Several years ago, I was looking for a blank cassette to tape something for work. I shoved a tape into the player to be sure it was a blank, and suddenly, I heard the voices of my mother, my brother and my father, all now dead. The spoken word can be haunting, and there is no substitute for it in the written word. Suddenly, people long gone from my life, were present again through their voices.

My brother had done some work as an oral historian, taping conversations with individuals who came through Ellis Island so that their stories would not be lost. He had also taped my parents, along with his own voice, so I have that living record of their lives.

Ethan Frome is not Edith Wharton's usual work, but she is a fine writer and this somewhat different piece is no exception. Ethan Frome is a haunting story about Ethan, Ethan's wife Zenobia, and his wife's cousin Mattie, with whom Ethan falls in love. The story is a love triangle, but so much more. As an English major, I read so many fine pieces of literature, but I do not think I will ever forget Ethan Frome, and the traps that caught his life forever.

Reading Ethan Frome is worthwhile, but hearing Ethan Frome read, in a Books on Tape or perhaps some other way, is unforgettable. A good story teller can bring words to life, and this story is so well suited to being read aloud.

When we lose our oral tradition, we lose accents, nuances and subtleties, the gift of memory, and the individual stamp that each individual leaves, even when reciting the same words.

As you listen, you can ponder some of  the questions that are at the heart of Ethan Frome: What, if anything, could Ethan have done? Is Ethan only of the past, or is his story eternal? What is this thing called love?

Ethan Frome, worth a read, worth a listen.