Ethan Frome

by Edith Wharton

book data

10,832 ratings, 3.27 average rating, 853 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		16%
4		28%
3		30%
2		15%
1		9%

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published

October 25th 2005 (first published 1909) by Penguin Classics

binding

Paperback, 112 pages

isbn

0142437808 (isbn13: 9780142437803)

description

Elizabeth Ammons (foreword)

Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, susp...more

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08/30/07

George rated it:

Read in January, 1988

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.

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

2 comments

09/09/08

Johnny rated it:

(review of isbn 1600962122)

bookshelves: literature

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Johnny by: William Chu

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...more 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 shelves of literature and told myself that I needed to read it someday. It wasn’t until I reread the book this week (thinking it was my first reading, but anticipating the events far too clearly as I turned each page) that I realized I had read it before and, for some reason, its powerful story had not stayed in my accessible conscious (I’m sure Jung could have explained it and, unfortunately, I can do so, as well.)

What makes a novel, “literature?” Is it the intricate precision of the prose interwoven with delicate artistic touches? If so, Ethan Frome doesn’t meet the criterion. Rather than clever metaphors and similes that sing from the page, there is a plodding, methodical stacking of word upon word that rivals the quiet, mysterious nature of the protagonist himself. Perhaps, the art is in making the rhythm of the story match the theme and characters. If so, Ethan Frome very clearly meets the criterion.

Does the cosmic significance of the plot or message transform a mere novel into “literature?” Again, Ethan Frome would fail the test. But if the criterion is that “literature” reveals something powerful about our human condition and causes us to both empathize with others (in this case, the characters) and re-evaluate our own attitudes and situations, the novel succeeds extremely well. When reviewing computer games, I always contended that art means something that changes our perspective and affects us as individuals (for good or bad). In that sense, Ethan Frome could also be classified as “art,” as well as “literature.”

What is it about this relatively short book that placed it on so many required reading lists? Personally, I think it is the expression of that universal human experience of encountering hope after trying to live through a bad personal decision (uninformed career choice, bad marriage, poor investment, misplaced trust in another person or an authority, etc.), only to have that hope shattered. This story is about reaching for that hope, having that hope stolen, experiencing the despair of loss of hope, attempting to counteract that despair, and living with the consequences.

Attempting to summarize the story without too many spoilers is quite difficult. It is the story of a poor man who gives up his hopes for a future outside his small New England village as a dutiful son and husband. Having entangled himself in a marriage from which he cannot gracefully extricate himself, he settles into what might be described as an emotional adultery by fixating upon another. [Having been trapped in a horrible marriage, myself, I don’t need Wharton to tell me that this doesn’t work or Jung to explain why I conveniently forgot that I had read this book when I was fixating upon, not one, but many others. If anything, this book where the physical expression of desire is limited to hands touching, an arm supporting, and the briefest of kisses manages to express most eloquently the wisdom of Jesus’ teaching about having “done it in one’s heart” being equivalent to committing adultery in deed.]

Yes, the theme of being imprisoned in a relationship is found in this novel as in Age of Innocence and the ideal of that wonderful, perfect relationship is captured in many heart-wrenching scenes, but Wharton deals with the issue as realistically as if she was writing from a later era. The results of the decision to break out of the imprisonment are, of course, disastrous. Nothing in the book is as simple as it initially appears. One has a sense of foreboding throughout the book that is deftly underscored by heavy foreshadowing (descriptions of the cutter, mysterious allusions to a tragic event, and more), but the final result is (at least, to me) even more tragic than one expects.

Ethan Frome is a tragedy in the Greek sense. As such, it fits neatly into the “literature” category in my taxonomy. It’s just that poor Ethan didn’t seem to have enough “hubris” to bring this tragedy on his head. He seems more a victim than a tragic protagonist, but he reflects a lot of victims who suffer through horrid relationships and would like to grasp at something that seems like an escape. Even escapes have consequences. The question is: “Which consequences can you best live with?” I wonder what Ethan would say about his choice if he were “real” and alive today.
(less)

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05/23/07

Lindsey rated it:

(review of isbn 0451527666)

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

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

1 comment

12/30/08

Ashley rated it:

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

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11 comments

03/20/09

Janey rated it:

