Skip to main content

Way We Live Now 85%

I had misremembered--it is Melmotte who commits suicide because of his failed ventures.  Melmotte has forged Dolly Longestaffe's name, and then later forges his daughter's name as well as his clerk's name.  An embezzler.
 
Marie Melmotte has a chunk of money in her name, so she is not ruined by her father's failure. It is possible, still, that she and Lord Nidderdale will be married.  They actually like and respect one another, though there is no passionate love.  Felix was beaten by John Crumb.  Crumb regains Ruby Ruggles.  Felix could have had Marie Melmotte, and her money, but he was unable to get himself to go downstairs to see her.  His pride (his face was bruised) and his incredible lack of initiative.  Hetta is still contemplating Paul Montague.  This is the most interesting of the "love" plots, maybe because it's a bit of a botch.  Don't know how it's going to work out.  Roger Cadbury, the perfect husband, still loves her. Paul seems about to lose everything in the Melmotte financial debacle.

Lady Cadbury is warming up to Broune again, this time for all the right reasons.  Through all the crises of the book, Broune has given her sound advice.  She genuinely likes and respects him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin . . . finished

 Follows Sadie and Sam (Mazer) from childhood to mid-thirties when both are feeling old and a bit out of it in the gaming world.  Characters are well-rounded, develop throughout the novel in interesting way.  Plot is involved but sensible.  Not a single, "Oh, come on!" moment.  The book could have been faster paced. Odd, since the main topic is video games which are not for their speed of engagement and Gabrielle Zevin clearly knows her video games. Recommended by Michael Connelly in an interview.  He also has Bosch pick up the book in his novel, Resurrection Walk, as Bosch tails a possible witness to a crime as she moves through a bookstore. Sadie and Sam do not get together at the end, which is good.   Marx killed by homophobic nutcase who really wants to kill Sam, but Sam isn't there. Marx is father of Sadie's child. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Tess of the D'Urbervilles, continued 2/3rds

"To all humankind, Tess was only a passing thought. Even to friends, she was only a frequently passing thought." Angel Clare is a good character. He's "enlightened," in so many ways, but when Tess's confesses her "crime," he reverts to ancestral form . . . Tess's "confession" comes earlier than I expected, right after Angel reveals that he has had a bad moment with a woman. Tess points out the similarity in their transgressions, though his is the only true transgression, expecting forgiveness. She doesn't get it. She returns to her mother . . . realizes she can't stay with her. Thoughts to suicide. Unhappiness that divorce is not possible. Departs. Tragic in that the two, if Angel could just see clearly, would indeed be a great couple, each adding to the other.  Nature as a definite force involved in the tragedy.  It's not neutral--when things go bad, the very skies mock Tess. Tess as unaware of the power of her bea...
Post a Comment
Read more