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Not strictly Victorian: The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
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In fact, the Pulitzer won by Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence in 1920 was the first Pulitzer won by a woman author. Willa Cather won a Pulitzer three years later for her One of Ours.
Wow, I had no idea. Thanks so much for sharing this piece of trivia Christopher! To win a Pulitzer is a great achievement, but to be the first female author is groundbreaking. My admiration of Edith Wharton is growing if not by the minute than by the page - I am about 1/3 of the way into Age of Innocence :)
Okay I still haven't finished, but I love the nod to "Middlemarch." If you haven't read it, this is not a spoiler, but Newland Archer orders a bunch of books and mentions this novel specifically. I got a huge kick out of it!
That's so funny! I think I have Middlemarch somewhere on my shelf I can't wait to read about that, haha.
I really love The Age of Innocence. The language is beautiful you can feel the passion inside Newland's heart.
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I would like to read this book soon, cos I watched the movie and it left me feeling like it was incomplete in some way.
I loved [Book: The House of Mirth] when I read it a couple of years ago so I'd be up for reading this one too. Did someone mention February next year? or did I make that up??? - That would be fine for me anyway if thats what the plan is.Ally
I think with everyone's schedules and upcoming holidays, most people wouldn't get to this book until next Jan/Feb. The discussion will always be open, however, so feel free to comment whenever you read it.
I had hoped to read it before my trip to NYC mid-December, time dependent. If anyone would like to have a read before then too I could be persuaded :o)
This novel is so wonderful - I'm up for a discussion whenever everyone has time to pick it up. There are some nice winter scenes . . . I'm just sayin'. :)
Ally wrote: "I loved [Book: The House of Mirth] when I read it a couple of years ago so I'd be up for reading this one too. Did someone mention February next year? or did I make that up??? - That would be fine ..."I'm reading House of Mirth currently and am really enjoying it. So if it is not Victorian, what is it actually considered, because I really enjoy the genre.
*spoken from a Victorian amateur* :)
I look forward to reading more by Wharton.
Tisha wrote: "Ally wrote: "I loved [Book: The House of Mirth] when I read it a couple of years ago so I'd be up for reading this one too. Did someone mention February next year? or did I make that up??? - That w..."Well, Tisha, it really depends upon whom you ask. Some will say that this, one of Wharton's earlier novels, is squarely in the tail-end of the Victorian period. I look at it like this; first, she's an American author, and while influences from the UK existed they were not the end all. Secondly, Wharton was a realist; her experiences stoked her fires and her pen. Wharton and her American contemporary, Willa Cather, were really plowing some new ground with their writing. They both wrote, quite vividly, about the life around them at that time. In the case of Edith Wharton, she wrote about the upper-crust New York High Society; and in the case of Willa Cather, she wrote about life on the Nebraska prairie or the high desert of New Mexico. The bottom-line, it ain't easy to pigeon-hole either of these women, and they probably shouldn't be.
So, consider them late-Victorian; consider them Edwardian. Myself, I consider them terrific American authors; both winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction within two years of each other. Cheers! Chris
Tisha, are you up for a read of The Age of Innocence in Nov or early dec or are you Whartoned-out?
Lindsay wrote: "This novel is so wonderful - I'm up for a discussion whenever everyone has time to pick it up. There are some nice winter scenes . . . I'm just sayin'. :)"That sounds cool, Lindsay. I loved the winter scenes in Ethan Frome .
Boof wrote: "Tisha, are you up for a read of The Age of Innocence in Nov or early dec or are you Whartoned-out? "
No, I would be up for a read. I'm reading another book November 1st (a hefty one) with some people, but early December would be perfect. :)
Yay! Perfect timing for me ☺
The House of Mirth ends rather sadly!! *sniff*
Yes, but Wharton's House of Mirth ends precisely as it was meant to. Wharton wanted us to stew over that ending - and we all do. Cheers! Chris
I came across this article about Wharton's Paris on the NYT site yesterday. Enjoy!Link : http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/...
(I have no idea why the url is so long)
Thanks for the link Sandy. Isn't that interesting that she wrote the first draft of Ethan Frome in French! What a talented lady.
N.a.u.s.h.e.e.n *the* s.t.a.r p.r.!.n.c.e.s.$ wrote: "The House of Mirth ends rather sadly!! *sniff*"Oh noooo... now i'm trying to figure out what will happen.
And now I'm really curious to find out what happens!
Sandybanks wrote: "I came across this article about Wharton's Paris on the NYT site yesterday. Enjoy!Link : http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/......."
Ahhhhh, thanks for posting that Sandy. I was sitting in that exact garden (the Luxembourg) this time last week! We went for a stroll after breakfast and it was beautiful.
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Tisha, yeah it's sad howit ends....for a while I wanted it to all come together for her, but! seems Edith wants us to stew if you believe ChrisI'm not complaining about how The Age of Innocence ends, it is so poetical and sad and also romantic.
The House of Mirth is a good one too, but I don't really like the hero (whom I forget the name). But Lily Bart is an interesting character :)
Lindsay wrote: "Okay I still haven't finished, but I love the nod to "Middlemarch." If you haven't read it, this is not a spoiler, but Newland Archer orders a bunch of books and mentions this novel specifically. ..."What do you mean "nod to Middlemarch"? In the way it was written or the setting? I read Middlemarch just recently so am curious.
Boof wrote: "Tisha, are you up for a read of The Age of Innocence in Nov or early dec or are you Whartoned-out? "
Are we still reading this at the start of December??
I'd still like to if you're up for it? If not we can postpone for another time.