(review of isbn 0743487702)

bookshelves: read-2009

Read in March, 2009

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

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8 comments

03/08/09

Sherien rated it:

bookshelves: classic

Read in March, 2009

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 "Eth...more

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3 comments

08/31/08

Leslie rated it:

bookshelves: novel

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I can't say I liked this book, I didn't. It was well written, but I didn't like how it was written, not the style or the narrator. She has this outsider poking around in this small town, just out of curiosity and boredom, about this man Ethan Frome, and then the whole body of the book, and when he said, "When I walked into the kitchen..." I couldn't even remember who he was. I didn't like that, it felt contrived. I didn't like how Zeena, the wife was portrayed as this awful person...more

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03/18/07

Ainsley rated it:

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

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3 comments

05/02/07

Anna rated it:

(review of isbn 0020264801)

Read in March, 2007

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

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04/24/09

dead letter office rated it:

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 heavily 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 Mattie'...more

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07/02/07

RachelAnne rated it:

(review of isbn 0020264801)

bookshelves: historical, novels

Read in May, 1995

recommends it for: people wanting to commit suicide but in need of more motivation to end it all.

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?

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07/28/08

Carlie rated it:

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Carlie by: Wendy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'm used to long novels that take days if not weeks to read. Well those are my favorites at least. This I finished in less than 4 hours, with interruptions. Edith Wharton was reccommended to me by a fellow goodreads member with reference to my appreciation of Victorian literature. The writing is similar in that it's more formal and stylized, except for the characters' voices of course since this is not about the well educated and well off. But I did not like it as much as I do my favorites ...more I'm used to long novels that take days if not weeks to read. Well those are my favorites at least. This I finished in less than 4 hours, with interruptions. Edith Wharton was reccommended to me by a fellow goodreads member with reference to my appreciation of Victorian literature. The writing is similar in that it's more formal and stylized, except for the characters' voices of course since this is not about the well educated and well off. But I did not like it as much as I do my favorites because of the dystopian theme. I knew from the first that this was not going to have a Dickensian ending.

I disliked the main character, the novel's namesake, from the start because of his attachment to his wife's relation. Call me a prude, call me old-fashioned, but I do not approve of spouses, real or imagined literary characters, being unfaithful. And to a relative of your spouse, egads! I have a strong aversion to cheating because of seeing it accepted by women during my childhood when everything in my being screamed out for them to punish their husbands for their indiscretions.

I am married and I completely understand the desire to feel the spark of love once it has been snuffed out by years of familiarity. But I am also aware that the spark one may feel for a new person is the same one felt for the one they are presently tied to. I am discomfitted by novels that romanticize the sentiments unfaithful spouses feel for their new playthings. Did Ethan not feel sparks when he first courted his wife? If he did not, why marry her then? Would Ethan not eventually lose the sparks he feels for Mattie as he has lost them for his wife? What makes this new love any stronger, better, or more likely to last than the old one?

Wharton attempts to paint Zeena in a negative light as if she is faking her illness did not have their desired effect on me. I have nothing but sympathy for a woman whose husband is courting her younger relation. The only redeeming quality of this novel is the dystopian ending however much I dislike dystopias. Ethan does not get his utmost desire, Mattie - who willingly partook of her cousin's husbands kisses - is a useless cripple (from what I gather), and Zeena, the slighted but dutiful wife, ends up doing the thing she has always been best at, caring for others.

I am taking a wild guess here that Wharton did not have a happy life since this novel is so miserable and the only other novel of hers of which I know the ending (I've seen the movie but have not read the book) was also equally as miserable. I also assume that either she had an affair or she was the other woman because it is a common theme with her (I also saw the age of innocence film adaptation). I myself cannot stake claim to a happy life but if I wrote a novel, you can rest assured that the good would get their just rewards and the evil would get their just desserts. I completely understand that real people are more complicated than that and for a novel to be truly great, characters must exist in a dichotomy. But, I still prefer that bad actions have consequences.(less)

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06/27/08

Meghan rated it:

Read in July, 2008

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

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04/02/08

JG rated it:

bookshelves: classics, fiction, read_in_2008, reviewed

Read in April, 2008

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

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02/12/08

Andy rated it:

Read in February, 2008

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

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02/05/08

Mark rated it:

bookshelves: fiction

Read in February, 2008

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

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10/22/07

Russell rated it:

Read in April, 2007

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

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08/17/07

Rebecca rated it:

(review of isbn 0020264801)

bookshelves: classics, girly, page-turner

The image of two lovers driving a car 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 con...more

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02/09/09

Paul Dinger rated it:

(review of isbn 0140187367)

Read in January, 1982

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.

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11/07/08

Rebekah rated it:

bookshelves: classics

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

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