Janaina Fernanda Fernanda থেকে Dhapai, Pakistan
I had a love-hate relationship with this book the entire time I was reading it. The main character, the hideously named Undine Spragg, is so repulsive and annoying that I almost put the book down several times because I had no desire to read any more about her. But just when I was about to really close the book for good, the book changed gears and followed the path of one of her suitors, Ralph Marvell, for a while and I felt so awful for him after the way she had treated him that I got reabsorbed in the book, hoping to see his fate turn out alright. When his story line petered out, it was back to Undine who at that point was not doing so well anymore, so I kept reading to see her downfall. I don't mean to say that it's a bad book by any means. Edith Wharton is a wonderful writer and I always love reading about old New York (although much of the book takes place in France). I was just so horrified by some of the characters that I had a hard time not hating it at times. I guess I should say that the characters were drawn so well that I could not help but despise the evil ones. If I didn't care about them one way or another, then it would not have been as good of a book.