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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Very well-written and poignant, with a great portrait of the menace of social norms. Archer and Countess Olenska are both well-drawn and understandable characters, but I was most interested in May and the insight and strength that Archer never really understands in her. I much preferred this to The House of Mirth.
“in reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs”
This is a beautifully written classic, but I guess historical romance just isn't for me. A love triangle and commentary on social pressures should be a fabulous plot, but I was bored. I attempted the 1993 film after reading and fell asleep. I wanted more than just pretty words.
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"...he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together by ignorance on the one side and hypocrisy on the other."
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"...an undisturbed belief in the abysmal distinction between the women one loved and respected and those one enjoyed and pitied...it was undoubtedly foolish of the man, but somehow always criminal of the woman. All the elderly ladies...regarded any woman who loved imprudently as necessarily unscrupulous and designing, and mere simple-minded man as powerless in her clutches."
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"To get away from you as far as I could."
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"...he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together by ignorance on the one side and hypocrisy on the other."
.
"...an undisturbed belief in the abysmal distinction between the women one loved and respected and those one enjoyed and pitied...it was undoubtedly foolish of the man, but somehow always criminal of the woman. All the elderly ladies...regarded any woman who loved imprudently as necessarily unscrupulous and designing, and mere simple-minded man as powerless in her clutches."
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"To get away from you as far as I could."
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writting of this book is beautiful, but the plot isn't my favorite. It isn't very engaging and at least to me there is no one in this book worth rooting for, but I will say I truly loved the ending.
The Age of Innocence is a mini-Madame Bovary - shrunk down and told in an obvious, plain, English-as-first-language way, suited to an America beginning to adapt to exactly this. We do not see inside the head of the adulteress and nothing immediately scandalising happens. This is fine. Wharton has a way of writing about love that switches deftly from switched-off Austen to switched-on Flaubert. The excitement of a married man’s love interest lies in what we are not shown - the mysterious backstories never told, the bodices never ripped open.
I am not surprised that Scorsese chose to adapt this, because it is earnestly masculine and very slightly tacky.
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I am not surprised that Scorsese chose to adapt this, because it is earnestly masculine and very slightly tacky.
My blog
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes