The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

I'm still open to adding a catchup week, but unless it's requested I'll just keep posting on schedule.

It's now the year 1774 and Odo is 22 years old. He seems to be a soldier in reserve, and is cicisbeo to Countess Clarice. He is also making new friends outside his class who share his intellectual and philosophical interests.

What are your opinions of Professor Vivaldi, Fulvia, and Countess Clarice?

Who are the Honey-Bees and what does Odo like about their company?

Why does Odo have to stop visiting the Vivaldis?

What does Odo learn from Filomena? From Brutus/Gamba?

What do you make of the adventures Odo has had on his travels so far?

It seems some of odo’s real life experiences are coming from Filomena and Brutus. He’s in love with religion, and has a somewhat ambiguous social status. He’s ignored by his mother, and fills his day as he pleases. This seems very odd to me. I wonder at the selfishness around him and the attention to appearances.

One thing I’ve noticed about the story is that we rarely feel Odo’s emotions. We felt them more in the first section when he was a child experiencing a world he didn’t understand, and we feel them in this section mostly when he is interacting with Vivaldi and his daughter. But much of the time, we simply see him wandering through crowds of party-goers, observing the landscape as he travels, having meetings with various women who seem eager to be seduced.

Nancy wrote: "One thing I’ve noticed about the story is that we rarely feel Odo’s emotions. We felt them more in the first section when he was a child experiencing a world he didn’t understand, and we feel them ..."

I agree. This book feels so distant to me. I’m still having trouble really getting into it

I have to say, I have mixed feelings about this book at least so far. At times, it seems interminable, running on and on tiresomely. At other times, I come across a page, a passage, an expression that makes me smile. I can't say I love the characters; up to now they seem flat. On the other hand Wharton's descriptions of nature, of a festival in town, sometimes even a room spring to life in my mind. She can express an idea memorably: "the aristocracy of the cities regarded the country merely as so much soil from which to draw their maintenance."

The novel is patently anti-clerical and political. I expect these themes are going to be developed further in Odo's character and experiences. The novel is set in the years leading up to the French Revolution which I imagine will inspire him.

Lori wrote: "I'm still open to adding a catchup week, but unless it's requested I'll just keep posting on schedule."

Are we still reading on the original schedule?

Deborah wrote: " This book feels so distant to me. I’m still having trouble really getting into it."

I agree. It reads like a 17th century novel, moves along too slowly for modern readers, and has lots of archaic and distracting words. I chalk this up to this being Wharton's first novel. Patience, persistence, and lots of time are what's needed.

I agree, I like the atmosphere, but it's a bit hard to get into.

Gary, there's a catch-up week this week, so I'll post the Week 3 discussions next Sunday instead of today.

Gary wrote: "Deborah wrote: " This book feels so distant to me. I’m still having trouble really getting into it."
I agree. It reads like a 17th century novel, moves along too slowly for modern readers, and has..."

I also agree. I have been having trouble following the book and felt a distance too, but I thought it was all due to her over-descriptive prose and use of what Gary calls the "archaic and distracting words" in doing so in an unsuccessful attempt to get the reader to feel like they are back in Italy of the time. I say unsuccessful because it doesn't work for me and I'm guessing not for others as this book is rarely cited when her works are discussed.
However, Nancy's observation that Wharton is providing little insight into Odo's feelings, thoughts and emotions is right. This is surprising as that is an area I think Wharton is very adept at in her later works.

There were definitely a few paragraphs I had to give up on because I just wasn't going to understand them.