Customer Reviews

The Age of Innocence (Barnes & Noble Classics)

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Nobody knew the hypocrises of "old New York" better than Edith Wharton, and nobody portrayed them as well. In "The Age of Innocence," Wharton took readers on a trip through the stuffy upper crust of 1870s New York, wrapped up in a hopeless love affair.

Newland Archer, of a wealthy old New York family, has become engaged to pretty, naive May. But as he tries to get their wedding date moved up, he becomes acquainted with May's exotic cousin, Countess Olenska, who has returned home after dumping her cheating count husband. At first, the two are friends, but then they become something more.

After Newland marries May, the attraction to the mysterious Countess and her free, unconventional life becomes even stronger. He starts to rebel in little ways, but he's still mired in a 100% conventional marriage, job and life. Will he become an outcast and go away with the beautiful countess, or will he stick with May and a safe, dull life?

There's nothing too scandalous about "Age of Innocence" in a time when J.Lo acquires and discards boyfriends and husbands like old pantyhose. Probably it wasn't in the 1920s, when the book was first published. But this isn't a book to read if you appreciate sexiness and steam -- instead it's a social satire, a bittersweet romance, and a look at what happens when human beings lose all spontaneity and passion.

Wharton brings old New York to life in this book -- opulent, beautiful, cultured, yet empty and kind of boring. It is "where the real thing was never said or done or even thought," so tied up in tradition that nobody there really lives. And even though the unattainable countess is beautiful and sweet, it becomes obvious after awhile that Newland is actually in love with the idea of breaking out of his conventional life.

Wharton's writing is a bit like a giant rosebud -- it takes forever to fully open. So don't be discouraged by the endless conversations about flowers, ballrooms and gloves. Wharton put them in to illustrate her point about New York at that time, and all the stories about different families, scandals and customs are actually very important.

Newland seems like a rather boring person, since he only has brief bursts of individuality. But he gets more interesting when he struggles between his conscience and his longing for freedom. May is (suitably) pallid and a bit dull, while the Countess is alluringly mysterious and unconsciously rebellious. The fact that she doesn't TRY to rebel makes her far more interesting than Newland.

"Age of Innocence" considered a story about a man in love with an unattainable woman, but it's also about that man straining against a stagnant, hypocritical society. Rich, intriguing and beautifully written.

Edith Wharton's THE AGE OF INNOCENCE is quite straight forward and an easier read than many novels considered "classics". I reread it after viewing the film and was very impressed by how close Scorsese had stayed to the text of the novel and actually appreciated the film more! Watch the movie and read the book and see how they enhance each other.

I knew I was going to like this novel when I read, on page 3, "...an unalterable and unquestioned law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking audiences."

And it did not disappoint. I won't repeat the detailed analyses here by others; I will only say that this novel is by common consensus a classic of literature, and that is no accident. It is worth your time, and then some.

Incidentally, as I write this (March 2010), the Folio Society has just issued a beautiful new edition of this book. If you like fine books, you can't do much better than a classic work in a Folio edition.

I found the Age of Innocence to be an incredibly beautiful book. It has been a long time since I've read anything so masterfully written. It is a book that resonated with me on many levels and won't be forgotten very easily. The characters are wonderfully portrayed. It is a story of a romance that struggles against the norms and unwritten rules of the upper-class of NYC in the 1870's. More fundamentally though the book is also about the constraining/bounded environments/communities/affiliations that we all operate within. How some of us strive to breakout or go against the grain of these realms and take the associated risks. It is a novel of breaking free and seeking something more meaningful and deeper. It has my highest recommendation!

Newland Archer is engaged to May-old New York's most desirable debutante. Then May's cousin, Countess Olenska, arrives in New York and May's charms seem contrived in comparison. Archer wants the Countess Olenska, but he lacks the courage to bring the relationship to fruition. Thus a whole lifetime of love is missed and mourned.

