Wharton is a stupidly superb writer who always seems to pistol whips me back into literary shape. Her sentences are always so precise and rich, and it’s on full display here. Containing a rare happy ending that felt ultimately a bit undeserved, I can’t quite place my hesitancy on this one. The novella is technically quite perfect, so as much as I adore Wharton with everything in my soul, I think it’s a personal taste for moral retribution rather than redemption that makes this one a bit difficult to love.

But still SOOO good!!!! ( )

I enjoyed this early Wharton novella/long short story but it did seem early to me. Although the writing was wonderful, there were times when she beat a metaphor to death. I found the basic premise somewhat hazy, it mostly seemed that Glennard spent a large amount of time causing all his own pain rather than anything truly awful happening to him. It is hard to see if he felt that his wrongful act was to publish the letters or to not love the famous author as much as she loved him, if he loved her at all. The ending was left more than a bit unclear but perhaps that underscores the moral ambiguity of his actions.

Only her second published work, The Touchstone shows all the promise that Edith Wharton would later realize in her longer novels and short-stories. The central character, Stephen Glennard, sells for publication the private letters of a former, deceased lover, who had become a famous writer, so that he can finance his marriage to the girl he loves. What follows is an emotional and moral reckoning for this act of baseness and betrayal.

What struck me most was how society’s values have changed. I do not think most people would blink an eye today at such an action. Most would be pounding the man on the back and congratulating him on first his conquest of the famous woman and then his ability to capitalize on the relationship. It was quite interesting to see how others reacted and the degree to which it affected his life.

I read it without a break...a very short 120 pages. It certainly held my interest and had that elegant, sophisticated style that is Wharton’s hallmark. Webster says a touchstone is a “standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized.” What an apt name for this novella.
( )

"Genius is of small use to a woman who does not know how to do her hair."

This short novella is Wharton's first published full-length work. I read it for a Litsy Buddy read of all of Wharton's works which is now ongoing (we discuss our 3rd Wharton read tomorrow).

Stephen Glennard is ready to get married, but is unable to do so until he is more financially secure. Many years before he had a close friendship with a woman who became a famous, but reclusive writer who has recently died. She apparently left no letters or private papers, but as it turns out, Stephen has a treasure trove letters she wrote him during their friendship. He investigates, and surreptitiously hiding himself as the recipient or source of the letters, has them published, raising enough cash to marry. Even his wife does not know how he came into the funds enabling them to marry. Once the letters are published, creating a sensation, the guilt sets in for Stephen. This was a very modern morality tale.

Recommended.

3 stars ( )

30. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton
published: 1900
format: 63-page Kindle ebook
acquired: June
read: Jul 5-8
time reading: 3:00, 2.9 mpp
rating: 4
locations: New York City
about the author: 1862-1937. Born Edith Newbold Jones on West 23rd Street, New York City. Spent most of her writing life in France.

Having read all of Willa Cather's novels, our Litsy group searched for a new subject, and came up with Edith Wharton. Our plan is to begin reading her published novels and novellas in the order they appear. [The Touchstone] was her first novella, published in 1900 when the eventually very prolific Wharton was approaching 40.

The title refers to the Philosopher's Stone, the mythological creation by late medieval French scribe Nicholas Flamel, that could turn base metals into gold. The theme echoes in a lot of ways here. Stephen Glennard, struggling financially in New York and in need of a fortune to marry, makes his fortune by publishing a collection of letters he received from a famous and very private author, Margaret Aubyn. But he tries to keep himself anonymous, even from his wife and publisher, as the letters written to him are about his spurning of Aubyn's affection. They are an especially insightful and revealing a character attack on him. When the collection immediately becomes a huge seller, talked about through upper culture New York City, Stephen goes through a personal crisis, spurning his wife and others. The touchstone could be Aubyn, her letters, the curious character who helps Stephen get these letters published, or even his wife, Alexa Trent, who, unlike Aubyn, conceals her intelligence.

This was an interesting intro. Wharton wrote this with a not quite restrained sense of anger, especially within her own frustrated version of feminism and the intolerance with which it was received. And she makes an obvious effort to express her own intelligence, including here some hidden complex philosophy that I was unable to work out. (I did learn that this is a pretty neglected part of Wharton's criticism. A typical source, like Wikipedia, will make a point of highlighting the immense amount of reading she did on religion and philosophy, and then focus entirely on her cultural criticism.) This is not, in my opinion, an amazing novella. But there is a lot here - in style, subject, complexity and in the nature of the author's presence. I'm happy to have this in mind going forward.

2021
https://www.librarything.com/topic/333774#7558486 ( )