Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence, is both a poignant story of frustrated love and an extraordinarily vivid, delightfully satirical record of a vanished world - the Gilded Age of New York City. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. This edition features an introduction by award ...
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Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence, is both a poignant story of frustrated love and an extraordinarily vivid, delightfully satirical record of a vanished world - the Gilded Age of New York City. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. This edition features an introduction by award-winning novelist Rachel Cusk, author of Outline. As the scion of one of New York's leading families, Newland Archer has been born into a life of sumptuous privilege and strict duty. But the arrival of the Countess Olenska, a free spirit who breathes clouds of European sophistication, makes him question the path on which his upbringing has set him. As his fascination with her grows, he discovers just how hard it is to escape the bonds of the society that has shaped him. The novel was the inspiration for Martin Scorsese's film of the same name, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder.
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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.
