The Book Class

by Louis Auchincloss

Christopher Gates, cynical homosexual son of a member of a ladies' book club, narrates this tale of upper-class women who struggle to find meaning within the strict confines of New York society in the first decade of the twentieth century. (Nancy Pearl)

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

293 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Louis Stanton Auchincloss was an American novelist, historian, and essayist.

Among Auchincloss's best-known books are the multi-generational sagas The House of Five Talents, Portrait in Brownstone, and East Side Story. Other well-known novels include The Rector of Justin, the tale of a renowned headmaster of a school like Groton trying to deal with changing times, and The Embezzler, a look at white-collar crime. Auchincloss is known for his closely observed portraits of old New York and New England society.

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very minor entry in the huge Auchincloss œuvre. What it amounts to is a series of anecdotes about a number of society ladies who belong to a book club, but references to the dealings of the book club are rather perfunctory. In spite of Auchincloss's fluid style and command of his material, this is a vey slight book with no memorable characters or scenes.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd little book.

Written by Louis Auchincloss, this is ostensibly about a book club or "Book Class" of 12 women who began meeting monthly in 1908 when they were debutantes and continued for more than 60 years. The story is told from the point of view of Christopher Gates, the third child of Book Class founder Cornelia Gates, who appoints himself—a gay interior designer—to be the historiographer of the Book Class to discern their "power." He recounts his friendships with most of the 12 women, beginning when he was in prep school in the 1930s and continuing until 1980, long past the demise of the Book Class. The women's stories are diverse, even though they are all WASPs, wealthy, from families with good names, and live the same kind of privileged life with servants to take care of all those time-consuming, quotidian details of managing a home and children. They are the wives and daughters of the managers of money and industry in New York City. They are princesses of privilege, whose primary job is to look beautiful and host parties.

The little vignettes about each of the women are mildly amusing, but there doesn't seem to be a major point to the tales other than a bit of social commentary about New York City's upper class in the first half of the 20th century.

There is no unifying theme or great lesson to be learned. I finished it and thought, "So what?"

[Kymm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was somewhat disappointed with "The Book Class" by Louis Auchincloss. I had high hopes for it prior to digging in as anything that covers books, bookshops, book clubs or libraries are favorites of mine. This wasn't a bad book I just didn't like the way it was written, with a narrator telling the story. it just seemed discombobulated to me and hard to follow. On to the next book! Happy Reading!

[Jill Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If there is any significant difference between the sexes, it may be that a woman can talk as she listens, while a man hears only himself."

I am loving this one!! Found it quite by accident at the library (was looking for Paul Auster, this was next door) and started it this morning... Witty, snarky, wry, and full of delightful characters - Auchincloss captures a moment in time and society with wit and aplomb. I looked up reviews - he's gotten some "why didn't he write THIS instead" comments, slamming him for "only" talking about the upper class when he claimed to be writing a book about women. To me, this is ridiculous feedback - it's fiction, he wrote what he knew (he was, after all, a hereditary Vanderbilt as well as a Beauvoir step-brother!), and this is the book he chose to write. I think he does a marvelous job presenting a snapshot of lives of society women in early-to-mid 1900s Manhattan - warts and all. The book is a loving homage to the strength these women brought to bear - despite appearances, no one's life is perfect or without flaw, sadness, or discontent (at least not at times), and Auchincloss does a very good job at pointing this out with humor and delicacy... I can't wait to look up his other novels now!

AFTER FINISHING:
"...those girls had many privileges. But privileges don't always make for happiness."

Or for consistently enjoyable stories, unfortunately.

While I LOVED the beginning and several of the interludes within, the book as a whole was a little uneven for me. After getting through the setup, introducing the major characters, the chapters basically turned out to be vignettes about the lives of the various members of the Book Class. And those vignettes turned out to be the embodiment of the quote posted here about the nature of privilege... Ultimately the book wound up feeling more like a morality tale than I expected from the snarky and sassy beginning. Still, there are some great pearls in here - even if reading it through in its entirely means I ultimately changed my review from 5 stars to more like 3.5...

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book certainly reads as from a different time -- but it makes the time live and it was a thoroughly delightful read.

[SusanwithaGoodBook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazon gave me this book free, so I figured why not. I mean, it's book themed, right? Well, yes and no… but mostly no. It's not about books at all. Set in the wealthy society of NYC in the early 1900s and going over a period of over sixty years, this book is really about the women who were members of the "Book Class" (what we would call a Book Club). The narrator is the son of one of these women. He watched as these rich, privileged women navigated marriages, children, relationships, politics, and the changes in society over those years.

