The Scarlet Letter (Classic Collection)

Rating:
Summary: better as an adult than a reluctant high schooler
Review: In many ways, this book is like an R rated movie. Sure, high school students who are forced to read it "understand" it superficially, but the material hits home once you have matured and experienced some of the themes brought up in the novel. I liked it in high school, but as an adult, it resonates much more. I just reread the book after having not looked at it for over 10 years. The beginning does drag a bit, but the superb chapters near the end when Dimmsdale meets Hester in the forest after having not seen her or Pearl for 7 years make it all worthwhile. Even the writing becomes more vivid. During one great scene, Dimmsdale is allowed a moment of realization when he says to Hester than Chillingsworth's sin is much blacker than his own because it was done with malice. Dimmsdale realizes that his soul is not the blackest of all and to me, this gives him some level of redemption, at least on a personal level. The last 8 chapters or so are spellbinding as they bring up themes of sin, lust, and love against the horrifying behavior of the evil "physician" Chillingsworth. If you are forced to read this in high school, try to get past the sometimes opaque writing and give it a chance.

Rating:
Summary: a rewarding, yet dragging book.
Review: The scarlet letter is a book which skips around alot. Based in MASS. it is about adultury and how it affects everyone around who ever commited it. Hester Prynne falls in love with the reverand dimmesdale and end up having a daughter, pearl. The one problem is that Hester is married. She feels that it is ok to love dimmesdale due to her husbands rumored death. Soon her husband returns, very much alive, yet hidding the fact of being hesters husband. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter A, A standing for adultry, on her clothes for the rest of her life. This book was good, yet at times you get lost and there is much unneeded text in there. If the author was to take out much of the unnessecary text, then this book would be great.. nice story line.

Rating:
Summary: A Tedious Read
Review: I hate Hawthorne's style of writing. It's over-bloated and self-indulgent. I wish he'd just get to the point and stop blabbering on and on. The plot of the book seems like a modern melodramatic soap opera. All of the characters are one-dimensional. I'm not going to say the book is poorly written, but it's written in a style that makes the book kind of boring and tedious to read. Overall, a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Scarlet Letter: a writer out of his field
Review: I read this book on my first year of college, as a student of English Language and Literature in the Universidade Clássica de Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal). To better understand the writer I also did a "little" research on him. That investigation gave me enough evidences to conclude that (as you can see in the SL) Hawthorne is better at creating ambiencies that at creating a solid, appealing plot, and more successful conceiving brief sketches of people and caricatures than at developing complete three-dimensional characters (since in the SL, the subconsious is well explicit to the reader, nothing being left to the reader to imagine). And why is this? Because even though Hawthorne is more commonly known as a novelist (due to his latter work, after the success of the SL), most of his legacy is composed of numerous short stories, and if you have the opportunity to read them, you will agree they are truly bewitching pieces of literature. But the fact is the literary "establishment" as always deemed short stories (as well as detective fiction)as lesser forms of literature. Hence, the focus given to this work of his, which may not be his better (but which evokes that "ahead of its time" aura some people seem to valorize so much in a book). So if you want to read Hawthorne at his best try his short stories (like "The hands"). But if you "have" to read this book, try to ignore its chronical lack of pace and the unevenness of the plot, whilst enjoing the little portraits of puritan life and those magical descriptive paragraphs where Hawthorne's imagination really soars high.

Rating:
Summary: The okay book
Review: Hawthornes The Scarlet letter is an okay book. It has an okay plot and okay characters, but the book is not one for teens of the 90's. I had to read this book for my English teacher and to tell the truth if it were not graded I would not have read it. The teens of today do not want to read about the ancient customs of puritan society. If it had been about the scandalous affairs of Hester and Rev. Dimmsdale it would still be a best seller. I think this book should be only read voluntarily. If you are thinking of reading it you may need to reconsider.

Rating:
Summary: Need a dictionary!
Review: The Scarlet Letter is an interesting book. While reading the book I was filled with many feelings about it. I enjoyed some chapters, but loathed the ones describing the characters. I felt as if Hawthorne could have told the story more efficiently if he had described each character as they came onto the scene. The book made me feel inferior and uneducated. I made so many trips to get the dictionary that my legs got tired. I enjoyed the general story-line, but I could have left the adjectives behind. Pearl was my favorite character because she had a priceless intuition that helped me read the book. I would have been lost without Pearl's hints. I would not have read this book if not required to by my English teacher. Attack it if you dare!!

Rating:
Summary: Meaningless Drivel
Review: I stongly dislike this book. There is too much meaninglessness to it. I can read seven pages for something that can be stated in one paragraph...it's awful. Only Webster would be able to read this and not use a dictionary. I have understood two chapters! I don't see why an English teacher would like this book because it is full of empty sentences! It is hard for one to read this book without his mind wandering. As I stated before, this is not my kind of book!

Rating:
Summary: technical problems with cassettes
Review: This product requires a stereo player in which the balance is turned totally to the left. Most auto systems have that capability. However if you have Dolby or SurroundSound, it can be difficult (and maybe impossible) to play the cassette without hearing two recordings at the same time. Unfortunately neither the packaging nor the website will warn you of the problem. You therefore should think before buying. Once you have opened the packaging you may be unable to return the product.

Rating:
Summary: master of ambiguity and didacticism
Review: great characters. hester, pearl, chillingworth, and dimmesdale--they will all stay deeply imbedding in your mind long after you have finished the novel. reason? because Hawthorne is one hell of a story teller. the foreshadowing is great, tongue-in-cheek to a degree. great display of ambiguity in the character of pearl. heavy, heavy on the didacticism, esp. when he devotes an entire chapter to explicate his intended meaning of the prior chapter. of course one could always write this tendency off as dark humor--hang with me--his telling you what he meant, for one, is to make sure you are on your toes (because no one will catch it all, no matter how good the writer is at his craft) and also his, 'here's a symbolic tale with intermission and exlication so you get it all.' most would call it poor writing and technique (i'm leaning that way). but regardless, its great literature. enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Slow, but good
Review: the scarlet letter has been sitting on my bookshelf for about 2yrs now so earlier this summer I decided Imight as well read it since it was considered a classic and all. It was a pretty good book overall but definitely nothing like the movie. I hate to say it but, I suffered through this book. It was one of the most boring books I've ever read in my life. But, after I finished it and thought about it a while I decided it really was a good story eventhough the book itself wasslow. But then again I read the unabridged version.