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The Scarlet Letter
http://arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=17045		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Calloniel (PD) [ November 14th, 2007, 2:03 am ]
Post subject:  The Scarlet Letter
Has anyone else read this wonderful, classic book by Nathaniel Hawthorne? I just started reading it for school this week. :yes: I didn't know if I would really like it or what and it sounded just plain weird for a while (of course it would when I thought it was the story about a letter (like the kind you would write to someone) that had blood or something on it! :duh: but that was a long time ago when I thought that :P) but now that I'm reading it I have to say I'm really enjoying it! Of course I love all classic, deep novels, but this one has a very interesting plotline and it's even got a few twists (like Hester's husband and their past and all the mystery surrounding her "A") which make it all the better...

anyway, anyone else read and enjoyed (or even despised ;)) The Scarlet Letter? Thoughts anyone?
Author:  Nurrantiel Mashiara [ November 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm ]
Post subject: 
I'll take the latter. I couldn't stand that book. It may have been better had it not been written by Hawthorne. I mean, he took half a page to say one sentence! He kept going off onto tangents. I hate that. And I didn't find much mystery in the story, as they practically told you flat out who Pearl's father was. The really only interesting part was Chillingsworth [that's his name, right?], but even that was dull the way Hawthorne wrote it.

But to each his own, eh? I'm glad you enjoy it.
Author:  Calloniel (PD) [ November 15th, 2007, 5:17 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hm, really? Ah, but you must understand that's how they wrote back then, Nurr. :yes: ;) (if you want something that's REALLY long and drawn out read Ben Franklin's autobiography! *shudders* even I couldn't stand that one! :P) And I guess those are (for the most part) the kind of stories I like (Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities is another one kinda like that) they did sorta tell you flat out who Pearl's father was... sorta... I mean as far as I've gotten it hasn't EXACTLY pointed him out yet, but I get what you mean. :yes: maybe what I like the most about it is comparing how different things are today and seeing how Hester deals with it and I guess I just like how it's written overall and how it tells of what it's like... :P (it's really hard to explain, I guess...)

yeah, each to his own... long, hard to read, classic, and maybe what some would call tedious novels are just the kinds of books I'm into. :P
Author:  StarCollector [ November 15th, 2007, 6:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
It was a little difficult to understand,but I liked it.I read it for school last year.:)
Author:  Nurrantiel Mashiara [ November 15th, 2007, 6:44 pm ]
Post subject: 
But see, I love Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, classics like that. I read them all the time. [I'm on Northanger Abbey right now, which is an Austen one.] But something about that book and Hawthorne...I dunno. I don't like it. I like most classics, just not that one.

We had to read Fredrick Douglass's biography [the whole school did] last year. Now that's even more tedious. One part was great though. About halfway through the book, he's writing on some random thing and then says "but again I digress." I just cracked up. So true.
Author:  Calloniel (PD) [ November 16th, 2007, 1:05 am ]
Post subject: 
^hmm, that's really strange. It would seem like if you liked them than you'd like Hawthorne... :confused: ah, either way. :P
(I am happy to hear there's another person out there who likes Dickens though! :happy: and Northanger Abbey... what's that book like? (even though that is off-topic :blush:))

Awww, I just got done reading Fredrick Douglass's autobiography and I actually kinda liked it! :yes: :P some of it toward the end was tedious, but I thought it was interesting to read about what the slaves had to go through and how hard it was and everything... I can just imagine what it was like back then and how horrid it must have been! :blink: (maybe that's the same thing that attracts me to The Scarlet Letter? :P)

~*Starglass*~ wrote:
It was a little difficult to understand,but I liked it.I read it for school last year.:)


yay! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it too, Star. :)
Author:  Larael [ November 17th, 2007, 9:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
Meh.. that's all I really have to say. The story was certainly intriguing and mysterious, but like Nurr, it just wasn't the story for me. Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classic writer for sure, but his style of writing is much too... sesquipedal, shall we say. :P I'm glad you enjoyed it, PD. :)
Author:  Nurrantiel Mashiara [ November 17th, 2007, 10:00 pm ]
Post subject: 
I think with me, I really need a plot. And Scarlet Letter didn't have much of a plot for me. I mean, I knew who Pearl's father was, I knew Hester was an outcast, and there wasn't a whole lot to it. It was just them living. And I so dislike stories where it's just people going about their lives. Like I disliked Great Expectations for the most part, because the majority of it was about the guy going about his life. Some bits were interesting, but mostly....nah. I need some sort of point the writer is trying to get to.
Author:  Nienor [ November 19th, 2007, 9:24 pm ]
Post subject: 
I thought the Scarlet Letter was really good, I enjoyed it a lot. Well, enjoyed isn't exactly the right word, as I found it terrifying, but it was a good terrifying.
I did find it slightly annoying the Hawthorne exaggerated the Puritans so much...for general information, they weren't that bad.
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