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The Age of Innocence (Modern Library Classics) (平装)
by Edith Wharton
| Category:
Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 118.00
MSL price:
¥ 108.00
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Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This quintessential love story of Old New York is a book to be savored. Really moving is the prose, and the haunting, nostalgic and sad story telling. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 7 items |
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Gore Vidal (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-10 00:00>
There is no woman in American literature as fascinating as the doomed Madame Olenska… Traditionally, Henry James has always been placed slightly higher up the slope of Parnassus than Edith Wharton. But now that the prejudice against the female writer is on the wane, they look to be exactly what they are: giants, equals, the tutelary and benign gods of our American literature. |
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E. M. Forster (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-10 00:00>
Will writers ever recover that peculiar blend of security and alertness which characterizes Mrs. Wharton and her tradition? |
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Meghan Alred (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-10 00:00>
Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence is a stunning tale of love and loss, entangled in the superficial New York society of the 1870s. The novel focuses on Newland Archer and his conflict between his love for unconventional Countess Olenska and his devotion to "nice" May Welland, his betrothed. The interactions of the characters are beautifully written, but the plot drags in some parts. Countess Olenska's mystery and scandal is introduced early causing the reader to be intrigued about her fate. On the other hand, May is the canon New York young woman. She adheres to society's binding rules, and consequently never fully develops an inquisitive mind like Olenska's. Archer's strong and often feministic opinions overshadow May's almost boring character. He wants May to know of the world and be an independent thinker. My favorite character is Madame Olenska because she is feisty, passionate, and unconventional. She and Newland fall in love after he's already announced his engagement to her cousin, May. My favorite aspect of the story is Newland's internal struggle between what he desires and what society wants for him because it is fast paced and lively, compared to the external plot. This book is for the patient reader because the plot moves slowly. The story's hold on me was from my desire to know if Newland ended up with May or Countess Olenska. This conflict was the only thing that kept me intrigued. New York society's haughty and hypocritical attitude enraged me because it was hindering Countess Olenska's happiness with Archer. Though I feel the plot could have been livelier, I still recommend this book. The unfolding of Archer and Countess Olenska's intricate relationship and character make the novel worth plodding through. I suggest this book to anyone who enjoys 19th century romance and complicated internal struggles in the characters. The story has its ironic and comical parts as well. For example, it is ironic that the women parade the fa ade that they are innocent and pure, but actually complain and gossip. These situations help liven the tiresome plot. However, if you did not like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, I doubt that you will appreciate this story because it moves at a much slower pace. It can also be frustrating because society forbids Countess Olenska and Newland Archer to act upon their love for each other. Despite these problems, I still recommend the book because of its strong message against superficiality. Through the characters, Wharton depicts how complicated life becomes when you are not honest with yourself and those around you. Therefore The Age of Innocence is an emotional novel that will leave you frustrated, upset, and filled with awe. |
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E. A. Solinas (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-10 00:00>
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 The 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.
The 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. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-10 00:00>
I will admit that at first the idea of reading a novel from the early 1900s did not appeal to me. I was not prepared to read such an intriguing novel. The author, Edith Wharton, introduced me to the world of 1870s New York. Although this book is written in an elevated style, it is still very impressive. The characters are very realistic and interesting. Surprisingly, it could easily be rewritten in today's English in a modern setting. The story line is something that probably happens daily in modern America. The Age of Innocence is a well-written novel. Wharton has amazing insight into a world utterly unknown to the world today. This book is an excellent read for any English class you might take. I read it mainly because I needed to read a classic for my English class. I was not in the least disappointed in my choice. I would recommend it to anyone who can handle a book that starts out a little slow, but brings everything together in an interesting ending. |
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Etheen Hills (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-10 00:00>
I've not read "classic" novels since I was in my early twenties, but I came across the Edith Wharton book The Age of Innocence which has recently been made into a film staring Michelle Pfeiffer, and it captured my attention. The book is a wonderful compendium of historical information on the social eccentricities of the upper class New Yorkers of the 19th Century of which Miss Wharton had been a part in her younger years. The narrative is delightfully and colorfully written and reads quickly. Since I have lived in NYC myself, it was especially enjoyable reading about the early days of the old city, and the addition of 19th century pageantry made it doubly so. As to the centerpiece romance of the book, I found it to be nearly non-existent, but then I am a woman of the 20th and 21st Century. Where much of what occurs in the book must have seemed "steamy," "sensuous," and "adventurous" by the standards of the time during which the action takes place, I can't help but wonder if it would have seemed tame even to the readers of the roaring 20s when the book was first penned. It is in the subtle disclosure that there are limitations in life and that those in our environment have a measure of control over how we live it and that this is probably a good thing, that the author's genius is discovered, and it is obviously in recognition of this genius that the Pulitzer was presented to Miss Wharton, the first woman to receive the prestigious award. In Newland Archer, the author creates a wonderful character who believes he is confronted with the prospect of a dull life of "duty" with an unimaginative but beautiful wife. A youthful rebellion against this stasis arises when he is confronted with a mysterious countess, the cousin of his wife. Ellen Olenska is all any romantic young man could hope for: a damsel in distress, a woman of the European tradition at once bored by convention but delighted by the simplicity of straight-laced New York ways. She is sexually exciting by virtue of her unobtainability, and he spends much of his time in pleasant fantasy over her for most of his life. The book has the same gentle wit and charm of movies like the Fourposter Bed, the Ghost and Mrs Muir, Life with Father, Cheaper by the Dozen and other films set in the same time period and social milieu. For anyone who enjoys an enjoyable visit to a quieter, "simpler" time, the time of our grandparents and great grand parents, this is a wonderful vacation. |
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Jerry Phillips (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-10 00:00>
The reading public must have been taken by shock when, in 1920, Wharton published this novel. Written off by most of the critics and audience of her time as having her best literary years far behind her, she produced what is arguably her most important work. Her story of New York City in the 1870s, where family name and propriety counted as much as accumulated wealth, resonated with readers who were just beginning to catch hints of the looming social revolution that would come later in the decade - and once again shatter time tested institutions. Wharton's looking back to the time of her youth (she was 57 when the book was published) is neither too sentimental nor too critical, but simply a fond remembrance of the time and place in which she lived and, like Madame Olenska, eventually escaped.
However, it is not with Madame Olenska but with Newland Archer that Wharton is closest associated. Belonging to similar social castes, both the author and Newland are able to see the foibles in their social milieu but in no way are ready to discard it totally. Whereas, in the end, both are ready to follow their individual paths from Old New York they are fully aware of what is expected of them as members of this society, and act accordingly. This is the central theme of the novel: individual desire vs. collective propriety. In the hands of a lesser author, this conflict could have resulted in a quite heavy and didactic work - and as interesting as an evening at a needlepoint demonstration. By clothing her novel in the time tested mantle of a love story, she is given rein to employ her talents to the fullest. In short, she re-creates the New York City of the 1870s and peoples it with characters that seem to be historical, not just based on historical models. The characters of Madame Olenska, Newland, May Welland and, especially, Mrs. Manson Mingott are wonderfully drawn and never become stereotyped nor trivialized; in fact, they are so lifelike that the reader (as if knowing them for years) is able to anticipate their thought patterns and actions. And of course, there is the city itself - before the Holland Tunnel, Grand Central Station, subways and telephone, where 39th Street was considered the hinterland. Wharton treats the city with affection as well as with the critical eye of the archaeologist attempting to reconstruct some long past civilization.
Especially fine is the final chapter in which Wharton (in less than twenty pages) summarizes the life of Newland from the time of his parting with Madame Olenska to his life in early twentieth century New York. The economy of her prose in this final chapter combined with her justaposition of sentimental reflection and historical fact are first rate. Particularly moving is the final scene in which the reader leaves Newland sitting on a bench outside of Madame Olenska's apartment in Paris unable (and unwilling) to abrogate both his loyalty to his now deceased wife, May, nor the unrequited love that he still has for Madame Olenska. |
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1 Total 1 pages 7 items |
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