About this title: Wharton called this companion novel to Ethan Frome, "hot Ethan." The heroine, Charity Royall (unlike Ethan Frome), is determined to experience passion and engages in a tempestuous love affair with Lucius Harney, a young man who has drifted into the Berkshires during his college vacation. Eventually, Charity becomes pregnant. The novel reflects the easing of Wharton's stern moral judgements, and is one of the first novels to deal honestly with a young woman's sexual awakening. The author stated of her own work, "I do not remember ever visualizing with more intensity the inner scene, or the ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780451525666ISBN:0451525663
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Nice soft cover, lightly read, light shelf wear to cover, light creases on spine, light aging to pages, stk #2299j9. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 216 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
ISBN-13:9780451525666ISBN:0451525663
Description: Good. Spine is smooth. Covers show some wear at the edges and corners. Good reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Description: Fair. 0425046109 Mass Market Paperback, previously read used book in acceptable condition, great reading copy, fair amount of shelf wear..._ read more
Description: New. 0060805072 Cover has NO wear. NO spine seams. NO remainder mark. Light tanning on edges. Pages are clean with NO markings, NO creases and NO dog-ears. Paperback. read more
"Seemed appropriate to read this over Labor Day weekend, the last true summer weekend. However, this book seemed dark and a bit oppressive - it was hard to recall the 'summer' atmostphere other than by mentions of extreme heat.
I had a hard time relating to Charity Royall, or even seeing her as a character with whom I could empathize. She seemed merely stubborn, overly proud, and then, unfortunately, naive.
Not to give away the ending, but her marriage at the end seems more a sign that she has given up, and as valiantly as she was 'sticking to her ground' throughout the book, that is how far she has now fallen.
I think Mr. Royall is a bit of the unsung hero and what makes me less likable is that he never declared his love and emotion for Charity. It was hard to root for him because he couldn't seem to offer anything more than a stable and secure hand, which it seems is what she needed in the end more than anything else."
"Alexis, Annie and I visited The Mount together this summer. The tour guide recommended Summer, which I had not read before. I decided to buy it at the gift shop. As I was checking out, both Annie and Alexis said, separately, "It is so depressing."
And depressing it was. Depressing on the surface; depressing below the surface. Depressing as a commentary on society; depressing as a commentary on love and lust.
The only that was not depressing about it was the skill and craft with which it was written. Bates and I spent an afternoon at the beach soon after I bought this book and I brought it along. I could not stop reading it and finished it that day.
I still feel aghast when I think about this book."
"Ok, I love Edith Wharton, so much so that she is one of the authors I truly lament when I get to the end of their works, because there is no more to read (although in her case, as with many great authors, there is so much to re-read). That being said, would it have KILLED her to write a story with a happy ending, once???? I mean, I thought Ethan Frome was bad, but this is even worse in many ways. Did she take to heart the idea that the greatest art only ended in tragedy? Or was her own life that awful (did she write this book while still in her first, stifling marriage?) that she didn't want to write anything nice? Christ.
That being said, Summer is a well written portrait of an uneducated young girl's limited perspective and oppressed character."
"this book is touted as "edith whartons most erotic book". the introduction blabs on and on about its eroticism, and how scandalous it is. so i have devised a little drinking game. i invite you - i entreat you - to prepare a shot glass with your favorite scotch or whiskey, and do a shot every time you start feeling a little hot from all the sexy good times. i pretty much guarantee that shot glass will be untouched by the end of your readings. this book is not erotic, even in the broadest, most mormonic sense. i think there is a kiss or two, which for wharton is hot, but its a stretch to call it "erotic". this is a book where people get preggers by proximity. two people of opposite genders are seated beside each other, and suddenly - up the pole. this might be the first appearance of the "sexy librarian" stereotype, but erotic?? far from it, ms. white gloves..."
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