Rating: 
Summary: I knew I was in for a tough read when....
Review: ...I looked at the back cover and saw that Henry James called this "the finest piece of imaginitive writing yet put forth in the country." For those of you who have read James and find him tedious, prepare yourself for much of the same here. Like James, the prose is robust and at times almost poetic. And like James, it is amazing how a 250 page novel can easily feel like 500 pages. That said, this is a must read for anyone trying to check off the list of American literary classics. Hester Prynne and her scarlet 'A' are cultural references so recognizable that you will surely feel like an outcast among the literary cognoscenti if you happened to avoid this one in high school. There is a reason, however, that they force us to read this in high school, and it's because no reasonable adult would actually choose to read this book of their own free will. Well, except me. It's actually somewhat amusing, in our era of rampant adultery and other forms of sexual promiscuity, to read of a time when a seemingly victimless transgression would cause so much of an uproar. Hawthorne has created quite a period piece with this novel, a vivid, if unidimensional, portrait of the Puritanical roots of our country. Oh, how far we've come...
Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth Reading
Review: Yes the writing is poetic...but the book says the same thing over and over. I didn't feel like I learned anything from reading this book, the characters are rather flat and the symbols are far too obvious and there is too many of them. It's like Hawrthorne had a contest with himself to see how many symbols he could cram in.
Rating: 
Summary: Scarlet Letter
Review: I found that this book was full of text that is not exactly for the typical high school reader. It is mostly out of date, so most people don't understand unless they are fairly good readers. As for the story. I believe that is was beautifully put together. I think that it is great how Hester (the main character) uses her sin as a way to show that she has strong character. The way it is portrayed is remarkable. I believe that if you are an american literature fan, this is a must-read. The reason for the 4-stars instead of five, most of the vocabulary takes more than basic skill to comprehend.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Story ... Bad writing
Review: So sue me ... I just don't like Nathanial Hawthorne. I think the plot is brilliant, but I find his method of telling the story annoying. I'm afraid this isn't an assertion I can back up with a lot of concrete examples, it's just that his writing gives me a vague feeling of malaise. I find this true of his short stories as well, so I never bothered with the other novels. But you'll have to read The Scarlet Letter for school anyway, so borrow it from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Worst. Book. Ever.
Review: It is my invariably correct opinion that the so-called author responsible for this overly extravagant and flamboyant style of writing should be dragged into the street and summarily executed, with EXTREME prejudice, for crimes against humanity and the English language.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Underated By Ignorant High School Students
Review: Hawthorne was a complex writer that used big words --oh did he use them often-- to get his message across. He uses symbolism a whole lot. He can write 5 pages about one object or thing. If you're looking for something with fancy language this is THE book to read. If you're looking for a good story this is also a good book to read. "The Scarlet Letter" is a literary masterpiece that takes place in the Puritan community of 1600's Boston. The title character Hester Prynne commits the ultimate sin of adultery and is punished. Her punishment is fact that she has to wear a big red letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life. So that when anyone asks her, "Oh... what's that on your chest?" She will have to answer. "It is proof that I am a lower being and don't deserve the respect of God or anyone for that matter. Please, kill me where I stand!" This is a great book that deals with human emotions superbly. The language is beautiful and full of life. The only reason I give this book 4 stars is that some of the modern readers will find the big words a little confusing. This surely is not a high school book even though they read it in high school. You need to be a good reader to appreciate it fully. If you read one page and find it horrid and shrug it off when you have to read it for class, you will never enjoy this great book. Probably because you will never pick it up again and try to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Classic story...
Review: The Scarlet Letter is a classic story of love, betrayal, lies, and an evil child all set in a Puritan town in the mid-nineteenth century. Hester Prynne falls in love with some mysterious man and becomes pregnant with his child. There's a slight problem. She's married to another man who wasn't anywhere near her when she got pregnant. In Puritan society, Hester has committed a serious crime, and when she decides not to turn over her lover to the rest of the town, they force her to wear the letter 'A' on her chest every day for the rest of her life. With this punishment, she is also mistreated by other members of society who look at her as if she is some kind of vicious monster. This is a great story to teach people about their prejudices and what happens when you fall in love with the 'wrong' person, especially after you've already married someone else.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, wonderful
Review: Thank you, Erika Vause, for your positive review! I absolutely love this book! I had heard of this novel, but never considered reading it because the plot simply did not interest me. Then we read it in our academic English class (10th graders) and I was absolutely astonished!! Not only by the magnificence of the book--its themes of guilt and redemption are powerful and heart wrenching--but by the ignorance of some of my peers. It was obvious that their dislike sprung from the fact that they did not understand it! Please, please--read this book! You will not be sorry! I promise.
