The Scarlet Letter (Bantam Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Exclusive: Editorial Director Elda Rotor on Classics That Never Go Out of Style

Dear Amazon Readers:

Penguin Classics is pleased to publish three new Penguin Classics Deluxe editions of Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice, with covers designed by world-renowned fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo.

With Penguin's history of excellence in book design and following the success of our continued series of award-winning deluxe editions with covers by leading graphic and comic artists, we wanted to explore another inspiring world of design for Penguin Classics. Roseanne Serra, our art director for this series, which we call in-house the Couture Classics, had the vision of inviting fashion illustrators to create specially commissioned art work. My first choice of an artist to ask was Ruben Toledo, whose work I have admired since I was a student combing through pages of the earlier incarnations of Paper and Details magazines. I always found his drawings of women dressed in the latest styles to be so imaginative, whimsical and surreal, that they could be characters out of beloved novels.

Ruben agreed to draw these three covers, each in a different medium of ink, watercolor or pencil, because he was attracted to the idea of creating covers for a younger generation of Penguin Classics readers and to promote literacy. They are "not your mother's Bronte" as Glamour tagged the set. Our hope is that these vibrant covers will entice general readers and students with an interest in design to delve into the stories that inspire these artistic creations. We hope that book lovers, those that cherish the old-school feel of a physical book, who love book design, fonts, and the all-around aesthetics of a beautiful book, will want all three.

Cathy and Heathcliff, Hester and Pearl, and Elizabeth and Darcy are the literary muses for these covers, and readers will enjoy Ruben's interpretations of these classic characters plus the mood, texture, and scenery inspired by them. From front to back cover, extending even to the French flaps, each cover represents a refreshing representation of the classic work through Ruben's unique artistic sensibility.

The fun of these covers is that they reiterate that classics are relevant for every generation, especially the latest one. Liesl Schillinger for the New York Times blog identifies the fun in seeing the aesthetics of today's youth embodied in Toledo's art: "Was Heathcliff--the wild child of Wuthering Heights--a 19th-century emo boy? Can you picture Jane Austen's Lizzy Bennet as a Regency gossip girl, and Darcy as her Mr. Big in knee breeches? And what about Hester Prynne--was she Nathaniel Hawthorne's idea of a colonial yummy mummy?" Nylon first blogged about Toledo's series, and the tongue-in-cheek challenge to judge a book by its cover: "While his surreal take on the Yorkshire moors or his Technicolor vision of Hester Prynne might not change the actual details of the plot, they certainly add a stylish edge to book club mainstays."

I've heard that people love the Wuthering Heights cover because it exudes the same dark Gothic sexiness of Twilight's Edward and Bella. (How perfect that Bella herself reads Wuthering Heights for advice on her own love life.) Toledo's details capturing Cathy's persona are mesmerizing, and the chic mysteriousness of Heathcliff peering above his collar captures the perfect bad-boyfriend tone.

The stark black and white Pride and Prejudice cover in silhouette is precise yet witty. (I love the chair on the back cover.) Ruben has a little extra for readers of Pride and Prejudice with a frontispiece of extra “accessories” for the cover's characters.

But my personal favorite is The Scarlet Letter cover. I love the gossiping women, who extend to the French flaps of the cover, emphasizing the size of Hester's scandal. For the font-crazed, Ruben creates various fonts of the letter "A" tacked along the fence. The rose bush, a classic image that appears in 19th-century illustrated editions, is the perfect anchor to this modern interpretation. Look at the ravishing Hester entangled by the mark she must wear on what might be a cashmere sweater dress with an utterly intimidating Pearl in tow in what could be Wolford baby tights. With such alluring images, who wouldn’t be compelled to read these novels?

What went through Ruben's mind in creating these covers? Ruben discussed his process with Women's Wear Daily, "I did approach each story as abstract images--visual quotes from a dream. As I read, I was playing the animated movie in my head. These masterpieces are all so well written."

We hope you enjoy all three books. We hope they spark your imagination and stir up passion for the classics, for Penguin Classics, so timeless and trend-setting, they never go out of style.

Best wishes,
Elda Rotor
Editorial Director, Penguin Classics

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--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Actress Elizabeth McGovern reads this acceptable abridgement with precise, clear diction. Her expressive voice is pleasant, effectively using breath sounds and pauses to recreate dramatic moods. Her usually quick tempo keeps the text from being ponderous, but it can be slower when necessary. Given the time period of the original work, her formal tone is appropriate. Her speech changes slightly for the different characters, but there is not much dialogue. The abridgement retains the continuity of the story. Consider purchasing this version for special education students who can't handle the longer, original text.-Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Classics; 5th printing edition (February 1, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553210092
• ISBN-13: 978-0553210095
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (423 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #295,573 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Scarlet Letter", September 6, 2000

By	D. Bass (North Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like many reviewers here, I was "forced" to read this book for my English Composition class. However, unlike many reviewers here, I have a much different view of the story. As some people have said before, Hawthorne's book takes a good deal of concentration, effort, and strength to understand. Not only to understand, but to finish. The story can drag sometimes, it is true, and Hawthorne's style of writing occasionally leaves something to be desired (I don't think I've ever seen that many commas, 15 letter words, or page long paragraphs before), but we simply must look past these minor issues. Overall, the plot is highly creative and intense, despite the writing.\

Ok, ok, I agree that the first chapter, "The Custom-House", was pretty bad. In fact, it was so bad and boring that I drifted off to sleep several times while reading it! The first chapter has little relevancy with the story, so, unless you have to, I would suggest skipping that part of the text. The rest is exceptionally good, and the quality of the plot cannot be overlooked. My advice is to just lay off the first chapter; that way you'll be able to enjoy the rest of the book without difficulty.

