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kellyd's review
1.0
GOd, oh god, so boring. The book is about adultery and hate and isolation and how could it become so boring?! The author lagged on at unneccessary points and kept the story from reaching a meaningful climax...or a meaningful anything.
Yet, still better than Catcher in the Rye.
Yet, still better than Catcher in the Rye.
curiousreader's review
3.0
Finally, I made my way through Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. I can't recount how many times I've tried to read this, tried that is to get through the first 40 or so pages of an introductory part called "Custom-House". I'll say to anyone coming to this new - skip this part! Really, you won't miss it unless you're analyzing the book (for school, say) and you can always return to it at the end if you really wish to. But it almost put me off this book entirely, and what comes after it is so much better and in no way reflected in my humble opinion in those introductory pages. That out of the way, this is the story of a woman named Hester - having committed the crime of adultery, with an unknown man at the start of this novel. Her husband too is of unknown whereabouts and exact identity. Through her affair with the other man she has become pregnant, and it is the scandal of the neighborhood. The story starts off after her judgement has been passed, and she has become branded with the scarlet letter "A" on her dress for 'adultery' - so that every man and woman can see her sin on her clothes, and that she represents what happens to those who step out of line - or as it were, commit a crime against the law in the written and informal sense of the word.
The story follows Hester through living with isolation, branded as an Other, trying to make her way through life with her newborn daughter, all alone in the world. At the same time we see how the other two men in the story are affected by this whole affair, the one in a wretched state, the other in a mad revenge plot. The story itself is simple enough, and has few surprises to give - especially since I'm sure I was unusually unawares of its content before going in than most will be. The story itself is interesting to me, in part because of the way the community around Hester, Pearl - her daughter, and the two men, react to the whole debacle. The shaming of a woman stepping out of line for what is considered acceptable (and legal) behavior is reflected both in the communities reactions to her actions and her person, as well as how Hester views herself. She chooses for instance to dress plainly, as if to attract no further attention than necessary and to show her quiet and resigned state through lack of statement. The community's reaction - the public trial, the talk of Hester all around town, the use of the embroidered letter on Hester's clothes as a symbol and Hester herself as example of wrongdoing, I find it all fascinating just like I find fascinating the type of stories where an entire group of people react to one particular event in almost hysterical ways, like Shirley Jackson's Lottery. Of course another thing that is interesting as a modern reader is the way crime and punishment is both reflected and explored in The Scarlet Letter. For example, the use of the public trial as part of the punishment is something most modern readers would probably find unthinkable; if you've ever read Foucault's Discipline and Punish, Hawthorne here gives a very interesting fictional example of some of the historical discussion and points Foucault makes in concern to the historical ways we have punished people.
My favorite part of the book however, is probably the way Hawthorne paints the character of Pearl - the young girl born through Hester's adultery. A child born of sin, as the people of the town put it. The way Pearl is described in terms of being fairy-like (in a bad way), demonic, of nature - as if the very fact that she was different made her strange in a bad way. Although I don't know how much of the depiction of Pearl - and the rather negative light put on her character and her being - is born through Hawthorne's own ideas and how much of it is exploration of some of the contemporary/historic ideas - I found it endlessly interesting how ideas of childhood, child care, parenting, and really children's intellect was dealt with here. Pearl is seen as quite strange and almost ethereal at times, but never does it cross the characters mind that her strangeness might come from her intuition of her mothers and her own low 'status' in the neighborhood, or that the lack of a father might have made for her, or even that she might be lonely through her lack of connections aside from her mother. All of this is of course more apparent to the reader, but I thought it an interesting mirror of the time period's ideas of what a child is and is not, capable of and not, as well as the lack of knowledge for example of children's physical and mental development - and how that reflects some of the fears Hester and others have for her child.
Although I'm not sure the above are things people would find as interesting as me, I'd say the story itself is entertaining enough - even with its obvious problems in understandings of femininity/masculinity, and other things too, but it's interesting too as a record of and exploration of some of the time's ideas of things like crime, punishment, childhood and child intelligence, and of course of religion.
