First, I LOVE Wharton’s style. So much. And I don’t know why. I just find her to be very straightforward yet detailed—it’s not tedious, and she managed to find just the right words.
The story is engrossing considering how little happens, and it’s very addictive. I loved her depictions of nature and the contrasts. All of the honest affections were given outside, setting up a battle between freedom and domesticity. However, nature also was a trapping force, keeping characters at odds during winters. I liked the ambiguous nature of nature. What I liked about the story most, altogether, though, is what it revealed about myself as a reader more than anything, and the questions it raised in me.
I mean, the whole story is just ROUGH to get through. I know that all endings can’t and shouldn’t be happy. I would die if every story had a fluffy, Breaking Dawn-esque finale (gag). But still. This story reveals a lot about us readers and how we pick sides/ decide who we want to “win” or even define what “winning” is. And it’s revealed by what we like and dislike in the novel, but the whole thing is SET UP by the author. It’s elaborate mind control. I mean, if it had been set up from Mrs. Frome’s point of view, this whole story would read COMPLETELY different. The impact it would have would be something else in its entirety. It makes me wonder why Wharton does have us root for Ethan, and it’s a question I haven’t had energy to think through. And how much of it is fabricated by the story’s narrator and how much of it is true?
Just like nature is ambiguous, our relationship with the author is, as well. Definitely putting this on my “Read Again” list.
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