Starting with his own mother, each chapter focused on one woman and gave the narrator's thoughts on that woman, his friendship with her, and usually told some event that had an impact on her life. He was pretty focused on how these women had power in their own lives, and the difference in their lives and those of the men in that society.

I found some of the chapters interesting (particularly the ones about his mother) but some really bored me, so I went slowly through it a chapter or half a chapter a day. It was kind of uneven, which I suppose is understandable considering the subject matter. However, my overall impression was that it was odd that the narrator was so interested in these women. They mostly weren't that interesting to me, but they fascinated him and he seemed to have some kind of friendship with each one even though they were his mother's generation.

Anyway, it's an odd book, and not one I'd recommend unless you're just fascinated by rich ladies in the 1920s in NYC.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louis Auchincloss is the literary descendant of Edith Wharton. His descriptions of what was once called high society is second to none. Auchincloss Born to the patrician class, those stalwart Yankees raised in the mansions built on the fortunes made in the mid-19th century by robber baron progenitors who themselves descended from the Dutch and English who called the Island of Manhattan home. Auchincloss details in this gracefully written novella the last days of Les grandes dames, their less grand spouses and children. These are the women of the Book Class, who meet regularly in each others magnificent homes on Manhattan’s upper east side for the better part of 70 years.

I read the novella in fits and starts which I do not recommend as it then becomes difficult to remember each woman and her travails that fill a chapter each. Auchincloss is voiced by Chris the son of one of the denizens of the Book Class. He is from an early age sometimes fascinated, sometimes appalled by the group, but never bored. Neither is the reader.

Louis Auchincloss had become a favorite of mine. I recommend this novella for those who are able to enjoy a story of times gone by and are not offended by the mores of another time.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first reading of Auchincloss, and livelier than I expected. It’s a portrait of a group of women who were all born around the 1890s to wealthy, socially prominent New York families, told largely from the point of view of one of their sons. Pleasant reading but when I got to the end I couldn’t, with a few exceptions, tell one from the other.

[Mary Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Beam of Light Shines

On a small set of waspish ladies, members of a book club, in the 1930's. The social commentary is always on point, proving that you can learn so much from a book.😆

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this 3 1/2 stars if I could. Auchincloss writes so well that it is always a pleasure to read his books.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book more the more I read. The language may be stilted, but the theme is worth the read

[Martha R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me, this little gem of a book had the vibe of Wharton's Age of Innocence, set in the mid 20th century. A fictional memoir. I didn't want to leave these stories behind. A book to re-visit.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not nearly as good as I wanted it to be.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick entertaining read. It very much reminded me of the writing of Edith Wharton. It deals with New York society and the role it plays. Well written with literary and artistic references.

[Gaenolee · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louis Auchincloss has a unique talent for portraying the privileged women of the first half of the 20th century. In his world of New York society the men may boast of the external trappings of power and position, but their personalities pale when compared with the women who surround them.

His novels are fascinating studies of these women. The Book Class is not unlike a stroll through a gallery of Sargent paintings---rather than reading as a novel, it is sketches of the various members of a book club that met for decades.

It was enjoyable, but Portrait in Brownstone and House of Five Talents are far more interesting and complex novels.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a disappointment in what I was looking for in the book. The early 19th century when women first won the vote and WW1 had already passed into WW2 starting. Rather than concentrate on the new woman: The woman who went to work for the first time in her husbands shoes while he was at war. This author decides to focus most attention on the boys and the fathers he grew up near. The first chapter I believe is very misleading.However it is a bit of historical interest. Just not so much in the true sense of women at this time as the synopsis had promised.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll have to read another of his novels to determine if I might like his work. This book did nothing for me beyond leaving me with impressions of a class of women mostly born to money in the late 1880s/early 1890s. That was interesting, but not enough. An hour after finishing the novel I could not recall what story belonged with which character; they didn't "stick" with me.

[Barbara Mader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is nowhere as good as his wonderful _Rector of Justin_, which enthralled me, but I still found some of the character descriptions and behaviors intriguing. Very loosely constructed, a bit lame in parts (for Auchincloss). Not a keeper.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is made up of a series of sketches about the members of a upperclass New York women's book club. What is presented is interesting but without depth and it does not include much interaction between members.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book class by Louis Auchincloss
Book about 12 women of NY. They meet monthly for the book club, and more.
Lots of drama from the queens as the book goes through their stages of life in NY.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Auchincloss novel but this man is fabulous in his literary descriptions of life in old money New York City. His books are always nice to read in between other selections.

[WelcomeOnWednesday BookClub]

Rating: 4.0