Rating: 
Summary: An Age of Innocence
Review: I will admit that at first the idea of reading a novel from the early 1900s did not appeal to me. I was not prepared to read such an intriguing novel. The author, Edith Wharton, introduced me to the world of 1870s New York. Although this book is written in an elevated style, it is still very impressive. The characters are very realistic and interesting. Surprisingly, it could easily be rewritten in today's English in a modern setting. The story line is something that probably happens daily in modern America. The Age of Innocence is a well-written novel. Wharton has amazing insight into a world utterly unknown to the world today. This book is an excellent read for any English class you might take. I read it mainly because I needed to read a classic for my English class. I was not in the least disappointed in my choice. I would recommend it to anyone who can handle a book that starts out a little slow, but brings everything together in an interesting ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Written....
Review: While this book is extremely well written, it never fails to depress me, as does the movie. It is set in new York around the 1870s and is about the most upper crust portion of New York society. In the time period, it was the goal of fashionable society to mimic England, so the characters adopt the frigid and strict values of London society.Our hero, Newland Archer, is engaged to a perfect, prim, and proper May, but feels true passion for her cousin, the Lady Olenska who has been shunned from popular society for leaving her abusive husband, and then living with her male rescuer. Archer is torn between the values that have been shoved down his throat since he was a child, such as that it was his duty to marry a respectable lady. On the other hand is the attraction he feels for the wrong woman, the pariah of society. Well, Archer does marry May, which is what made me sad. I hate to think that he sacrificed himself to a life of boredom and propriety with a woman he does not love. However, one feels a certain respect for Archer who remains faithful to his wife through their marriage, and genuinly does care for her. I also feel for May, who appears to know nothing of Archer's struggle, but is really not as oblivious as the reader might first think. However, whether or not I like what happens is a moot point, because this situation is probably an accurate representation of the times. I don't recommend it to anyone who will be saddened by what occurs and doesn't like to be sad. If you like that kind of thing, then I recommend it highly.
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Summary: RSO should have read the book FIRST
Review: The book is a masterful piece of literature; in my opinion, one of Wharton's best and a competitor with any author's work of the period. The movie is quite true to the book, but why rely on someone else's vision when you can have yours? I pictured the Countess much differently and would never have cast M.P. in that role. Read the book. Then if you feel compelled to rent the movie, you won't be disappointed. Do it the other way around and you might. However, this is NOT a book you have to "trudge" through. It is literature at its finest.
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Summary: "She didn't ask me."
Review: After declaring Martin Scorsese's movie version of the novel perhaps my most favorite movie of all time, I felt compelled to read the book. It was a long and arduous task, with only a mediocre reward at the end. Don't get me wrong; I loved the premise of the novel and it was probably finely written for the time (1921), but it's not exactly my cup of tea. The story is essentially one of forbidden love in the tight-lipped 1870s "Old New York" society. Newland Archer falls in love with his fiancee's "foreign" cousin, Ellen Olenska. He rushes into his marriage to May but still feels love for the disgraced Ellen. As for social commentary on the times, this was an excellent novel. However, the plot gets lost in a few places. The minor characters dominate, and attention is drawn away from the essential tale. It makes the love story flat and unfeeling. In the end, everyone's manipulation is exposed and it's a wonderful feeling, getting caught up in the lushiousness of the subtle cruelty. The 1993 movie was very true to the novel, doing little more than changing the surnames of two characters. To me, this plot was better in a movie, because so much is visual--the languid setting, the decisive movements of the characters. My advice is, don't give up if you can't trudge through the book. Rent the movie: you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great literature; really deserves to be more widely read!
