Isa
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Post by Isa on Jun 24, 2009 7:53:45 GMT -5
July 17: Discuss Chapters 1 to 4. July 24: Discuss Chapters 5 to 9.
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Post by erin on Jun 25, 2009 14:56:42 GMT -5
Isa, When did you guy's vote on this book? Let me know. Thanks
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Jun 25, 2009 17:28:37 GMT -5
We voted back in April - there was a tie between Ethan Frome and The Awakening so we decided to do The Awakening first, and then Ethan Frome.
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Post by Dominique on Jun 30, 2009 9:19:28 GMT -5
When do you guys want to start? In terms of splitting it up I'm not sure what everyone's editions are like, I have the Dover Thrift edition which seems to have 9 chapters over 77 pages. I think because it's so short we could easily split it down the middle and do it over two weeks and still have meaningful discussion, as thats under 40 pages a section, but I'm happy to split it up more and do it over three weeks if people think that is best
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
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Post by Kristie on Jun 30, 2009 13:11:20 GMT -5
I think splitting it up in 2 sections would be fine. My copy has 180 pages, but they're small pages with larger margins, so 90 pages a week wouldn't be too hard.
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Jul 6, 2009 9:30:01 GMT -5
I still haven't unpacked my copy Would it make sense to do Chapters 1-4 and then 5-9?
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Jul 6, 2009 10:00:01 GMT -5
In my copy, the first 4 chapters are 87 pages--that's out of 181 pages, so it's practically right down the middle, like Dom had suggested. (My pages are small with large margins and large writing, so the number of pages isn't bad.) I think it would be good splitting it up like this. And we could even start and finish it still in July if we want to.
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Jul 6, 2009 10:26:49 GMT -5
How about we start the discussion on July 17, and tackle the second part on July 24?
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Lu
Administrator
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Post by Lu on Jul 6, 2009 12:45:37 GMT -5
Sounds good to me too.
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Michelle
First novel published
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Post by Michelle on Jul 6, 2009 12:52:07 GMT -5
I think I can manage that. I'm excited - I haven't read any of her books yet.
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Post by Dominique on Jul 7, 2009 5:57:49 GMT -5
Sounds good to me too It's my first Wharton too.
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Jul 8, 2009 11:47:13 GMT -5
It was my first Warthon too.
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Jul 18, 2009 8:40:20 GMT -5
Are we ready to begin this discussion?
I have to say, it's my second time reading "Ethan Frome", but I think I might be enjoying it even more than the first time. What immediately struck me, especially because we read and discussed "The Awakening" not so long ago, was Wharton's use of the landscape and weather in the novel. We talked about how in "The Awakening" the heat creates a sensuous atmosphere, and here it's like the cold and snow result in isolation and despair. There's that feeling that people are trapped in Starkfield, and of course, sometimes in the winter they literally are. Something that really got to me was when Ethan was wondering if he'd have married Zeena had it not been winter - even for a strong young man as he was at the time, the idea of facing the winter completely alone seemed unbearable to him.
I'm not sure that I can put it into words, but somehow my mind keeps making a connection between Ethan and Heathcliff, from "Wuthering Heights". I guess it's as though Ethan is a devil-free rendition of Heathcliff. His passion for Mattie is just as consuming as Heathcliff's for Cathy, and we get hints early on in the novel that in the end it's going to be just as destructive. Does anyone else share that impression?
Another thing that made me think about "The Awakening" is the fact that when you think about it, the subject matter is fairly similar, only Wharton knew how to give an angle to her story that would not cause scandal - she chose to have a male narrator tell the story and leave it up to the reader to decide who's good and who's bad. I think most people will agree that because of this technique, we're led to root for Ethan and Mattie and don't care much for Zeena. If she'd written the story from Mattie's point of view, the way Kate Chopin did in "The Awakening", the public's reaction would have been different because we would have been in the head of "the other woman".
I'm sure there are several others, but I picked up on two interesting symbols - the fact that Mattie is described as wearing a red scarf and then a red ribbon, which brings out the sensual, temptation aspect, and also the breaking of Zeena's bowl, which seems to foreshadow the destruction of their marriage. Even Ethan's reaction, when he quickly puts the pieces back together, seems to indicate that his heart no longer belongs to Zeena and that he's only keeping up appearances by playing the part of her husband.
What did you make of Zeena's absence? It seems like she clearly knew something was going on, so did she leave just so things would have to evolve one way or another?
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