The Age of Innocence

Narrated to Perfection

Newland Archer, one of Old New York society's crowned princes (so to speak) is overjoyed about his recent engagement to the perfect May Welland. She too has a perfect pedigree, is a pretty young rose just starting to come into bloom, is innocent and beyond reproach in every way, well trained to be the ideal dutiful wife. But when he gets better acquainted with May's spirited and independent-minded cousin Ellen Olenska, just recently returned from Europe and scandalizing all of New York with her revealing dresses and foreign way of expressing herself and behaving, Newland is at first shocked and then completely taken over with passionate love. So much so that he is in fact determined to drop May and marry the countess Olenska instead. What he forgets to take into account is that his desire to embrace a life of freedom and equality will not be tolerated by his peers. A wonderful look at New York's upper crust in the 1870s, whose lives revolve around being seen at the opera and inviting the right people to dinner parties. Wharton exposes a world she knew firsthand from the distance of the 1920s, and what she shows us is just how regulated life was among the elite in a New York which was cosmopolitan, but prided itself on it's rigid and old fashioned conventions. Because this is Wharton, we know this love story is not likely to end with a Happily Ever After, but along the way she touches on interesting themes and presents us with a fascinating cast of characters who may not be likeable, but don't lack for entertainment value. A story I will definitely revisit in future. This audiobook version was narrated to perfection by David Horovitch and is definitely recommended.

47 of 50 people found this review helpful

Reader is mostly excellent save for a few hitches—

Wharton, of course, is great. The story is complex, the characters are bitingly satirized, and the setting is detailed, fascinating, and a character unto itself.

The reader, David Horowitch, is mostly excellent too. He does a rather funny flat accent for the New Yorkers and reads quite lyrically. He differentiates his characters and reads passionately.

Bad news: Countess Olenska sounds like Count Dracula. Wharton describes her having a strange accent, Olenska having lived a long time in Europe, but one gets the impression she spent most of her time in France, not in Transylvania. Besides, marrying a man with an accent doesn't mean you automatically acquire one too

Perhaps to make her sound poetical, Horowitch also murmurs all of her dialogue. Unless she's shouting, you have to crank the volume up whenever Olenska speaks, because he murmurs, whispers, or breathes what she says. I wish whoever who mixed this recording had pitched her dialogue higher. Unless you're in a quiet room the entire time you listen to this, you're definitely going to miss what she says at least a dozen times.

But maybe I'm picky. It's still a terrific recording, and Horowitch was by far the best reader I could find with the Audible samples.

36 of 39 people found this review helpful

Fabulous Book

I did not wish to read this book but when I did, I fell in love with it. The writing is brilliant and the book is well structured. Narration in this performance is perfect. Edith Wharton is a consummate story-teller. Read this book and you will realize why she is so highly regarded.

14 of 17 people found this review helpful

Narration could have been better

The narrator was decent, but he sometimes used a rather nasal voice for some of the characters and a distractingly strange foreign accent for the Countess Olenska. She's supposed to have a trailing, slightly foreign accent--something more subtle than the one the narrator used.

13 of 16 people found this review helpful

V good literary-satirical portrait of high society

Classic Wharton: portrays the high society of 19th c. New York--basically a bunch of idle privileged snobs some of whom are at least intelligent enough to realize that their lives are empty. Lots of subtle description and reflection. The satire is more subdued than in The House of Mirth. Excellent narration.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

outstanding narration

Would you listen to The Age of Innocence again? Why?

Wonderful narration and recreation of accents. Great story, a classic.

What about David Horovitch’s performance did you like?

David sounds as if he has an English accent, which suits this narration. His pacing is perfect. He suggests the accent of the characters without exaggerating too much.

Any additional comments?

He has revived an old classic, as the movie did.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

An unfulfilled love-what a story...

If you could sum up The Age of Innocence in three words, what would they be?

Stylish. Addictive. Fascinating.

What other book might you compare The Age of Innocence to and why?

None. I've never read such book before, cause I don't like romances. I find them boring. This one is unique. Apparently calm, but underneath passionate and full of emotions.

Which character – as performed by David Horovitch – was your favorite?

Without the doubt - Countess Olenska - an extraordinary woman.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When I realized those two should be together so badly, and the only thing which make them parted is...the age of innocence.

Any additional comments?

Beautifully filmed by Martin Scorsese. I highly recommend.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Masterful ending to a tale well-told

Any additional comments?

Since I recently read The Great Gatsby for the first time, I found myself comparing the two books and found Age of Innocence easily the winner on all counts. Both deal with the lives and social mores of the idle rich in American society, albeit during slightly different time periods. But Wharton, it seems to me, is much more adept at hinting at the emotions that seethe beneath the practiced, calm surface displayed by the characters. Her characters felt much more fully alive to me, and the situations much more realistic. The cutting sarcasm of the double-entendres made me laugh out loud many times, as she skewered the holier-than-thou attitudes of both the men and women in the tale. And like many of the very best books, this one still resonates today. We may not ostracize divorcees or the artsy crowd as overtly as they did in the 1870’s, but still, we righteously protect institutions like matrimony (c.f. fight over gay marriage) and look down our noses at anyone who is slightly different (is that a nose-ring I see?). The resolution of the book is not what I expected, and the masterful way Wharton brought this tale to an end is what elevated it to 5 stars for me. [N.B. I listened to this as an audiobook read by David Horovitch. His British accent was a bit jarring at first, considering this is an American novel, but he performed the characters with an American accent so after a while I got used to it and was able to submerse myself in the world of the book].

8 of 11 people found this review helpful

One of the best narrated novels I've heard

This is a favorite novel which I am hearing for the first time in audio. The narration is a wonderful surprise and has really enhanced the pleasure of an already beloved text. The reader is British, but uses American consonants and more nasal vowels to distinguish the mostly American dialogue from the narrative text. That distinction, plus his resonant voice and sensitive reading gives an extra level of meaning to the book which focuses on a love triangle in late 19th century New York. The reading illuminates Edith Wharton's particular view of American customs and social distinctions in that period. The characters are rich and well defined by their dialogue, making this perfect as an audiobook. The 'innocence' that characterizes many of the actors in the drama at different moments is a somewhat sarcastic commentary by Edith Wharton whose eye is sharp and whose writing is incisive. This audio is such a pleasure! In an impatient and fretful period when I have been starting books and abandoning them unable to sustain interest, this excellent performance has been like an oasis in the desert. From the moment I sampled the audio I have been unable to put it down. Highly recommended both for the beauty of the prose and its very sensitive reading.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Fantastic story

The unexpected thing about this story, for me, was seeing that the "age" being referred to was not only about a certain time of life, but also about a point in history where one could look back to the previous generation and witness a huge gap in attitude and perception. It starts with horse-drawn buggies, hand-written notes, etc. and ends with telephones and automobiles. To see this sort of change in one's lifetime must have been really amazing.
There is also a Scorsese film version of this with Daniel Day-Lewis. It's definitely worth watching but it bothered me a little that the two heroines were swapped (the raven-haired temptress in the book is played by Michelle Pheiffer).

7 of 10 people found this review helpful