posted
I read it in sixth grade, prescribed by my mother for insomnia. It was an excellent insomnia treatment, I have to say. Before the end, I did get interested in the story, but he takes an awful long time to say what he has to say.
Not long ago some private diaries of Hawthorne's were published, which he wrote when his wife and baby were away for an extended visit, and he was keeping his son at home alone. The excerpts I read in the New Yorker were hilarious. I thought for sure they were a parody but not so!
One thing I thought was strange was the fact that Melville and Hawthorne were friends, and socialized together. Somehow I just could not picture prim and proper Hawthorne with the salty and testy Melville, who wrote such outrageous and funny things. I would love to have overheard some of those conversations!
Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
| IP: Logged |
posted
I suspect that it might be a decent book if the symbolism and whatnot wasn't beaten to death in HS english.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I swear that the purpose of HS English class is to make sure that Americans learn to hate to read.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
*raises hand* I've read the book and I thought it was pretty good. Certainly not a favorite of mine, but far from horrible.
I'll also agree with HollowEarth on this. My High School English teacher assigned the book to my class, but I refused to read it out of spite (and now feel a bit guilty about my know-it-all attitude in her class). I did well on tests of the book without reading a page of it by taking a few notes of the extensive (and silly) symbols she force-fed us. I never actually read the book until after the unit was over, and as I had already forgotten everything my teacher told us about it, I enjoyed it much more than I would have had I read it for the class.
posted
Nope, I read the Scarlett Letter for the first time in Junior English.
Actually, I read it in junior english, as in, during class. I missed most of the class discussions because of this, which is probably why I liked it. When I finished, I read The Crucible during the rest of the Scarlett Letter time, which turned out to be a mistake, because we then read it aloud during class (ie, I had to pay attention) and then watched the movie. I'm not sure I'll ever recover.
I think my habit of reading in class whenever I could get away with it contributed a great deal to retaining my love of reading.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Never read "The Scarlet Letter". I think I was supposed to once, in junior high or high school. Then again, I didn't read most of what I was assigned in those years - too busy reading stuff I liked better. Also, I did read "Catcher in the Rye" as assigned in 8th grade. Probably why I didn't read other assigned books - I hated "Catcher" and felt betrayed because the teacher had built it up as this wonderful book. I guess I wasn't about to make that mistake again.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I must confess, I really liked it. Of course, since I'm a geeky english major that makes sense. Hawthorne makes very interesting use of symbols throughout the novel and expands on some very intriguing themes. Go ahead, kick me.
posted
I liked it, and the other Hawthorn stuff I read, but I haven't read it in years. Actually, that sounds like fun. Not that I really have the time right now, but fun nonetheless.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I spent so much time on the Scarlett Letter in high school that if I didn't like it, I would feel as though soooo much time and energy would've gone to waste.
I can't say it's one of my absolute favorites, but I did learn to appreciate it.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've seen quite a few classics on "Wishbone". I can't even imagine how they condensed The Scarlet Letter for children.
Posts: 3771 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hawthorne wrote compelling and harrowing short stories and crappy novels. The Scarlet Letter could have been a compelling short story, but was padded into a crappy novel. If you edit it down to about a third the size, it's a fantastic read.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have never read "The Custom House" section of the book. I think my HS English teacher MAY have even suggested we skip it.
I enjoyed the rest of the novel, though. Partly because I liked playing the symbol game in class. It helped that my teacher was really cool and fun.
Even more than that, though, was the fact that it crept into my psyche. I dreamed about it, dreamed I was there. *shrug* I've always really liked Hawthorne; I can't really explain it.
Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Is that what happened, Tom? I just knew he took a long long time to say anything. And yes, before the end, I did get interested in the story. So I expect it would have made a kickass short story, indeed.
The absolute best insomnia cure I ever found is the National Electrical Code. Mind-numbingly boring, yet I would wish to have memorized and understood the entire thing. So I try again and again to read it all the way through. I've never yet made it out of the first section. Instead I just refer to paragraphs here and there as questions come up in my work. But what if there's something I really need to know hidden near the end? And I never realize it's there because I don't think to look it up? That would be terribly bad! This should scare all of you! Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
| IP: Logged |
posted
Does anyone happen to know if Moby Dick was, in truth, based on folklore surrounding an obstinate and dissubmersive whale known as "mocha dick"? (sp?)
heresay. I've never looked into it, as it seemed so glaringly ricockulous.
posted
I don't think I came out in my glaring hatred of this movie.
Though I admit, it wasn't nearly as bad as The Red Badge of Courage. BLAH. Only book for class I ever stopped reading halfway through.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Also, I did read "Catcher in the Rye" as assigned in 8th grade. Probably why I didn't read other assigned books - I hated "Catcher" and felt betrayed because the teacher had built it up as this wonderful book. I guess I wasn't about to make that mistake again.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
