“The Scarlet Letter,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

FM's rating:

1.      Premise 8

2.      Prose 7

3.      Plot 8

4.      Characters 6

5.      Overall 7

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If giving this low a set of ratings to such a venerated novel doesn’t disqualify me completely from any serious consideration as a knowledgeable reader, then nothing will!  Obviously, I simply don’t understand what makes great literature great.  Or do I?  My contention is that if Hawthorne hadn’t been an “AMERICAN WRITER,” this story would never have stood the test of time.  [I think Poe is a bit overrated, too.]  To be fair, having read Hawthorne’s “The Marble Faun” and “The House of the Seven Gables” I consider them both much better than this one.  The characters here are embarrassingly stereotypical; even little Pearl, who comes closest to believability.  The prose is “impressive” – conspicuously so.  It’s as if the author is trying to show off his magnificent command of the English language.  As I read, I frequently thought of much better wording and phrasing choices that could have been made, even taking into account the era in which the story was written.  He seemed to be choosing an idiosyncratic stylishness over clarity and even over aesthetic effect.  In this book, unlike the others mentioned above, such writing comes across as pretentious.  Apparently, the English Literature Experts over the years have had a different view.  Well, I’ve been wrong before … but so have they!

Here’s the August line-up! 

“Dying Light,” by Stuart MacBride [8/1]

“Dead and Gone,” by Charlaine Harris [8/8]

“Scar Night,” by Alan Campbell [8/15]

“H is for Homicide,” by Sue Grafton [8/22]

“The Secret Agent,” by Joseph Conrad [8/29] 

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for the next month, please do so!)