{"id":524,"date":"2009-06-11T13:40:03","date_gmt":"2009-06-11T20:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=524"},"modified":"2010-10-09T02:23:42","modified_gmt":"2010-10-08T20:53:42","slug":"book-review-the-age-of-innocence-edith-wharton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2009\/book-reviews\/book-review-the-age-of-innocence-edith-wharton.html\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finished reading \u201cThe Age of Innocence\u201d last night and it\u2019s left a kind of bittersweet impression in my mind. Several components struck me \u2013 aspects of the book that give you a unique perspective of what the author was trying to convey.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, this was one of the few books by a woman that I\u2019ve really enjoyed, though I could make out instantly even if I didn\u2019t know it, that the author is a woman. It\u2019s not corny like \u201cPride and Prejudice\u201d, but I feel it does over romanticize some aspects of a relationship between a man and a woman \u2013 something that most women are guilty of.<\/p>\n

Old New York Society<\/h2>\n

The heart of the book is the fabulous depiction of old New York Society. It\u2019s mannerisms, the way things were always implied and the \u201cdecorum\u201d that must be maintained. I was astonished first and foremost by how much was left unsaid those days, which was still perfectly well known to all. Superficial conversation hid reams of dialogue. A totally new experience for us in this time who say what we mean and mean what we say.<\/p>\n

\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Age of Innocence<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But it also showcases their narrow mindedness and how \u201csociety\u201d was supposed to be made up of unblemished individuals and how anything unusual was not only avoided, but shunned with a kind of horror. Curtsies must be paid and everything was \u201cdone\u201d in a certain way and in a certain order. I don\u2019t know why this sort of society still has the power to surprise me especially after being exposed to it numerous times in the writings of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dumas, and many others. It just feels so different from today.<\/p>\n

However, at the end of the book, which also shows the world as we know it more or less today, I was caught off guard by a sort of nostalgia for how things were. Surprising, because there is no way on earth that I would want to be present in that kind of society. But still, it presented a sort of safety<\/em>, where old values had tangible meaning. Despite the title of the book though, there was nothing \u201cinnocent\u201d about it \u2013 except on the surface. And maybe the author is trying to draw our minds to the irony.<\/p>\n

Allegory\/Metaphor<\/h3>\n

I also noticed something that perhaps had always been present in writing, but never forced it\u2019s attention onto me. The use of symbolism. I suddenly noticed that maybe<\/em> the author was trying to say something by describing something else. I\u2019ve never analyzed literature too closely, mostly taking everything at face value, and it\u2019s possible I\u2019m imagining things here. But for example, when an old wedding dress tears and gets a bit dirty in the mud, perhaps<\/em> the author is using that as a symbol of the state of the marriage itself. Like I said, maybe it\u2019s my imagination, but I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never before paused to ask the question \u201cWhy did the author write this?\u201d, always assuming that everything is part of the story. It\u2019s an interesting tactic to describe something leaving a vague impression in the reader\u2019s mind that the writer is trying to tell us something that would be best left unsaid.<\/p>\n

Virtuous Romance<\/h2>\n

The novel paints situations where a man and a woman obviously love each other, but refuse to even touch \u2013 saying that it would be a betrayal of those who place their faith in them. All the words are spoken, but the man quietly accepts the non-physical component of it, going as far as to say that he wasn\u2019t interested in any physical consummation. This is where my disbelief enters leads to my claim that only a woman could have written this!<\/p>\n

No man I know is capable of loving purely ethereally (and I\u2019m certain no knowledgeable woman is capable of it for long either) and though later on the subject of sex is touched upon ever so slightly, I still feel that this highly romantic view of love is unrealistic. I\u2019ve noticed this sort of thing in women\u2019s novels before \u2013 romance is sacred and sex is to be far removed from the scene! Ouch\u2026It just doesn\u2019t happen that way.<\/p>\n

Basically, a great read, and strongly recommended to all who would like to see how things \u201cwere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finished reading \u201cThe Age of Innocence\u201d last night and it\u2019s left a kind of bittersweet impression in my mind. Several components struck me \u2013 aspects of the book that give you a unique perspective of what the author was trying to convey. Interestingly, this was one of the few books by a woman that I\u2019ve … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-sa"],"yoast_head":"\nBook Review: "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Book review of "The Age of Innocence" by Edit Wharton. 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