In the course of reading "The Age of Innocence", I sometimes just forgot that it plays in the late 19th century, because its plot and main characters somehow seem to fit contemporary views just like they would 19th-century morals. I truly enjoyed Edith Wharton's novel and ironic style of writing.
I knew this book was a classic, but not that it was a romance. I went in not knowing what to expect and came out liking the book in general; however, it was difficult for me at times. First, I had no idea how snooty and shallow New York society was at the turn of the 20th century. I can understand...
The Age of Innocence is the third book in Wharton's loosely-linked cycle focused on upper class New York of the 1870's (the other two books are The House of Mirth, published in 1905, and The Custom of the Country, published in 1913). She's writing from a distance, looking backward between 30 and 50 ...
Newland Archer was a quiet and self-controlled young man. Conformity to the discipline of a small society had become almost his second nature. Until the arrival of Countess Olenska. The novel takes place in the late nineteenth century where the American gilded age was developing in the New York...
Scorsese's version of this book is, in my opinion, one of his very best films and on the short list of films I would recommend to anyone wanting to understand good direction. This despite Michelle Pfeiffer's supposedly miscast as the female lead. Perhaps my love for the film version is what made me ...
So if I were to tag things, this would go under my "Fill the cultural gaps" program I imposed on myself - meaning wanting to read at least some writers which Americans grew up with or had as required reading , or simply know well, and I had never heard of before I came to live to US some fifteen yea...
Sorry if this is a mess, I wrote some of it while still reading the book. I understand that Newland couldn't really stay away from the Countess, since they are related through marriage (after the marriage in book two). I'm not sure that really works since the next time they see each other after hi...
Update on sixth reading, and on my brilliant student telling me this book completely knocked him out, which I feel is a totally relevant, if not the most articulate, response to this book. Basically speaking, The Age of Innocence is my GR six. My currently favourite quote (and to my mind this is not...
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