The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Nathrad Sheare
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Re: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Post by Nathrad Sheare »

There are those writers who know we need an example of someone who braved the worst when we're wondering how we'll climb out of the well. I'm glad you found something to inspire you in this novel. Judgment is a hard thing to face, probably one of the most difficult. I can only imagine what you, Sweetirishleo7, had to endure. I'm happy you made it through, and I'm sure you've inspired someone along the way, yourself, with your Hester- like fortitude. :)
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night.

-Edgar Allan Poe
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Jennifer32280
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Post by Jennifer32280 »

This is the only one from the forum that I have read.
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Jen319164
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Post by Jen319164 »

I am a reader who enjoys fiction that is packed with action and i avoid sorrowful books as well as classics i see the scarlet letter as falling in this genre so i was avoiding it but this thread has made me consider reading it
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Post by acasto »

I had to read this book for school. I hated the topic, but was very intrigued by the author's style. Never before or since have I found anything quite like it.
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Post by jsimms3 »

Read this one numerous times for school. Hawthorne has a great understanding of human nature
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Katherine E Wall
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Post by Katherine E Wall »

I really loved this book. In fact, I am tempted to reread it right now, but so many other books on my list. In University, I wrote a paper on Hawthorne's use of color in The Scarlet Letter. Beyond the puritan dress, the world was dull and grey both in description and metaphorically. Hester, and, especially, Pearl are the pools of color that create relief to the austere environment and society.

Darn, now I really do have to go and reread it.
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ConorEngelb
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Post by ConorEngelb »

I read it in Grade 11 Advanced English, I think. And in Grade 12 Advanced English, and I really enjoyed it. I actually think I was one of the few people in my class who actually read it: everyone else just used my notes to study it from. Anyway, I found it very interesting. What I also found interesting was, upon watching "Easy A" (the movie with Emma Stone that borrows quite heavily from the novel), that it is possible to basically transplant the plot into modern society and not have it feel out of place. Which, given the plot's heavy Puritanical, slut-shaming overtones is kinda scary.
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Post by Bookworm0266 »

I remember reading this book while I was in high school.
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Nathrad Sheare
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Post by Nathrad Sheare »

The Scarlet Letter is my favorite novel. Period.

Okay, now that's out of the way... I actually never had to read this one for a school assignment. I just... really love literature... A lot... What else have you read, ConorEngelb?
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ConorEngelb
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Post by ConorEngelb »

Nathrad Sheare wrote:The Scarlet Letter is my favorite novel. Period.

Okay, now that's out of the way... I actually never had to read this one for a school assignment. I just... really love literature... A lot... What else have you read, ConorEngelb?
Um...lots of stuff? I've read the following for school and university:
  • The Great Gatsby
    The Kite Runner
    The Native Commissioner
    Disgrace
    Death of a Salesman
    A Raisin in the Sun
    Great Expectations
    You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town
    On Beauty
    Lord of the Flies
    and a bunch of other stuff
But I have read a lot more than just that
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Nathrad Sheare
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Post by Nathrad Sheare »

Ever tried Charles Dickens' A Child's History of England? It's a great book, if a little dry here and there (Let's face it, royalty wasn't all that exciting most of the time). Dickens uses a lot of his wit and skill at storytelling to show us the places and people involved in England's royal chaos. I couldn't put it down when I first got it. I was glued to it for over an hour.

What was your favorite part in The Scarlet Letter? One of my favorite passages was the one wherein Arthur and Hester meet in the woods by the brook and she throws the letter off her chest into a bush nearby when taken by Arthur's words on escape and love, only, of course, to retrieve it not a few minutes later when reality sets in. I love the elegance of the style Hawthorne chose for this particular novel. It definitely is detailed and really makes a reader fume over the treatment the Puritans dished a transgressor, especially considering it's not a human's place to judge another human for anything. Actually the entire history of the Puritans is... disturbing... I'm not really sure why so many people believe history was at all romantic. So far as I see, it was bloody and dirty and in all other ways morbid, but people had nicer clothes... :)
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night.

-Edgar Allan Poe
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Post by catolle »

I had a hard time reading The Scarlet Letter the last time I tried. This was in High School though. I think I am going to try to reread it and see what I think.
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Post by ConorEngelb »

Nathrad Sheare wrote:Ever tried Charles Dickens' A Child's History of England? It's a great book, if a little dry here and there (Let's face it, royalty wasn't all that exciting most of the time). Dickens uses a lot of his wit and skill at storytelling to show us the places and people involved in England's royal chaos. I couldn't put it down when I first got it. I was glued to it for over an hour.

What was your favorite part in The Scarlet Letter? One of my favorite passages was the one wherein Arthur and Hester meet in the woods by the brook and she throws the letter off her chest into a bush nearby when taken by Arthur's words on escape and love, only, of course, to retrieve it not a few minutes later when reality sets in. I love the elegance of the style Hawthorne chose for this particular novel. It definitely is detailed and really makes a reader fume over the treatment the Puritans dished a transgressor, especially considering it's not a human's place to judge another human for anything. Actually the entire history of the Puritans is... disturbing... I'm not really sure why so many people believe history was at all romantic. So far as I see, it was bloody and dirty and in all other ways morbid, but people had nicer clothes... :)
I haven't tried that Dickens, actually. I may do exactly that, though, once I get a chance.

Oh gosh, I can't remember much of The Scarlet Letter. I rather liked the beginning, and the quote about the Puritans' stony visages or something like that.
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Post by Acwoolet »

I have always enjoyed the Scarlet Letter, although as an adult I definitely appreciate it more than I did in high school. Hester's strength was amazing and through all of her struggles she never gave up. I enjoyed the intertwined love story and Hester's love towards Pearl which was beautiful in of itself.
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Post by alex_ »

I liked this book because it was different, the way the protagonist stood out so boldly.
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