28th out of 503 books
—
1,535 voters
Ethan Frome
Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious, and hypochondriac wife, Zeenie. But when Zeenie's vivacious cousin enters their household as a "hired girl", Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent.
In one of American fic...more
In one of American fic...more
Paperback, 112 pages
Published
October 25th 2005
by Penguin Classics
(first published December 31st 1909)
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spoilers?? what spoilers??
i have changed my stance on the cover. a) initially, i thought that it was showing an altogether different type of activity, and then b) when ariel called it a spoiler, i reinterpreted it to something else and was still wrong, and then c) everything that may potentially be spoiled is pretty much spelled out in the first ten pages. so is that a spoiler, or is that foreshadowing??
tomato, potato...
what is so excellent about this ...more
This is a romantic tragedy that culminates in a sledding accident. I will just say a few brief words about that. First, there is probably a reason that sledding accidents don't figure more prominently in tragedies. Shakespeare wrote like 13 tragedies and to the best of my knowledge none featured a sledding accident (I have not read Titus Andronicus, so I can't be sure). If Shakespeare doesn't need to include a sled wreck, then neither do you.
I will also say that I found Ethan and Mat...more
I will also say that I found Ethan and Mat...more
If you told me this was a longish deleted segment of Winesburg, Ohio, I would totally believe you, even taking into account the fact that one of the books was written by Sherwood Anderson and the other by Edith Wharton. Like the stories in that much revered short story cycle (no not novel), Ethan Frome concerns itself with grim characters burdened by unfulfilled dreams, dreams unfulfilled because of the strictures of society or their own inability to truly sieze the day. A chilly atmosphere, a g...more
This book is a good one to read if you live with someone who has also read it. This way, any time there is a lull in the conversation you can talk about how depressing it is. Conversations between me and my roommate often go something like this:
"You know what I was just thinking about? Ethan Frome."
"GOD. That book is so depressing."
"I know, right."
The book is not only enjoyable, but also a great conversation piece. Do not read...more
"You know what I was just thinking about? Ethan Frome."
"GOD. That book is so depressing."
"I know, right."
The book is not only enjoyable, but also a great conversation piece. Do not read...more
George
rated it
Recommends it for:
drivers who don't use turn signals, people who talk out loud in a movie theater during the film
"Hey Mrs. Kinetta, are you still inflicting all that horrible Ethan Frome damage on your students?" - John Cusack, Grosse Pointe Blank
If you're looking for a book with an ever-increasing level of misery, this one is hard to beat. Try this test the next time you're with a group of your friends: just mention "Ethan Frome" out loud, and see how many of them groan audibly.
If you're looking for a book with an ever-increasing level of misery, this one is hard to beat. Try this test the next time you're with a group of your friends: just mention "Ethan Frome" out loud, and see how many of them groan audibly.
Johnny
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Johnny by:
William Chu
Shelves:
literature
Ever read a book as required reading (in high school or college) and then, rediscover it as an adult? Ethan Frome had receded to the dark recesses of my mind such that I had even forgotten that I had read it. I remembered reading Age of Innocence, but good old Ethan had left my mental building. When my youngest son left his retired textbook edition at my house (an old Scribner’s edition in trade paperback priced at $1.25 original price—oh for those days again!), I grudgingly put it on one of my ...more
Tatiana
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Tatiana by:
1001 Must Read Before You Die list
I love Edith Wharton, but honestly I don't understand why Ethan Frome is considered one of her best works.
Firstly, reading it, I felt like I'd already heard this story before. This novella about a man who is confined by his social status and unhappy marriage, and unable to realize his desires - be that a different profession or marriage to a different woman - is just all too familiar. Of course, Wharton's writing is as always remarkable, but the story itself is not impressive. Maybe ...more
Firstly, reading it, I felt like I'd already heard this story before. This novella about a man who is confined by his social status and unhappy marriage, and unable to realize his desires - be that a different profession or marriage to a different woman - is just all too familiar. Of course, Wharton's writing is as always remarkable, but the story itself is not impressive. Maybe ...more
Ethan Frome is the story of Ethan Frome, a young man settled in an unhappy marraige who falls in love with his wife's young cousin Mattie Smith.
This story was terrible. My AP English class ate it up, but in my opinion, all the charectors are self-centered and think only of themselves. They are incapable of realizing what they are doing to eachother because all they can think of is themselves. Each charector is also extremely weak and lacks self control. Bottom line, This book is not ...more
This story was terrible. My AP English class ate it up, but in my opinion, all the charectors are self-centered and think only of themselves. They are incapable of realizing what they are doing to eachother because all they can think of is themselves. Each charector is also extremely weak and lacks self control. Bottom line, This book is not ...more
Hated, HATED reading this in high school. Upon a re-read a decade later: I don't hate it anymore, but the story, being domestic misery itself -- misery: unattractive, mundane, and absolutely suffocating -- is no walk in the freaking park. I'll concede that Ch. 8's conclusion is pretty stunning in laying out in a few sentences the hopelessness of Ethan's situation, and the ending has a similar effect. The wintry atmosphere is extremely well-done, and from the many over-the-top metaphors (but what...more
RachelAnne
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people wanting to commit suicide but in need of more motivation to end it all.
