The Age of Innocence (Dover Thrift Editions) by Edith Wharton (1997-07-11)

I enjoyed reading the play between the characters. Archer thought his love for Ellen was a secret and everyone was aware of it. May told Ellen she was pregnant even before she was positive, so that Ellen would leave NY. The family rallied around May and subsidized Ellen's finances so she didn't have to go back to her husband and would leave Archer. Don't know why Archer didn't go to Ellen's home when he and his son visited Paris.

A wonderful book, but the printing is terrible. The cover art is badly produced. I'm not just talking about aesthetics. It's as if it was printed when I ordered it by an amateur operation. No text on the spine, the art and text are out of focus or simply come from a tiny digital file so it seems out of focus. Terrible. Bizarre.

Archer is the self-centered primary character around which this novel unfolds. if you manage to finish the novel, ask yourself if Archer has not become May, the wife he could barely tolerate and whom he never encouraged to be or do anything except cling to her sameness and sense of duty so that he could wrap himself in his pitiful martyrdom.

This book reminded me of the relationship between Matthew and Lady Mary in the BBC Television series Downton Abbey -- will Archer & the Countess get together or won't they. The author keeps you interested to the very end then surprises you with the ending. Very classic.

Rather too romantic for me. But Wharton is wonderful writer who is impressively observant. Coming from a background that was very WASPish, i gave me some additional perspective on that condition. (I'm currently reading Wharton's House of Mirth.)

I caught the movie version first, then had to read the book. The dialogue in the film starring Daniel Day Lewis is mostly lifted from Edith Wharton's text. Her description of that time in New York City is a snapshot of a stuffier, class-centric age in our history. Reading the book I could almost hear the rustle of petticoats!

If you're a fan of period dramas, this book squarely hits the mark.

Exceeded my expectations. I now appreciate why this book is considered a classic, rich textured prose, great character development, drama and message. The tension between authenticity and conformity is palpable. Reminded me a little of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work but a bit less cynical and existential. I highly recommend this book!

A well-written novel of unrequited love and lives lived to keep up appearances. It was a page turner for me. Wharton paints a picture of early society and its foolish standards through believable characters.

I read this book for free . After downloading so many new novels over the past year together with additional paper backs, I saw this classic which in fact I had never read and actually didn't enjoy the film. What a pleasure to read English again, not our modern jargon which lacks prose and rarely develops the personaliies of the characters. Here we have a novel which we can savour. It doesn't need bad language, religion, sex or action on every page, if this delights your palette, then leave it be. This book is for those of us that simply revel in a beautifully written book.

For those who've seen the film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis, the novel captures the angst of impossible love a hundredfold, with more details, missed opportunities, and time to think of what could have been. I mean, how much suffering can there be in a two-hour movie? All along you know how it's going to end, yet you fight it just as our heroes do. And there really is no reason for it. Newland and Ellen are both free as the novel opens, and even after the engagement, the lovely May, who sees her beau may be getting cold feet, releases him from all responsibility if he wishes to break the engagement. Yet he proceeds, pining for Ellen while living the life that society dictates.

Wharton immerses us in the high society world of 1920's New York, where belonging is everything. Newland is a young lawyer beginning his career in a prestigious law firm where he does little more than push papers around, He was hired for whom he knew, not what he knew, and he is considered too much a gentleman for any real work. Our characters dine and waltz, attend operas, and gossip. Newland wants more, and the independent-minded Ellen seems to suggest an end to the routine.

The prose is formal at times, with an excess of words that often mean more than they say, as unhurried as our characters who move from one social event to the next. Yet there is something relatable about Newland and his quest for true love, even from a 21st century point of view. Do we find love in the mundane or the exotic? Is love based on common goals, experiences, and loyalty, or should it be something magical that flutters in the heart? The novel explores these themes as adeptly as Jane Austen, another social writer who looked at the practical and romantic sides of matrimony. (She never married, so perhaps there's your answer.) Ironically, by choosing the mundane, he is able to preserve the dream of the magical. For what is more romantic and enduring than impossible love?

Can certainly see why this book won Wharton the Pulitzer over Main Street. It was amazing to me how beautifully written and the characterization was spellbinding. It made me want to search out other books by this author.

This was the first time I had read Edith Wharton; it will not be the last. She creates a world filled with characters living in a time of stifling manners and extreme wealth, subtly giving life to even the most two-dimensional of them.

Glad I read it, but It was difficult to empathize with the main characters in the beginning of the book. I was determined to finish the book, but it took several chapters & perseverance before I derived any enjoyment from the story. The ending was a different matter. It was a bittersweet conclusion & I did enjoy how the story came full circle.

Edith Wharton perfectly and elegantly engages the reader in the growing pains and emotional conflicts of her characters as they struggle with love and marriage within the stifling expectations of their societal boundaries. Wharton tells the story through the voice of young man, Newland Archer, who stands on the precipice of his future - to take his place among New York's finest and best educated, to carry on the family legacy, if even at the denial of his own personal desires.

