"Cliff Notes - Ethan Frome" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

In The Custom of the Country (1913) Wharton took her readers to
the Midwest, to New York, and to France, intending to poke fun
at wealthy but coarse people. Perhaps she had her ex-husband in
mind. She spent most of the World War I years in Paris, giving
generously of her time and money to care for French children
displaced by the war. Out of this experience came a book
describing her relief work, Fighting France, From Dunkerque to
Belfort (1915), and two novels, The Marne (1918) and A Son at
the Front (1923).

Edith Wharton remained abroad after the war and rarely stopped
writing. She completed dozens of additional novels before her
death in 1937 in France. One of them, The Age of Innocence, has
achieved the status of an American classic. Published in 1920,
the book won the Pulitzer Prize. Here Wharton returned to the
world she knew best, the loftiest circle of New York society in
the 1870s. Rather than presenting life in old New York
sentimentally, however, she points out its faults. Despite its
setting, The Age of Innocence is not an old-fashioned novel.
People continue to read it. Like Ethan Frome it contains a
story that Edith Wharton prepared to write during much of her
life.

Critics generally agree that the novels Wharton wrote during the
last part of her career fall short of excellence. Perhaps she
couldn't adapt her craft to the modern American scene. At the
same time, however, she produced some first-rate short stories.
A collection of Edith Wharton's complete works fills several
library shelves. While browsing among those books, you'll
surely find some of the best American literature of the
twentieth century.

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ETHAN FROME: THE PLOT

If you've ever been lonely, even when surrounded by others, you
know just how Ethan Frome felt most of his life. An intense,
painful loneliness does things to you: You lose confidence; you
feel sorry for yourself; you blame others for your pain. And
sometimes, if you hurt as much as Ethan, you consider doing away
with yourself.

Most of Ethan's story takes place during a winter many years ago
in a small farm community in New England. In those days it was
easy to be lonely. Long workdays left little time for fun.
Cold and snow kept you from seeing your neighbors and friends
for long stretches of time.

When you first meet Ethan, he's fifty-two years old. From his
looks, though, you'd think he was much older. His shoulders