would be if the Parrish illustrations were not in black and white.

intellectually stimulating garden history.......1998-09-13

I was very excited to find this book and nab a copy of it. (I'm a garden writer and I wanted to get Edith Wharton's perspective on garden history).

Italian gardens, as it turns out, are places for walking, thinking, conversing and relaxing. Their most common elements are paths, hedges, arcades, fountains, pools and grottos. They very seldom utilize color (a feature that is often ofterdone in American gardens), instead concentrating on foliage texture, stone and statuary. Usual plantings are trees, shrubs and vines.

What is most instructive is the layout of these Italian gardens, including the idea of garden rooms and the use of water features (both of which have become immensely popular here in the US, in the last few years). The architecture of the garden is everything, and is an extension of the house. Order, logic and function are paramount in the Italian garden.

Book Description

It was to serve, on this occasion, as the scene of a tea designed, as Kate Peyton was vividly aware, to introduce a certain young lady to the scene of her son's labours. Mrs. Peyton had been hearing a great deal lately about Clemence Verney. Dick was naturally expansive, and his close intimacy with his mother--an intimacy fostered by his father's early death--if it had suffered some natural impairment in his school and college days, had of late been revived by four years of comradeship in Paris, where Mrs. Peyton, in a tiny apartment of the Rue de Varennes, had kept house for him during his course of studies at the Beaux Arts.

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Customer Reviews:

Sacrifice and secrets.......2007-06-02

Edith Wharton's writing wallows in moral struggles and societal pressures, usually about adultery and social-climbing. But she tries a different approach for the novella "Sanctuary," a story that is thought-provoking and well-written, but feels more like the outline to a full-length novel than a story in its own right.

Kate Orme is wrapped up in her idyllic engagement to Denis, when a woman claiming to be his dissolute brother's wife kills herself and her child. To Kate's shock, Denis confesses that the woman was, but to avoid having a low-class person in the family, he suppressed evidence and lied. Even worse, he feels no guilt because he considers it worth the sacrifice.

Kate breaks off the engagement, but to protect any child of Denis' from his hypocrisies, she marries him. Many years later, Denis is dead, and their young son Dick is a blossoming architect about to enter a prestigious contest. But then a friend of his dies tragically, and leaves Dick his brilliant architectural plans... to enter in the contest as his own. Now Kate must see if her careful upbringing will make Dick do the right thing, or if he will follow in his father's footsteps.

Most of Wharton's books are wrapped up in ethical dilemmas or one kind or another, but "Sanctuary" tackles a very different kind of problem. And Wharton does a good job spinning out a sense of suspense, all about a young man who could tip either way, and inspiring disgust and outrage at Denis' weak, whiny defense of his crimes.

Sadly, the second half reads like Wharton was sketching out an enlarged outline for a novel, but got bored and just published it as-is. Details are sketchy, as is the society that these people live in, and more than two decades are skipped over instantly. Little of the storyline is fleshed out except for Kate's (seemingly endless) angst, which trickles on throughout way too many of the few pages.

Kate herself isn't easy to relate to -- she marries wussy Denis for a kid that might or might not be born, and spends most of the book torturing herself over Dick's future choices. She comes across as naive at best, manic at worst. Dick himself is a far more interesting character, since he exists in the grey area that most human beings inhabit -- he's a partying, slightly slackerish guy, but essentially good at heart.

"Sanctuary" tackles the grey areas and hypocrises of many "upright" people, but the second half drizzles off into a lot of bad angst and extreme reactions. Interesting, but it feels half-written.

Are Flaws in Morality Passed From Father to Son By Nature?.......2004-10-21

In Part One, Kate Orme discovers shortly before her marriage to Denis, that her fiance has covered up the fact that his dissolute brother was secretly married to a lower class woman, and had a child with her. By this deception Denis prevents the woman from inheriting her husband's estate, and is able to hold on to his own inheritance, resulting in the suicide of the woman and child. Kate is repelled by her finance's deception, but marries Denis anyway. In Part Two of the novel, many years have passed. Denis has died at a young age, leaving Kate alone to raise their son, Dick who is now an adult. When Dick is confronted with a moral dilemma in his professional life, Kate waits to see whether the father's 'moral' flaw has been passed to her son, or if her nurture of her son has been strong enough to cure it. The novel is beautifully written and exquisitely nuanced, yet the difficulty for the modern reader is how to react to the story in our own modern age of moral equivalency. A modern reader may view Kate's extreme reaction to the moral dilemma provided to her son to be overblown.

So smooth that the reader is instantly ensnared.......2002-10-04

Edith Wharton was born in 1986 to an upper class family in New York City. She could trace her ancestry back three centuries, and was expected to live an aristocratic life. She was educated at home, and married Teddy Wharton in 1885, settling into her role as society marm. Her marriage ended with the discovery of Teddy's affair in 1913, and Edith set herself free to publish many books, of which the most well known is probably The Age Of Innocence. Edith Wharton was a contemporary of Teddy Roosevelt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Henry James. The quality of her writing is just beginning to be appreciated.