No, I'm ready to read it...I just wanted to double-check. :)
N.♥.u.s.h.e.e.n aka St♥rPr!nce$s wrote: "Tisha, yeah it's sad howit ends....for a while I wanted it to all come together for her, but! seems Edith wants us to stew if you believe ChrisI'm not complaining about how The Age of Innocence..."
Yes, House of Mirth has a sad ending, but it's the only one it COULD have had, given everything else hat happened, which is the mark of a great novel. But I guess I shouldn't say more so as not to spoil it for others. The movie of House of Mirth (with Gillian Anderson, of Bleak House and the X Files) was fantastic, far better than the movie version of "The Age of Innocence" which was beautifully put together, but rather cold, as someone in this section put it. I bought the DVD of House of Mirth in the gift store of Edith Wharton's house in Lennox, Massachusetts, which you can tour. The woman who rang up my purchase made a very interesting comment about the book/movie but I won't reveal it till later in the discussion, as it would give away too much.
I've started Age of Innocence and I'm already loving it. Is anybody else reading yet? Becca?
I saw the movie, read the book, I have a few of Wharton's other books, the Custom of the country, and Summer, different genres of her writing style.
I recently bought a volume of Edith Wharton's work - Age of Innocence, House of Mirth and Ethan Frome. I just finished the The House of Mirth and WOW! It is such beautiful and elegant writing, and the tension that builds through Lily's moral dilemmas is handled so well. I was all teared up on the train trip home as i finished it! Now I feel like I have a treat in store with the other two still to read!
Edith Wharton was one of the greatest American early twentieth century writers. She had an elegant prose style and her characters are believable and psychologically complex. She also excelled at constructing dramatic metaphors. For example, there's a scene in "The Age of Innocence" where the newlywed Archers are returning from the opera. At the time (1870s) newly married women in New York high society wore their wedding dresses to social events, e.g. the opera. As she exits the carriage, May catches her wedding dress in the door; the dress is torn and soiled. May suspects that her husband, Newland, is having an affair with her cousin, Countess Olenska. The way Wharton constructs and carries forward the dramatic metaphor of the wedding dress/troubled marriage is brilliant and effective.
Wharton had an interesting Master/Disciple relationship with Henry James. They were close friends for many years, although they were not above criticizing each others work. And their relationship was complicated by Edith's ultimately unhappy affair with one of James's closest friends.
There's a reference in Chapter 22 of "The Age of Innocence" to the Henry James story, "The Beast in the Jungle":
"Archer was dealing hurriedly with crowding thoughts. His whole future seemed suddenly to be unrolled before him; and passing down its endless emptiness he saw the dwindling figure of a man to whom nothing was ever to happen."
Here's the referenced passage from the second to last page of the James story:
"The fate he had been marked for he had met with a vengeance--he had emptied the cup to the lees; he had been the man of his time, the man to whom nothing on earth was to have happened."
I don't know if any critics have noted that reference, but I underlined it and made a margin note when I read "The Age of Innocence."
Gary, thanks for this post. When I finished this novel earlier this year, I thought it should go on my Top Ten list, perhaps at the top of that fictitious list. You've recalled to my mind how special it is.
You're welcome, Elizabeth. It's a great novel.If you haven't read it, I'd also recommend "The House of Mirth." It's beautifully written, and the protagonist, Lily Bart, is an unforgettable tragic heroine. Wharton used sharp dramatic irony portraying a young woman whose tragic "flaw" is her fine sense of honor.
And to continue the James/Wharton connection, there's a scene in "The House of Mirth" where Lawrence Selden sees Lily leaving Gus Trenor's town house late at night (with his wife out of town) that reminded me of the scene where Winterbourne meets Daisy Miller at midnight in the Coliseum while she's in the company of Mr. Giovanelli. Both scenes lead to misunderstandings, with tragic results.
Wharton and James are two of my favorite authors, and they've influenced my own writing.
Gary
Bringing this thread to the fore is serendipitous for me, as I'd already decided another Wharton should be my next read. The House of Mirth is one of my choices. ;-)
That is a happy coincidence! I think you'll like "The House of Mirth." BTW, there's a fine film version with Gillian Anderson and Eric Stoltz, although I don't think it's quite as good as the Martin Scorsese "The Age of Innocence" with Daniel Day Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder.
Marjorie wrote: "My favorite Wharton book is probably The Custom of the Country, not as well-known perhaps as The House of Mirth or The Age of Innocence. I confess to a love-hate, which I suspect Whart..."The Custom of the Country sounds very interesting, and its anti-heroine seems like the polar opposite of The House of Mirth's tragic Lily Bart. It's going on my to-read list.
Gary wrote: "That is a happy coincidence! I think you'll like "The House of Mirth." BTW, there's a fine film version with Gillian Anderson and Eric Stoltz, although I don't think it's quite as good as the Marti..."Age of Innocence is such a fantastic film - that scene with the exposed wrist ... Wow!
Cathy wrote: "Gary wrote: "That is a happy coincidence! I think you'll like "The House of Mirth." BTW, there's a fine film version with Gillian Anderson and Eric Stoltz, although I don't think it's quite as good..."Yes, that scene is a great example of the almost lost art of showing the erotic without being graphic.
Victorians!
Books mentioned in this topic
The Custom of the Country (other topics)The House of Mirth (other topics)
Here is a quick description to entice you should you remain unconvinced: Published in 1920, The Age of Innocence presents a picture of upper-class New York society in the late 19th century. In the story Newland Archer, though engaged to May Welland, a beautiful and proper fellow member of elite society, is attracted to Ellen Olenska, a former member of their circle who has been living in Europe but who has left her husband under mysterious circumstances and returned to her family's New York milieu. The novel was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. (The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature)