I actually had a great time reading this one. Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing style is truly one-of-a-kind. I must say, his works can be a bit of a hit or miss for me. For example, I wasn't too fond of 'The Scarlett Letter', but 'Young Goodman Brown' really caught my attention. This story delved deep into the themes of guilt and generational sin.

I felt that all the characters were interconnected, yet they were all attempting to flee from one another and their past sins and guilt. The darker gothic tone of the story was really enjoyable. The dark and shadowy house not only played a significant role but also seemed to act as a character itself.

There were also subtle elements of the supernatural, such as the backstory of Salem witchcraft, a curse, and mysterious deaths. The descriptive imagery was really helpful in carrying the story forward.

Overall, I really liked this story. Although the reading could sometimes be tedious and slow, it added to the overall atmosphere of the story. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good story. Thanks!

I wanted to like it more. Unfortunately, I couldn't really connect with the narrative. Throughout the reading, I read somewhat perfunctorily and got bored at various points. Hawthorne's writing charmed me in many parts, but it couldn't hold me until the end. Maybe the circumstances weren't right, who knows - that's why I don't put a star, I'm afraid of being unfair to it.

It's possible that my expectations were too high or that I was in the wrong mindset when I picked up this book. However, despite not fully enjoying the reading experience, I can still appreciate some of the qualities in Hawthorne's writing. His descriptions are often vivid and detailed, painting a clear picture in the reader's mind.

Perhaps if I were to read this book again at a different time, I might have a different perspective. But for now, I have to admit that it didn't quite meet my expectations. Nevertheless, I'm still glad I gave it a try and added it to my reading list.

I absolutely loved this book! It was an extremely enjoyable classic read that truly captured my attention from start to finish.

The story was engaging, filled with interesting characters and a plot that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I found myself completely immersed in the world that the author had created, and I didn't want it to end.

This book is a must-read for anyone who loves classic literature or just enjoys a good story.

I would definitely recommend it to all of my friends and family.

It's a book that you can read over and over again and still find something new and exciting each time.

So, if you're looking for a great book to add to your collection, look no further than this one!

Hawthorne is truly one of my favorite short story writers, and "The Scarlet Letter" is among my all-time favorite novels. I have always had a deep connection with his unique style and thematic concerns, which include dour moralism and convoluted diction.

However, this particular work largely failed to engage me. In fact, it would have been much better served as a short story. It is a poorly structured book, with most of it consisting of endless descriptions. The key plot points occur in an oddly mundane and haphazard manner, as if they were mere afterthoughts.

There is a significant amount of eye-rolling triteness, such as spending three pages to describe the habits of chickens. Additionally, there is an element of popular pandering. The prose, to put it simply, is constipated. It is a verbose and elephantine labyrinth that doesn't really convey much.

It's difficult to precisely explain why this work turned me off when I love Melville, the master of elephantine prose, so much. Perhaps it's because most of Melville's mature pieces are showcases of virtuosic talent, while Hawthorne can sometimes slip into a dull and plodding mode where the words seem more perfunctory than anything.

The one-sidedness of the characters is less bothersome when considering that Hawthorne wrote within the fossilized mode of Classical Romance, where every character has an analogue in the spiritual or allegorical realm. This unmistakable atmosphere is the prime glory of all his work, being a cross between the ambience of a morality tale and a horror story.

There are a few effective moments, such as the conversations between Phoebe and Holgrave. But overall, I count this as an oddity and a missed opportunity.

This book dares you to read it.

I hadn't thought about putting it up here, because, in fact, I have never finished it. I have the distinction of having had the book assigned to me no less than three times in various college courses, and never once read the whole thing.

The problem is that I do not care about a single character in this novel. A rich family is cursed because they screwed over a poor family? Great. But where's the conflict? I hate rich people, and didn't want to see them redeemed.

The Daguerrotypist? He's a creep. Phoebe. Well, she's only "half-Pyncheon" right, Hepzibah? I had no pity for anyone in this novel, didn't care that the monkey and the Organ grinder were a metaphor for capitalism, and I certainly didn't care when Phoebe and the "artist" seemed to be the new hope for the Pyncheon line. What's in a name anyway?

Maybe it's just the extremely nineteenth-centuryness to the book. (Can't be helped really...) I've never been fond of too much pre-1900 stuff, but man, read this book and tell me how many times you find the word "countenance." This works with anything from the period, really. See also Turn of the Screw. Only I liked that book.