There is much to be admired in Wharton's story of an unhappy marriage in old New York. But I must have spent too long in New Zealand because I find myself agreeing whole heartedly with Kiwi Katherine Mansfield's Katherine Mansfield's Short Stories (Norton Critical Edition) 1920 Athenaeum review of this book-the characters in The Age of Innocence were "mere portraits" and I did not "grow warm in a gallery where the temperature is so sparkling cool". A whole book devoted to a few meager expressions of passion was stifling. And when I say meager, I mean meager. The peak-a wanton, uncontrolled, passion fueled expression of love between Archer and the Countess Olenska is always in dim view, but no one wants to dare make the trek to the summit and live with the consequences. Archer, May and the Countess Olenska live in a beautiful world, but it owns them. You keep hoping for inroads into these stifling characters, some human weakness, but they all refuse to drink the wine. It's refreshing to read a book where people are more than slaves to biological passions, but these characters still sell their souls for money, title, position and the respect of people they scant respect themselves. Ultimately this is a book about opportunities missed not because of circumstances, but because the players never had the courage to express their love. It's a good story, but Wharton's writing may be just as full of the "faint implications" and "spare delicacies" that she accuses her characters of having.

A good read, but not one of my favorites. I found the text a little spare.

The Scorsese film The Age of Innocence does an excellent job of bringing this story to the screen and is highly recommended.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Barnes and Noble, 1920
293 pages
Classic
4.5/5 stars

Source: Own

Thoughts: I put this on my list because I wanted to read the first Pulitzer winning-novel by a woman; after enjoying Old New York, a collection of four short stories, I had high hopes for this. And they were mostly fulfilled.

I loved the pictures painted by Wharton; every detail seemed carefully chosen to convey the taste and wealth of the characters although I'm sure I didn't fully appreciate those details, given my 21st century sensibilities and understanding. I loved being enmeshed in that world and slowly journeying through it toward completion.

The part I didn't like was the character Newland Archer. He is torn between duty to his fiancee May Welland and passion for her cousin, the scandalous Countess Ellen Olenska who left her husband. I was caught up in that and I supported his choice. But I hated his musings on the innocence and conventionality of May-how was she to be different? I think that he is a stand-in for Wharton who was raised in that kind of environment but obviously had a sharp intellect of her own. Over the course of the novel though, I grew annoyed with him. I did not want to spend as much time with him as I did; I think I would have preferred this novel from a female point of view because Archer grated on me.

I would also like to see the movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer (j'adore her), and Winona Ryder.

Overall: Beautifully written; I definitely consider myself a fan of Wharton now.

Cover: Pretty gallery-I'm a big fan of the Barnes and Noble editions.

Beautiful, sharp, witty and ironic. The Age of Innocence reminds me of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Wharton explores a similar theme of passion and reality. Thankfully, it's not as tragic.

I went into this book knowing nothing except that it took place in NYC and was published in 1920. I can say it was the most surprisingly wonderful book I have read in a long time. The world that Wharton creates is so vivid, and her observations so sharp that there were times I couldn't believe what I was reading. The plot is well documented and it is true that character development is more important in her work than plot development, but that is not to diminish the interest and pacing of the story. Every scene advances the plot while at the same time reveals more details about the characters, their world and Wharton's opinions about humans in any time. The two page preamble about "Old New York's" social codes when traveling abroad is absolutely hilarious, written with such warm and forgiving sarcasm that there is almost no character that you are not interested in. As the book gets deeper, the relationship between the individuals and society become so much richer and intricate that the central story between Newland, Ellen and May is overlaid and almost marginalized by the actions, stresses and diplomacy of their New York Society. Its hard to describe how wonderful this book is, with every page teeming with sentences you will want to read over again and moments you will want to stop and think about. From the first page it manages a tone that is light, sure and sharp. Amazing, amazing book.

At first The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton seemed to be very funny. I was reminded of P.G. Wodehouse and Jane Austen. At first the New York society was funny and too rigid to be real. Than, to my drawing horror, I realized that the author was trying to draw a serious and realistic picture of the civilization that was New York City's upper crust.
The Countess Olenska has fled Europe to New York only to find the family and friends there shocked by her independence and impulse awareness. This stirs the emotions, or something, of Newland Archer who is engaged to May Welland.
As you can guess the novel is Archer finding out how much he can run in circles trying to decide what the right and honorable thing is to do. He, of course, ends up doing nothing and everything turns out boring and the whole book feels like a waste of time.
In other words, pretty dated and you should get it used if you plan to read it. It is a sad, sad book. In the bad kind of sad way, like when you see a Santa drunk at the wheel of a school bus or when an armed hunter is being beat up by a doe.