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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
Dull and miserable, not a winning combination...
Not until the climactic scene was I ever at all arrested by the yarn Wharton spins here, but even if her tale seems short on greater thematic or indeed literary heft, there's a lovely understated sense of the tragedy that dwells within even the most milquetoast of men. You will pass people on the street after this and wonder what ails them. Or perhaps you will be too busy with ailments of your own.
I cannot think of a more unlikely beach read that Ethan Frome and yet, here we are.
This year I'm doing a Reading Challenge; so I have 26 books with specific subjects that I need to read.
Book 3: A book over 100 years
[b:Eathan Frome|17660477|Ethan Frome|Edith Wharton|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|132919] was first published in 1911 (106 years ago)
Every time I read a classic it's like I'm reading a true story; a bit of history being shared.
I love the old English and the composition of sentences that just paints a picture that leaves you awestruck.
This was my first acquaintance with [a:Eadith Warton|7009262|Eadith Warton|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and it truly was a pleasurable one. Even-though the book is very predictable and straight forward, it was still a pretty piece of work.
The topic is something so everyday that you can't help find solace in it. The feelings is so vivid, you can't help feeling them. The characters so real, you can't help thinking that somewhere out there at this very moment someone is feeling that exact emotions.
Unlike other HS classics I have reread, my opinion of Wharton's novel has not changed too much. I do appreciate the prose more, and I was especially struck by Ethan's display of integrity (refusing to ask the Hales for money so that he can run off with Mattie), but I still don't understand why this novella is inflicted on high school students. I remain unconvinced by the romance between Ethan and Mattie, and Wharton's description of the younger Zeena suggests her relationship with Ethan started in a similar manner. So, I wasn't surprised by the ending, though admit I enjoyed its similarity to "No Exit."
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a brilliantly constructed novella. I admire Edith Wharton's writing more and more as I dive deeper into her work. Ethan Frome is a very grim, tragic, wintry story and, to be honest, one I don't think is going to be for everyone. Just look at the shockingly low ratings so many people have given it here on Goodreads! It knocked my socks off, though. It's not surprising this book is often taught in school because it packs a lot of literary power in a very small package.
The moral of this story is that Ethan Frome turns every woman he touches into a shrunken bitter old crone. Don’t go near Ethan Frome.
But seriously am I supposed to feel any kind of sympathy for Ethan? Am I supposed to be cheering for him, hoping he can desert his wife and run away with her nymph-ingenue hybrid cousin? If I’m supposed to see Ethan as some kind of martyr or victim, it didn’t work, I’d like my $2.50 back.
Not that I’m rooting for any other character all that much either. Zeena? Why aren’t you plotting your exit? Your jabs at your wish-he-was-cheating husband aren’t subtle or actually doing anything for you. Mattie? Girl open your eyes, the world is big and this cannot be your only option.
Actually I take it back, I’m rooting for Ned and Ruth, the couple that makes out in the woods behind the church. Get it, y’all. Let’s hear more from Ned and Ruth, who like kissing.
To sum up: we have Ethan Frome, a lecherous daydreaming dude lusting after his wife’s cousin. We have his wife, Zeena, who fully knows what’s up but does nothing. And Mattie, the girl the whole town is nuts for despite the fact that all she does is laugh and flutter her eyelashes and break expensive dishes.
But even with these absolute train wrecks of human beings this book is solid gold. It is complex in its structure, the prose is sparse but evocative, and rich in meaning. I want to go back to high school and write about the symbolism of flowers and color, I want to research how much Edith Wharton was into witchcraft and familiars (because her girl Zeena is fully a witch, don’t @ me), and let’s talk about vampirism shall we? Ethan might as well be sleeping in a coffin (oh wait, he does, he just calls it his study, ALMOST GOT ME THERE, BUDDY).
And let’s talk about this New England landscape, okay? Unnamed character here that has more agency than any one human being in the novel. Mother Nature is driving this entire bus and she is stopping for nobody. She will make you get married and she will make you talk to strangers and she will cripple your leg and mess up your face just to remind you of what a crappy human you’ve been.
In short Wharton packed so much good writing into these 100 pages that I’m about to read it again just to see how she did it. Bravo, Edith, bravo.
P.S. Somebody wrote some fanfic of this book but entirely from the cat’s perspective, okay? I want to read that book.
But seriously am I supposed to feel any kind of sympathy for Ethan? Am I supposed to be cheering for him, hoping he can desert his wife and run away with her nymph-ingenue hybrid cousin? If I’m supposed to see Ethan as some kind of martyr or victim, it didn’t work, I’d like my $2.50 back.
Not that I’m rooting for any other character all that much either. Zeena? Why aren’t you plotting your exit? Your jabs at your wish-he-was-cheating husband aren’t subtle or actually doing anything for you. Mattie? Girl open your eyes, the world is big and this cannot be your only option.
Actually I take it back, I’m rooting for Ned and Ruth, the couple that makes out in the woods behind the church. Get it, y’all. Let’s hear more from Ned and Ruth, who like kissing.
To sum up: we have Ethan Frome, a lecherous daydreaming dude lusting after his wife’s cousin. We have his wife, Zeena, who fully knows what’s up but does nothing. And Mattie, the girl the whole town is nuts for despite the fact that all she does is laugh and flutter her eyelashes and break expensive dishes.
But even with these absolute train wrecks of human beings this book is solid gold. It is complex in its structure, the prose is sparse but evocative, and rich in meaning. I want to go back to high school and write about the symbolism of flowers and color, I want to research how much Edith Wharton was into witchcraft and familiars (because her girl Zeena is fully a witch, don’t @ me), and let’s talk about vampirism shall we? Ethan might as well be sleeping in a coffin (oh wait, he does, he just calls it his study, ALMOST GOT ME THERE, BUDDY).
And let’s talk about this New England landscape, okay? Unnamed character here that has more agency than any one human being in the novel. Mother Nature is driving this entire bus and she is stopping for nobody. She will make you get married and she will make you talk to strangers and she will cripple your leg and mess up your face just to remind you of what a crappy human you’ve been.
In short Wharton packed so much good writing into these 100 pages that I’m about to read it again just to see how she did it. Bravo, Edith, bravo.
P.S. Somebody wrote some fanfic of this book but entirely from the cat’s perspective, okay? I want to read that book.
3.5 rounded up. I was wanting to read a “classic” I knew nothing about, and my brother finished this one at school so I picked it up. It’s a quick, easy read. I’d like to look in to some of the theories about what everything is supposed to mean, but I have my ideas. My biggest complaint is the weird way the last chapter is written. The rest of the book has a pretty clear definition between the present and the past, and that just goes away in the last chapter. That might have some meaning but it kind of just confused me. I also didn’t like any of the characters, which makes a book difficult to enjoy for me. The ending was ridiculous but that was probably the point.