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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
I loved this one and will probably re-read it at some point.
after a house of mirth and then this, i am now a huge edith wharton fan. i flew through this book in about a week, couldn't put it down. it was really astute and beautiful and crushing. really funny as well. what an amazing person she must have been to have written so aptly about her society during those times!
I just really couldn’t get into it. Will try again some other time
Wow. Absolutely floored by the beauty, wisdom, and pure excellence of this book. Though I've loved and cherished a lot of books, it is still somewhat rare when I love a book so much that I GENUINELY don't want it to end. There are the books I've loved where, in a secret part of my mind, I'm racing along in order to get to the next book. But I simply wanted The Age of Innocence to carry on forever. This was also rare in that I didn't just love it as a whole, from a distanced perspective, but each line, each word, each plot twist, was closely coveted. The words seemed to be spun together like an intricately woven, soft, delicate garment of the richest quality. It's books like these that makes the English language seem on par with the eloquence and romanticism of French. But it had none of the English stuffiness and monotony of some of the other "greats". And this is just the writing. The STORY itself I find to be one of the best, truest, most beautiful love stories of all time. This book brings to light the philosophy of love being about appreciation rather than possession, which couldn't have come at a better time in my life. The two protagonists are tragic in that their love is never fulfilled, but this love seems stronger and more real than any other Jane Austen snooze-fest I can think of. Ah!! I can't say enough great things about this book. One of my new all time favorites! 5 stars!!
The way Edith Wharton writes about longing is so deeply beautiful (also like she took a peak into my brain), she is so severely under appreciated. The way she manages to pack comments on the status of women, class and the fakeness of upper-class society into a book based around two people yearing i am in awe!
“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 wond might seem less empty.”
“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 wond might seem less empty.”
Listening to this in the form of a very well done audio production, I felt like I was listening to a play - that it's run time was a little over two hours also likely contributed to that feeling. For fans of the Gilded Era, the Age of Innocence is a smart and clever novel that continues to resonate in terms of how social conventions can keep people trapped in the life white, upper class culture determines. I really enjoyed this classic and would recommend it to others who are enthralled by the possibilities of the novel.
What. The. Heck. I was caught up in this for most of the book, I’ll admit there were some dull parts to the book, but I found myself unsatisfied by the ending. There really is no closer and you don’t get to find out what happened with Ellen. He deserved his happy ending and could have gotten it, but just walked away... !?