Reviews

Ethan Frome (Oxford Bookworms) by Edith Wharton, Susan Kingsley

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ahsokasbackup's review against another edition

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5.0

One of my favorite books I read in high school!

meggriffin88's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

cassiakarin's review against another edition

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4.0

Very well-written...but strange.
I picked up this book by the guidance of Karen Swallow Prior in her book "On Reading Well".
Edith Wharton is a wonderful story-teller. Her descriptions of places are excellent, but even better are her descriptions of the behaviors, movements, expressions, and feelings of people. These descriptions place you right in the room the her characters. The presence she provides by her descriptions became so real to me that I found my own mood changing along with the character's experiences and moods. Whenever I put the book down I would act and react to those around me as if I were the one hurting, offended, in love, or annoyed.
At the end of the crux chapter I stopped reading for a few days. I actually found it hilariously unbelievable. I had to try hard "suspend my disbelief" as J.R.R Tolkien calls it. But then once I returned and finished the few remaining pages I was gripped by the power of the story at large, and wished I had finished it straight through. I also found the afterword interesting and appropriately placed.

I would conclude by saying that this story can find its home within every human heart. I do not believe there is one individual who cannot relate to the frustrations and internal suffering of the characters found here. And because of this, the story at large made me look internally at my own heart, and grew compassion in me to look at others with more care. This is a story of just a few individuals, but I believe these individuals can be found around every corner of our own experiences. This story grew on me a lens of compassion and hope for everyone I come into contact with, and because of that, I would judge it a good story.
It won’t be a favorite… so I only gave it 4 stars.

snowreo's review against another edition

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3.0

This book wasn't particularly awful. I just think I was expecting more because I had just finished Life of Pi for the same class I read this for.

Ethan Frome tells the story of a man named Ethan Frome. He lives in a stark, depressing town, has a loveless marriage to his constantly sick cousin Zenobia, and is living a meaningless life. That is, until he meets Mattie Silver.

Most of the novel is him and Mattie in a constant battle of "does he love me? does she love me?" until they both realize their love for each other in the second to last chapter of the book. Needless to say, it gets a little exhausting. Not to mention that nothing really happens. It only gets interesting in the last few chapters, when

Spoiler

Ethan tries to run away from Zenobia, Mattie finds out, and they go through a failed attempted suicide in order to be together

, but to me that is way too late to have interesting things happen.

I have literally nothing else I can say because VIRTUALLY NTOHING HAPPENS.

Do not read this. Run far and run fast.

schofield24's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a dark and tragic book and I'm sure not to everyone's taste. But somehow I've loved this book and never get tired of it. Edith Wharton's prose is as spare as the landscape she describes, and there's just something so beautiful about it despite the irony found in the story.