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    The Age of Innocence
    The Age of Innocence
    The Age of Innocence
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    The Age of Innocence

    Written by Edith Wharton

    Narrated by Gayle Hunnicutt

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence is set against an exclusive society background in which she reveals how Newland Archer is often the victim of, rather than the key player in, the events. The plot is constructed on a pattern of ironic misunderstandings: for example, Newland is unaware that Ellen's decision not to sue for divorce was for his and May's sake rather than to conceal her past. Furthermore, Newland remains largely blind to the manipulations of a wife he persists in seeing as innocent and naive.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Copyright Group
    Release dateJan 1, 2014
    ISBN9781780001623
    Author

    Edith Wharton

    Edith Wharton was born in 1862 to a prominent and wealthy New York family. In 1885 she married Boston socialite 'Teddy' Wharton but the marriage was unhappy and they divorced in 1913. The couple travelled frequently to Europe and settled in France, where Wharton stayed until her death in 1937. Her first major novel was The House of Mirth (1905); many short stories, travel books, memoirs and novels followed, including Ethan Frome (1911) and The Reef (1912). She was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature with The Age of Innocence (1920) and she was thrice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was also decorated for her humanitarian work during the First World War.

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    Reviews for The Age of Innocence

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    • 5/5
      Written in the early part of the 20th century, recipient of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, and considered a Classic for a reason. Almost ninety years later, it is still an intriguing look at the smugness of the old order of New York society. Wharton's story of the struggle between personal yearnings and the constraints of propriety combined with her eloquent writing make for an intriguing story of the consequences we pay for our decisions.
    • 5/5
      The plot of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel does not move far or fast, but Wharton's prose is so luminous and descriptive that you hardly mind. I did not like this book as much as "The House of Mirth" (which seems to cover a lot of the same ground) or "Ethan Frome," but by the end, I was still completely caught up in what was happening to the characters. 1870s New York is completely unrecognisable as the city of today, and evidently already was even when this novel was written, but this book helped me appreciate the distinctly Puritan character of American heritage, and perhaps even to understand myself a little better. I was, however, disappointed in the ancillary material in the Barnes and Noble edition. Maureen Howard's introduction provides little more than spoilers other than to say that every detail Wharton writes is for a reason; there is also a major spoiler in the first endnote, so if you had skipped the introduction, you might still have had the ending ruined right from the start. The questions for further discussion are particularly esoteric in this novel and not likely to be of much help to lay readers; they seem drawn from a college literature course.
    • 5/5
      This is one of only four or five books that has actually made me cry. Wharton’s writing also made me underline furiously (which is slightly more difficult on an e-reader, but necessary). "The taste of the usual was like cinders in his mouth, and there were moments when he felt as if he were being buried alive under his future."
    • 5/5
      The Age of Innocence is a book about living your life in respect to appearances. And in 'old' New York it was 'all' about appearances. There is a sameness within all marriages, a sameness between the ladies as well as the gentlemen, a sameness in what time the lights go on in the evenings and the time the curtains are pulled.This could have been a very boring book but it was not at all. In point of fact, I found it to be fascinating. The main character is in love with the young lady that he eventually proposes to, but comes to realize that with her, their marriage will have that boring sameness to it of all the others, that she will be just like all of the other wives which will make him just like all of the other husbands. He meets another young lady who rather than being brought up in old New York was brought up in Europe and finds that she is quite different. She is married to a man whom she has left in Europe due to the very unhappy circumstances in the way he treated her. He becomes fascinated with this woman and even his fiancee tells him that if he should want something different, that she would not want to stand in his way. But...............times being as they were, there are certain standards to be met no matter the happiness or sadness involved.I enjoyed this Wharton tremendously and have found her to be a wonderful author. I highly recommend the book and have given it 4 1/2 stars.
    • 5/5