If you remember your mother telling you that what you intend doing would be bad form, or that it "just isn't done," then you will enjoy this story placed in the upper crust of New York City high society where everyone who lived on Fifth Avenue back in the early 20's knew each other's business and pretended not to.

I love reading about this time in history. Fiction and Non - Fiction.

This novel receives 5 stars because Wharton has created a world. It is a world we can enter and believe and observe and scorn or admire. But the point is that it is real. The characters fit their time and place and speech and dress and habits.

We enter this world and travel back to 1870. We see how the very rich live, even in the wake of the Lincoln assasination and likely the Garfield assasination. We see easily how blithely this class dismiss the lower classes. And how they can turn on one another. There is some lesson there. Sinclair Lewis, Henry James, and Jane Austen also write of this period and lay bare the hypocrisies and double standards. These writers even dare to shatter our ideas of how that "civil" society conducted itself. Is is really so different from today - or are we just more honest ? (I don't know. I do know something has been lost in our culture regarding dress, manners, and speach.) But not all change is for the worse. Archer's revolutionary notion that women ought to have the same "freedoms" as men strikes me.

But at heart the book is one of contrasts. It is a contrast of European Society to American Society; women's mores to men's, even New York to Boston.

Unlike any other reader that I have found, to me this book is about the triumph of May Wellend Archer. Read the book and see why. I refuse to spoil the whole story.....even if most reviewers think it their duty to do so.

The edition of this classic is not standard but print on demand. The margins are nearly nonexistent, and the pages have an odd dimension, which make the lines too long to read with comfort. The novel is superb but wanted to advise prospective buyers to find a different edition than this one (Black and White Classics).

I'd never read Edith Wharton before and found it to be one of the best books that I had read in quite some time. It was beautifully written and the characters though living a hundred years ago were as real as if they were alive today. I liked the book so much I immediately started another of her books "The House of Mirth" which is equally as good.

Of course, the book is great. But the audible version I bought (the cheapest) was unbelievably bad. One chapter was interrupted by the insertion of a chapter from Huckleberry Finn!!! The narrator obviously had done zero preparation, mis-pronounced French (and English!) words and didn't seem to understand what he was saying. Champs- Hay-leesay?

THIS SERIES GETS BETTER AND BETTER. With learning of the betrayal to him and his Queen, Branford is out for blood and he won't rest until he gets it. Branford reassures his wife that he loves her and shows her over and over again. Their bond and love for each other can't be broken and just when you think Branford and Alexandra will get what they always wanted, there is someone waiting to take their happiness away. Can Branford protect his Queen or will it be too late? Another amazing story that I'm sure I won't stop thinking about and can't wait to read book 7 and I'm really excited to read Branford's pov.

A Pulitzer Prize winning author in her time this novel comments upon New York society and morals at the end of the 19th century. Although low on plot but high on atmosphere and character description, it is not a difficult read but only recommended for those with some interest in social history. I really enjoyed it.

I chose the 5 star rating because even though The Age of Innocence was written over a 100 years ago, it still speaks to our day today. Wharton does an outstanding job of understanding male feelings which is even more remarkable because, of course, she is a woman. For me, the book is fast paced with strong characters and descriptions.

A phenomenal page-turner and easy to digest - brought this on vacation and it was the perfect choice. Wharton truly captures the relationship dynamics between the different characters and universal truths of fulfilling expectations. Definitely plan to re-read.

This book is wonderfully written with excellent commentary on decadent society. It's a mature story of love and family and social expectations/responsibilities. Marvelous read! And the fact that it's on my Kindle makes looking up words delightfully easy.

This edition is not high quality bound in my opinion. For the price I paid I was expecting something of what I have known "hard-back" to be. This is more the binding of a children's book which will deteriorate more quickly.

Wharton is one of the greatest writers of our era. Given her childhood, only pure genius can account for her amazing accomplishments. One can only feel awe and joy in reading her books. The Age of Innocence is haunting and brilliant.

I read this book because I saw a recommendation that it was one of the books that a person should read in their lifetime. It offered an excellent depiction of life among aristocratic New York society in the late 19th century. It was extremely well written, a fun read, and it was my introduction to the works of Edith Wharton. I will certainly go back for more.

I love Edith Wharton's writing. You cannot rush through her books. Her descriptions are delightful and I found the characters in this book fun. Very well-written. I had a hard time putting it down after I got into it.

More engrossing and developed that Wharton's more famous novella ETHAN FROME, this novel has the author's characteristic fierce yet subtle irony, magnificent and memorably tragic characters whose lives are "ruled" by societal expectations despite their floundering resistance, strong plot. Sad, but powerful. One of her best books.

Interesting to learn about an author in the past. Found it trite and flowery words by today's standards.
I have always read about someone being compared to Edith Wharton. It satisfied my curiosity, but I doubt that I will read any other of her book.

We purchased one for my mother when she had shingles and was in incredible pain. It helped her, and she raved about it so much that we bought three more! I have arthritis throughout my body, and I'm getting the best sleep I have in years.