Perhaps it's the archaic language and the slow-paced narrative that turn me off. Or maybe it's the lack of relatable characters. Whatever the reason, I just couldn't get into this book. But I'm willing to admit that I might be missing something. Maybe with a different perspective or a more open mind, I could appreciate the beauty and depth of this novel. So, I dare you to read it and see if you can find what I couldn't.

Dondequiera que dirijamos la mirada, nos encontramos con el rostro macilento e impecable de un muerto que nos hiela el alma. Y nosotros mismos hemos de estar muertos antes de que podamos ejercer alguna influencia en nuestro mundo, que ya no será nuestro sino de otra generación, y en el que ya no tendremos el menor derecho a entrometernos.

Todo comienza con el enfrentamiento por un terreno entre dos familias, los Pyncheon y los Maule. Una sale victoriosa, pero con una maldición que afectará a toda su descendencia. La mansión Pyncheon fue construida sobre este terreno, que posee una historia de brujería. Sin embargo, el cabeza de familia decidió pasar por alto este hecho. Y esta mansión será la gran protagonista de la historia, sosteniendo cada uno de los pasos de sus personajes.

Se nos va contando sobre diferentes aspectos de esta premisa, siempre con punto central en su presente. La vida de la solitaria, aislada y pobre Hepzibah Pyncheon es descrita. Ante la pobreza que la atormenta, ella decide abrir una tienda en el pueblo. Todos ven con malos y temerosos ojos la extraña e inquietante casa de los siete tejados en la cual ella pasa su vida encerrada. Muy pronto, dos familiares llegarán a vivir con Hepzibah, Phoebe y Clifford, quienes no saben lo que les espera en esa inquietante mansión.

Es una historia que está dentro de la literatura gótica, sin duda alguna. Aunque el autor nos adentra en un ambiente sombrío, en cuanto al terror, se encasilla más en la Literatura Gótica. El drama en el que nos va sumergiendo de una forma muy lenta y densa tiene un desarrollo fascinante. La construcción de personajes y, sobre todo, de las características de la casa, siempre oscura, lúgubre y el cómo incide psicológicamente sobre las personas es exquisita. La casa es un personaje más, y eso me encanta.

Como iba diciendo, en cuanto al terror que se dice de esta novela, se podría decir que se afirma y sostiene mucho en base al tema de la superstición y en la maldición que existe sobre los Pyncheon. La forma en la que esta maldición los atormenta, tanto a ellos como en el ámbito social, y la carga psicológica que vemos en la historia son elementos importantes. Pero eso nos vuelve al punto de partida en cuanto a las características de la novela Gótica.

Las descripciones son extensas, y el autor se toma su tiempo, como es propio de la novela gótica, para detallar lugares, escenarios, etc. Por lo mismo, hay que tomarse su tiempo para leerla. Yo me he tomado dos semanas, y vaya que vale la pena. Aunque no amé la novela, la historia me ha atrapado e incita a seguir leyendo. Aunque no es adictiva por lo densa que es, sí que hay algunos capítulos que no se sueltan.

Best book I read in December 2021

“The old woman's faith was very weak, and the prayer was too heavy to ascend to the heavens. The supplication fell back like a leaden weight on her heart. It struck her with the malicious conviction that providence did not intervene in those pathetic injustices that an individual committed against his neighbor, nor did it soothe the small agonies of a lonely soul, but rather imparted its justice and mercy with a generalized sweep over half of the universe at a time, just as the sun illuminates the earth.”

This reading goes straight to the \\n   Top 12 of the year\\n and by the way, the last one to enter the top. *

The House of the Seven Gables, published in 1851 and written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in one of the best stages of his life as a writer, is one of those novels where there are only two possibilities: either you love it or you hate it.

Generally, I tend to be in favor of recommending all the books that I have loved and those that I especially consider my favorites (like this case), but I will make an exception with this work and say that I prefer not to recommend it in general, and now I will explain why.

Nathaniel Hawthorne has a very peculiar way of writing his works, and although I have only read two novels and a story of his, the style is very similar: always from the outside in, that is, first he describes the whole scene, the atmosphere, the limits or borders that delimit it, and at the end, now yes, he gets straight to the point. With The Scarlet Letter it happens, but with The House of the Seven Gables it happens even more times and with greater intensity.

This is a dense work, very dense in some parts —I will mention a particular case later—, where what matters most is the prose and the narrative style, rather than the story that is being told. I would not say that it is difficult to read, in fact it reads very well as long as the reader feels attracted to Hawthorne's narrative, because if so, it leaves no one indifferent. I will put it simply, I would recommend this novel only to someone who is a super fan of reading Nathaniel Hawthorne.

