书籍介绍
Widely regarded as one of Edith Wharton's greatest achievements, The Age of Innocence is not only subtly satirical, but also a sometimes dark and disturbing comedy of manners in its exploration of the 'eternal triangle' of love. Set against the backdrop of upper-class New York society during the 1870s, the author's combination of powerful prose combined with a thoroughly researched and meticulous evocation of the manners and style of the period, has delighted readers since the novel's first publication in 1920. In 1921 The Age of Innocence achieved a double distinction - it won the Pulitzer Prize and it was the first time this prestigious award had been won by a woman author.
AI导读
核心看点
- 普利策奖得主，深刻剖析19世纪纽约上流社会虚伪与压抑
- 纽兰、梅与艾伦的三角恋，展现理性与激情的残酷博弈
- 以细腻笔触描绘‘纯真’背后的无知，讽刺社会规训对人性的扼杀
适合谁读
- 喜爱经典美国文学，对19世纪社会风貌感兴趣的读者
- 关注人性幽微、情感压抑与道德困境的深度阅读者
- 欣赏伊迪丝·华顿犀利讽刺风格及精致叙事技巧的读者
读前提醒
- 需耐心适应其缓慢、内省的叙事节奏，品味心理描写
- 注意理解‘纯真’一词在书中带有讽刺意味，非指纯洁
- 建议结合19世纪末纽约社会背景，理解人物行为逻辑
读者共识
- 文字优美犀利，对阶级虚伪的刻画入木三分，极具讽刺力
- 结局令人窒息又动人，遗憾之美引发对命运与选择的深思
- 梅并非单纯受害者，其隐忍与智慧在读者中评价两极
本导读基于书籍简介、目录、原文摘录、短评和书评生成，不等同于全文精读。
精彩摘录
- "脂肪的激增在她中年时期突然降临，就像火山熔岩降临到一个行将覆没的城市那样凶猛，使她由一位丰满好动、步伐灵活的小巧女人变成如自然奇观般的庞然大物。她像对待其他一切磨难一样达观地接受了这一大灾大难。如今，她在耄耋之年终于得到了报偿：镜子里的她，是一堆几乎没有皱纹的白里透红的结实肌肤，在其中央，一张小小的面孔行迹犹存，仿佛在等待着挖掘；光溜溜的双下巴下方，是掩映在雪白的麦斯林纱底下令人炫目的雪白的胸膛，一枚已故明戈特先生的微形像章固定其间；四周以及以下部位，一波接一波的黑丝绸在大扶手椅的边棱上流泻而下，两只雪白的小手摆在那里犹如海面上的两只海鸥"
- "从那以后，他们之间再不曾有过交流。他仿佛已经在自己心中筑起了一座圣殿，她就在他隐秘的思想与期盼中执掌王权。渐渐地，渐渐地，这座圣殿变成了他真实生活的背景，他的理性行为的惟一背景，他把他所读的书、滋养他的思想感情、他的判断与见解，统统都带进了这座殿堂。在它的外面，在他实际生活的现场中，他却怀着一种与日俱增的不真实感与缺憾，跌跌撞撞地与那些熟悉的偏见和传统观念发生撞击，就像一个心不在焉的人碰撞自己屋里的家具一样。心不在焉——这正是他目前的状态，他对于周围人们觉得实实在在的东西一概视而不见，以致有时候，当他发现人们依然认为他还在场时，竟会让他大吃一惊。"
- "Ah, no, he did not want May to have that kind of innocnce, the innocence that seals the mind against imagination and the heart against experience!"
- "“At least,” she continued, “it was you who made me understand that under the dullness there are things so fine and sensitive and delicate that even those I most cared for in my other life look cheap in comparison. I don’t know how to explain myself”—she drew together her troubled brows—“but it seems"
- "他不能说自己的选择是个失误，因为梅满足了他期待的—切。毫无疑问,能成为纽约一位最美丽、最受欢迎的年轻妻子的丈夫是令人高兴的；更何况她还是一位性情最甜蜜又最通情达理的妻子。阿切尔对这些优点绝非无动于衷。至于结婚前夕降临的那阵短暂的疯狂，他已能克制自己,认定是业已摒弃的最后―次试验。在他头脑清醒的时候，想起他还会梦想娶奥兰斯卡伯爵夫人，真感到不可思议。她仅仅作为那一串幽灵中最悲哀、最鲜活的一个留在他的记忆里。"
- "Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile."
- "But you knew; you understood; you had felt the world outside tugging at one with all its golden hands-- and yet you hated the things it asks of one; you hated happiness brought by disloyalty and crulety and indifference. That was what I'd never know before-- and it's better than anything I've known."
- "That terrifying product of the social system he belonged to and believed in, the young girl who knew nothing and expected everything, looked back at him like a stranger through May Welland's familiar features; and once more it was birn in on him that marriage was not the safe anchorage he had been t"
用户评论
其实我觉得傲慢与偏见 比起这个来就傻B很多了
双重文本的典范
今年听的第一本有声书，narrator生生把Ellen Olenska读成了绿茶……Edith Wharton是Henry James的镜子！
2014.4.12
读完几天了，不知如何才能划上句号。Newland一生的沉重和求之不得，被Dallas玩笑地轻轻地说了出来... 看罢，眼泪默默地浮上来。如果我的所有故事，你有兴趣听完，那么或许，放下与否已经不重要了。
Very witty and sarcastic writing. Moving and sentimental as well. Newland and Ellen have been living on my mind since 11 years ago when I first read it. One of my favorite novels in English language.
女人永远不可能像男人一样自由，就算夫家出事了还不能与之解绑。好在女人可以选择洒脱放手，努力让自己的生活变得更丰富。天真的是Newland，他以为May 不知道他的精神出轨，他以为Ellen跟他一样守着婚姻浑浑噩噩过日子，但他不知道May早就察觉了而Ellen早已经 move on 了。
This age may not be fond of a three-way aristocratic love affair anymore
Archer和艾伦的爱情像是他无聊琐碎生命中的光 “假如他能把她脚踏的那块地面连同天海相拥的那段空间印在他的脑子里，那么，剩下的那部分世界也许就显得不那么空虚了”，可他为了现实放弃了，进入了坟墓般无聊的婚姻，那种本来想教妻子一点文学但是发现妻子根本学不进去还不如不说那里真的过于真实，我觉得最后一章真的无比动人，加上了时间的维度就是不一样，男主人生也不能说不丰满，他做了他框架内能做的善事，也学会了爱妻子，但是还是心酸，因为他失去了本来或许可以拥有的有趣的生活，而且他的的妥协就是时代的悲剧在新一代人这里再也不需要了，世界在变得更好更包容，但是男主享受不到了，他只能坐在曾经的爱人门前，看着自己的儿子进去，自己在外追忆一下当年，记忆中一切还是最好的样子，然后孤身离开
What an ending… the lost, unattainable “love” is the lost era itself…
不是很喜欢这一部小说
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