There is a distinct possibility that I've discovered the perfect Fall read for young New Yorkers with a Netflix subscription. Scratch that--most anyone should like this book. I'm talking about Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, which won the Pulitzer in 1921. Wharton was previously known for The House of Mirth, which took a sharply satirical look at the caste system of affluent New York. The Age of Innocence was lauded as an apology for the severity of that earlier novel and succeeds--quite impressively-- in drawing a social critique that never once infringes on the reader's development of real empathy for its characters.
Newland Archer, a well-intentioned young lawyer (played by Daniel Day Lewis in the adaptation), has a longing for all things exotic and edifying. We open on a night at the opera and a society ball, where he is about to announce his engagement to May Welland, an appropriate match in class and station. In her purity and cultivated naivete, May is everything society expects of a young wife. But opera night marks another social milestone for the Wellands--the reentry into society of their cousin Ellen Olenska, newly returned from Europe and disgraced by a scandalous separation from her husband. Over the course of the novel, May's family asks Newland to advise Ellen and prevent her from divorcing her husband, as divorce would bring dishonor to the family. But in examining Ellen's case, Newland begins to develop an intimacy with the "fallen woman," which threatens his engagement and future happiness. Ellen's growing feelings for Newland, meanwhile, must compete with her blinding desire to remake her life in a way that does no harm to anyone.
More than any book I've read recently, The Age of Innoncence shatters the heart just as it seeks to mend it again. Read the book, watch the film, and share this timeless New York novel with everyone you know.
One of my favorite books!
Posted by: Leigh | October 03, 2011 at 12:47 PM
I love both the book and the film.
Posted by: diane | October 03, 2011 at 05:28 PM
Some exciting news for anyone in the tri-state area this week! To celebrate the launch of Blake Butler's There Is No Year, we'll be hosting a 4-night reading series in Manhattan and Brooklyn. If you're into David Lynch, imagery as poetry, and visceral dissonance as enlightenment, Blake Butler is your man. His writing is stunning and challenging--and he just may be the heir apparent to post-modern masters of the last century like Donald Barthelme.
Posted by: Moncler Outlet | October 27, 2011 at 03:56 AM