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A review by paulinetete8
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
3.0
"No longer ago than the night before, [the apartment] had resembled nothing so much as the old maid's heart; for there was neither sunshine nor household fire in one nor the other, and, save for ghosts and ghostly reminiscences, not a guest, for many years gone by, had entered the heart or the chamber."
This book was incredibly slow-paced, which made it difficult to focus on for long periods of time. I had to set it aside often because it was just so damn slow. However, it was so poetic and well-written that I still found pleasure in reading it. Nathaniel Hawthorne is a master of similes and metaphors. His writing is ambitious and could maybe come across as pompous, but personally, I enjoyed every single line. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"Mellow, melancholy, yet not mournful, the tone seemed to gush up out of the deep well of Hepzibah's heart, all steeped in its profoundest emotion."
"The Judge's smile seemed to operate on her acerbity of heart like sunshine upon vinegar, making it ten times sourer than ever."
"With a mysterious and terrible Past, which had annihilated his memory, and a blank Future before him, he had only this visionary and impalpable Now, which, if you once look closely at it, is nothing."
"Your great-great-great-great-grandmother had these cups, when she was married," [...]. They were almost the first teacups ever seen in the colony; and if one of them were to be broken, my heart would break with it. But it is nonsense to speak so about a brittle teacup, when I remember what my heart has gone through without breaking."
This book was incredibly slow-paced, which made it difficult to focus on for long periods of time. I had to set it aside often because it was just so damn slow. However, it was so poetic and well-written that I still found pleasure in reading it. Nathaniel Hawthorne is a master of similes and metaphors. His writing is ambitious and could maybe come across as pompous, but personally, I enjoyed every single line. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"Mellow, melancholy, yet not mournful, the tone seemed to gush up out of the deep well of Hepzibah's heart, all steeped in its profoundest emotion."
"The Judge's smile seemed to operate on her acerbity of heart like sunshine upon vinegar, making it ten times sourer than ever."
"With a mysterious and terrible Past, which had annihilated his memory, and a blank Future before him, he had only this visionary and impalpable Now, which, if you once look closely at it, is nothing."
"Your great-great-great-great-grandmother had these cups, when she was married," [...]. They were almost the first teacups ever seen in the colony; and if one of them were to be broken, my heart would break with it. But it is nonsense to speak so about a brittle teacup, when I remember what my heart has gone through without breaking."