I've seen adapted movies from her novels ( The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome,The Age Of Innocence) and all of them have sad endings. Did she ever write any story 'lighter, brighter, more sparkling, without heavy shade', like Jane Austen's?
By the way, I love Jane Austen. I'd like to read other authors with the same lighthearted sarcacism and that beautiful language; could someone give me recommendations?
Last edited by SpongeBarb; 03-07-2006 at 01:35 PM.
I was forced to endure Ethan Frome in 8th grade (?) and have never felt a desire to reacquaint. Out of boredom I looked the book up to see if I had matured. Nope, as depressing as I remembered it.
On the Jane Austen I will confess I have never read her BUT a writer using pen name of Stephanie Barron has written several (8 so far) Jane Austen mysteries which traces her real life and intertwines mystery dramas in it. I have found these to be be delightful--imagine Jane solving a muder by talking it to death. It reads better then it sounds. Highly recommended. I have enjoyed Pride and Prejudice (the Greer Garson) movie version that AMC broadcasts every now and then. Hope this helps.
Last edited by mtpspur; 03-27-2006 at 02:12 AM. Reason: spelling
Thanks, mtpspur. Usually I'd avoid depressing novels like the plague, but I've seen Martin Scorsese 'The Age of Innocence' and liked it a lot. Then I watched 'The House and Mirth' and 'Ethan Frome', both disastrously tragic and did not the least bit tempt me to read the originals. Now I know for sure EW is a low priority on my reading list.
Had heard about Jane Austen detective mysteries before but didn't know who the author was. Happy to know they are delightful, definately will check them out.
Last edited by SpongeBarb; 04-22-2006 at 11:07 AM.
Okay, first of all, the woman's name is EDITH Wharton. Second of all, do not judge a book by its movie adaptation. The House of Mirth is somewhat sad, surely, but it is also beautifully written and wonderfully ironic. The ending makes so much more sense in the context of the novel.
Second of all, I think Jane Austen would be baffled at your appreciation of her "sarcacism," primarily because the word is "sarcasm" and secondarily because she really isn't a sarcastic writer. Gently ironic, mayhaps, but not sarcastic.
Actually, House of Mirth (the novel, not the movie) ends with Lily Bart's tragic fall; that is, tragic in the classical sense. She actually triumphs in the end: over her circumstances and, more importantly, over the often frivolous nature that she exhibited in her younger years.
Try "Glimpses of the Moon." I believe that one has a happy ending.
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