Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter may be a revered classic, but I found it underwhelming—its sluggish pacing, dense prose, and heavy-handed moralizing make for a tedious read. Hester Prynne’s defiance against Puritan hypocrisy is compelling, yet the narrative is bogged down by relentless religious allegory and a meandering plot. Characters like Dimmesdale and Chillingworth read more as symbols than fully realized individuals. What could have been a gripping drama instead unfolds as a drawn-out morality tale, leaving me wondering why this novel remains a staple in school curricula when it feels so dated.
emotional
reflective
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
I think this book is great if you look at it through the right lense. I do, however, completely understand how someone could hate it. I read about 15 pages and was about to give up, and then I decided to just skip The Custom House introduction (which I recommend everyone to do). Not to mention Old English is awful to read and I had to look up spark-notes summaries for every chapter to fully understand. Plus, Hawthorne can get a bit wordy and repetitive at times. This book is also mostly about religion, which is a turn-off to many. I myself am interested in these kinds of ideas (from an atheist perspective haha) but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
That being said, it’s a beautiful book that tackles the ideas of religion, sin, punishment, passion, and guilt. Surface level, it is about Puritans and their hypocrisy & harmful attitudes which are exactly the opposite of what Christianity preaches. At its core, it is a moral quandary about sin. Hester’s sin could have been ANY sin, which continues to make this story relevant to today. I see many say how her punishment for adultery is outdated, which is true, but replace that sin with let’s say, homosexuality, and see how it becomes relevant to today with a culture of shame surrounding it. The Scarlet Letter is not so much about the act of Hester’s sin, but a symbol for sin itself. How shaming & guilt tripping people leads to nothing but psychological harm.
For a book being written in 1850, its ideas are progressive and eye opening when it comes to the idea of sin and punishment. This book separates sin and evil and re-evaluates how society should approach it.
I do however believe that this book should NOT be taught in schools. This book is mostly about religion, and while it’s relevant to societal problems, it’s not necessary to read in school and won’t teach a bunch of 16 year olds much.
5 stars for the ideas
3 stars for writing & language
2 stars for the amount of times I had to re-interpret paragraphs, google questions, and read summaries
That being said, it’s a beautiful book that tackles the ideas of religion, sin, punishment, passion, and guilt. Surface level, it is about Puritans and their hypocrisy & harmful attitudes which are exactly the opposite of what Christianity preaches. At its core, it is a moral quandary about sin. Hester’s sin could have been ANY sin, which continues to make this story relevant to today. I see many say how her punishment for adultery is outdated, which is true, but replace that sin with let’s say, homosexuality, and see how it becomes relevant to today with a culture of shame surrounding it. The Scarlet Letter is not so much about the act of Hester’s sin, but a symbol for sin itself. How shaming & guilt tripping people leads to nothing but psychological harm.
For a book being written in 1850, its ideas are progressive and eye opening when it comes to the idea of sin and punishment. This book separates sin and evil and re-evaluates how society should approach it.
I do however believe that this book should NOT be taught in schools. This book is mostly about religion, and while it’s relevant to societal problems, it’s not necessary to read in school and won’t teach a bunch of 16 year olds much.
5 stars for the ideas
3 stars for writing & language
2 stars for the amount of times I had to re-interpret paragraphs, google questions, and read summaries
Great topics to talk about and focus on but difficult to read and often times boring. Would recommend for discussion and as a basis for literary criticism but not for enjoyment.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
medium-paced
This was my second attempt at reading this book, and I just could not bring myself to care. Very unfortunate because the physical copy I have is very cute.
What sin did I commit that led to me reading this atrocity?
This book is like something a youth pastor would write and then force his students to read like yeah kids sinning is bad and being a hypocrite is also bad and being a real human character with nuance and more personality and characteristics than simply being a ”plot-device” is also very very bad so dont ever do those things!
I pray that whatever small butterfly flapped its wings that lead to nathaniel goddamn hawthorne to even think of writing this book gets what it deserves which is painful death, my only regret will be that it wont be by my own hands.
I hate Nathanial Hawthorn and I hope he burns specifically in the second circle for eternity just for the irony of it all.
This book is like something a youth pastor would write and then force his students to read like yeah kids sinning is bad and being a hypocrite is also bad and being a real human character with nuance and more personality and characteristics than simply being a ”plot-device” is also very very bad so dont ever do those things!
I pray that whatever small butterfly flapped its wings that lead to nathaniel goddamn hawthorne to even think of writing this book gets what it deserves which is painful death, my only regret will be that it wont be by my own hands.
I hate Nathanial Hawthorn and I hope he burns specifically in the second circle for eternity just for the irony of it all.
The language is a bit difficult but if you can get a good annotated edition it is much easier to understand.
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated