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A Poor Wise Man
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376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1920
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189 people want to read
About the author
Mary Roberts Rinehart
527 books422 followersMysteries of the well-known American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart include
The Circular Staircase
(1908) and
The Door
(1930).
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 23, 2017
For the first few chapters, A Poor Wise Man seems to be shaping up as a star-crossed romance between the daughter of wealthy industrialists and a middle-class drugstore clerk. It turns out to be an alternate-history imagining of what a Bolshevik revolution in a post-WWI America would look like.
Well.
Lily Cardew, returning home from doing Red Cross work during the war, finds herself feeling restless and unable to fit back into the familiar but rather empty social life of her wealthy family. Looking to occupy herself and to assert her independence from her harsh grandfather, she decides to visit an estranged family member, and ends up falling unwittingly into dangerous company among the leaders of an anarchist group—and also into an extremely unwise romance with a man who is patently The Wrong Man. Meanwhile, William Wallace Cameron, the young man who became Lily's good friend during their war work together and is secretly in love with her, is drawn into the burgeoning political upheaval from the other end, so to speak, and eventually becomes a key figure in the movement working to stem the planned revolt.
On the political side, Rinehart rather refreshingly doesn't vilify capitalists as a class, but places the blame for their poor relations with the working class on the actions of misguided individual men. Conversely, she doesn't condemn labor either, but acknowledges that it contains both decent, hardworking men and a subset who are discontented, lazy and vengeful and merely out to bring someone else down—and this group becomes an unwitting tool for the men behind the scenes, the Bolshevists who are carefully orchestrating the entire revolt for their own profit. What I found most interesting was Rinehart's view of "the plain people," the middle classes who make up the bulk of the country and always end up caught in the middle in the struggle between labor and capital—if the plain people, some of her characters declare, would take a more active part in the workings of government and protecting their own interests, the entire country would be better off.
On the other hand, the novel's ideas on religion are completely and totally cockeyed. Consequently, any passages where characters attempt to wrestle with the deeper meanings behind life and events ring hollow and unsatisfying. There's a little lip-service paid to the form of Christianity, but one where the best you can expect is to muddle along and try to win a little favor from God by attempts at good behavior. Lily formulates her own belief system according to the idea that human beings' souls remain pure even while their bodies sin, and therefore there is no eternal punishment and no hell (sounds basically like a form of Gnosticism). It's suggested that one villainous character who attempts to reform at the last minute (out of purely selfish motives) may consequently be forgiven in the afterlife—all this conveniently neglecting to explain what happens to the other thoroughly wicked and unrepentant persons killed off in the story, however.
In a technical sense, all Rinehart's best points are here: a style that's pleasant to read, a number of engaging characters and an almost Dickensian flair for weaving the diverse subplots together. The conflict within the tension-fraught Cardew family is well drawn, and had the book turned out to be merely a drama of their personal affairs I probably would have enjoyed it a good deal. But the combination of rotten-at-the-core moral philosophy and a plot that grew more and more over-the-top as it went on only left me feeling a bit exhausted at the end. Especially when, after seeming to be firmly anti-Bolshevik for the majority of the plot, Rinehart suddenly tosses off with a sort of mental shrug the suggestion that maybe socialism is the cure for everything after all, but the revolution is just ahead of its time. At that point all you can do as a reader is shake your head and throw up your hands.
Well.
Lily Cardew, returning home from doing Red Cross work during the war, finds herself feeling restless and unable to fit back into the familiar but rather empty social life of her wealthy family. Looking to occupy herself and to assert her independence from her harsh grandfather, she decides to visit an estranged family member, and ends up falling unwittingly into dangerous company among the leaders of an anarchist group—and also into an extremely unwise romance with a man who is patently The Wrong Man. Meanwhile, William Wallace Cameron, the young man who became Lily's good friend during their war work together and is secretly in love with her, is drawn into the burgeoning political upheaval from the other end, so to speak, and eventually becomes a key figure in the movement working to stem the planned revolt.
On the political side, Rinehart rather refreshingly doesn't vilify capitalists as a class, but places the blame for their poor relations with the working class on the actions of misguided individual men. Conversely, she doesn't condemn labor either, but acknowledges that it contains both decent, hardworking men and a subset who are discontented, lazy and vengeful and merely out to bring someone else down—and this group becomes an unwitting tool for the men behind the scenes, the Bolshevists who are carefully orchestrating the entire revolt for their own profit. What I found most interesting was Rinehart's view of "the plain people," the middle classes who make up the bulk of the country and always end up caught in the middle in the struggle between labor and capital—if the plain people, some of her characters declare, would take a more active part in the workings of government and protecting their own interests, the entire country would be better off.
On the other hand, the novel's ideas on religion are completely and totally cockeyed. Consequently, any passages where characters attempt to wrestle with the deeper meanings behind life and events ring hollow and unsatisfying. There's a little lip-service paid to the form of Christianity, but one where the best you can expect is to muddle along and try to win a little favor from God by attempts at good behavior. Lily formulates her own belief system according to the idea that human beings' souls remain pure even while their bodies sin, and therefore there is no eternal punishment and no hell (sounds basically like a form of Gnosticism). It's suggested that one villainous character who attempts to reform at the last minute (out of purely selfish motives) may consequently be forgiven in the afterlife—all this conveniently neglecting to explain what happens to the other thoroughly wicked and unrepentant persons killed off in the story, however.
In a technical sense, all Rinehart's best points are here: a style that's pleasant to read, a number of engaging characters and an almost Dickensian flair for weaving the diverse subplots together. The conflict within the tension-fraught Cardew family is well drawn, and had the book turned out to be merely a drama of their personal affairs I probably would have enjoyed it a good deal. But the combination of rotten-at-the-core moral philosophy and a plot that grew more and more over-the-top as it went on only left me feeling a bit exhausted at the end. Especially when, after seeming to be firmly anti-Bolshevik for the majority of the plot, Rinehart suddenly tosses off with a sort of mental shrug the suggestion that maybe socialism is the cure for everything after all, but the revolution is just ahead of its time. At that point all you can do as a reader is shake your head and throw up your hands.
July 13, 2016
"You know," he continued, "there's mostly a girl some place. All this talk about the nation, now ... the nation's too big for us to understand. But what is the nation but a bunch of homes?"
Lily Cardew is the granddaughter of a reactionary steel baron who has her eyes opened to the injustices of her privileged upbringing by a stint in a Red Cross hospital during WWI and by the tutelage of Willy Cameron, a tall, slightly lame, not particularly attractive but intelligent and eloquent supporter of middle-class causes.
In the years immediately following the end of WWI, America was a hotbed of conflicting interests and ideas, centred around the friction between Capital and Labor. A Poor Wise Man (the title comes from a verse of Ecclesiastes) is an impressive family epic which explores the socio-political tensions of the time from an unnamed Industrial town forged on steel (Pittsburgh?)
This the second book I have read recently by Rinehart, being drawn to her by her reputation as the Agatha Christie of American mystery writers, though neither this one nor the other (The Street of Seven Stars) were mystery stories!
Not to worry. This book more than made up for being in the wrong genre by its surprising depth and breadth of character and theme, its complete lack of melodrama as the story played out, and a fair amount of simple wisdom about the rights and wrongs of all those competing interests.
I still don't know whether or not Rinehart wrote mysteries as well as Christie, but I feel certain that Christie could never have written a drama as well as this.
Lily Cardew is the granddaughter of a reactionary steel baron who has her eyes opened to the injustices of her privileged upbringing by a stint in a Red Cross hospital during WWI and by the tutelage of Willy Cameron, a tall, slightly lame, not particularly attractive but intelligent and eloquent supporter of middle-class causes.
In the years immediately following the end of WWI, America was a hotbed of conflicting interests and ideas, centred around the friction between Capital and Labor. A Poor Wise Man (the title comes from a verse of Ecclesiastes) is an impressive family epic which explores the socio-political tensions of the time from an unnamed Industrial town forged on steel (Pittsburgh?)
This the second book I have read recently by Rinehart, being drawn to her by her reputation as the Agatha Christie of American mystery writers, though neither this one nor the other (The Street of Seven Stars) were mystery stories!
Not to worry. This book more than made up for being in the wrong genre by its surprising depth and breadth of character and theme, its complete lack of melodrama as the story played out, and a fair amount of simple wisdom about the rights and wrongs of all those competing interests.
I still don't know whether or not Rinehart wrote mysteries as well as Christie, but I feel certain that Christie could never have written a drama as well as this.
April 25, 2020
Equal parts, Romance, Political Commentary and Social Commentary.
I down loaded this book because I had read another (modern day) book that made reference to Mary Rinehart's Mystery writing. This book is not a Mystery novel. As I titled this review, this novel is a Romance with some impressive political, social, and psychological observation spread throughout the story's plot. Set in an unnamed "City" (a kind of "Every City" as I read the novel) the readers follow the lives of William Wallace Conroy (pay attention to that full name!) and Lilly Cardew as they wend their way towards each other through mutual misunderstandings and misconceptions--to their inevitable "happy ending."
This book held my attention, despite being a Romance, which says a good deal about its merits--as I generally regard Romances as the equivalent of mental chewing-gum. For those who like the Romance genre, this is an excellent one. For those, like myself, who would generally prefer reading the Yellow Pages to reading a Romance novel, this book offers a glimpse into the political, social and psychological views of early 20th Century America.
I down loaded this book because I had read another (modern day) book that made reference to Mary Rinehart's Mystery writing. This book is not a Mystery novel. As I titled this review, this novel is a Romance with some impressive political, social, and psychological observation spread throughout the story's plot. Set in an unnamed "City" (a kind of "Every City" as I read the novel) the readers follow the lives of William Wallace Conroy (pay attention to that full name!) and Lilly Cardew as they wend their way towards each other through mutual misunderstandings and misconceptions--to their inevitable "happy ending."
This book held my attention, despite being a Romance, which says a good deal about its merits--as I generally regard Romances as the equivalent of mental chewing-gum. For those who like the Romance genre, this is an excellent one. For those, like myself, who would generally prefer reading the Yellow Pages to reading a Romance novel, this book offers a glimpse into the political, social and psychological views of early 20th Century America.
January 19, 2019
I'm not sure how much of a "thriller" this is, but it's definitely political. This novel is set in 1919 USA, just after the end of WWI and following on the heels of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. As I find so frequently represented in literature, the U.S. in actuality has come full circle politically over the course of 100 years. The more conservative "old guard" is struggling to stave off Communism/Socialism, while the "newcomers" (including a massive influx of foreigners) tries to overthrow the status quo and share the wealth! In so many respects, this novel reflects the United States today.
The book is heavy on melodrama, as you can usually expect from Mary Roberts Rinehart, which is unfortunate in my opinion, because the plot is interesting and relevant today. If you can struggle through the melodrama, you might enjoy this one!
The book is heavy on melodrama, as you can usually expect from Mary Roberts Rinehart, which is unfortunate in my opinion, because the plot is interesting and relevant today. If you can struggle through the melodrama, you might enjoy this one!
January 21, 2023
"Had I but known..." that this book would lessen my opinion of one of my favorite authors...Wait. That's too harsh. Reading this was not one of my most enjoyable experiences but Mrs. Rinehart still managed to get off a few zingers and flashes of her native wit. The tale and the characters had the feeling of the time and of her contemporaries in fiction. Though the final action sequences were a bit over the top, though only briefly described, one can see the huge political forces shaping labor and capitalism. There's a lot of politics. There's a lot of soul searching. There's a lot of repetition. Not her best. Not her worst. She was a smart lady writing in the manner of the period.
June 27, 2019
I very much admire the main character, Willie: he was kind, generous, encouraging, sacrificial, and a quiet leader. I liked the female lead at first, with her work for the Red Cross in WWI, and her desire to break out from under her harsh and wealthy grandfather’s tyrannical rule, but she made some awfully unwise choices, that had me berating her a number of times. My favorite character for growth of character was Wiilie’s coworker. Part romance and part political intrigue. Very long, but worth the read.
November 20, 2017
Allowing for the time this was written, it was a very forward book, especially for a woman writer. While most of us would find something to disagree with, the roles of women, views of politics or religion, remembering this is from a different time where the author didn't have the decades in between to form views. In the end this is a love story, but along the way you feel the fears that people felt then.
March 31, 2019
Really more like a 3.5 rating but I gave it a 4 star because I wish more people were reading Mary Roberts Rinehart.
I’m endeavoring to read her complete collection and so far all the different novels I have read have been unique. This one proves that there is nothing new under the sun and the political climate we have today was much the same post WWI with the rising of socialist ideas. MRR does a fine job of playing the two sides off one another.
I’m endeavoring to read her complete collection and so far all the different novels I have read have been unique. This one proves that there is nothing new under the sun and the political climate we have today was much the same post WWI with the rising of socialist ideas. MRR does a fine job of playing the two sides off one another.
December 21, 2020
Spellbinder
M. Rinehart never disappoints and this is no exception. The story could almost be set in 2020 with some changes--- the elite rich envied by the challengers who seek to replace them ; the poor workers who are used by both groups, and the foreigners who tend to be anarchists or socialists who want to tear down the America that made possible the very rich but also set the stage for poverty and conditions that contribute to unrest
M. Rinehart never disappoints and this is no exception. The story could almost be set in 2020 with some changes--- the elite rich envied by the challengers who seek to replace them ; the poor workers who are used by both groups, and the foreigners who tend to be anarchists or socialists who want to tear down the America that made possible the very rich but also set the stage for poverty and conditions that contribute to unrest
September 10, 2017
The discontent and manipulative characters remind me of events today. It was interestingly developed with some good insights.
March 14, 2014
This is one of Mary Roberts Rinehart's romance/social dramas, set in the period right after the Armistice of 1918 and following the lives of several representatives of different socioeconomic classes in a thinly disguised Pennsylvanian city that became well known for its steel mill industry.
Young Lily Cardew, heiress to a steel mill fortune, has returned home from the war where she worked in a supporting capacity, untrained but probably something vaguely medical. She met the hero out there, but back home in the same city as she lives in, he is a lowly chemistry student, earning his way through his studies by working in a pharmacy, and in the normal course of things they wouldn't meet again. Her family consists of her parents--a rather weak father and mother--and her tyrannical grandfather, the one who made all the money. They expect her to settle down, marry a society boy, do Good Works, and have children.
But the unrest caused by the war and the political philosophies that have tumbled regimes around the world are sweeping through Lily's society, and she feels that she cannot return to her old life.
The social and political upheaval involves a full cast of supporting players, and Rinehart deftly treats a wide range of problems, many of which are still with us today, but some of which are dated to that particular time and circumstance. It is well written throughout, only a little more foreshadowing than I would have liked, for she gets a tad heavy-handed when a character is about to make a bad choice or when a particular character is a bad lot altogether. Sometimes I would have liked her not to say so.
One character plays the part of a saint or almost a Christ-figure, except that he doesn't have to lay down his life--but he does save just about everybody worth saving and even nearly saves a villain or two. He's worth watching, because he isn't annoying in his goodness. Almost, but not quite!
Young Lily Cardew, heiress to a steel mill fortune, has returned home from the war where she worked in a supporting capacity, untrained but probably something vaguely medical. She met the hero out there, but back home in the same city as she lives in, he is a lowly chemistry student, earning his way through his studies by working in a pharmacy, and in the normal course of things they wouldn't meet again. Her family consists of her parents--a rather weak father and mother--and her tyrannical grandfather, the one who made all the money. They expect her to settle down, marry a society boy, do Good Works, and have children.
But the unrest caused by the war and the political philosophies that have tumbled regimes around the world are sweeping through Lily's society, and she feels that she cannot return to her old life.
The social and political upheaval involves a full cast of supporting players, and Rinehart deftly treats a wide range of problems, many of which are still with us today, but some of which are dated to that particular time and circumstance. It is well written throughout, only a little more foreshadowing than I would have liked, for she gets a tad heavy-handed when a character is about to make a bad choice or when a particular character is a bad lot altogether. Sometimes I would have liked her not to say so.
One character plays the part of a saint or almost a Christ-figure, except that he doesn't have to lay down his life--but he does save just about everybody worth saving and even nearly saves a villain or two. He's worth watching, because he isn't annoying in his goodness. Almost, but not quite!
May 26, 2015
Couldn't finish
31% done, can't go on. Have enjoyed two books by this author but this one has more emphasis on society's break up of classes after WWII and bores me so much that I choose not to finish it.
31% done, can't go on. Have enjoyed two books by this author but this one has more emphasis on society's break up of classes after WWII and bores me so much that I choose not to finish it.
June 24, 2016
I love reading Mary Roberts Rinehart, have since a teen. Never read this one and after starting this, I didn't think I was going to like it. Am so glad I finished!
November 10, 2016
This book started out slow, got slower in the middle, and then, at the end, it got lyrical. I'm glad I stuck with it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews