For a long time during this challenge I've had some ideas of things I wanted to read and was definitely going to pick up during its course. Other slots were empty, left to whims and new discoveries and maybe even just a little bit of what I fancied. With Pulitzer Prize winners, despite having a few ideas, hardly any were pre-planned and certainly none were really set in stone as must-reads. In the latest instance, I didn't even know the book I'd picked up was a winner until I saw it on the blurb – I'd only picked up whilst charity shop browsing, an admittedly pretty regular occurence.
Anyway, Edith Wharton won the one of the very early prizes for the Age of Innocence, as I discovered during the aforementioned browsing session, and, as I could only assume that the fates were guiding me at this point in time, I proceeded to purchase it and then to read it. Maybe it was the fact I've been busy and distracted, leading to a fairly disjointed reading, but I can't say I particularly connected with it.
That's not to say it wasn't well written, more that it wasn't really my cup of tea. I had reasonably high hopes, being that it's a bit of a relationship kitchen-sink drama and I like that kind of thing, but I never quite got into it properly. The characters are well-drawn enough and all have their flaws and if you're not supposed to necessarily like them, perhaps there should have been more of a connection than what I managed. As a snapshot of the period it is interesting in terms of how divorce is regarded, and obviously this is a million miles away from today, but that is hardly a reason to dislike it. Suspension of disbelief can be achieved by far more fantastic and far-fetched things and I can hardly claim this to be a failing on the part of the book. I just didn't ever really get onboard with it. Maybe, to couch it in relationship terms, we just never sparked the way I thought we might.
Book number: 89
Title: The Age of Innocence
Author: Edith Wharton
Category: Pulitzer prize winners
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