The Custom of the Country (version 2)
Gelesen von Elizabeth Klett
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton's 1913 novel is a devastating critique of American upward mobility, told through the journey of Undine Spragg from fictional Midwestern Apex City to New York to Paris. Undine is determined to acquire money and position through marriage, even if it means multiple divorces. - Summary by Elizabeth Klett (14 hr 15 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
Loved to Hate
Moji
Loved Elizabeth Klett's reading while busy hating Undine.
Brava!
TheBookworm
Edith Wharton has never been a favourite of mine. The Age of Innocence left me flat and i couldn't even finish the House of Mirth. So I approached this one with skepticism and was ready to dump it after a chapter. Was I in for a surprize! This is a griping and insightful critique of upper middle class American culture at the turn of the 19th century. I won't give it away but the story reveals how the "custom of the country" created a certain kind of woman and the inevitable outcome. The protagonist is far from likable and yet we stick with her to the end-- which is quite brilliant in itself. As always, Elizabeth Klett does a wonderful job of narration. Tone, pace, everything is spot on. Well done Elizabeth and thank you for making me look twice at this great author. Surely one of the great American novels. TheBookworm (Manchester, UK)
Excellent, mannered and erudite
Ozoneocean
Elizabeth Klatt gives a fine reading, as usual, very appropriate for the work. It's a cutting story about an ambitious, yet shallow woman, as she cuts her way through the men of America and Europe, always seeking something better, never satisfied. Undine has no scruples and not a single unselfish bone in her body. She's calculating, coniving and willing to use all her natural tallents and weapons at her disposal to achieve any objective she desires in her continual quest to have all that she wants from life.
Laurence in massachusetts
A very good reading and pleasurable to listen to: The reader handles Wharton’s language very well including the many foreign names, places, titles etc. A vast improvement over version 1 - which has many different readers, many of whom are very poor.
Terrific!
avid_adlib
Once again, Ms. Klett reads Edith Wharton with perfection. The Custom of the Country is another look into the striving lives and unhappy marriages of the near wealthy and hangers on.
Perfect Narcissist Story
great reading
While this shows perfectly a narcissist’s thinking and life it is still quite disturbing to see the damage they are capable of causing to many people they touch.
great reading of a dastardly woman
Kittiekatsky
if i rated the book its a 2. however the reader is devine in narrating the dastardly plans of a manipulative woman.
Dinah
Gorgeous and clear reading! Klett does a great job of creating mannerisms for each character that are unique but not too distracting. A wonderful audio.