Customer Reviews

Nathaniel Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter (Barron's Book Notes)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

read it twice, the frist time you get the plot the second you get the true skill it took to write it

The Scarlett Letter is a wonderfully written novel, that encompasses the Puritan life in the early settlement of New England. The main characters in the book are Hester Prynne, Rev. Dimmsdale, Pearl, and the haughty physician Roger. The scandal in the novel is adultery. A sin that takes a hold of all the characters in one way or another. Love and truth are the few things the characters can trust. Isolation is also a great part of the novel and with each turning of a page Hester's strength empowers the reader to hold that tear let the heart remain strong...for ourselves and for Hester.

This rich, beautiful tale of forbidden love is possibly the best book I have ever read. It is filled with rich detail and fascinating symbolism. It left me in tears and in awe.

This novel is heavily symbolic (perhaps too much so)with an overly-generous use of extended imagery. The characters (Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl) are less fully-developed human beings than they are representative of specific sins and human frailties. Nevertheless, this anti-transcendentalist novel is a polished and compelling story, focusing on the darker forces in man and his world.

I designate the novel transcendental, using the term in a sense that will be distinguished from romanticism, for the use of transcendentalism is usually considered with in the bounds of romanticism. The reading does not attempt to even specify this.

I am a junior in college. I had to read this book once before for a lit. class my junior year in high school. I admit it was a bit difficult to read the first time, but I understood and enjoyed it this time. I recommend looking into what was going on during the Romantic Period and gaining an understanding of what Romantic writers focused on. It will help you understand the story line. And if you get a chance, check out some other works by Hawthorne, like The Birthmark or Young Goodman Brown. That will help you understand Hawthorne's style of writing.

Hester commits adultery with the priest. Her husband comes back and about this news and asks her to not acknowledge him. Hester is punished by wearing a scarlet letter at all times. Later as she begins to pick up her life the priest gets sick; yada yada yada.

Hawthorne uses a lot of symbolism and themes, most of which he over-uses. His sentences last for paragraphs, and his style is so sophisticated it gave me headaches to read it. If you want something to put you to sleep, this is it. Ow. I personally disliked the book and I would rather eat my gym socks than read it over again. Booorrring!!!!!!

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was excellent. This criticism destroys the fundamental point of reading the book; to interperet on your own.

While the book has an interesting back-story, and a nice moral (religion gets you nowhere), it is overly descriptive, and at times, boring. However, some of the last scenes are rather nice, but it doesn't quite help the rest of the book. The vocabulary used doesn't help, and the storyline is far too off-track to be worth reading. I'll take Twelfth Night over this any day. (definately worth reading)