Shelves:
historical,
novels
HATE! Wharton as usual writes well enough to make you sympathetic with characters forever imprisoned in bleakly miserable lives with no hope of redemption. One would inflict this on oneself willingly WHY?
Edith Wharton is certainly one of my favorite author. I remember I was first captivated by her short story called “Roman Fever” and then amazed by “The age of Innocence”. What fascinates me about her is how well she narrates her story. The language may seem easy compared to other works in her time, but is certainly beautiful and flowing. Her works is always a fast-moving page-turner for me.
I just love how she describes the bleak-winter-rural area of New England in "Ethan Frome...more
I just love how she describes the bleak-winter-rural area of New England in "Ethan Frome...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The image of two lovers driving a sled into a tree so they can commit dual suicide, but who in fact only end up severely crippling themselves, has not left me since I first read this book. I wouldn't recommend letting anyone under the age of 15 read this book purely for that reason (I mean, what kind of image is that to have floating around your head?). This novel is very claustrophobic and tragic. It was also the subject of my first-ever real, full-blown research paper, so it's intimately co...more
Haaaaaate. Though I will say this for Edith, it's not entirely her fault. A lovely**** woman named Carol A. Powers holds much of the responsibility for my grudge against this book. Not all, but a good amount. The book does suck on its own merits.
Let me tell you something. While I have no professional training in education, I can say this with absolute certainty: the way to teach teenagers literature is not - I repeat, NOT - to force them to memorize it.
This book does have...more
Let me tell you something. While I have no professional training in education, I can say this with absolute certainty: the way to teach teenagers literature is not - I repeat, NOT - to force them to memorize it.
This book does have...more
I just read this book for the first time because it seemed like the kind of thing that one should have read prior to becoming an English teacher. First of all, Edith Wharton was born in New York, lived in Paris, was nee Jones, as in the family from which the expression "keeping up with the Joneses" was derived -- why the f#ck is she writing about blizzard-stricken Western Mass.? And second of all, this entire book reminded me of the Annie Hall shtick about the horrible and the misera...more
Bleak fiction for bleak fiction’s sake about a miserable man in an inescapable, loveless marriage and his desire for another woman. Hollow and myopic, easily one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve ever had with a supposed classic. Other gothics would earn their tragedy, but this is just cold. If it has any merit it is an argument against theodicy, for look what gods we make when we play as authors.
Don't bother reading Ethan Frome. Go sledding instead.
Don't bother reading Ethan Frome. Go sledding instead.
Pretty good. :) I loved the writing style; the descriptions were very vivid. I didn't exactly "like" the characters, but I "believed" them, which I guess is more important. There were times when I felt like Wharton was sort of beating us over the head with symbolism, but I liked the realism and that it didn't end the way I expected. So, over all I liked it.
Finally, I have the right word for this predicament: When a capable author uses their prowess to create a work whose sole purpose seems to be to depress the reader, it can be described as Frome. This word can also be used as a verb, noun, adjective (Frome-ish, Frome-ier, etc), adverb (Frome-ly), etc. to similarly describe the effect it has on the reader, (ie, "I was Fromed.")
An example used in a sentence may be: "John Steinbeck was clearly suffering from a touch of the ...more
An example used in a sentence may be: "John Steinbeck was clearly suffering from a touch of the ...more
You know that feeling you get when you see or read or hear something that is horribly sad, that feeling of loss or pity or depression, you know, the one that weighs around your neck like an anchor...well, ETHAM FROME is the type of story that evokes these types of emotions. For the most part, it is a simple story (I will spare you the details, the book is slim, read it), and then suddenly, like an errant thundercloud on a beautiful sunny day, it pelts you wind and rain and hail, and leaves you ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I liked the writing in this book. I liked the story-line of this book. I liked the idea of the author writing it because she was experiencing something similar (bad marriage, finding love elsewhere). I pretty much liked it up until the end. The whole book you are looking at Ethan Frome as something more than what he seems, so much more it is worth it for the narrator to investigate to find more information about him; and then at the end of the book you find he is basically a coward. He is d...more
JG (The Introverted Reader)
rated it
Ethan Frome is a young man married to an insufferable woman named Zeena who thinks that she is an invalid. To help her out around the house, Ethan takes in her orphaned cousin, a young woman named Mattie. Ethan has lived a dark, lonely life, quitting school to take care of his parents and then marrying Zeena and taking care of her. Mattie finally brings some light into his life. This is their story.
I pretty much hated this. The whole thing was dark and depressing. I felt terrib...more
I pretty much hated this. The whole thing was dark and depressing. I felt terrib...more
Andy
rated it
Recommends it for:
Lonely married men; old women who enjoy beating down their husbands; idealistic young women
This novella/short story reads a lot like a study in foreshadowing and imagery, and not necessarily a story for the sake of telling the story. Don't get me wrong, there are some great flourishes of exquisite prose, but in such a stark environment, Wharton heaps meaning after meaning upon the few available images. And the foreshadowing was laid on a bit thick — how many times did a character comment on the tree that ought to be cut down before someone crashes into it and gets hurt?
But...more
But...more
Somehow I missed this in 9th grade English, and after reading this brief, moving novella, I can well understand its ranking as a classic.
In one sense, it works as a story for junior highs; it's a deeply melodramatic romantic story. But in a broader sense, its subtleties and the tightly woven tragedy of its outcome are better suited to older readers.
No spoiler alert needed; I'm not giving away the ending. When we first meet him, Ethan Frome, the title character, is a hard-...more
In one sense, it works as a story for junior highs; it's a deeply melodramatic romantic story. But in a broader sense, its subtleties and the tightly woven tragedy of its outcome are better suited to older readers.
No spoiler alert needed; I'm not giving away the ending. When we first meet him, Ethan Frome, the title character, is a hard-...more
Although it is a tragedy like "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", it's not the same slow, exquisite train wreck that Tess was.
Wharton's classic is more sparse, less ornate, and captures the New England stark winter desolation that mirrors Ethan Frome's internal world.
"Tess" is wonderful, but you know it's going to end badly for her, but the story takes it's time getting to that part. Indeed, this enhances the pain and poignancy of her tragic end. But a few t...more
Wharton's classic is more sparse, less ornate, and captures the New England stark winter desolation that mirrors Ethan Frome's internal world.
"Tess" is wonderful, but you know it's going to end badly for her, but the story takes it's time getting to that part. Indeed, this enhances the pain and poignancy of her tragic end. But a few t...more
I have always been a big Edith Wharton fan and this short novel shows why. Ethan doesn't love the woman is trapped into a marriage with, and can't escape either. Wharton is a master and shows it in her shorter fiction.
I read this for school. The plot is generally boring. The characters got on my nerves, too. Tie it all together for the most depressing, miserable ending in the history of painful books english teachers force their students to read.
I gave it two stars because it wasn't as horrible as some other books I've read *cough cough* Lord of the Flies, but it was pretty bad. It's definitely a "please stick a needle in my eye because I can't stand this any longer" sort of book. But hey,...more
I gave it two stars because it wasn't as horrible as some other books I've read *cough cough* Lord of the Flies, but it was pretty bad. It's definitely a "please stick a needle in my eye because I can't stand this any longer" sort of book. But hey,...more
The careful story of a man's disappointed life, expertly told from an outsider's point of view. Wharton shows great skill as she has you walk along with Ethan through the scenes of his life, as told by neighbors to a visiting businessman, causing you to empathize with his plight from the start. Feel Ethan's hope, empathize with his hardships, and yearn for the happiness that the young woman, Maddie, brings into his life, only to find that happiness is not guaranteed. Loved it. Interesting study ...more
This novel is worth reading. Although it seems to have similar themes and dark tragic undertones that we see so often in other classic novels, the ending still surprised me and was satisfactory. I found myself having a sense of poetic justice even if it was somewhat tragic. The characters interested me as well; I had a very hard time trying to decided if I clearly liked or disliked any of them, as odd as that sounds. Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie all had something appealing about their characters....more
I probably would have gotten to this book eventually in my quest to read the great works of Western literature, but I was inspired to read it by my son's tenth grade English teacher after a comment he made during Open House night. He held the book up apologizing for "making your kids" read it because "it's so boring." It was irresponsible for this "teacher" to impose his ignorance on young minds, but such is the mediocrity pervasive in our public schools (and my s...more
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Edith Newbold Jones was born into such wealth and privilege that her family inspired the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses." The youngest of three children, Edith spent her early years touring Europe with her parents and, upon the family's return to the United States, enjoyed a privileged childhood in New York and Newport, Rhode Island. Edith's creativity and talent soon became obvious...more
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“The stillness was so profound that he heard a little animal twittering somewhere near by under the snow. It made a small frightened cheep like a field mouse, and he wondered languidly if it were hurt. Then he understood that it must be in pain: pain so excruciating that he seemed, mysteriously, to feel it shooting through his own body. He tried in vain to roll over in the direction of the sound, and stretched his left arm out across the snow. And now it was as though he felt rather than heard the twittering; it seemed to be under his palm, which rested on something soft and springy. The thought of the animal's suffering was intolerable to him and he struggled to raise himself, and could not because a rock, or some huge mass, seemed to be lying on him. But he continued to finger about cautiously with his left hand, thinking he might get hold of the little creature and help it; and all at once he knew that the soft thing he had touched was Mattie's hair and that his hand was on her face.”
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Dec 07, 2011 06:53pm
Dec 07, 2011 07:53pm