The story follows Hester through living with isolation, branded as an Other, trying to make her way through life with her newborn daughter, all alone in the world. At the same time we see how the other two men in the story are affected by this whole affair, the one in a wretched state, the other in a mad revenge plot. The story itself is simple enough, and has few surprises to give - especially since I'm sure I was unusually unawares of its content before going in than most will be. The story itself is interesting to me, in part because of the way the community around Hester, Pearl - her daughter, and the two men, react to the whole debacle. The shaming of a woman stepping out of line for what is considered acceptable (and legal) behavior is reflected both in the communities reactions to her actions and her person, as well as how Hester views herself. She chooses for instance to dress plainly, as if to attract no further attention than necessary and to show her quiet and resigned state through lack of statement. The community's reaction - the public trial, the talk of Hester all around town, the use of the embroidered letter on Hester's clothes as a symbol and Hester herself as example of wrongdoing, I find it all fascinating just like I find fascinating the type of stories where an entire group of people react to one particular event in almost hysterical ways, like Shirley Jackson's Lottery. Of course another thing that is interesting as a modern reader is the way crime and punishment is both reflected and explored in The Scarlet Letter. For example, the use of the public trial as part of the punishment is something most modern readers would probably find unthinkable; if you've ever read Foucault's Discipline and Punish, Hawthorne here gives a very interesting fictional example of some of the historical discussion and points Foucault makes in concern to the historical ways we have punished people.
My favorite part of the book however, is probably the way Hawthorne paints the character of Pearl - the young girl born through Hester's adultery. A child born of sin, as the people of the town put it. The way Pearl is described in terms of being fairy-like (in a bad way), demonic, of nature - as if the very fact that she was different made her strange in a bad way. Although I don't know how much of the depiction of Pearl - and the rather negative light put on her character and her being - is born through Hawthorne's own ideas and how much of it is exploration of some of the contemporary/historic ideas - I found it endlessly interesting how ideas of childhood, child care, parenting, and really children's intellect was dealt with here. Pearl is seen as quite strange and almost ethereal at times, but never does it cross the characters mind that her strangeness might come from her intuition of her mothers and her own low 'status' in the neighborhood, or that the lack of a father might have made for her, or even that she might be lonely through her lack of connections aside from her mother. All of this is of course more apparent to the reader, but I thought it an interesting mirror of the time period's ideas of what a child is and is not, capable of and not, as well as the lack of knowledge for example of children's physical and mental development - and how that reflects some of the fears Hester and others have for her child.
Although I'm not sure the above are things people would find as interesting as me, I'd say the story itself is entertaining enough - even with its obvious problems in understandings of femininity/masculinity, and other things too, but it's interesting too as a record of and exploration of some of the time's ideas of things like crime, punishment, childhood and child intelligence, and of course of religion.
mary_the_librarian's review
4.0
This is a classic literary tale that questions morality, punishment and the search for redemption. I enjoyed the character of Pearl the most because even though she can behave a bit eerily, she was serving her purpose (specifically the redemption of her father).
jeannemarie's review
4.0
The first time I read this was in high school. I'm surprised I remembered as much of it as I did considering that was more than 40 years ago.
The Scarlet Letter is a book about the consequences of actions; accepting them and trying to ignore them. There is no escape from the consequences of your actions, but you can learn and grow from them if you allow it. And the fact that your actions are seen by somebody.
I liked this second read. Life experiences helped me to understand it better.
Just skip the prologue!
The Scarlet Letter is a book about the consequences of actions; accepting them and trying to ignore them. There is no escape from the consequences of your actions, but you can learn and grow from them if you allow it. And the fact that your actions are seen by somebody.
I liked this second read. Life experiences helped me to understand it better.
Just skip the prologue!
lorellei's review
2.0
2.5 stars
The review by D. W. Lawrence was terrible. On my list of writers who absolutely hate women. He thinks women are devils who want to destroy the innocent men. And their daughters are evil too. Only sons are saints. Just fuck off, Lawrence.
The review by D. W. Lawrence was terrible. On my list of writers who absolutely hate women. He thinks women are devils who want to destroy the innocent men. And their daughters are evil too. Only sons are saints. Just fuck off, Lawrence.
saintboleyn's review
3.0
Interesting take on morality. Diction is at times difficult to understand, but this in certain situations serves the story well. At times, Hawthorne's attitude towards sin and redemption grows tiring. Personally, I disliked his thesis of the work and found the prose to be mostly uninspiring.
caterinaanna's review
4.0
I seem to be having a good run with the 1001 books at the moment. Although I found the ability of all of the characters in this to keep their relationships secret strained my credulity it was nonetheless gripping and powerful and deserves its place on the list.
I found the introductory Custom-House sketch to approach a work of vast ability in the somniferous school of literature, but once the tale got going the book was hard to put down. In the midst of all the anguish and soul-searching came some odd lines that made me smile, such as the one quoted above or the following:
The moment when a man's head drops off is seldom or never, I am inclined to think, precisely the most agreeable of his life.
Recommended.
I found the introductory Custom-House sketch to approach a work of vast ability in the somniferous school of literature, but once the tale got going the book was hard to put down. In the midst of all the anguish and soul-searching came some odd lines that made me smile, such as the one quoted above or the following:
The moment when a man's head drops off is seldom or never, I am inclined to think, precisely the most agreeable of his life.
Recommended.