A review by moonpie
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

2.0

Turns out I don't like everything that's considered a ~classic~, and I am very thankful Ethan Frome is so short. Good sense of place/atmosphere, interesting framing, punishing story, zero likeable main characters. Thank god I didn't read this one in winter.

Also, I guess maybe the
Spoilercrash/double-suicide attempt
would be more horrifying if I'd read it 100 years ago? Seemed sort of ridiculous, especially after I realized
Spoilerthey would not be flying over a cliff (my first impression, for some reason) but just... crashing into a large tree, which is far more likely to maim you than end everything.


Reminded me of all the constant-downer artsy movies that people say are beautiful but I try to avoid. I'm not going to write Wharton stories off completely, but I think I'll look into the next one a little more before starting it.