The House of Mirth Book 2, Chapters 13 and 14

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton

I want to spend my last blog posting over The House of Mirth discussing my overall opinion of the book.  Wow! I was not really expecting it to end with Lily's death; I mean I understood that this was a tragedy but wasn't really prepared for death.  It was really sad though, for Selden, but he finally realized that in death, they could finally put aside their differences and share in the love.  "He knelt by the bed and bent over her, draining their last moment to its lees, and in the silence there passed between them the word which made all clear" (Wharton, page 268).
      But anyway, I don't really know yet if I like or dislike this novel.  There were many great, interesting parts, specifically the diction and details of certain scenes, but the novel also contained a lot of jumping around on the part of Edith Wharton when she was describing certain events and thoughts of the major characters.  I'm still a little mad that Lily Bart did not at least get to share her love with Selden or marry him, but that goes along with the territory of a tragedy, especially from the typical writing of Edith Wharton, or so I've read.  Like I have said in multiple posts, I prefer a sweet, romantic novel in which the hero loves the heroine and she returns his affections, but I do know that I cannot go through life without reading not-so-sweet stories, especially the classic tragedies, such as The House of Mirth.  I suppose if I had to decide between liking and disliking the novel, I would say that I liked it.  Disregarding some of Wharton's more sporadic passages, I loved the way that she wrote and wonder a little why she wasn't more successful as an author.
      I learned while reading and researching this novel that there was a movie made in 2000 of The House of Mirth.  I IMDB'd it and didn't really recognize many of the actors in the film, but I'm sure it is interesting and worth watching regardless.  After I finish reading The Great Gatsby, I will have to watch both films and see how they compare with these two classic novels, if the characters, themes, and overall plots are similar or interpreted differently.