Ethan Frome (1911)

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. ( )

Very interesting book that I might need to read again to fully digest. The description of winter was great, starting beautiful and wonderous, but the descriptions start to wear on the reader, slowly getting more and more oppressive as the story went on, culminating in the cause of the "accident." The accident was a cruel twist, leading to a tragic, but satisfyingly fitting end.

A great read for a cold night in winter. Can be read in a single sitting. ( )

Whoever thinks that classic literature is boring ought to read more Edith Wharton. This particular novel is short (my Penguin Classics copy was only 99 pages) but packs quite a punch.

The anonymous narrator first hears about Ethan from the people of the town of Starkfield, one of those New England town where everyone knows everything. He becomes acquainted with Ethan after hiring his horse for transportation, and becomes drawn into his story one evening being stranded due to weather. When Ethan was in his twenties, his invalid wife’s orphaned cousin, Mattie Silver, came to live with them and help with the housework. Mattie is “quick to learn, but forgetful and dreamy, and not disposed to take the matter seriously.” Ethan’s wife, Zeena, gripes about Mattie’s lack of domestic skills, but Ethan finds himself defending Mattie, helping her with the household chores, and looking for opportunities to spend time with her. The matter comes to a head when Zeena finally decides that Mattie must leave the household, and Ethan begins plotting ways that he and Mattie can stay together.

It’s amazing that this novel was first published almost a hundred years ago, and yet the plot is still readable and relevant today. Ethan’s struggle with his attraction to Mattie and his detachment from Zeena is similar to the stories related in many modern films and teenage romance novels, though the restraint showed by the couple may baffled contemporary readers. This is a quick read but one that will resonate with the reader long after finishing the novel. ( )