Over the summer I finished reading The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton and I really enjoyed it. I ashamedly found myself rooting for Undine Spragg’s goals even as I felt sympathy for the people whose pain she caused. But I think that Wharton wanted her readers to have mixed feelings about her main character. After Undine has forgotten to go to her own son’s birthday party, Charles Bowen tells Undine’s sister in law that the whole problem with marriage in America is that men don’t tell their wives anything about what they do for a living because they don’t care enough about them. He also says that Undine would be bored if her husband did try and tell her about his job “Because it’s against the custom of the country.” The fact that Undine is “a monstrously perfect result of the system.” is the reason for all of her failed marriages and why she couldn’t fit into European society for very long. She had never been expected to know anything about anything so she couldn’t keep up with the European women who had been brought up differently.
I was glad when Undine finally ended up with Elmer Moffatt who seemed just as self centered and opportunistic as she was. I really liked the relationship between Clara? Van Deegan and Ralph Marvell. Clara seemed like the example of the woman who wasn’t a byproduct of the country’s customs. after undine had divorced Ralph and went back to the opera even though she had been rejected from society she said that she felt that if she went up to Clare, Clare would actually be welcoming to her. I thought that she was a good contrast to Undine. I thought it was cool how their relationships with Ralph were polar opposites too. Clare felt secure in her relationship with him even though it never really turned into anything sexual and Undine just liked the fact that Clare wanted him and couldn’t have him.
Reading this book made me a little bit sad about marriage. Edith Wharton must not have had a very happy marriage because she made her lead female character go through three failed ones. I couldn’t decide if it was the fault of Undine or her spouses or if Wharton was just saying the whole system in general was flawed. Or maybe she was just saying that marrying simply for financial or social betterment means the couple is destined to fail. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t seem like Wharton has a very rosy outlook on marriage.
I really liked how Wharton chose to switch the point of view throughout the book also. At first I thought she was just going to go back and forth between Ralph Marvell and Undine but I was wrong, the majority of the characters had their inner thoughts narrated at some point in the story. I really wasn’t expecting it at the end of the book when the story was told from Undine’s son’s point of view for a few pages. It really made me think about how her actions had affected all the other characters. It broke my heart to see his future with two distant, indifferent socialite parents. It sounded like Elmer might make a better parent than the boy’s own mother would. I felt like these last pages really gave the reader an accurate picture of the self absorption of Undine. While her son’s life is making devastating changes, the only thing on her mind is how to get what she can never have.

Audiobook. A wonderful book about a very annoying person. A real trick to write such a great book about someone who is limited, annoying, definitely not attractive. Edith Wharton is an under-appreciated writer. ( )

I liked this book more than I thought I would when I picked it up. Undine Spragg, the main character, is a deplorable human being. She never passed the stage in life where she realised there was more to life than her own person. She was extremely selfish and constantly wanting more. She had no thought for anyone else. She divorces and remarries as often as she buys a new dress. When the husband is no longer in fashion or no longer can provide her what she wants she moves on. She was never taught that she couldn't have everything she wanted. Undine was never satified.

If you enjoy classics, like I do, you should like this book. Edith Wharton depicts the times when nouveau riche were invading the stolid New York "aristocracy" with witty criticism. ( )

2405 The Custom of the Country, by Edith Wharton (read 28 Aug 1991) This book was published in 1913. I thought it rather haphazardly organized. Undine Spragg marries in turn Elmer Moffatt, Ralph Marvell, Raymond Chelles, and then Elmer Moffatt again. She has a son by Marvell, who kills himself. I thought the book artificial and not very credible--it does not seem very well put together, though one can at times see the master touch of a good writer. But what is the moral of this tale of a good writer? I probably should read a critique of it. ( )

http://www.slywy.com/bookreviews/cust... ( )