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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I came to it with very high expectations and although it didn't quite hit me the way Ethan Frome did, I found that as I progressed I became more and more absorbed in the book.
I'm not sure if "sympathise" is the right word, but I appreciated the view from Newland Archer's vantage point. I do have a question though if anyone is interested. Do we think that Wharton's portrayal of a man of his time in the 1870's?
This is a bit of a side-track, but in a Q&A session with Janny Wurts, a fantasy writer, she mentioned being petitioned by Raymond Feist to assist him with what is known as The Empire Trilogy. Apparently, Feist wanted a central female character and he felt that he was not going to be able to do her justice. This fascinated me at the time, because it hadn't occurred to me that writing from the perspective of a different gender would present challenges.
So here is Wharton, totally inhabiting Newland Archer for the duration of the novel. Do we think that she did him justice? I know next to nothing about the New York gentleman of the 1870's, but I felt that she knew Archer intimately, and the portrayal really resonated with me.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
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