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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A nuanced and mature story that’s in equal measures beautiful, yet tragic. The title even has a significant meaning of its own from the innocence decaying over time which makes this an interesting commentary on entropy. Edith Wharton was an incredible author and I understand why so many sing her praises. It is one of those stories that make you feel a part of the families and people portrayed. Newland Archer was an interesting character to follow along and I enjoyed getting glimpses of a life I never would experience for myself. That’s the beauty of reading isn’t it? I feel as though I have been taught a lot about societal norms and how mentally taxing it is for anyone wanting to break out of them but of course, that only scratches the surface to what this book really is about.
I see a lot of similarities between this, ‘Anna Karenina’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’ and unfortunately, I did not love those books. I liked ‘The Age of Innocence’ more but I still had my problems with it, mostly being faults of my own. It feels like one I would have appreciated more highly if I had picked it up when I’m older which is exactly how I felt with ‘Anna Karenina’. I absolutely adored the writing and the amount of new flowers that appeared in almost all chapters. It made me wonder if that has a meaning of its own due to flowers decaying.
As much as I appreciate the themes throughout, I could not sympathise with any of the characters and I found it hard to want to continue reading on at points. Any story with infidelity tends to be quite a struggle for me but I had higher hopes for Ellen as a character. I didn’t like how all of the character interactions were ALL centred around the same thing and I wanted to be made to believe that these characters exist out of one another’s lives. I wanted to fall in love with Ellen, too but I just didn’t. Now that I think about it I wish I could see this story from Ellen’s perspective, I would have loved it far more.
"Watching the contortions of the damned is supposed to be a favourite sport of the angels; but I believe even they don't think people happier in hell."
“He took it up, and found himself plunged in an atmosphere unlike any he had ever breathed in books; so warm, so rich, and yet so ineffably tender, that it gave a new and haunting beauty to the most elementary of human passions. All through the night he pursued through those enchanted pages the vision of a woman who had the face of Ellen Olenska”
“The silence that followed lay on them with the weight of things final and irrevocable. It seemed to Archer to be crushing him down like his own grave-stone; in all the wide future he saw nothing that would ever lift that load from his heart. He did not move from his place, or raise his head from his hands; his hidden eyeballs went on staring into utter darkness. “At least I loved you—”
“I can’t go back now to that other way of thinking. I can’t love you unless I give you up.” His arms were yearning up to her; but she drew away, and they remained facing each other, divided by the distance that her words had created”
“The longing was with him day and night, an incessant undefinable craving, like the sudden whim of a sick man for food or drink once tasted and long since forgotten. He could not see beyond the craving, or picture what it might lead to, for he was not conscious of any wish to speak to Madame Olenska or to hear her voice. He simply felt that if he could carry away the vision of the spot of earth she walked on, and the way the sky and sea enclosed it, the rest of the world might seem less empty.”
“Its glass shelves were crowded with small broken objects—hardly recognisable domestic utensils, ornaments and personal trifles—made of glass, of clay, of discoloured bronze and other time-blurred substances. “It seems cruel,” she said, “that after a while nothing matters … any more than these little things, that used to be necessary and important to forgotten people, and now have to be guessed at under a magnifying glass and labelled: ‘Use unknown.’”
“I want somehow to get away with you into a world where words like that—categories like that—won’t exist. Where we shall be simply two human beings who love each other, who are the whole of life to each other; and nothing else on earth will matter.”
“Something he knew he had missed: the flower of life. But he thought of it now as a thing so unattainable and improbable that to have repined would have been like despairing because one had not drawn the first prize in a lottery. There were a hundred million tickets in HIS lottery, and there was only one prize; the chances had been too decidedly against him.”
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is actually a classic I haven't heard much about before, but I thought to pick it up anyway. And it was an interesting story that touched upon a subject not many other books do. I feel like it's the kind of book that needs more than one reading to really absorb everything, but overall I found the story interesting.
The author really did a great job of portraying the society and its people. Admittedly the subject matter bothered me a little, but that's a personal thing. It was written well and there was a definite struggle between what Archer wanted and what he thought was best. And it was a struggle that followed him his entire life. The final scene was especially poignant.
Like many classics, this book feels like it's just as relevant today as it was back then. People are still struggling between what is comfortable and what they desire; they still judge each other based on social class. There is a lot to this book and I'm glad I got a chance to read it.
The author really did a great job of portraying the society and its people. Admittedly the subject matter bothered me a little, but that's a personal thing. It was written well and there was a definite struggle between what Archer wanted and what he thought was best. And it was a struggle that followed him his entire life. The final scene was especially poignant.
Like many classics, this book feels like it's just as relevant today as it was back then. People are still struggling between what is comfortable and what they desire; they still judge each other based on social class. There is a lot to this book and I'm glad I got a chance to read it.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved Edith Wharton’s wit! Though it took me a while to get into her style of writing. I didn’t particularly love the characters or the story, but but really appreciated her wry commentary. And the humour (kissing the umbrella 😂 )
In the end, May stood out to me the most.She was far sharper than she first appeared, and had a distinct idea of how she wanted her life to be and the determination to see it through to the end, no matter what anyone else wanted. But out of demanding obligations be seen through rather than any sort of malice or selfishness. Newland agreed to marry her, it’s not her fault to now expect a husband. And I’m quite convinced she wasn’t pregnant. I tried to do the math and it’s highly suggestive she got pregnant after she claimed to be. Hats off to May. It was so heartbreaking to hear she knew he loved Ellen and ‘gave her up’ (more like forced, but still 😅). Her appreciation or at least acknowledgement of that was sad, and I’m glad Newland was impacted
In the end, May stood out to me the most.