[JSWolf]

On GoodReads, Frome has been voted the 29th most depressing book.

Here are some very appropriate reviews found on GoodReads...

Bleak fiction for bleak fiction’s sake about a miserable man in an inescapable, loveless marriage and his desire for another woman. Hollow and myopic, easily one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve ever had with a supposed classic. Other gothics would earn their tragedy, but this is just cold. If it has any merit it is an argument against theodicy, for look what gods we make when we play as authors.

Don't bother reading Ethan Frome. Go sledding instead.

I read this for school. The plot is generally boring. The characters got on my nerves, too. Tie it all together for the most depressing, miserable ending in the history of painful books English teachers force their students to read.

I gave it two stars because it wasn't as horrible as some other books I've read *cough cough* Lord of the Flies, but it was pretty bad. It's definitely a "please stick a needle in my eye because I can't stand this any longer" sort of book. But hey, if you like that sort of thing...

Anyway, Ethan Frome----His life is merely so depressing that he would jump anything that came along. There is nothing particularly engaging about this type of writing. I found Edith's writing style to be a lot like nathaniel hawthorne's style: there are a lot of descriptions of the landscape, and the environment but there is little discussion to what the characters are thinking/feeling. This makes it difficult for the reader, a reader like me anyway, to connect with the story and really care about the out come.

I did not find any value or enjoyment out of this novel/plot line what-so-ever.n. So if you have time on your hands and you are looking for a good read, I suggest the local phone book would be a viable alternative to the novel Ethan Frome.

I absolutely hated this book. It seemed like Wharton wanted to find a horrible, semi-frozen ditch full of depressing, frigid mud and deliberately fall in it, flop about despondently, claw halfheartedly at the steepest face, fall back in, and languish miserably while expounding in a monotone about the futility of hope... and drag her readers in too.

The climax of this book involves a broken plate and sledding. I feel like that in itself should be enough to warn you, but in case I still have some uncertain individuals I will go farther.

I'm not even sure that this book had a point. All I could take from it is that sledding is a highly ineffectual way to commit suicide. Right. You're going "duh, of course it is, who was stupid enough to actually think that sledding was a sure way of ending their life?"

Exactly. This book is over dramatic, riddled with lame symbolism, and has really selfish, unlikeable characters.

Need I say more?

Next time I want to ruin someone's reading life I will give them Ethan Frome. Just thinking back to this horrid book has put me in a foul mood. Hey, HEY YOU! YEAH, YOU. GET OUTTTTAAAA MY REVIEW!!!

Worst book I have ever read. The first sentence reads like this, "Gray town, gray house, gray sky, gray, boring, depressed characters. Yawn."

This book is just a complete fail. They even failed at committing suicide.

Death by sledding...what an absolutely stupid idea. You don't commit suicide by trying to run a sled into a tree.