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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
A tight story of doomed relationships. I can see why so many teachers teach this one. There is everything: a frame structure, clear symbolism, complex characters who are all beautifully flawed...a lot to talk about in a short page count. On the other hand, unlikable characters will make it challenging for students who need a clear "hero" of the story.
Okay... so Ethan Frome was a really cool book, but I don't really know how to feel. The ending had me speechless. I was mad and happy and frustrated and confused at the same time. I think Edith Wharton did a really good job at developing the main characters, but there were some other characters who I think should've been developed more through the story. I liked how the narrator tells Ethan Frome's story as someone who is kind of on the outside (not being a native to Starkfield). The narrator, who remains nameless, is only in the beginning and the end of the book, and although he is the one telling us of Frome's life, he is not in the story (although Ethan Frome and the narrator make a connection). The story is about Ethan Frome and his love for Mattie Silver, who is actually his wife, Zenobia's, cousin. Mattie is there to take care of Zenobia in her time of sickness (since her care-taker/husband Ethan is busy making $$ for medicine and their farm). Ethan had to take care of Zenobia, but all in all I feel as though Zenobia actually needed someone to take care of (maybe that's why she has a cat?). Ethan was my favorite character because he was so real. He had to take care of everyone it seemed (his mom, dad, Zenobia...) and, like all people, he could not keep on living like that. He needed to escape, which takes us to the last chapter. The last chapter was my favorite... but I don't want to tell too much! I'd recommend this, so... READ IT :)
I remember not liking this book at all when I had to read it in high school. Now, as an adult, I appreciate it much more.
lol this book is a bummer but also extremely silly/dumb. it's never a good time to read a story about infidelity and how *womanhood is a prison*, but the melodrama makes it quite ridiculous. not wharton's best.
My god, What a twisted ending. Yet I understand exactly what this book tried to make me feel. I felt as trapped reading it's page as Ethan did in his house with his sickly wife.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Apparently F. Scott Fitzgerald got on his knees and bowed when he met Edith Wharton and I get it.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“He seemed a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface; but there was nothing unfriendly in his silence.”
——————-
This book was absolutely beautifully written and such an emotional journey. What would it mean to live a life bound by duty and obligation when your inner life is rich with yearning and contemplation? This is the question Wharton poses through Ethan.
She makes no judgments about the morality of his love for his wife’s cousin. Instead, she balances righteous indignation from Zeena and breathless affection from Mattie and leaves it to the reader to decide where they stand.
I liked how the pickle dish was symbolism for an unused and then broken marriage that ultimately was hidden from view with hopes no one would discover the truth. The outcome of the love chosen could be seen as karma, or is absolutely heartbreaking. I love how Wharton forces us to sit in this grey with her.
And wow, some of the most beautiful sentences I have read all year are captured in this tiny but mighty novel. I felt completely immersed in each scene. More importantly, I felt so present for each character’s emotional landscape.
I liked the use of a winter storm as a plot device to get our narrator to Ethan’s house and set off this uncovering of his innermost desires, shame, and personal history.
I will definitely be seeking out any other works by Wharton and plan to revisit this in a few years.
——————-
This book was absolutely beautifully written and such an emotional journey. What would it mean to live a life bound by duty and obligation when your inner life is rich with yearning and contemplation? This is the question Wharton poses through Ethan.
She makes no judgments about the morality of his love for his wife’s cousin. Instead, she balances righteous indignation from Zeena and breathless affection from Mattie and leaves it to the reader to decide where they stand.
I liked how the pickle dish was symbolism for an unused and then broken marriage that ultimately was hidden from view with hopes no one would discover the truth. The outcome of the love chosen could be seen as karma, or is absolutely heartbreaking. I love how Wharton forces us to sit in this grey with her.
And wow, some of the most beautiful sentences I have read all year are captured in this tiny but mighty novel. I felt completely immersed in each scene. More importantly, I felt so present for each character’s emotional landscape.
I liked the use of a winter storm as a plot device to get our narrator to Ethan’s house and set off this uncovering of his innermost desires, shame, and personal history.
I will definitely be seeking out any other works by Wharton and plan to revisit this in a few years.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character