The Age of Innocence (AmazonClassics Edition)

De: Edith Wharton

Narrado por: Dick Hill

It's the perfect match - gentleman lawyer Newland Archer will marry young socialite May Welland. The marriage should be a source of pride for Newland, accustomed as he is to meeting the expectations of New York's high society. But when he falls for May's exotic and enchanting cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, he faces an impossible choice: should he be the dutiful husband and stay with his bride, or give in to his passions and follow the countess around the world?

A classic that encapsulates the etiquette of the times, The Age of Innocence is as much about loyalty, duty, and decorum as it is about desire.

Revised edition: Previously published as The Age of Innocence, this edition of The Age of Innocence (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

"Clever vs fashionable people"

I enjoyed slight of hand jabs at the “clever vs fashionable” early 19th century New York people Edith Wharton throws shade at in this book.

But the story slogs quite a bit with descriptions of the mundane. Mostly, I couldn't related to the romance/conflict which I felt was over dramatic - but maybe that was the intention when the author wrote it 99 years ( written in 1920).

An American classic

The novel is a masterly depiction of the Golden Age in the United States. It deals with a wealthy social group with its strict code of conduct, but change is inexorably on its way. Edith Wharton 's writing is masterly in terms of scintillating prose, plot, background and characterisation. Dick Hill’s narration is wonderful. Listening to the book gave me pleasure from beginning to end.

Forbidden Love in New York's Guilded Age

Edith Wharton has some of the most beautiful prose and clever turns of phrase in all of classic American Literature. I constantly found myself writing down some unique way she had of describing something that jumped off the page at me. New York socialites in the late 19th century is an exciting time, and you can definitely feel the push and pull between the old and new ways of doing things. The story itself is beautiful and a little agonizing, though I did find myself shaking my head at young Archer's endless dramatics at times. The narrator was great and did all the voices well. Very interested in reading more of Edith Wharton's works!

Great Classic Story of Forbidden Romance

I’m a big fan of the movie starring Daniel Day Lewis and Michelle Pfiffer. I wanted to hear the original. Very entertaining along the lines of The Gilded Age with its 1880s New York society backstabbing. At its finest it asks a lot of relevant questions about the role of sexism in American views of morality. The narrator did a better job with some characters than others, but excelled at hinting at their hidden motives. The real meat of the story lies in what is left unsaid behind the superficial niceties of their socially restrictive world.

Mispronunciations ruin the story

The most glaring mispronounciation is Beaufort, pronounced BOFORT. The narrator says Bwewfort.
Terrible and unfortunate. Why did someone not stop him?