Kate Orme is a young woman engaged to Denis Peyton. They are both aristocrats, and as such are expected to remain in rigid roles, with the man shielding the woman from all upsets. When Denis confesses to a despicable act to protect his family's name involving the death of a young, pregnant woman who was secretly married to his brother, Kate is shattered by the exposure of this act. She decides to marry Denis anyway to protect his future children, and sets out to become the perfect mother. She has a son, who she raises by herself after Denis' death, but this son seems to have inherited the faulty character gene of his father. When a situation arises to test the meddle of her son, Kate has her doubts as to her ability as a mother:

"As she sat there in the radius of lamp-light which, for so many evenings, had held Dick and herself in a charmed circle of tenderness, she saw that her love for her boy had come to be merely a kind of extended egotism. Love had narrowed instead of widening her, had rebuilt between herself and life the very walls which, years and years before, she had laid low with bleeding fingers. It was horrible... How she had come to sacrifice everything to the one passion of ambition for her boy..."

Wharton is, obviously, a first rate writer who has gone without accolades for far too long because of her gender. It is fitting that her works be rediscovered by a wider audience. Her insight into gender differences and difficulties is far ahead of her time...a time when women were relegated to narrow roles of motherhood because they were thought to be of inferior intellect. Aside from that, Wharton's writing is so smooth that the reader is instantly ensnared. A great read.

Book Description

Edith Wharton is known for The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and The Age of Innocence, among other novels. The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize (for The Age of Innocence, in 1921), her work has been the basis for numerous plays and films for over 70 years. Edith Wharton A to Z draws from a wide selection of original and secondary sources, including correspondence, reviews, and other writings by Wharton and the people in her life, to create a compelling portrait of one of America's major writers. More than 400 extensively cross-referenced entries include: Detailed synopses of all Wharton's work and the critical response to each Discussions of the important people in her life, including family, friends, and literary associates Analyses of the Gilded Age, Belle poque, and World War I Accounts of Wharton's travels throughout Europe and North Africa More than 90 photographs and illustrations, including Wharton's family and friends, her homes in New York, Massachusetts, and France, art and original dust jackets from published works, scenes from film and theatrical productions of her works, and personal memorabilia.

Customer Reviews:

Great Overview.......2007-03-16

This book was a great help in writing my 10 page research paper on Edith Wharton. I really could not have done it without it! It was a great basic biography, and also offered critical views, which was great. However, buy a used copy. $55 is a little expensive for a book. I bought used and it was nearly new. Highly recommended!!

The definitive Wharton resource!.......2000-04-28

This book is amazing! It is a Wharton fan's dream! I was kindly sent this book by my dear friend in America and it has proved invaluable. As an English student, I will be writing my dissertation on the life and major works of this fantastic author, and this is exactly the kind of publication that will make the whole process not only easier, but enjoyable!

Book Description

An early but accomplished work by Edith Wharton, The Touchstone is a tale of money and moral compromise, and foreshadows some of the best novels of her later life. Stephen Glennard, an impoverished lawyer in the glamorous, money-driven society of New York, has one valuable possession: the letters written to him by the eminent and now-deceased author Margaret Aubyn. He has seldom read the letters—he took their writer for granted—but they assume an importance for Glennard when it becomes clear that their financial worth will ensure his future stability and pay for his marriage to the beautiful Alexa Trent. What he fails to realize is that Aubyn’s ghost, once unleashed upon the reading public, will exercise an influence over his own life that reduces all his hopes and pleasure to ashes. American novelist Edith Wharton is known for her finely crafted stories of New York mores, including her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Age of Innocence.

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It pressed against him at every turn. He told himself that this was because there was no escape from the visible evidences of his act. The "Letters" confronted him everywhere. People who had never opened a book discussed them with critical reservations; to have read them had become a social obligation in circles to which literature never penetrates except in a personal guise.

Customer Reviews:

Surprisingly Contemporary - 100 years ahead of its time.......1998-09-04

Because I am adapting this novella for Warner Bros as a feature film, I'm interested in hearing what readers have to say about it. This is Wharton's first novella, written at a time when she was still developing her craft as a writer; the story can appear woefully underwritten. Still, the story is mesmerizing and dangerous, a Faustian tale of betrayal, greed and the consequences paid, and the more often I read through it, the more hidden meanings emerge. When you read it, think of the lover who sold Princess Diana's first secrets of their affair to the tabloids, and the consequences since. What ever happened to that man? Perhaps, like Stephen Glennard in "The Touchstone", he has gone mad from guilt, which, ironically enough, might prove he has a conscious after all.

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