Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Only 2 by Edith Wharton?




The Guardian has printed a list of 1000 novels everyone must read and there are two Wharton titles, The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth. The list includes "only novels – no memoirs, no short stories, no long poems – from any decade and in any language" and they are listed by general theme. In the comments, one can point out books that should have been included ...

Friday, January 23, 2009

Congratulations from The Mount

The Mount would like to congratulate Shakespeare & Company on the appointment of their new Artistic Director, Tony Simotes. As you can see from this article in the Berkshire Eagle, when Shakespeare & Company lived and worked at The Mount one of the roles he played was Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". We at The Mount hear many stories from our visitors about the fantastic performances they attended here, and their productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" were some of the most memorable. Many people have talked about how magical and beautiful the grounds were, as the play was performed outside in the gardens and among the trees. We wish the company all the best for the future.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Happy Birthday!


Don't forget, Saturday is Edith Wharton's birthday! Here at the Mount, we are celebrating with a special reading from a new screenplay adaptation of "Summer" which will be followed by a reception. To find out more visit :http://www.edithwharton.org/events/1.php?record=171


Although it appears that Mrs. Wharton was not always in a celebratory mood on her birthday ("that melancholy 24th—the saddest day of all the sad new year"), there was at least one which she remembered fondly. In "A Backward Glance" she wrote "And there was one supreme day when, my mother having despairingly asked our old literary advisor, Mr. North at Scribner’s, ‘what she could give the child for her birthday,’ I woke to find beside my bed Buxton Forman’s great editions of Keats and Shelley! Then the gates of the realms of gold swung wide, and from that day to this I don’t believe I was ever again, in my inmost self, wholly lonely or unhappy.”

(The 3rd ed. of Buxton Forman's Keats can be found online at Google Books.)

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Happy New Year from The Mount


All of us at The Mount would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Now might be a good time to revisit Wharton's novella "Old New York, New Year's Day (The Seventies)". There is an interesting article on the New York Times website about the house in which Wharton was born, and which plays a part in the above work. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it is now home to Starbucks ... Here is the link (for which I thank the Edith Wharton Society's blog Edith Wharton in the News.