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kstephens22's review against another edition
4.0
“The world is a welter and has always been one; but though all the cranks and the theorists cannot master the old floundering monster, or force it for long into any of their neat plans of readjustment, here and there a saint or a genius suddenly sends a little ray through the fog, and helps humanity to stumble on, and perhaps up.
The welter is always there, and the present generation hears close underfoot the growling of the volcano on which ours danced so long; but in our individual lives, though the years are sad, the days have a way of being jubilant. Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death; yet there are always new countries to see, new books to read (and, I hope, to write), a thousand little daily wonders to marvel at and rejoice in, and those magical moments when the mere discovery that ‘the woodspurge has a cup of three’ brings not despair but delight. The visible world is a daily miracle for those who have eyes and ears; and I still warm my hands thankfully at the old fire, though every year it is fed with the dry wood of more old memories.”
The welter is always there, and the present generation hears close underfoot the growling of the volcano on which ours danced so long; but in our individual lives, though the years are sad, the days have a way of being jubilant. Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death; yet there are always new countries to see, new books to read (and, I hope, to write), a thousand little daily wonders to marvel at and rejoice in, and those magical moments when the mere discovery that ‘the woodspurge has a cup of three’ brings not despair but delight. The visible world is a daily miracle for those who have eyes and ears; and I still warm my hands thankfully at the old fire, though every year it is fed with the dry wood of more old memories.”
franschulman9's review against another edition
5.0
Edith Wharton was a remarkable woman. In this book, she writes about the highlights of her life. The beginning focuses on her privileged childhood and how her love of books developed, leading to her becoming a successful writer. Throughout the book, she describes in depth, the people who were influential in her life. She captures the gilded era that ended with World War I which she experienced first hand, living in Europe and volunteering to help refugees in Paris. I highly recommend to those who enjoy her novels, as well as those who are interested in the lives of literary people and the upper class during the late 19th and early 20th century.
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