The age of innocence - Hardcover

Wharton, Edith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760700141 ISBN 13: 9780760700143

Publisher: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996

Synopsis

Old New York is a society of ironclad traditions. But for someone as passionate as Newland Archer, its rules and regulations are simply too restricting to accept. Always the gentleman, however, Newland seems destined to glide aristocratically through a life a privilege, despite his recognition of its opulent absurdity. The author unfolds her story of grand passion beneath a decidedly satiric eye. Her ability to portray the intricacies of her characters' inner lives makes the novel as compelling as the day it was published (1920).

About this title

Review

Somewhere in this book, Wharton observes that clever liars always come up with good stories to back up their fabrications, but that really clever liars don't bother to explain anything at all. This is the kind of insight that makes The Age of Innocence so indispensable. Wharton's story of the upper classes of Old New York, and Newland Archer's impossible love for the disgraced Countess Olenska, is a perfectly wrought book about an era when upper-class culture in this country was still a mixture of American and European extracts, and when "society" had rules as rigid as any in history.

Book Description

Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study by students aged 14-18 in English-speaking classrooms. It will include novels, poetry, short stories, essays, travel-writing and other non-fiction. The series will be extensive and open-ended and will provide school students with a range of edited texts taken from a wide geographical spread.

Edition details

• Publisher: Barnes & Noble Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0760700141
• ISBN 13: 9780760700143
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 232