Edith Wharton Books

This is a very well written novel of manners set in New York at the turn of the century. It is clear that the author is throughly familiar with her subject. However, since we have turned another century, the plot and characters are perhaps too predictable for 21st century tastes. But if you like Jane Austen types, this may be worth a quick read.

You should read the book if you like english villages or have a favor for melancholy storys. It is very emotional written and ethan frome is her masterpiece.

When Edith Wharton wrote "Ethan Frome" she was living in Europe. In my opinion, she was a little home-sick and wished to set a story, any story, near where she lived, so she created Starkfeild, the town, under several feet of snow, where Ethan, his Wife (Zeena), and his supposed "true love" (Mattie) live together. After reading the book, I got the impression that Ethan didn't truely love either Zeena or Mattie, and so the "daring escape" from his life that he tries to make doesn't seem realistic. Although Wharton idea for this story was grade "A", she made Ethan seem to be lusting after Mattie, as opposed to truely loving her. This book could have been much better and about eighty pages shorter.

I just got done reading this book for school, and I must say that it was quite boring, and I don't think I would recommend it to anyone. I thought it was pretty boring, and the story line didn't keep me interested at all.

I just finished reading this book for school and usually I can't stand novels for school, but this one was outstanding!! The way that Ethan describes the way that he feels for Mattie can just bring you to tears. Zeena and her potent attitude make the story and the romance between Mattie and Ethan even more exciting. If you liked the romance of Romeo and Juliet, you will love Ethan Frome!!

My God, what was this stupid woman thinking? Sweet mother of jesus this is some awful writing. For the love of God DONT read this book if you value your life or sanity. This book isnt worth the paper it's written on. If you're going to read this "literary masterpiece" at least prepare a strong rope tied in a noose, and a sturdy headbeam. That is all.

but not as bad as the other reviewer would have you believe. This slight novella offers a glimpse of World War I through the eyes of a passionately pro-French young American. The character's take on the war is hardly suprising as it is simply a reflection of the author's own feelings, but it allows an interesting view of American involvment in the great war prior to the formal declaration.

Although it is not among Wharton's best work (it's not even her best work of fiction on the war - A Son At the Front is superior), her fans will find it worth reading (if they can find it) as a literary curiosity, if for no other reason.

Most of the essays were very informative. The only problem I found was in James Campbell's essay on H. P. Lovecraft. On page 179 Campbell described the narrator of 'The Call of Cthulhu'as being nameless and insane. The narrator's name is Frances Wayland Thurston, he is dead at the time that the read sees the story. I quote from the first line of 'The Call of Cthulhu'('The Dunwich Horrors and Others' Arkham House 1984):

(Found among the papers of the late Frances Wayland Thurston, of Boston)

The narrator is named, and being dead, his sanity is problematical. In 1984 Arkham House printed 'The Dunwich Horror and Others" in which this story was found. These volumes were different from what Campbell used. Campbell's essay was well written, but it should be checked against the revised text before being used for research purposes.

The content is listed in chronological order but the entries in the list are not "hot" so that you cannot navigate to a title from the list. There is no table of contents. One must either use the SEARCH feature or just scroll through all of the pages to find what is wanted. To make matters worse, the titles are not in chronological order in the content portion of the file. I find it completely unacceptable that the publisher did not supply some way of navigating through the titles with, at the very least, a clickable table of contents.

It says it's 29 pages. This is true, but they don't mention that the first 8 or so pages are nothing relating to the book, just an overview of how to use these guides (I don't think we're too stupid to just read the damned thing) and then the last 3 are just sources and more advertisements.

Wait the 2 months for Cliff's notes version of this to be released...this one was far from helpful. I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!

Written in 1916, this novella from Edith Wharton combines all the clichés of literature from that era. We have a murder, a ghost, and a past tense narrating.

The story has two parts. One set in 1916 and the other in the 1600's.

To call either of them a story is a big exaggeration. There is no point in the book, since the present-day scenario is devoid of an actual plot. A person checs some history files. That's it.

I'm really not a big fan of Edith Wharton, or ghost-stories, but the pointlessness of the novella still surprised me.