I've owned Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton since college but hadn't read it, despite loving The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth. When I read Summer recently for the Classics Circuit, I remembered Ethan Frome and figured it was about time to read it. It's really short and I read it in one day, so I'm not sure why I waited so long to give it a try. However, it's definitely not up to Wharton's usual par in my opinion. I noticed several people seemed to share that opinion during the Circuit. A lot of them attributed that to the book not being set in NYC like most of Wharton's books. Since I enjoyed Summer, which was also not set in NYC, I thought perhaps I would enjoy Ethan Frome as well. But, it just didn't have anything that grabbed me. I'm usually much more attached to Wharton's characters than I was here. I finished this a week ago, and now I can't remember anyone's name except Ethan's. I still remember Lily Bart and Newland Archer even though it's been years since I've read The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence, whereas I doubt I'd remember Ethan's name if it wasn't the title!
Also, the book was depressing. Now, I think all of her other books are fairly depressing too, so that's not a deterrent, but since I didn't care about the characters, it was just depressing and boring instead of depressing and moving. I didn't hate or anything, I don't want to make you think that, it just wasn't Wharton's usual quality.
I read Ethan Frome for the first time since high school last year and thought it was well-written, but I agree that it is no where near as interesting a story as Age of Innocence. It is a very grim story, and I think part of it is that Wharton was writing about people she really knew nothing about. I am still planning on reading Summer this summer, though, since I promised myself that I would.
ReplyDeleteI love Ethan Frome since it was my first exposure to Wharton, but I love her bigger works much more. I'm in the middle of The Glimpses of the Moon right now which is also quite excellent if you are looking for another Wharton to try!
ReplyDeleteJane - I really enjoyed Summer even though it isn't her normal setting.
ReplyDeleteAllie - I picked up Glimpses of the Moon recently at a used bookstore, so I guess I should read it soon!
I agree that it wasn't the same quality as the other two biggies you mention. (I have not yet read Summer.) I just felt it lacked depth in every way and wondered what high schoolers were able to find in it for discussion....
ReplyDeleteRebecca- Yeah, I'm not sure how high school teachers teach this. It would be hard to write a research paper or even just an essay on it in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI loved this book and read almost the entire thing in one sitting. I don't know why I love it so much because it's so bleak and tragic, but it somehow really touches me. It's my favorite along with House of Mirth. My library's book group is reading Summer for August so I'm really looking forward to it, I've owned it for several years but just haven't gotten to it yet.
ReplyDeleteKaren- I hope you enjoy Summer. I really liked it even though it was different from her NYC-based books, but if you liked Ethan Frome, I'm sure you'll like Summer too!
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