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3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I hope Pearl can escape into lesbian witchland before they fucking kill her. Really good commentary at the end on the fact that behaviour society deems quirky is acceptable in childhood but not in adulthood. Reminds me of the way in which society treats neurodivergent people as they grow up and their traits are no longer seen as “cute.”
And a surprise bit of feminism from a male author!
And a surprise bit of feminism from a male author!
reflective
sad
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i was not expecting hester to stumble across the concept of feminism in this 1850 novel written by a man, but i was definitely here for it!
i was less here for it when she gave up on the idea of self-liberation, but then again, she WAS written by a man in the 1850s!
i was less here for it when she gave up on the idea of self-liberation, but then again, she WAS written by a man in the 1850s!
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“if a man, sitting all alone, cannot dream strange things and make them look like truth, he need never try to write romances.”
Blah.
This was a fair enough story wrapped in an incredibly dense, sometimes nearly impossible to enjoy romantic wrapper. There is a lot of telling instead of showing in Hawthorne's style. Short passages of dialogue are separated by sometimes pages of expository text that simply lost my interest. I want to hear characters interact, not spend page after page inside their heads.
Perhaps the social impact of this story has faded some as we have shed some of the oppression of religious oligarchs. I know there are still lessons to be had here, but there are far better books to deal with social oppression today.
I think the absolute lack of humor in Hawthorne's writing leaves me the most disappointed when comparing him to his contemporaries like Dickens or Twain. These other writers address the issues of social inequality with a much more deft hand with their use of tragedy mixed with humor.
I may perhaps pick up another Hawthorne book, but this will be the last trip through the Scarlet Letter for me.
This was a fair enough story wrapped in an incredibly dense, sometimes nearly impossible to enjoy romantic wrapper. There is a lot of telling instead of showing in Hawthorne's style. Short passages of dialogue are separated by sometimes pages of expository text that simply lost my interest. I want to hear characters interact, not spend page after page inside their heads.
Perhaps the social impact of this story has faded some as we have shed some of the oppression of religious oligarchs. I know there are still lessons to be had here, but there are far better books to deal with social oppression today.
I think the absolute lack of humor in Hawthorne's writing leaves me the most disappointed when comparing him to his contemporaries like Dickens or Twain. These other writers address the issues of social inequality with a much more deft hand with their use of tragedy mixed with humor.
I may perhaps pick up another Hawthorne book, but this will be the last trip through the Scarlet Letter for me.
i think that less is more sometimes, and this book is what really made me realize that too much detail can really take some readers, like myself, out of the narrative. i don't want every single detail of a scene told to me all the time bc my brain is small and i will forget the character's actions if i'm buried with page upon page of set dressing
The style is just too dense for me at the moment. Maybe I'll return another time.