Rob Hnatko
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
Reading this in my junior year, between The Great Gatsby (terrific) and Into The Dust (horrible), it was fairly disappointing. The Romeo and Juliet-esque love theme made me want to vomit-yet more people that are simply stupid and have horrible things happen to them (ei, driving into the tree). The story went far too slow, what there was of it. And Edith Wharton obviously knew nothing of the simple life in wintry little Massachussetts. While coasting (sledding, in Americanese) and going to church dances seem fairly boring and trivial to most, these activities meant something to the people who live such lives. Ethan was a bad character to begin with, but in my opinion, he would never had tried to kill himself.<br><br>Yes, Wharton obviously knows her literary devices and themes (some of the more metaphorical thoughts are borderline masterful), but those themselves don't make a decent novel.<br><br>Fairly boring, and a waste of time, unless you enjoy those Shakeaspeareian(sp?) tragedies.