What an excellent discussion, Lemon. I'm another who read it in high school and never since. I was left with the feeling I never wanted to see it again and agree that it has been presented to too young an audience.

I've never read the book. I found the movie incredibly depressing. Am I likely to enjoy the book more?

I ought to mention that profoundly bleak stories are not redeemed in my eyes by being brilliantly written. In fact it probably makes them worse because I go through more an even more vivid pain in the process.

I do like bittersweet books. Just not those that are unrelentingly grim.

Rosefolly

Hmm, Rosefolly. I'm not sure if it qualifies as "bleak." When I had finished that first re-read, I immediately turned around and did a reread as I was so excited to see how Wharton had done this and what clues she laid before us early in the story.

But - I don't think it's a "comfort/cosy" book, if that's what you're looking for. It's just so well written that I was very impressed and wanted see how this narrative was structured and take a critical (as in objective) view. I know not everyone is quite as into this stuff as I am...!

Liz, I have only once read Ethan Frome (I believe Mary/woodnymph recommend it to me) and have never visited New England in the winter so I may be out of my comfort-zone. I was very interested in your comments re in/outside cold/warmth etc. But I have to say it is certainly one of the bleakest, most grim tales of its kind I have read. Just unrelenting doom and gloom.
I checked out a bit about Wharton (other than school notes) and found she wrote EF to counteract the 'rose-tinted spectacles' through which much of New England lady writers viewed the area.
She talked about the NE villages/rural areas as "grim places morally and physically, insanity, incest, slow mental moral starvation were hidden away . . . "
I think the hint is in the title of the town Starkfield.
I also read that if Ethan and Maddie had got together and moved to another town (probably called Grimview or Merciless) within a very few years Maddie would have turned into another Zeena. History would have just gone on repeating itself.
It is certainly a well-constructed piece and not really suitable reading for the young and impressionable. Rather on a par with Hardy's Jude the Obscure, if you have read that Liz.

Liz, thanks for your insightful review. I agree about the missing "L" part of the farmhouse and the dual imagery you mentioned.

I would add a few more thoughts, as I have just re-read the novel. I found it helpful to look at the book as a painting, mostly-- the landscape being monochromatic, whites, blacks, grays. In sharp contrast, for the character of Mattie, Wharton brings in occasional mention of the color red. e.g. Mattie wears a red ribbon in her dark hair, which catches Ethan's eye. In another scene, she wears a scarlet scarf. But most of all, the cherished dish that belonged to Zeena that gets broken is a bright ruby red.I see the character of Mattie as "fire against ice" (the ice being the chilly character of Zeena and the bleak winter landscape. In a sense, it is the warmth of Mattie which sets fire to the dreams of Ethan for a new and better life, dashed and broken, of course, eventually, like the pickle dish that had been a wedding present.

Liz, I think you might like Wharton's "Summer", also set in new England. It is supposed to echo some similar themes

I used to teach this novel. My students varied in age from 18 to 85, and I found that they were receptive to it although the youngest ones among them tended to object that it wasn't more upbeat.

Life sometimes deals a very unlucky hand. Literature needs to deal with those unfortunate souls who find themselves stuck in bleak situations, don't you think?

Some in this thread have stated that it's too grim for them.

It is indeed a matter of taste. I happen to like Ethan Frome, mainly because Wharton pared down her story to the absolute minimum needed to tell it. There are no interesting little subplots, for instance. The reader is forced to deal with Ethan's situation, in all its grimness. Told in this way, the story packs quite a wallop.

I think of it as paired with her short novel Summer too and would definitely recommend that somewhat brighter book to anyone who wants more Wharton.

Much of Wharton's fiction deals with the upper strata of society--her own world. I think she's at her best when dealing with rural people though.