Ethan Frome and Other Short Stories

I first read Ethan Frome in a high school English class, and, as I recall, I was the only one in the class who actually liked it. (Well, as much as I was ever able to like things I was forced to read and then lectured about and quizzed on, anyway.) I felt a lot of empathy for poor old Ethan Frome, with his wasted his intellect and his hopeless love and his bleak life spent with people he had to care for but didn't actually want to be around. I felt it again now, too, as well as very much appreciating the way Wharton's prose so effectively conveys both the literal and metaphorical coldness of Ethan's existence. Clearly I was the only discerning one in that classroom, because this novella really is good, and I'm glad I finally read it show more again without the quizzes and lectures distracting me.

As for the "other stories" in this volume, they consist of four tales -- "The Eyes," "Afterward," "Kerfol" and "The Triumph of Night" -- featuring various reasonably imaginative kinds of supernatural hauntings. None of them are the kind of classic story anybody's ever going to teach in an English class, and a couple of them left me wondering if there were some implications in them I wasn't entirely getting, but I enjoyed reading all of them.

Rating: 4.5/5, but that extra half-star is really just for the title story. show less

Ah, well I will be insufficient in describing this book. The book is painfully wonderful. I've read this one years ago; and did the reread for book club. I always love when we read a classic of this time period for book club. I would be content to stay in this time period for much of my reading pleasure; but book club keeps me running in arenas I wouldn't normally venture. Chad and I discussed why this book is so lovely; and his comment was "because it's so real"; and I believe he's right. There's very little happiness in this story, so the bit that is there magnifies the heartache of the characters. This book is absolutely worth the couple hour read; and the movie version with Liam Neeson is also well worth it.

I hated this book in high school when I read it, but rereading as an "adult" really made a huge difference. Maybe it's that I've experienced a few snowy winters now and know how crazy and depressed they can make people. Maybe it's because I know a little more about life and relationships now or because I don't read books to merely entertain me anymore. I don't know, but I have to recommend everyone who hated this in high school try re-reading it. Maybe you'll be surprised!

A heartbreaking and extremely well written short novel, Ethan Frome tells the story of the title character who has fallen in love with his bitter wife's young cousin. Ethan is plagued by indecision, and Wharton expertly portrays his feelings and the tension between Frome and the object of his affection. As usual for the author, the ending is not happy, but it is appropriate and memorable. Well worth a read.

A modern novel from the 19th century. Edith Wharton wrote with honesty and openness in a time when not evryone was ready to look at issues like adultery. A classic tale of the pain of love and loss.