The Scarlet Letter [Original Version] Nathaniel Hawthorne 9781542701914 Books
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The Scarlet Letter A Romance is an 1850 work of fiction in a historical setting, written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. The book is considered to be his "masterwork". Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.On its publication, critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck, a friend of Hawthorne's, said he preferred the author's Washington Irving-like tales. Another friend, critic Edwin Percy Whipple, objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" with dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them". English writer George Eliot called The Scarlet Letter, along with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 book The Song of Hiawatha, the "two most indigenous and masterly productions in American literature". Most literary critics praised the book but religious leaders took issue with the novel's subject matter. Orestes Brownson complained that Hawthorne did not understand Christianity, confession, and remorse. A review in The Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register concluded the author "perpetrates bad morals."On the other hand, 20th-century writer D. H. Lawrence said that there could not be a more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter. Henry James once said of the novel, "It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best things—an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art."
The Scarlet Letter [Original Version] Nathaniel Hawthorne 9781542701914 Books
Hester Prynne is my favorite literary heroine!I know that’s not how others may characterize her but all I saw was a woman of immense internal strength in the face of shame and suffering.
I found myself admiring her and suffering alongside this brave and beautiful woman.
I never had the chance to read this in high school and I’m so glad I waited. Any book assigned as a school project made me approach it as a prison meal... but this time I was able to approach it as a 5 star banquet spread.
I took my time savoring the archaic language and the poetic phraseology. I lingered as Hester was forced to bear the shame of youth and religiosity. I tried to absorb the despair and find the strength that she was forced to find and soon I learned to love her as though I had known her and her agony personally.
Nathanial Hawthorne has brilliantly critiqued the human condition and masterfully described the burden of shame, hypocrisy, vengeance and triumph.
This book is one for the ages!
A must buy if ever there was one.
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Tags : The Scarlet Letter: [Original Version] [Nathaniel Hawthorne] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Scarlet Letter: A Romance is an 1850 work of fiction in a historical setting, written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. The book is considered to be his masterwork . Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston,Nathaniel Hawthorne,The Scarlet Letter: [Original Version],CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1542701910,Fiction Historical
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The Scarlet Letter [Original Version] Nathaniel Hawthorne 9781542701914 Books Reviews
This is a great book. I tried to read The Scarlet Letter years ago. I put it down after reading about 30 pages because the old English writing was terrible to weed through. This NO FEAR series is wonderful. The left hand side of the book has the original version with the right hand side of the page written in today's language, making it easy to understand. Very nicely done!
I read The Scarlet Letter in high school and I thought it was one of he driest reads I've ever had to muddle through. Although, now that I'm older with adult children, I decided to read it again. This time it was much better and I was able to sympathize with Hester and admire her attitude. She was a strong woman! Being the second time I've read this book, I knew the characters and their roles, and I was carefully paying attention to the key players. I was not pleased with one certain male and thought he was a sniveling idiot with no backbone.
I'm glad I gave this book a second chance. Sometimes, the classics we are forced to read in school need life experience to appreciate what the message the author was trying to convey. For me, this was one of those classics.
Of course, this is a classic piece of American literature. I had seen a dramatization of it on TV some years ago but until recently had not gotten around to reading it. The book is structured differently from the drama. Modern readers may find the sentences tryingly long and the sentiments unimaginable. However, clearly Hawthorne was a genius for he packs two or three reflections into every sentence and winds them about the characters flawlessly. If one can set aside modern concepts of behavior and Hemingway model sentence structure it is a rewarding read. The book deals intimately with internal conflicts in the characters rather than actions, which principally serve only to divulge thoughts and feelings.
I heard so many times that this book is incredibly boring, but I decided to give it a chance and it actually isn’t that bad. It’s the story of Hester Prynne, who has an affair and gets pregnant and the way that the Puritan community she lives in reacts to that. She is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her dress so nobody ever forgets that she’s a sinner.
It’s always a bit strange reading books like these in the 21st century. On one hand, I understand that it was a different time and people had different values and I don’t think we should pretend history was any better than it actually was. On the other hand, it makes me so mad when I think of the horrible way women used to be treated and the fact that there are still some places in the world where a woman like Hester would be punished even worse than she was in this book.
It’s a short book, though it drags in some places because Hawthorne loves unnecessary details. But he’s very good at making you understand exactly what the characters are feeling. The book is full of his observations about human nature and I’d say it’s worth reading because of that even if you have no interest in the plot.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classic ... which is the main reason I chose to read it. But, besides being a classic, it is also a very good book, and I enjoyed it immensely, though the ending was disappointing in that it was a little vague as to the fates of some of the characters.
The book starts off with Hester Prynne, the main character, being led up on the scaffold for the public to gawk at. She has been charged with adultery, which is obviously true because she has a baby and her husband hasn't been around in ages. However, she refuses to give up the name of her fellow adulterer. To her dress is pinned a scarlet letter, and she is released, but she'll spend the rest of her life being shunned and stared at.
The real beauty of The Scarlet Letter is the rich language never found in contemporary works. It gives you a real mental workout, and it's absolutely beautiful.
The characters are well-developed and interesting. The story is also interesting, though very sad. It shows the strictness of Puritan beliefs in the 1600s, it shows the difference between a person bearing shame and a person bearing secret guilt, it shows the price of sin and the gift of forgiveness. The Scarlet Letter is a true masterpiece.
~Kellyn Roth
Hester Prynne is my favorite literary heroine!
I know that’s not how others may characterize her but all I saw was a woman of immense internal strength in the face of shame and suffering.
I found myself admiring her and suffering alongside this brave and beautiful woman.
I never had the chance to read this in high school and I’m so glad I waited. Any book assigned as a school project made me approach it as a prison meal... but this time I was able to approach it as a 5 star banquet spread.
I took my time savoring the archaic language and the poetic phraseology. I lingered as Hester was forced to bear the shame of youth and religiosity. I tried to absorb the despair and find the strength that she was forced to find and soon I learned to love her as though I had known her and her agony personally.
Nathanial Hawthorne has brilliantly critiqued the human condition and masterfully described the burden of shame, hypocrisy, vengeance and triumph.
This book is one for the ages!
A must buy if ever there was one.
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