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Somewhere in this book, Wharton observes that clever liars always come up with good stories to back up their fabrications, but that really clever liars don't bother to explain anything at all. This is the kind of insight that makes The Age of Innocence so indispensable. Wharton's story of the upper classes of Old New York, and Newland Archer's impossible love for the disgraced Countess Olenska, is a perfectly wrought book about an era when upper-class culture in this country was still a mixture of American and European extracts, and when "society" had rules as rigid as any in history. 内容简介
Edith Wharton's masterpiece brings to life the grandeur and hypocrisy of a gilded age. Set among the very rich in 1870s New York, it tells the story of Newland Archer, a young lawyer engaged to marry virginal socialite May Welland, when he meets her cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, a woman unbound by convention and surrounded by scandal. As all three are drawn into a love triangle filled with sensuality, subtlety, and betrayal, Archer faces a harrowing choice between happiness and the social code that has ruled his life. The resulting tale of thwarted love is filled with irony and surprise, struggle and acceptance. Recipient of the first Pulitzer Prize for fiction ever awarded to a woman, this great novel paints a timeless portrait of "society" still unmatched in American literature—an arbitrary, capricious social elite that professes inviolable standards but readily abandons them for greed and desire. 作者简介
The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. Educated by tutors and governesses, she was raised for only one career: marriage. But her marriage, in 1885, to Edward Wharton was an emotional disappointment, if not a disaster. She suffered the first of a series of nervous breakdowns in 1894. In spite of the strain of her marriage, or perhaps because of it, she began to write fiction and published her first story in 1889.
Her first published book was a guide to interior decorating, but this was followed by several novels and story collections. They were written while the Whartons lived in Newport and New York, traveled in Europe, and built their grand home, The Mount, in Lenox, Massachusetts. In Europe, she met Henry James, who became her good friend, traveling companion, and the sternest but most careful critic of her fiction. The House of Mirth (1905) was both a resounding critical success and a bestseller, as was Ethan Frome (1911). In 1913 the Whartons were divorced, and Edith took up permanent residence in France. Her subject, however, remained America, especially the moneyed New York of her youth. Her great satiric novel, The Custom of the Country was published in 1913 and The Age of Innocence won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.
