Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Scarlet Letter: Large Print

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Scarlet Letter: Large Print by Nathaniel Hawthorne

22 reviews

duarshe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"On a field, sable, the letter A, gules"

Ok, so... this book really tested by attention span. Spoiler, my attention span is BAD. I could not keep focus on an entire single chapter without dettaching two lines in. And the chapters were not even long, so imagine that. I do believe that the major reason for this is the way that this book is narrated, because there were lines that would last for ten lines without a single full stop, just a load of commas and hyphens. I was SUFFERING. At least until I gave up and decided to listen to the audiobook whilst reading the book. Best decision ever, if I'm being honest. Listening to it while reading helped me to understand way more, to keep myself focused on the story and to actually enjoy it more. Moreover, it helped me finish this way faster than I would've if I just kept on reading/dettaching. And don't even get me started on "The Custom House"... that was UNREADABLE. Meaning, that if the book was entirely like that chapter this would be a 1-star reading.

Regarding the story... it was juicy and messy and I loved that. Although I think if it was written in this century, the juiceness would've been exploited to the max, which would've made this way more entertaining. Also, there were many chapters that just were boring. In my opinion, the enjoyable parts of this book are the very beginning, the chapters of Hester speaking with Roger and Arthur, and the very end. Speaking of Roger, his last name being Chillingworth really IS significant, because that man needs to chill. With all the herbs he keeps on recollecting in the forest for remedies, he might as well find something to help him calm the f down...

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marthadude's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Actually really good. Hester really is that girl

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teatunesandtales's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Finally finished. While the chapters were short, the book as a whole was a slow crawl. Hawthorne's excessive use of details created lengthy paragraphs that was easy to get lost in the story, and not in a good way. And I've never been more ready to finish the book, and never read the word "ignominy" again.

Puritanicalism is not for the faint of heart. If you can't be perfect, you won't make it in their world.

I loved Pearl's wild heart and imagination. It was a bright spot to the book.

Long love Hester Prynne's legacy.

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sat0rii's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Although it's technically competent and thematically marvelous, even Robert Jordan's most copious tangents don't come close to Nathaniel Hawthorne's mind-numbing detours. And unlike James Joyce, he's not even funny or whimsical about it.

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jwells's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad

Read with the book club of Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone podcast.

I definitely got more out of it this time around than I did in high school. Interesting to see the distance between Hawthorne and the characters he's writing about.

It's hard to take the story seriously in terms of characters. It's constantly popping the reader up to the level of allegory or message, in a somewhat heavy-handed way. Chillingworth in particular is such a caricature of a villain.

Podcasters resisted discussing symbolism or character layers, and therefore didn't have much to say about the book. Lol

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kristinetp's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Would I read it again? No

I love Easy A so thought I'd give the book a go. I did like some parts of it, but I wouldn't really care to read it again. Really enjoy some of the themes though. I also just really felt for Hester the whole time.

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