Get “lit” with these party-filled novels
You know who knows how to party? Some of the most compelling fictional characters ever written. Pop around in time from the 1800s, to the 1920s to today, depending on your mood, to crash a legendary literary party. Imbibing while you’re living vicariously? If things start to get a little wild, just make sure to know your limits… unlike some of our fabulously flawed protagonists.
Party with the Prim: Vanity Fair
by William Makepeace Thackeray
In the society world of William Makepeace Thakeray’s Vanity Fair, the point of parties was more about who’s-who than the actual occasion. And the high-falutin' denizens of this classic novel had the gossip game down. If you’re not already well acquainted with Becky Sharp then now is the time to get familiar. She’ll stop at nearly nothing — it’s borderline satirical, really — to get a foothold on the next rung of the social ladder.
Jazz for the Ages: The Great Gatsby
by F Scott Fitzgerald
Between the covers of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby you’ll find some of the most decadent party scenes of all time. Much of the book will have you back and forth between East Egg and West Egg, as Nick Carraway finds his way among both old money and new money eccentrics. Jay Gatsby is the ultimate host, with his wide open doors and ever-flowing champagne. The music is live and the food is absolutely decadent. Sometimes, though, things do get a little raucous and we come to learn quickly that no one is actually getting away with a thing. These party people know how to hold each other accountable.
Brutal block party: The Ice Storm
by Rick Moody
Against the backdrop of the, ahem, swinging 1970s, in a rich suburb of Connecticut, the natives are restless and parties abound. The affairs are boozy, and often boisterous — and nearly no one behaves. The book is the kind of uncomfortable that we devour when it comes to our reading choices, and it still stands as one of the best works of American literature. Just don’t expect to get that warm and fuzzy feeling from this particularly icy tale.
Something Broken, Something Blue: Seating Arrangements
by Maggie Shipstead
What party could possibly be more important than the one following a bride’s nuptials? Welcome to the wedding reception of Daphne Van Meter and Greyson Duff, held on the bride’s family’s private island in New England. The patriarch of this quite wealthy family is Winn Van Meter. His feelings — or fears, more accurately — of inadequacy bubble just below the surface, and this particular milestone on his familial timeline threatens to be just the thing to break him. The weekend, however, is meticulously planned from start to finish, but when things (inevitably!) go wrong, you’ll wish you were there to witness the lavishly laid sequence of events.
It’s the end of the world as we know it: White Teeth
by Zadie Smith
On New Year’s Eve in mid-1970s London, a party themed “the end of the world” brings together the unlikely pair of Archie Jones and Clara Bowden. The rest of the novel revolves around this couple, whose life evolves together well beyond the events of that first night. But can we take a moment for the party itself? Its depiction of the counterculture moment in time that was the ‘70s is impeccably written, and left us feeling like we were there, among the revelers as they celebrated the turn of the year with an undercurrent of trepidation for where the world was going.
British Kitsch: Bridget Jones's Diary
by Helen Fielding
Shall we revisit another absolutely life-altering London New Year’s Eve party? Let’s step forward in time to the 1990s in Helen Fielding’s fabulous novel Bridget Jones’s Diary. Here, too, we have a pivotal moment in the relationship of a man and woman: the titular Bridget Jones and one Mark Darcy. Mark’s rather obnoxious attitude and comments about Bridget send her into a tailspin that ultimately evolves into a self-improvement mission. Feelings for Mark’s callous ways aside, this novel has earned its place as one of the best rom-com reads of all time. As for the legendary party? Truth be told, we’d take a pass on it. (But we still can’t resist rereading the scene every chance we get.)
Party like It’s 1989: The Rules of Attraction
by Bret Easton Ellis
Finally, let’s look to the 1980s via Bret Easton Ellis’s wild ride of a novel The Rules of Attraction. This book has on tap everything you might expect from a group of spoiled college kids at a New England private university: drugs, sex, bravado, booze. And parties. So. Many. Parties. The young adults who grace these pages come off as vacuous and superficial, squarely positioned as representative of Generation X. It doesn’t take long to find depth, though, just below the facade of footloose, fancy-free fun.