Dry narration and slow plot

What disappointed you about The Age Of Innocence?

I found the narration dry and uninteresting. I kept drifting away and not being bothered to go back to where I was last paying attention and I just found there to be nothing in the story to hold my attention.

Would you ever listen to anything by Edith Wharton again?

I don't think so. I would like to give her another go by physically reading her, however, as I've enjoyed short stories by her previously.

Would you be willing to try another one of Mary Sarah’s performances?

I have Anne of Green Gables narrated by her, but if I don't get along with that - I've already read it physically so I know I like the story - then I won't be listening to anything else narrated by Mary Sarah.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. I really, really wanted to like it.

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Nice bittersweet story, average performance,

I really enjoyed the heady atmosphere of the writing, the narration could do better. The society that Wharton criticises is brought to life well by the narrator, but everything feels a little too fast moving and rushed. I would recommend listening to it at a slightly lower speed.

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A disapointing so called classic

I listened to the age of innocence as I had heard about it but never read it , I listened all the way through getting more and more bored with it though the reader was very good and the indolence of the rich in that era came across very well there was simply no substance to the story it just went on and on with every chapter very much the same ,though I am glad to have read it I will not read it again as with many other classics I have loved

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Narrator - say no

Would you try another book written by Edith Wharton or narrated by Mary Sarah?

Edith yes, narrator no. Very odd, staccato delivery; bizarre intonation and frequent mis-pronunciations. The performance marred my enjoyment of the story.

What did you like best about this story?

encapsulates the rigidity of the American upper class rites. Male protagonist is for the time of its writing, unusually in passive role whilst the matriarchs move the action on.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Mary Sarah?

Alan Carr would have done a better job.

Could you see The Age Of Innocence being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Errr that would be DDL and Michelle Pfeiffer

Any additional comments?

Production was cheap. When narrator made mistake, clumsy edits or no edits. At one point you hear the narrator practise a word three times before getting it right.

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great book but terrible narration

Edith Wharton's masterpiece is, of course, a superlative book. Unfortunately this narration is so poor that it obscures it. Mary Sarah reads so fast that she is difficult to understand. That is compounded by frequent mistakes in punctuation, so that the meaning of the sentence is mangled up. Words are mispronounced - and the French words become mostly unrecognisable. I'm afraid this is the worst narration I have ever heard on Audible. I'm wondering whether the recording was not intended for mass publication at all, but was some private reading - in that case, one would feel sympathy for Mary Sarah.

Fortunately, all the other Audible books I have had over the years have had a much higher standard of narration.

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1 person found this helpful

Lyrical voice; gentle story

Mary Sarah tells this gentle story of unrequited love in 1870s New York in such a quiet, unassuming way, you may well drop off to sleep. You've been warned. Wharton was the first woman to win the Pullitzer Prize with The Age Of Innocence in 1921. And its subtle and often ironical depiction of the mores and manners of the rich and fashionable New York set confirms why. Perfect for a holiday read when you don't want the blood pressure raised.

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Read much too fast

What disappointed you about The Age Of Innocence?

This book is read much too fast, I couldn't concentrate on the narrators voice so gave up trying to listen to it and bought another version by a different narrator instead.

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