by William Dean Howells
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Product Description
William Dean Howells' richly humorous characterization of a self-made millionaire in Boston society provides a paradigm of American culture in the Gilded Age. After establishing a fortune in the paint business, Silas Lapham moves his family from their Vermont farm to the city of Boston, where they awkwardly attempt to break into Brahmin society. Silas, greedy for wealth as well as prestige, brings his company to the brink of bankruptcy, and the family is forced to return to Vermont, financially ruined but morally renewed. As Kermit Vanderbilt points out in his introduction, the novel focuses on important themes in the American literary tradition: the efficacy of self-help and determination, the ambiguous benefits of social and economic progress, and the continual contradiction between urban and pastoral values.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 The Fall of Silas Lapham, 2010-02-21
"The Rise of Silas Lapham" by William Dean Howells, is definitely misnamed, since at the start of the novel, the main character has already risen in terms of money and prominence, two things he is at risk of losing over the course of the novel. Howells' work is credited with being the first impotant novel that truly focused on an American businessman, a man who came from nothing to become someone to contend with, but a man who still couldn't fit into the gentile Boston society because he was noveau riche and not from old money. There are some interesting things about the plotline of this novel and even some humorous moments, but "The Rise of Silas Lapham" is ploddingly told and seems dated in comparison with contempoary novels of its time.
"The Rise of Silas Lapham" begins with a newspaper interview in which the reader automatically learns Silas's hard luck background and his success in the paint business, success that has allowed him to build a mansion in the Back Bay area of Boston among the most elite townspeople. His wife and two daughters, Penelope and Irene, want for nothing, but unknowingly remain outcasts in the society. When a young man name Tom Corey (from old money) takes an interest in Laphams's business as well as in one of his daughers, Lapham sees it as a way to truly take his place among the society he so desperately wants to impress and be accepted by. However, incidents and mistakes from Lapham's past show up just as his star is on its meteoric rise, forcing him to change hiw ways, for better or for worse.
Some of the standout elements of "The Rise of Silas Lapham" is the love triangle between the Lapham daughters and Tom Corey, as well as the Corey family's reaction to Tom's interest in one of the girls. Penelope Lapham is a clever and comic likable character, and there are moments when even Silas and his wife Persis are easy to identify with. However, Howells spent too much time telling the story and did not allow his characters room to breathe and exist by themselves in the minds of the readers. While not an overly long novel, I found it a difficult read because much of the story is either boring or told in a boring manner. I wish Howells had dedicated more time to the intriguing aspects of his character's life instead of on the mundane and annoying.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Great book, but do not order this edition, 2010-02-03
This edition reads like a photocopy of an early print edition. I am not old, but I had to strain and squint to get through it. No reflection of the book itself, but I nearly tossed it aside a dozen times it was so hard on the eyes.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Classic without a doubt, 2009-03-16
I read this for my novel class and was taken by the story, it was truly rendered well and maintained my interest along with the interest of the whole class. Silas Lapham is a character that Howells' created so that every individual may relate to. And if you can not relate with Silas, try some of the other cast of characters. Overall this was a decent read and a wonderful addition to a collection.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Good Overall Experience, 2007-03-08
The merchandise arrived timely and the overall experience was a good one.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
One of his best, 2005-03-24
You might be able to take a man of humble beginnings and make him a rich man, but can he ever cross the line into Society? Silas Lapham becomes rich from paint that he sells, but fails totally in his attempt to become an accepted member of the upper class. The book also concerns a misunderstood love interest by one of Lapham's daughters: the young man is actually in love with his other daughter. Lapham's business fails at the end, but he doesn't sacrifice his integrity. Which is why it is only the "rise" of Silas Lapham and not the "rise and fall." This is among Howells's best novels.
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