Classics for Beginners discussion

The Age of Innocence is our December group read. This is the spoiler free discussion thread.

Please feel free to add your spoiler free thoughts about The Age of Innocence.

Happily joining this group read. I started on Friday but was visiting friends over the weekend, so haven't read more than a couple of pages yet. Looking forward! Who else is joining?

I read this a couple of months ago and absolutely loved it. My second Wharton book and I really love her writing. Very revealing and descriptive. Great read.

I’m about 2/3 through and I’m really enjoying this book. Even though not much is happening in the book, it’s still engaging. I don’t read much fiction anymore, because it’s so poorly written. What a difference between this classic and the garbage that passes for modern literature today.

Could anyone keep track of the genealogical relationships written in chapter 6 and in other places?

I loved her quote about opera in the first chapter: "...the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking audiences."

That basically sums up how I feel about opera!

☯Emily wrote: "Could anyone keep track of the genealogical relationships written in chapter 6 and in other places?"

Definitely a challenge. I would have liked a flow chart at the beginning to refer to, but I guess readers at that time would have had more patience with providing one themselves or keeping track of people.

☯Emily wrote: "I loved her quote about opera in the first chapter: "...the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer un..."
Agree. I would love to enjoy Operas as well as the voices tend to be beautiful but every time I listen to one or watch one I don't really get where we are in the story line because I can't understand especially the female singers.

☯Emily wrote: "I loved her quote about opera in the first chapter: "...the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer un..."

Funny :)

Karen wrote: "☯Emily wrote: "Could anyone keep track of the genealogical relationships written in chapter 6 and in other places?"

Having been bitten by the genealogy bug 20 yrs ago, I couldn't help but start to..."

I sometimes do that as well but only if early in the story I realize that it will be helpful. Here, at some point I just didn't care so much any more. I could keep the main figures apart and remember their respective family relationships and for the others I just decided that it was not crucial to the story.