The story itself deals with sin and adultery, a subject that isn't very popular right now. Hawthorne does an excellent job of telling us about this, but he leaves the reader with many questions floating around in his mind at the conclusion. At the end of the story you're not 100% sure if Hawthorne was condemning the Puritan society, or if he was commending it. He leaves that for the reader to figure out, which is a thing authors seldom do. That's a major reason I believe this work is so unique and timeless.

The story involves a women named Hester Prynne, living in the New World in the late 17th century. She has committed adultery with someone unknown, and, since the Puritan society considered the Bible to be their ultimate source of law, the punishment was quite severe for such an act. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet "A" (for adultery) on her attire at all times, as a sign to everyone that she has sinned deeply. And so she must carry out the rest of her life this way. That's the major gist of the plot, although there's much more. I won't give it anyway, though, you'll have to read the book to find out.

Let's face it: at some time or another we all are going to probably have to read this book, voluntarily or involuntarily. Shouldn't we try to make the best of it? Read it for its enjoyment, anything else would be missing the point.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read, February 12, 2000

By	"rethie" (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scarlet Letter (Library Binding)

I enjoyed reading The Scarlet Letter. I was not forced into by a Literature teacher; I picked it up on my own because I heard it was a great American classic; and, indeed, I have to agree. It is truly timeless. It has been almost five years since I have read this book and I can remember the scenes and words so vividly. Hawthorne's dizzying imagery provides an adventure into the life of a Puritan woman, Hester Prynne, that one does not soon forget.

Hester, practically abandoned by her husband is left to take care of herself in a lonely new world. She is flesh and bone with desires and passions like any other human being. Hester commits adultery and is found out by a cruel, judging community. She must wear a Scarlet A on the front of her dress; A for Adultery. Hester refuses to give the name of her lover Dimmesdale so he goes free and untouched by the damning society, but must face the tortures of his own conscience.

Hester is humiliated and must suffer the consequences for her actions but she is not a broken woman. She stands, brave.

Dimmesdale comes through in the end and admits his role in the dangerous game. Hawthorne takes the readers on a spinning ride to get to this point. Read it and know the exact ending for yourself. I recommend it; highly.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intense human drama that transcends literature itself, December 21, 2002

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Scarlet Letter (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

The Scarlet Letter is truly one of literature's greatest triumphs, its characters and themes reverberating in our collective consciousness more than 150 years after its initial publication. Few novels inspire as much contemplation and feeling on the part of the reader. Hester Prynne, American fiction's first and foremost female heroine continues to haunt this world, inspiring a never-ending stream of scholarly debate. Even in our less puritanical age, some doubtless see her as a villainously great temptress, but to me she is a remarkably brave hero indeed. Her sin is known to all, and she never runs away from it, bearing the scarlet letter on her bosom bravely for all to see; she realizes the true measure of that sin, fretting constantly over the effects it will have on young Pearl, remaining steadfast in her beliefs while at the same time envisioning a new society where women and men can exist on more equal terms, free of the stultifyingly harsh punishments meted out on even the most repentant of souls by Puritanism. She shows her noble spirit by refusing to name her partner in sin and goes so far as to allow the ruthless Roger Chillingworth to torment the man she loves deeply enough to protect him for all time. Little Pearl is somewhat of an enigma, truly manifesting traits of both the imp and the little angel; her questions about the letter her mother wears and the minister who continually holds his hand against his heart reflect an insight that amazes this reader. Chillingworth is a thoroughly black-hearted man; I can certainly understand the blow he sustained as a result of Hester's sin, but his actions and thirst for prolonged revenge on the so-called perpetrator of the wrong he suffered can only be described as roguish and unpalatable.

Of course, the most complex character in the novel (and literature as a whole) is the good minister Arthur Dimmsdale. One is compelled to both like him and despise him. He is basically a good man and an unquestionably fine soldier in the army of the Lord, winning many souls to God with his impassioned sermons. He is more aware than anyone else of his sinful nature, and he punishes himself quite brutally in private in a useless attempt to make up for the public ignominy he lacks the moral courage to call upon himself with a public profession of his deed. Dimmsdale is a coward and a hypocrite. At one critical moment in the latter pages of the novel, he blames Hester for his state of misery, and it is that comment in particular that makes this tragic character a man I can only commiserate with to a limited degree. Even at the penultimate moment of the novel, as he finally bears the mark of his shame and guilt for all his parishioners to see, the very men and women who have viewed him as a saintly man of God rather than the brigand he knows himself to be, he does not openly confess-his words and deeds do make plain the secret of his heart, but it is his lack of a thoroughly bold confession that causes some of his most devoted followers, so Hawthorne tells us, to blindly judge his final act as an illustrative parable on the danger of sin threatening each member of his congregation rather than an admission of guilt and self-condemnation.

It upsets me to see readers who do not appreciate this novel as one of the earliest and best American classics, a novel that contributed greatly to the establishment of a literary culture in the young country. The language is of a more florid style than today's readers are used to, but this novel is in no way boring. Hawthorne paints some of the most vivid scenes of human drama I have ever witnessed; he writes in such a way that you are there in colonial Boston watching the story play out before your very eyes, struggling to come to terms with your own feelings in regard to such complex and sometimes inscrutable characters. The climactic chapter is truly and deeply moving, more than capable of bringing tears to the eyes of the sensitive soul. The Scarlet Letter is just a brilliant, gripping, thoroughly human novel that I wish everyone could appreciate as much as I do.