Thursday, July 23, 2009

Review: The Scarlet Letter


Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Pages: 272 pages
Published: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Genre: Classic/Fiction
Cover Score: B+
Overall Rating: C-
ISBN-10: 9780142437261


The Scarlet Letter
is the story of three New England settlers at odds with the puritan society in which they live. Roger Chillingworth, an aging scholar, arrives in New England after two years' separation from his wife Hester to find her on trial for adultery. For refusing to reveal her lover's identity, she is condemned to wear a letter 'A' sewn onto her clothes. Roger resolves to discover and destroy the man who has stolen his honor.

For the next seven years the participants in this bizarre love triangle privately suffer the consequences of betrayal, cowardice, and humiliation. Slowly but surely, the need for redemption grows in each as the story hastens toward its dramatic close.

I came into this book with excitement and high hopes, only to be slightly let down. This book was supposed to be a master piece, however I found it to be dull and a little hard to follow. I did enjoy the plot however I liked how it explained the Puritans view on adultery and how they choose to punish Hester. I think the main reason I did not like this book was because I had to read it for school (no one likes to be forced to do anything), but I also felt like I did not like it because of how everything was just dragged on. I also think part of my let down was because of the fact that so many people through out the world raved about this book, and I just assumed it was going to be great. It had a good plot however it was just hard to follow, well I guess we cant love them all!



2 comments:

  1. I have yet to read this book. I didn't have to read this for school so that's one of my excuses. I feel like the only person in the world who hasn't read it. :)

    Anyway, I like your review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The thing I liked about this book was to find the hidden messages, or symbols, that was our task from our teacher, and I found it to be pretty fun ^^

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