      I was astonished to find that a book published in 1920 which focuses on the wealthy of New York "Society" in the 1870s is still so relevant in this time and in society as a whole.While the needless, arbitrary, and sometimes harmful rules of "proper" decorum have changed a great deal, current ideas of propriety are still enforced with ostracism and judgement. Individuals still struggle to find genuine happiness in a society where media and culture rigidly define what one should want and need to be happy.Ms. Wharton puts forward the notion that a woman has the same right to sexual experience without judgement as a man does. I find it mildly depressing that we still aren't there yet.
    • 4/5
      This is a cultured, crafted and understated classic novel. The Age of Innocence speaks of so much in the small actions and habits of a dying New York socialite privileged class. It reminded me most of Chekhov played to a jazz backing rather than the melancholic strumming of rural guitars. Much is subsumed including the passions and the love affairs – exquisitely inferred in gestures and tokens. This is not a particularly easy read but it is a luxurious and rewarding one.
    • 5/5
      Loved, loved, loved this book. Wharton's tale of grustrated love and longing, of being claustrophibically penned in and controlled in every way by one's milieu, is a masterpiece. Poor Newland...it's his innocnece, his lack of awareness of society's insidious, pervasive web, that is the theme of the novel. The apparent ingenue, May, is no such thing; instead she's a shrewd, asware you woman not above manipulating both her cousin and her fiance/spouse. What is amazing is the distance between the characters and their real lives. Astoundingly well done. A nice extra touch is the use of Faust, the opera, as a recurring image, pairing Helen/Elena Olenska.
    • 2/5
      Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" is very much akin to Jane Austen's books, only in that the setting is America. In a word: boring and predictable. I could find not discernible plot. This book is being donated!
    • 5/5
      Book Club selection. Great book and discussion. I had heard so much about this book and thought I might not like it, but it surprised me.
    • 5/5
      Edith Wharton's classic novel "The Age of Innocence" is a quietly sad tale of two anachronistic people. Ellen Olenska is eminently modern; she simply does not see the social restrictions and rules that govern everyone around her. She lives her life according to her own code of honor, and has no concept of "the way things are done."Newland Archer, on the other hand, is painfully aware of social trappings and cannot overcome them to live in accordance with his inner beliefs. Because of this, Archer strikes the reader as slightly less noble than Ellen. He's something of a coward, and as the protagonist of the story, his constant waffling lends drama to the narrative.At its core, "The Age of Innocence" is the deftly told story of two people who find each other too late. Both are paired to other people; one is unwilling to cause an innocent person to be hurt, the other totally willing but ultimately chooses the safe, staid path. I've made it sound very dour, but the book is actually a lively examination of the trap that was the rigid social structure of the time.
    • 2/5
      Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" is very much akin to Jane Austen's books, only in that the setting is America. In a word: boring and predictable. I could find not discernible plot. This book is being donated!
    • 2/5
      Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" is very much akin to Jane Austen's books, only in that the setting is America. In a word: boring and predictable. I could find not discernible plot. This book is being donated!
    • 5/5
      The Age of Innocence is a richly drawn portrait of the elegant lifestyles, luxurious brownstones, and fascinating culture of bygone New York society. It shows the atmosphere of desire and emotion and the social order that disturbs the foundation of one's identify. Newland Archer soon will wed May Welland but is attracted to May's cousin, Countess Ellen OLenska. He finds his world comfortable one moment but oppressive the next. Wharton's characters are so true to life that we feel we have certainly met them and know their hearts, souls and yearnings. The ending pacts a powerful punch and is not to be missed. Wharton was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1921. I would highly recommend it to those who love classical fiction.
    • 4/5
      The stilted and highly controlled New York society juxtaposed with the humanity of the protagonists.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book, but when I finished it I threw it from me as violently as I could.
    • 5/5
      This amazing novel makes me want to read more of the Pulitzer fiction winners. At the beginning, I actually thought about dumping it, but quickly caught on after I read the character description and synopsis by Cliff's Notes.
    • 5/5
      This story stayed in my head for months afterwards- I was completely haunted by it. The unnatural and sterile way of life in the Victorian Age crushes a man and woman's only real shot at happiness. The beautiful writing, the detailied descriptions of Victorian rituals, the mad passion of the protagonist, it is all...perfect! There's a reason Wharton won a Pulitzer for this masterpiece.
    • 5/5
      I first read this over 20 years ago — it's one of the few books I remember reading for pleasure while I was in college. And I loved it then, though at the time it was the climax of the first book that struck deepest at my heart. And it's still a fantastic act break, but this time through, the second book resonated more. As it should, because I'm older and more familiar with the way the world works.

