Ethan Frome (1911)

Thought it a great story but felt sorry for Ethan and Mattie. ( )

Edith Wharton wrote this novella about a young farmer in Massachusetts, who leads a bleak existence after the untimely death of his parents and his miserable marriage to the sickly Zeena. When Zeena's cousin Mattie comes to help run the house, Ethan finds himself drawn to her beauty and love of life. Ultimately, the star crossed lover's story ends in tragedy.
Wharton paints a harsh picture with words of the depressing New England town in winter that matches the life of Ethan Frome. The reader feels quite sad and depressed right along with Ethan.
I first read the book in high school, and re-read it in a Classics book club. I did not enjoy it as much the second time around. It was boring, and I did not feel enough emotion to care for the characters much. I do enjoy Wharton's ability to convey an overall mood through her use language/ ( )

Excellent proto-goth without the music.. ( )

Between a 3 and a 4, there seems to be nothing more fascinating and guiltily sexier than an unconsummated love affair where every stolen glance and calculated move bring forth a sense of danger at the expense of constrained encounters and moments. It muddles with the mind and the heart then sets desire more ablaze, more aflame as if the Object of Desire has turned into an arsonist. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is no stranger to them. The bleak and cold landscape of its setting mark by its people's collective pity and one foreigner's fascination further juxtapose the undisclosed and tensed passion between Ethan Frome and his wife's cousin Mattie Silver. All this behind, perhaps the peripheral vision, of his sallow wife Zeena. The tragedy of such a story is not much on the implied illicit affair but on death's criminal charges upon trying to hold on to what should have been lost and let go. The right blend of depressing and haunting. Rousseau has put it well when he once said "So long as we desire, we can do without happiness." ( )

Beautifully written. Very uncomfortable and a bit depressing though. ( )