In her later years, she enjoyed the admiration of a new generation of writers, including Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In all, she wrote some thirty books, including an autobiography. A Backwards Glance (1934). She died at her villa near Paris in 1937.,,
《迷雾中的灯塔:维多利亚时代晚期英国的社会变迁与精神探索》 著者:艾莉诺·范德比尔特 出版信息:历史与社会研究丛书,第三辑 页码:约580页 内容提要 本书深入剖析了十九世纪末至二十世纪初(约1880年至1914年)英国社会经历的深刻转型。这是一个充满矛盾的时代——物质文明的辉煌与精神世界的迷茫并存,帝国权力的鼎盛与内部结构的松动交织。作者艾莉诺·范德比尔特,一位专注于社会史与文化思潮的资深学者,以其严谨的考据和细腻的笔触,为我们构建了一幅宏大而又充满细节的时代图景。 本书的核心议题围绕着“现代性”的萌芽及其对传统价值体系的冲击展开。范德比尔特教授认为,维多利亚时代的“纯真”面纱正在被一层厚重的、充满工业烟尘和哲学思辨的迷雾所取代。她并未聚焦于某一个阶层或某一个政治事件,而是试图从社会结构的裂缝中,捕捉那些预示着未来风暴的微妙信号。 第一部分:黄金时代的裂痕——经济结构与阶级动态 范德比尔特首先回顾了两次工业革命的深远影响。她指出,尽管英国的财富达到了前所未有的高度,但这种财富的分配极度不均,催生了新的社会张力。 1. 城市化与空间隔离: 详细考察了伦敦、曼彻斯特等大都市的“空间社会学”。城市不再是融合的熔炉,而是被严格划分的领域:富人区的优雅与工人阶级棚户区的拥挤形成了触目惊心的对比。作者引用了大量当时的城市规划文件、慈善报告和私密的日记,揭示了这种物理隔离如何固化了社会阶层观念,并阻碍了不同群体间的理解。 2. 新兴中产阶级的焦虑: 传统上由土地和贵族主导的社会结构正在被新兴的金融家、工程师和管理人员所挑战。然而,这些“新富”阶层在试图融入旧有精英圈子的过程中,承受着巨大的文化压力。他们必须迅速掌握一套复杂的社会礼仪、投资规则和道德准则,稍有偏差便可能被排斥。这种对“体面”的过度追求,成为那个时代一种普遍的文化病症。 3. 工人运动的觉醒与工会的崛起: 范德比尔特详尽分析了自1888年以来,码头工人罢工和煤矿工人抗议的复杂性。这不仅仅是关于工资的斗争,更是关于尊严和政治权利的诉求。她考察了社会主义思潮(如费边社的温和改良主义与更激进的马克思主义影响)如何在工人阶级中传播,以及这如何威胁到既有的政治秩序。 第二部分:精神世界的重塑——信仰、科学与艺术的反叛 本书的第二部分是关于思想史的深度挖掘,探讨了传统信仰体系如何受到科学进步和哲学怀疑的侵蚀。 1. 达尔文主义的长期影响: 虽然达尔文的理论已非新鲜事物,但其对“进步”和“天意”的颠覆性影响仍在持续渗透社会各个层面。作者探讨了宗教机构如何应对生物学和地质学的挑战,以及在精英教育中,对“科学的虔诚”是如何取代了对“上帝的敬畏”。这种精神真空,为后来的享乐主义和虚无主义思潮埋下了伏笔。 2. 颓废主义与审美运动的兴起: 范德比尔特将奥斯卡·王尔德、德·昆西等人的审美运动视为对维多利亚时代僵化道德观的一次激烈反抗。她分析了“为艺术而艺术”的口号背后的社会驱动力:对过度实用主义和功利主义的反感。颓废主义者们通过对感官体验的追求和对性别规范的挑战,试图在日益功利的社会中重塑个人的价值中心。 3. 新的女性观念: 重点分析了“新女性”(The New Woman)的形象。她不再满足于“天使在家庭中”的角色,开始追求高等教育、职业发展,甚至公开谈论身体自主权。本书考察了自行车、着装的解放(如剪短裙摆)以及女权运动的早期形态(如普鲁登斯·卡特勒的游说工作),展示了女性在争取独立过程中所面临的巨大社会阻力与自我解放的勇气。 第三部分:帝国的黄昏与国际视野的拓展 本书的最后一部分将目光投向外部世界,探讨英国如何在其全球霸权的顶峰感受到衰落的阴影。 1. 殖民地治理的悖论: 范德比尔特深入研究了“白人的负担”这一概念的双重性。一方面,它被用作帝国扩张的道德辩护;另一方面,殖民地(特别是印度和南非)的反抗运动,开始要求回归本土管理。作者通过分析殖民地政策制定者的信件和档案,揭示了帝国精英内部对于维持统治的信心正在动摇。 2. 欧洲大陆的军事化竞争: 随着德国的崛起和法国的复苏,欧洲大陆的均势开始被打破。本书详细分析了英国海军军备竞赛的升级,以及这种“和平时期的战争准备”如何渗透到国内政治和公众心态中,滋生出一种既自大又不安的民族主义情绪。 3. 现代主义的先声: 在艺术和文学领域,现代主义的早期迹象开始显现。乔伊斯、伍尔夫(在本书关注的时间段内是其早期的创作生涯)等作家的实验性叙事,是对传统清晰叙事方式的彻底颠覆。范德比尔特认为,这种文学上的“破碎感”,是对外部世界日益复杂和不可预测性的精神投射。 结论: 《迷雾中的灯塔》总结道,维多利亚时代晚期并非一个停滞的、一成不变的时代,而是一个充满剧烈能量转换的过渡期。旧有的道德堡垒正在崩塌,而新的社会秩序尚未完全建立。生活在这个时代的人们,无论是贵族、中产还是工人,都生活在一片巨大的“不确定性”的迷雾之中。然而,正是在这迷雾深处,人们开始寻找并点亮属于自己的“灯塔”——无论是通过社会改革、个人解放,还是艺术上的全新表达。本书为理解二十世纪的爆发性变革,提供了至关重要的背景支撑。