      Oddly enough, the two things that the book most reminded me of are Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, and The Wire. The former because, like Morpheus, Newland Archer resists change so long that it does him serious damage. The latter because, like The Wire, it's ultimately a tale of people who are completely at the mercy of the system that they think they can defeat, or at least play to their advantage.

      And I cried at the end, because what else can you do? Gorgeous.
    • 5/5
      The Age of Innocence is probably one of my favorite books of all time. I read it in college and, because of that and for the sake of time, I have chosen not to re-read the Pulitzer winners that I have already read. But, I couldn't resist writing a short note on this one.Wharton wrote The Age of Innocence after World War I. She reflected back to a time when things really did seem innocent - especially in high society. But, things are not always as they appear and Wharton seeks to make that point. High society in the Victoria era was full of rules and regulations about how one was to act regardless of how one really felt. This is a book that I believe is required reading for all. It is very important to be able to step back, examine society, and see it for what it really is. It is easy to condemn those in the past for their social quirks. It is much harder, if not impossible, to step back from our own society and look at it objectively - to see it for what it really is.
    • 4/5
      A romance it is, but the 1920 Pulitzer Prize-winner is more than the flitting dance of eros between the sultry and still-married Madame Olenska and the lovestruck Newland Archer, engaged to the lovely but innocent May Welland. Archer is frustrated by the traditional, mannered circle of his upper crust upbringing of 1870s New York. Relatives of similar creed abound, and are well-drawn by Wharton. The writing is sharp, the forward action is carried well by oft-changing scenes. Settings around NYC and Newport are better than mere set pieces. Novel is deserving of its place among American classics.
    • 3/5
      Surprising, mannered, restrained - especially appropriate ending. All of Wharton's endings are beautiful: inevitable without being predictable.

      Wharton is one of my favourite authors, but there's something... aloof about this book. It's never struck a chord the way The House of Mirth has even though the social commentary is just as concise and the characterisation just as sharp.
    • 3/5
      There is more blushing in this novel than I have encountered elsewhere. The blush seems to be the main mode of expression, since the characters cannot say anything clearly to each other. Newland Archer often "starts" and then says 1/3 to 1/2 of a sentence in anger that quickly evaporates. I'll have to see the movie now to see if Daniel Day Lewis says anything. I also found Newland's attraction to the Countess to be quite mysterious. It is the central undiscussed mystery of the story. I know that life often works that way, but if you are writing a novel you could say something about the crush besides that she doesn't mind living in the same city block as artists do, and that she can decorate a room with only a single feather and blown flowers.

      Here is my favorite quote, a description of Boston:

      "The streets near the station were full of the smell of beer and coffee and decaying fruit and a shirt-sleeved populace moved through them with the intimate abandon of boarders going down the passage to the bathroom."
    • 4/5
      Wharton's unsparing portrait of late 1800s upper class New York shows a society crumbling under the weight of its own pretense and conservatism. The senseless and hypocritical rituals of the upper classes and their tribal persecution of outsiders and nonconformists is portrayed here humorously but also as making many of the most privileged members bear the misery of its burden.
      I find it hard to sympathize with Newland Archer, the novel's protagonist, because he seems so much in denial of his feelings throughout the first part of the novel that when he finally admits that he is in love with the Countess Olenska, he is far too enmeshed in the demands of his role as son and fiance to do anything about it.
    • 5/5
      Wharton's most well-known book invokes the typical Wharton theme of the strictures of society that the wealthy live under: Does one really have any free choice to live one's life as one pleases? Newland Archer thinks he can escape, to ignore the rules of the New York wealthy society in which he lives. He is engaged to be married to May, a girl deeply embedded in New York society, with the correct and proper breeding and education to fit the requirements for a wife. But then Archer meets Countess Ellen Olenska, a woman who has recently returned from Europe after leaving her husband under scandalous circumstances. He believes he has fallen in love with Ellen, and wants to give everything up, his place in New York society, his fiancée May, and run away with Ellen.In Archer's mind, May is an innocent, unaware of how bound up in society's rules she is. But who is the real innocent here--is it Archer who thinks he is brave enough and strong enough to give up everything he has ever known? He can't even recognize that behind the scenes May is manipulating people and events so that her life goes exactly the way she wants it to. In the end, innocent May, may have been the most successful at living life exactly as she chose to.This is a book everyone should read.5 starsFirst line: "On a January evening of the early seventies Christine Nilsson was singing in Faust at the Academy of Music in New York."Last line: "Newland Archer got up and walked back alone to the hotel."
    • 5/5
      Newland Archer... OK, when I was working at IBM, I took my modified guitar in to a music shop. The proprietor asked me if I would like a job there. I could have become a guitar tech, instead of sticking with my corporate software career! It's not as heart throbbing as running off with an exotic beguiling woman, but... conventional security versus taking the leap into adventure and some kind of deeper meaning....This deserves its status as a classic. There is this relentless tension... a masterwork!
    • 4/5
      A few days ago I finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and though I liked it I didn't love it. It was a well written book with a nice story. I didn't understand the really high rating. I didn't think it was psychologically deep. The Age of Innocence went deep. It was about the role of women in society. It was about how much of yourself do you lose if you try and fit it. I gave both books the same rating because even though Innocence went deep it liked itself too much.
    • 5/5
      I actually enjoyed this book. I loved the fact that she really made New York part of this novel. I originally got this because it's a well-known book, but I really like New York City literature for some reason. In my option this is one of the best New York fiction books. Another plus for this book is the historic value. Keep in mind this is the 3rd book to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Edith Wharton is also the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize too (I don't think she won though). Wharton is one smart lady and her writing shows that I think. I'm not so much a fan of her writing though, but I do find her as a person very interesting. No complaints for this book except from the size I thought it would be a light read, for a short novel it was a little difficult.
    • 3/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed The House of Mirth, but boy oh boy this was a drear fest by comparison. The characters were so dully portrayed I couldn't have cared less what romantic choice the protagonist did or didn't make. The whole thing just seemed to go on and on yet never really get anywhere.This novel might have been scintillating when it was written 100 years ago, but for me it paled in comparison with so many other classics from that time. 3 stars - an almost DNF, but I'd given it so many hours of my time I felt compelled to finish it.
    • 5/5
      Classic American novel charting the courses of upper-class New York families in 1870's. Love triangles, longing, black sheep, social maneuvering, and scandals are woven together here to create a never-tiring tale that brings to times to life. The characters are excellently realised, as are the situations which they rotate through with often more spatial volume and apparent cogitation than the colleagues we see every day. As the introduction, let alone the writing suggests, much of this tableau vivant was based on the experiences of the author and those who she knew. Not all the characters are likeable, but this only adds to the interest.
    • 4/5
      For more than 20 years Henry James suggested to Edith Wharton to write about the social circles she grew up in. DO NEW YORK, he told her. When finally she did, she produced The age of innocence, about, in American upper-class parlance "Old New York", the upper crust oldest and wealthiest families or the "Old Money" families in New York, the Rockefellers of the 19th century.The age of innocence is about the moral values of these Old Families. The moral dilemma in this novel is the same as that in James's The portrait of a lady, published 30 years earlier, but Wharton's style is much lighter, and the treatment of this theme much more frivolous.Countess Olenska is a still young American woman, who left the US to get married to a Polish Count. Unhappy in her marriage she shows up in New York, in an attempt to return her family in America. There she meets Newland Archer, who is engaged to get married with her cousin May Welland.Written from the point of view of Newland, Countess Olenska is the young, exotic new belle on the block, making his newly-wed wife May look dull. It isn't until the very last part of the book that the conservative, conventional morals of Old New York, the family and all their friends become clear. A married woman should stay with her husband, no matter what.The age of innocence is much drawn out and rather unfocussed, with its main theme not becoming fully clear until the end. It would probably have been much more forceful if it was a novella, of less than half its number of pages.