tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post1853936779323961490..comments2023-12-20T11:32:15.997-05:00Comments on Billevesées: Edith Wharton’s ‘The Reef’William V. Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18120331095634473021noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-61276323206210102982012-03-24T13:46:46.497-04:002012-03-24T13:46:46.497-04:00Great review, thank you!Great review, thank you!Carmenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00683926412028513293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-27563708792266264772010-06-23T10:59:23.117-04:002010-06-23T10:59:23.117-04:00Thank you very much for your response to my questi...Thank you very much for your response to my questions. Your expertise cleared up most of my confusion. Don't worry, I find you to be clever enough without having a copy of the book... that's even more impressive!Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03084734736660395740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-25167552324991438182010-06-17T00:30:55.994-04:002010-06-17T00:30:55.994-04:00OR!!! -- more properly phrased, it's the LIAIS...OR!!! -- more properly phrased, it's the LIAISON between Sophy and Darrow that is the reef on which the relationship between Anna and Darrow founders.<br /><br />(Ooops. See why I should have waited until I had a copy of the book handy?)William V. Madisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18120331095634473021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-15289087675544592172010-06-16T23:52:10.607-04:002010-06-16T23:52:10.607-04:00Dear M --
What a pity it is that your comments ar...Dear M --<br /><br />What a pity it is that your comments arrive when I don't even have a copy of the book at hand! How clever you might have thought me if I were better prepared!<br /><br />At any rate, I don't recall that we ever learn how Mr. Leath died, though it's surely significant that he's older than Anna. Like you, I got whiffs of inappropriate attraction between Anna and Owen; however, my gaydar went off every time Owen spoke. (I wouldn't put it past Wharton to figure out how to send the right signals.) Indeed, a liaison between Darrow and Owen strikes me every bit as possible as one between Anna and Owen.<br /><br />The long-delayed appearance of Sophy's sister is absolutely supposed to indicate what Sophy's own future might hold. (As well as how Sophy's past informed her present.) Perhaps it's also meant to indicate something of Anna's own future: she's not much more virtuous than Sophy in her "career" choices, though she's a good deal luckier. After all, when Anna marries Leath, she's making an exchange in return for certain comforts, just as Sophy's sister does.<br /><br />Ultimately, we're not meant to know whether Anna winds up marrying Darrow -- and that's another reason the book ends with Sophy's sister. After such an interview, Anna might easily be expected to run headlong in either of two directions: up to us to decide which.<br /><br />An excellent sequel would be the life of Sophy, post-"Reef." I suspect that, in the Roaring '20s, she might have flourished.<br /><br />And as to that title, Sophy is the reef on which the ship (of Darrow and Anna's marriage and/or happiness) wrecks -- don't you think?<br /><br />I don't believe that Wharton means to make this book easy for the reader -- though superficially it's a quick read, its puzzles continue to trouble us after we've finished reading. Thus Mrs. Wharton would be pleased by your response -- your desire to know more.<br /><br />That said, do please check back in the coming weeks, in the event that I revise all these opinions after reviewing the novel once more!William V. Madisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18120331095634473021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-3793439903514102062010-06-16T18:55:59.048-04:002010-06-16T18:55:59.048-04:00...also, I know that Anna and Owen were stepmother......also, I know that Anna and Owen were stepmother and stepson, it's just that in the book Anna's feelings towards Owen are at one point described to be more like that of a younger sister towards her older brother (which is strange since you would think it would be the other way around being that Owen is younger than Anna... I think). Okay, I just wanted to clarify that.Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03084734736660395740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-25467413028036135142010-06-16T18:51:29.762-04:002010-06-16T18:51:29.762-04:00Hi,
I recently read The Reef. I'm left with a...Hi,<br />I recently read The Reef. I'm left with a few questions. Why is The Reef called "The Reef"? How does Anna's husband Mr. Leath die? How old is Effie? Was there some form of inappropriate relationship between Anna and Owen or were they really like brother and sister? I think Anna and Darrow finally end up together, right? What was the purpose of the the final chapter (Anna visiting Sophy's sister) and what was the significance of the whole ending? Was it that Sophy's sister was a vision of what Sophy was going to turn into? Was it important that Sophy's sister was living with a man who did not share her last name?Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03084734736660395740noreply@blogger.com