Review: "The Age of Innocence" is a wonderful read on many levels for all kinds of readers. It shouldn't just appeal to "literature" buffs but also to romance readers, those interested in history or psychology, and anyone looking for an interesting and involving story. Wharton weaves an intriguing tale of New York society in the late 19th century, where old ways have not yet made way for "modern" views, but it's evident that it is only a matter of time. For example, what would have been considered socially unacceptable in Newland and May Archer's time, such as marrying your mistress after your wife dies, is perfectly alright by the time May and Newland's son, Dallas, is ready to marry. Dallas is to marry the daughter of the previously mentioned union, demonstrating that by the early 20th century, the old social conventions of Old New York have gone by the wayside. Unfortunately this didn't happen in time for Newland and the Countess, and in fact, it appears that he wishes that everything could remain the same as it was in his youth, which is seen by his reaction to Countess Olenska at the end of the novel. What makes the book truly great, though, is Wharton's detail of EVERYthing, from how a dinner was served, to an evening at the opera, and more. It's almost impossible not to enter the mind of the characters; they are so completely and complexly developed that this book should be required reading for every writer! I really give this book 4 1/2 stars; the only reason it isn't 5 stars is because the ending was a little disappointing to me, although it was quite in keeping with the characters and the story. We tend to satisfy our curiosity as soon as possible, but a hundred years ago one had to look at other issues as more important than personal satisfaction.
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Summary: A sublime love story, but don't expect a smootchy ending
Review: The story is set in the 1870's in Manhattan. Newland Archer is young, wealthy, good-looking and ranks quite high in society. He is to be married to his "perfect" society counterpart May Welland. Right before their engagement Newland is introduced to May's cousin the Countess Olenska who has just returned from a disappointing marriage in Europe. She has a somewhat scandalous past (at least as far as society is considered) and Newland is attracted to her almost immediately. What develops is a tragic yet beautiful conflict within Newland that strains him to the utmost limit of his character. He puruses the Countess while making wedding plans with May. I won't ruin it for you by telling you who he gets in the end, but don't expect a flowery, kissy, smootchy ending. Instead, Edith Wharton goes to great lengths to describe the reality behind the facade of this society and she does so with astonishing clarity and frankness. This is one of my all time favorite books and will be for some time to come I can be sure. Every time I read it I see the story unfold on a whole new level. SIDE NOTE: See the movie! Usually, any movie version will pale in comparsion, especially in comparision to the book, but this is an exceptional exception! Martin Scorcese unfolds the tale with incredible attention to detail and provides the moviegoer with a unique experience... A movie that actually is as good (if not better) than the book. BTW, Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for letters. She did so with this book in 1921.
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Summary: Is there an age of innocence?
Review: This beautifully written book is definitely one of the best books of twentieth century as well as Edith Wharton's masterpiece. It is engrossing and exciting. The story is in Old New York, where life is so much different from our present life. The main charachter, Newland Archer, is engaged to marry his beautiful cousin May Welland. Then ,Countess Olenska , May's Europeanized cousin, steps into their life and stirs the educated sensivity of Newland Archer. Newland finds out his passion for the Countess, however it is too late now : the wedding is only a month off. The charachters are very interesting just like the plot!. May is identified with "Lilies -of -the-valley" , whereas Ellen Olenska is identified with more exotic flowers:Yellow Roses. Lilies of the valley symbolize May's innocence and purity while yellow roses symbolize Ellen's infidelity. As you travel through the pages of the book ,you'll visit another world: A world where women are wearing corsets, order their dresses from Paris and live in a world of velvet ,silk ,satin and finest cashmere. Where people go to Operas in carriages and watch them with their jewelled opera glasses.A world filled with balls and dinner parties.A world where people are unbelievably afraid of the smallest disgrace... Where society has rules as rigid as womens' corsets... The age of innocence will teach you that there is no age of innoscence.
