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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
dknippling's review against another edition
3.0
An early American writer makes a stab at some gothic tales.
The first few stories in the collection were so impressive that I was on the moon. Then they quickly sank in quality, even to a couple of true stinkers. It was reassuring to know that the writer of "Young Goodman Brown" could, in all faith, write some of those train wrecks. As a writer, I found it reassuring. But I'd go for a best-of collection if you're not a writer :)
Recommended for writers, people studying early Americana, and short story lovers who don't have a problem picking and choosing.
The first few stories in the collection were so impressive that I was on the moon. Then they quickly sank in quality, even to a couple of true stinkers. It was reassuring to know that the writer of "Young Goodman Brown" could, in all faith, write some of those train wrecks. As a writer, I found it reassuring. But I'd go for a best-of collection if you're not a writer :)
Recommended for writers, people studying early Americana, and short story lovers who don't have a problem picking and choosing.
scrooge3's review against another edition
3.0
The first edition was published in 1846 with 23 stories, and later expanded to 26 stories in 1854. This edition reprints 11 of them. Most of the stories are allegorical and depict some of the darker aspects of human nature. The stories don’t hold up particularly well for modern readers, being somewhat wordy and not especially sophisticated. My brief comments about each story follow.
• “The Birthmark” (1843) • A scientist endeavors to remove his wife’s birthmark and discovers that Nature is often unforgiving.
• “Young Goodman Brown” (1835) • A pious young man is surprisingly tempted to turn to evil by a dream of the devil.
• “Rappaccini's Daughter” (1844) • A young man courts a woman with a mysterious secret, dooming them both to the machinations of her father, a callous scientist.
• “Mrs. Bullfrog” (1837) • A groom discovers his new bride’s secret, but decides to make the best of it.
• “The Celestial Railroad” (1843) • Travelling to the afterlife has never been more spectacular, but then, aren’t dreams supposed to be?
• “The Procession of Life” (1843) • A metaphoric, meditative essay about life and death.
• “Feathertop: A Moralized Legend” (1852) • A witch turns a scarecrow into a man, and all goes well until the man sees himself for what he truly is.
• “Egotism; or, The Bosom Serpent” (1843) • A snake resides inside a man’s abdomen, but is it real or is it a symbol of the man’s jealous egotism?
• “Drowne's Wooden Image” (1844) • A woodcarver is uniquely inspired to create a beautiful woman for a ship’s figure-head.
• “Roger Malvin's Burial” (1832) • A soldier is troubled for years after abandoning his dying comrade.
• “The Artist of the Beautiful” (1844) • An idealistic watchmaker spends his life imbuing the essence of the beauty of nature into a delicate replication of a butterfly.
• “The Birthmark” (1843) • A scientist endeavors to remove his wife’s birthmark and discovers that Nature is often unforgiving.
• “Young Goodman Brown” (1835) • A pious young man is surprisingly tempted to turn to evil by a dream of the devil.
• “Rappaccini's Daughter” (1844) • A young man courts a woman with a mysterious secret, dooming them both to the machinations of her father, a callous scientist.
• “Mrs. Bullfrog” (1837) • A groom discovers his new bride’s secret, but decides to make the best of it.
• “The Celestial Railroad” (1843) • Travelling to the afterlife has never been more spectacular, but then, aren’t dreams supposed to be?
• “The Procession of Life” (1843) • A metaphoric, meditative essay about life and death.
• “Feathertop: A Moralized Legend” (1852) • A witch turns a scarecrow into a man, and all goes well until the man sees himself for what he truly is.
• “Egotism; or, The Bosom Serpent” (1843) • A snake resides inside a man’s abdomen, but is it real or is it a symbol of the man’s jealous egotism?
• “Drowne's Wooden Image” (1844) • A woodcarver is uniquely inspired to create a beautiful woman for a ship’s figure-head.
• “Roger Malvin's Burial” (1832) • A soldier is troubled for years after abandoning his dying comrade.
• “The Artist of the Beautiful” (1844) • An idealistic watchmaker spends his life imbuing the essence of the beauty of nature into a delicate replication of a butterfly.
ekeenan27's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
karenholmes's review against another edition
4.0
To me, a bit more complex than Poe, they share some themes and ways of exploring them.
Even though I was reading this book for the Cousera Fantasy and Science Fiction course, I found it hard to get into it. Didn't really like Young Goodman Brown or The Birthmark, but got very interested once I read Rapaccini's Daughter. That was my mind changer and realized I was reading a great writer.
Even though I was reading this book for the Cousera Fantasy and Science Fiction course, I found it hard to get into it. Didn't really like Young Goodman Brown or The Birthmark, but got very interested once I read Rapaccini's Daughter. That was my mind changer and realized I was reading a great writer.
hannieb's review against another edition
3.0
Lots of imagery and description. So surprised by the wide range of his writings from allegories to descriptive essays all the way to gothic. Quite a treasure of American short stories.
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is a collection of stories, most of them fantastical, with a few verging on philosophy or comedy. I was recommended it so long ago, I can't remember the person or the reason they directed me toward it, but I was glad to discover in the contents the short story "Rapaccini's Daughter", which I was intrigued by.
The first fantastical stories deal heavily with the theme of beauty in Gothic atmospheres. Despite the fact that they often feature women dying, which made me want to roll my eyes, I did appreciate the unique concepts that united them. It had been a long time since I'd read 19th-century literature so I needed a few dozen pages to get the rhythm of the sentences, but after that I was fine. A couple of stories went far above my head because they required knowledge of works I was not familiar with, but most of them were completely accessible and enjoyable. My favourite was one featuring an old witch and her scarecrow, which I'm ready to bet inspired Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle. If you're ready to overlook 19th-centuries outdated values, I'd recommend this collection as a fine example of fantastical short stories.
The first fantastical stories deal heavily with the theme of beauty in Gothic atmospheres. Despite the fact that they often feature women dying, which made me want to roll my eyes, I did appreciate the unique concepts that united them. It had been a long time since I'd read 19th-century literature so I needed a few dozen pages to get the rhythm of the sentences, but after that I was fine. A couple of stories went far above my head because they required knowledge of works I was not familiar with, but most of them were completely accessible and enjoyable. My favourite was one featuring an old witch and her scarecrow, which I'm ready to bet inspired Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle. If you're ready to overlook 19th-centuries outdated values, I'd recommend this collection as a fine example of fantastical short stories.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Racism and Sexism
cub_jones's review against another edition
4.0
Not a best-of, a contemporary collection with a fair amount of decent but minor works mixed with a number of GREAT stories, or at least ones I love. My choices are 'Feathertop', 'Young Goodman Brown', 'Roger Malvin's Burial', 'The Celestial Railroad', 'A Virtuoso's Collection', 'The Old Manse', 'The Birth-Mark', and 'P.'s Correspondence'.
toad_maiden's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. I like Hawthorne on a good day, and some of his best known stories ("The Artist of the Beautiful", "The Birthmark", "Young Goodman Brown") are collected here. There were also a few new delights for me: I loved "Roger Malvin's Burial"and "The Old Manse". However, there is no mistaking that he is a clumsy allegorist at times. "Egotism; or, the Bosom Serpent", "A Select Party", and "The Christmas Banquet" are particularly painful. Also, his essay-musings contained here read as incredibly self-indulgent, rather than poetic--I ended up skipping through many of them. I think he is at his best when tempering his moralizing tendencies with a healthy dose of spookiness, and when he is writing about the New English history and culture in a critical, rather than an aggrandizing, way. This volume is worth picking through, but not worth reading cover-to-cover.