Rating:
Summary: Undoubtedly one of the greatest novels of all times
Review: "The Scarlet Letter" gains its stature as a great work of art because Hawthorne has selected a historical-social issue, and going beyond the historical and social context, has explored and dramatized the issue in terms of its fundamental social, moral, philosophical and psychological meaning and implications - weaving an intricate pattern in which all the themes are inextricably intertwined and proceed from each other. Further, this novel becomes exceptional because it deals with such complex phenomena in a rather short story and a rather simple plot. To the theme of : "The conflict between the individual and society - in context of the consequences of the transgression of a well-established moral norm of society, by the individual", Hawthorne has integrated the theme of man's struggle to attain equilibrium-a harmony-with his own self, with society and the supreme source of morality (i.e. God - here I'm speaking from Hawthorne's perspective).
Finally, he has further integrated the fundamental (and I think THE most important) theme, which I'd put as: "Man's struggle to come to terms with, and glorify the truth."
Concealing the truth, faking reality- Hawthorne has denounced all these and above all - the man who fakes the truth about his own character. Note how every event of the story dramatizes all the three themes simultaneously-the integration is impeccable. Guilt, revenge, love, hatred, rebellion, non-conformity, penitence, the nature of sin, the spiritual and psychological condition of the isolated individual - Hawthorne has delved into the nature of all these aspects of human nature and the human soul, which makes reading this novel a psychological tour de force. I'd state the plot-theme of this novel as : "The story of four individuals-a priest guilty of adultery-who has concealed his deed from society, thereby earning false esteem and respect of his parishioners; the married woman who partook in his sin and who has been ostracized by the society; the husband of the adulteress, consumed with hate and anger-seeking revenge; and her daughter- a living embodiment of virtue, morality and duty violated - of how their relationships with each other and the society in which they live, help them seek true penitence, glorify the truth-and achieve a proper understanding of their errors, both in terms of their values and their actions."
The greatest literary merit of this novel is its plot-structure, which is the most tightly constructed, superbly economized and concentrated plot structure - in fact THE BEST - I've come across - especially in terms of Aristotelian aesthetics, given in "The Poetics". Hawthorne hasn't included a single character, situation, event, scene or description which is not relevant to the meaning and the plot of the story. Not a single word can be overlooked. Every sentence is condensed such that it can be elaborated into pages of explanation.
(I am not including the chapter "The Custom House" which is very boring and can be conveniently ignored and which I myself did not complete - but according to many, it is also related to the meaning of the novel). Another merit is the terrific symbolism - the deep, dark and wild forest; the beautiful & brilliant rose bush outside the prison door, and a lot more, especially the character of Pearl who symbolizes non-conformity, independence and aggressive rebellion against society . One flaw of this novel is that it is TOO gloomy - which may repel some readers who'd look for some sparks of humor or wit.
Also, Hawthorne himself says too much, often coming between the reader and the characters of the story.
But I think these flaws are very unimportant in comparison to the merits of the novel. In conclusion I'd say that "The Scarlet Letter" is one of the greatest novels of the 19th century, in fact, one of the greatest of all times. In a story of less than 200 pages, it will give you moral lessons (which you may or may not accept or approve) and insights into human nature and human life which several books may not successfully deal with. Your library and your literary experience are incomplete if you haven't read this novel.
Rating:
Summary: A classic-- but not a quick read
Review: This is one of those novels that everyone feels they "ought to read" to be a well-read, educated reader. Well, that's certainly true. It can be dense, and it can also be a hard read-- Hawthorne's characters are not really "likeable" and we have to pay close attention to the language of the novel to really appreciate the richness that has earned this book a firm position in the "literary canon." When I have taught this book to non-English majors, one of the most important pieces of advice I have given is, at first, skip the Custom House sketch in the first chapter-- then go back to it. It's unclear until you've read the whole thing why the Custom House sketch is there-- and since the chapter is there first, you don't get right into the "meat" of the story. This is what makes an awful lot of people put the book down. Skip that, and then you'll find an engaging story. (Do go back to the first chapter, though!) But the classic novel of betrayal, of sin and redemption and of society's focus not on 'people' but on 'behaviors' it considers wrong is definitely worth more than one reading. Also, the history behind the novel is important-- check out some of the history of Anne Hutchinson-- a real life "Hester Prynne" type... you'll learn that Hawthorne's imagination wasn't as fanciful as we'd like to think.
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