2015/08/03

Book Review:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Published: 1850
Language: English
Pages: 270
Rating: 2/5


Summary:
Set in a strict religious seventeenth century Boston, Hester Prynne has been punished for adultery, a sinful act that has resulted in an illegitimate child, and must wear a huge A on her dress for the rest of her life. This is her story.


Review:
I finally got around to the famous The Scarlet Letter and I find myself with mixed feelings.

I thought the writing in this was good, and some of the story relatively interesting. I didn't feel a deep connection to any of the characters, but it was somewhat fascinating to see how they fared. I thought the theme of sin was rather intriguing.

I think the introduction to this book killed a lot of the joy for me, as I found it boring and irrelevant and very long. It made the story hard to get into. As I got further on, I was quite disappointed, because I'd imagined there would be more depth to the characters and I thought the mystery of this would be rich and vivid, and it wasn't.

I didn't look forward to picking up this book, and that's not really a great sign. I also found the story to be a bit outdated and while I feel this to be an important book of its time, I don't know how relevant it is anymore.

As with most classics, I can understand its merit to a certain extent and it gives a brief and interesting look into history, but I didn't love this one. It was OK. I think perhaps this book is interesting if you're really going to dive into an analysis of themes and the uses of symbolism.


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