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Summary: A Stirring Social Commentary
Review: I am a college student with a plethora of essays to write, tests to study for, and books to read (most of which I honestly don't have time to finish); but many a task were set aside and the fluorescent light in my dorm room burned late into the night as I was drawn into Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence. I was enticed by every one of Wharton's characters and the settings they so splendidly occupy. In the first scene, we are not only introduced to the central characters of the novel, but also to Wharton's keen insight on New York high society in the 1870's; they are a people who "dreaded scandal more than disease," and "want to get away from amusement ever more quickly than they want to get to it." We meet and are immediately attracted to the young and intelligent Newland Archer, who is admiring from afar his fiancé-to-be at the New York Opera. Both Archer and his love, May Welland, are of the highest class and make the most fitting couple (as is to be expected). But as Archer is studying May's purity and imagining their wedded bliss, he notices the entrance of a scandalously clad young woman into May's opera box. [Insert dramatic music] The appearance of Countess Olenska (May's cousin) triggers gasps and rumors from the observant, and introduces the central and ensuing conflicts of the novel: non-conformity versus docile submission, passionate love versus restraint and responsibility. In The Age of Innocence, Wharton presents a dichotomy of characters that we are compelled to identify with. She submits a moral dilemma that she purposefully neglects to resolve. My passionate, impulsive side yearned for Archer to forget any and all promises he had made, to forget the shame that he would bring upon his and May's family, and just escape with Countess Olenska from the stiff New York society forced upon him. But my reasonable, more stable side knew that this would only have tragic results for all involved. But should he endure a life of tedium just to keep up appearances? Was it in fact a life if tedium, or did it prove fruitful in the end? These are all quandaries left for Wharton's audience to sort through and decide for themselves. I love The Age of Innocence; Wharton paints a lucid portrait of a society I was unfamiliar with but now feel inexplicably linked to; of a people who were consciously blinded by a rigid stratum of etiquette and propriety. I am grateful to live in a much more liberated time, where my every word and action isn't scrutinized by an entire city. But I couldn't help but be enthralled and enchanted by the gas lit streets, the majestic ballrooms, and the other charming aspects of old New York. The Age of Innocence is one of the best social commentaries I have ever read, and I recommend it to all.
Rating:
Summary: The Age of Innocence
Review: The Age of Innocence is the first book I have read by Edith Wharton. I love the way she portrays New York society in the 1870's and the way she truthfully reveals the corrupt nature of the gilded age. The repression of individualism and true thinking during this era is sickening, but the way Wharton sets up the plot, makes the reader see the sadness of a society so built on appearances. It was hard for me to believe that the characters in this book could sacrifice so much happiness in the name of morals soley based on appearances and "duties." These morals are as hollow as the society surrounding the gilded age. The sad irony in this book is enthralling and Wharton's style of writing is very precise, helping the reader to see through the masks of the characters and into their true emotions and thoughts.
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Summary: May or Ellen?
Review: The Age of Innocence takes place in an elitist society in New York City. When I say "elitist", I don't mean that they were more educated, more gifted, or more able than others in society. This elitist society had nothing but pompous arrogance. It consisted of wealthy folks who were so caught up in appearance and reputation that they didn't know how to live. They become so preoccupied in their efforts to stay within the cultural norms, that they had no sense of discovery or originality. These attributes of society are displayed throughout the book, and Newland Archer is part of it. Young Archer is set to marry his sweetheart, May Welland, when May's cousin, Ellen Olenska enters their stuffy little community. Ellen does not conform to the "unspoken" rules of society, which makes her an immediate outcast and deviant. However, Newland Archer becomes infatuated with this "strange" young woman and begins to question the society in which he lives. Newland experiences a great internal struggle. He loves May, but his love and admiration of Ellen is of a different kind. His choices: stay with May and society or go off with Ellen, whom he truly loves, and be ostracized from society. To those of us who are free spirited the choice seems easy, but I wonder if we would have the courage to go against something that we have followed and upheld our entire lives. I'm about to spoil the story for those who have not read it yet...Though Newland feels an urge to step outside of the society which holds him hostage, he decides that he must stay within the boundaries of the society. He marries May and lives regretfully ever after. What can we learn from Young Archer's experiences? We are our own people and we are here to have joy and happiness. If we get our minds so clouded with what people think of us, we will become slaves to their opinions, hostages to their "unspoken" rules. This is not the way to find happiness. We find happiness through following our dreams, through being individuals. A society like the one in which Newland Archer lived is sure to fall, but an individual who has his own ideas, his own conscious, can stand forever.
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