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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Children (originale 1928; edizione 2016)di Edith Wharton (Autore)
Informazioni sull'operaI ragazzi di Edith Wharton (1928)
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. Martin Boyne, «un individuo crítico y cauto de cuarenta y seis años a quien dificilmente alguien asociaba con sucesos románticos e inesperados», ha decidido poner fin a su vida nómada de ingeniero y compartir la madurez al lado de Rose Sellars, la mujer de la que se enamoró en su juventud y que ahora es una respetable viuda instalada en Europa. En el barco que debe conducirlo a ella, Boyne se encuentra con los hijos de unos viejos amigos, los Wheater: una animada prole de siete niños, desde un recién nacido a una muchacha de casi dieciséis años de edad, producto de distintos matrimonios... y distintos divorcios. De crucero en crucero, de Hotel Palace en Hotel Palace, de Argel a Venecia y de allí a Cortina, esta tropa ha jurado, bajo el liderazgo de Judith, la hija mayor, encontrar «un hogar cálido y estable» y permanecer unida pese a los ocasionales caprichos de sus distintos padres (dos ociosos millonarios, un príncipe italiano, una estrella de cine) de separarlos. Boyne cae subyugado por el ímpetu de Judith y casi sin querer se encuentra tutelando sus tremendos planes; de pronto la madurez se le aparece como «la escalofriante mediocridad de la vejez» y la mujer con la que esperaba casarse, una ominosa figura que no encaja en este inopinado idilio. I have to disagree with the summary, which uses the adjective "comic." This book is heart-breaking. That's really the only reason why I'm not giving it 4 or 5 stars, as I normally would for a Wharton novel. This is the only Wharton story I can think of that has children as the main characters; she's surprisingly good at writing them. The basic tale follows a middle-aged man who, through a shipboard friendship with a young woman, becomes the nominal guardian of seven children. The children's parents, all jet-setting superficial types who have married and subsequently divorced each other, use the children as pawns in divorce settlements and suchlike--only the children themselves want to stay together as a ragtag little family. I always want to fling Wharton books across the room when I'm done with them, and this was no exception. For all the lack of a happy ending (like this comes as a surprise), it's an almost upbeat book. I am a big fan of Edith Wharton. She wrote of a time and class that she knew well. She was also a keen observer and wrote with such detail that it is easy to get caught up in her stories. Martin Boyne is on a voyage to Venice when he recognizes his seat mate's name as someone he knew many years ago at Harvard. He is quite surprised when a lovely teenage girl sits down and proceeds to take command of a lively assortment of younger children. When he learns this is the daughter of his friend who is traveling with six "siblings", a governess, and two nurses, he takes the group under his wing. What he had thought would be a lonely voyage quickly turns into fun and games with this loosely related troupe of fun-loving children. As in all of Wharton's writing, there is a dark side. In this case it is the lax parents who come and go as they please leaving 15-year-old Judith in charge. "The Wheaters," as their children refer to them, have recently reunited after a divorce, but philandering is common in their social group and their reunion with the seven children is short-lived. Wharton shows that things haven't changed all that much in the 86 years since the book was first published. The "smart set" is more concerned with their social status than their duties as parents. As she often does in her books, the author presents difficult circumstances which lead to troublesome outcomes. While this book isn't in the same exemplary category as her more well-known works, it is very good. I just don't think it was possible for this woman to write a bad book! I would recommend it to fans of Wharton as another example of life in the gilded age. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Appartiene alle Collane EditorialiVirago Modern Classics (180) Elenchi di rilievo
On a cruise ship between Algiers and Venice, Martin Boyne, an unmarried engineer in his forties, encounters a wild, ebullient menagerie of stepbrothers and sisters, kept together as a 'family' by the efforts of the eldest, the lovely, fifteen-year-old Judith. Caught between genuine outrage at the plight of the precocious and fought-over children and his disturbing feelings for their fifteen-year-old sister-protector, Boyne finds himself increasingly drawn to their enchanting, improper and liberating ways. But awaiting Boyne in Switzerland is Rose Sellars: tactful, genteel, old New York incarnate, patiently anticipating marriage. Caught between old money and new, Martin Boyne is a tragic and poignant knight errant caught on the cusp of a changing world. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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