Ethan Frome
Ethan Frome is set in the fictional New England town of Starkfield, where a visiting engineer tells the story of his encounter with Ethan Frome, a man with a history of thwarted dreams and desires. The accumulated longing of Frome ends in an ironic turn of events. The engineer, staying temporarily in town while he works nearby, is the narrator who tells the story of Frome. His initial impressions are based on his observations of Frome going about his mundane tasks in Starkfield, and something about him catches the eye and curiosity of the visitor, but no one in the town seems interested in revealing many details about the man or his history - or perhaps they are not able to. The narrator ultimately finds himself in the position of staying overnight at Frome's house in order to escape a winter storm, and from there he observes Frome and his private circumstances, which he shares and which triggers other people in town to be more forthcoming with their own knowledge and impressions.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What I think at page 49:
When I first picked up this book I thought it would be kind of like to kill a mockingbird where Jem and Scout were discovering about the mysterious Boo and he turned out to be a nice guy. Boy was I wrong. 10 pages in it switches from the new guys perspective to Young Ethan Frome's perspective. He loves his ill wife's cousin! He was HAPPY his wife left town to go see a doctor because then he could be alone with Mattie! Ethan disgusts me. Zeens being sick means that she needs him more, yet all he can concentrate on is Mattia and finishing everything else so that he has more time with her.
Can't be with the one you love because of a nasty ill wife? Clearly the solution is to kill yourself and the girl so that you'll never have to separate! Except when that fails you'll need to have your sickly wife take care of you both. This was such a pointless book. How is this a 'masterpiece'?!? Man falls in love even though he's already MARRIED, girl loves him back, they fail an attempted suicide, ill wife takes care of the both. What kind of story is that?!?
When I first picked up this book I thought it would be kind of like to kill a mockingbird where Jem and Scout were discovering about the mysterious Boo and he turned out to be a nice guy. Boy was I wrong. 10 pages in it switches from the new guys perspective to Young Ethan Frome's perspective. He loves his ill wife's cousin! He was HAPPY his wife left town to go see a doctor because then he could be alone with Mattie! Ethan disgusts me. Zeens being sick means that she needs him more, yet all he can concentrate on is Mattia and finishing everything else so that he has more time with her.
Can't be with the one you love because of a nasty ill wife? Clearly the solution is to kill yourself and the girl so that you'll never have to separate! Except when that fails you'll need to have your sickly wife take care of you both. This was such a pointless book. How is this a 'masterpiece'?!? Man falls in love even though he's already MARRIED, girl loves him back, they fail an attempted suicide, ill wife takes care of the both. What kind of story is that?!?
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.