I still remember, for example, the mastery with which in the first chapter the narrator is able to describe the house to us in detail, without missing a single detail, its history from its origins, as well as who has lived in it. Another case, details that I do not often see in other authors, such as the fact that a rooster and two hens become part of the story, and when the narrator talks about the rooster, he describes it and suddenly enters its mind, wondering what would it tell us if it could tell us something? and that's when he creates a hypothetical situation in the mind of the rooster; perhaps it is an ordinary situation, but it is not the what but the how that impresses, the fact that, starting from such common and simple details, he can draw such well-developed conclusions, which says a lot about the born writer that Hawthorne was.

Now, talking about the story, first I would like to say that my edition contains a summary on the back cover, which is nothing more than the synthesis of the first chapter of the book, which functions as an antechamber of the novel; therefore, I would not recommend reading this synopsis since in my opinion, it would be better to go in blind and see what it has in store for one inside. In addition, the story itself does not focus directly on the past of the Pyncheon family as it is implied there, but rather closely follows the lives of four of its descendants approximately two centuries after the said misfortune.

As happens in \\n   The Scarlet Letter\\n, where the main character is nothing more than the letter itself and where the rest of the characters revolve around it, here exactly the same thing happens: the house of the seven gables becomes the absolute protagonist, comes to life —not in a literal way— through the countless descriptions that Hawthorne allows us to see of it. The house, like the scarlet letter, becomes the heart of the novel, the one that allows it to exist. It is thus, as the story of the rest of the characters becomes a complement and not the main objective of the author; having said the above, it is not out of place to clarify that it is impossible for me to define the plot in a paragraph, since it advances without a specific end or direction, where the reader is carried away and trapped and whose main means of dragging is, again, the narrative of Hawthorne. If I had to define in a single sentence what this story means to me, it would simply be: “one cannot escape one's own past, because like a ray of light, no matter where you are or where you go, it will always reach you in the present”.

Although I can assure you that I enjoyed each chapter of this book, each in its own way, there is one in particular that is located almost at the end and could be considered an exception. In general terms, I liked it, but it is a rather long and dense chapter, 20 pages that took me 2 hours to read. In itself, it is not difficult to read, the problem is that the narrator takes his time to tell us at the end that a character, who we knew had died in the previous chapter, had indeed died. How does he do it? Through 20 pages describing everything: the room, with all the details, the position of the body, what is heard from the outside, from the inside, the plans of the character that he had for the future and that possibly could no longer complete, memories of the past, smells, tastes, shapes, even a scene taken from the narrator's own imagination.

The ironic thing is that the chapter ends with this paragraph:

“Listen! The shop bell is ringing. After hours like these, during which we have endured our dense story, it is positive to be aware that there is a living world…”

Even the author himself knows that it has been dense, and yes, why deny it. I liked it, of course I did, but I think one has to be very, very much a fan of the author and his narrative to be able to finish it.

As the last point to highlight is the end. It is not an incredible end, again, the story jumping around without a specific final objective, one could expect anything. The problem with the end is that it seemed too optimistic to me with respect to the setting and the problem that had been addressed in its previous 300 pages. It is not a bad end, but it is an end that one does not expect to happen. Now, according to the professor who does the introduction of this edition —a very good introduction by the way, which I recommend reading after the novel because it dissects the end and relevant points of the story—, Hawthorne wrote this book when he was having a happy stage in his personal life, and reaping considerable success with his previous novel, The Scarlet Letter, in addition to the fact that his own editor demanded a happy ending, in accordance with the literary style and what the public wanted to read at the time. If we take into account both details, it seems to be understood why of the end, although disappointing or not, I must admit that the last lines are a complete wonder, despite everything.

At this point, I don't know if I have encouraged you to read the book or scared you away from doing so, but whatever decision you make, that is, to read it or not to read it, I assure you that you will not regret it: if you read it, you will find a jewel for all lovers of Hawthorne's prose; and if not, surely it will have been a wise decision.

\\n  “So that guest —the only one who never fails to sneak in, sooner or later, into the abode of all human beings— death, had crossed the threshold of the House of the Seven Gables!”\\n

———

* My top of the year could be modified based on what comes my way from now until the end of the year, but for the moment, this is the “possible” final result.

Free download is available at Project Gutenberg.

However, it is not as good as expected. There are several works listed here.

5* The Scarlet Letter, which is a classic novel that explores themes of sin, guilt, and redemption.

4* Rappaccini's Daughter, a story that delves into the complex relationship between a father and his daughter.

3* Wakefield ; Ethan Brand, two works that offer different perspectives on human nature and morality.

3* Wakefield - Il velo nero del pastore, which may have a unique take on the Wakefield story.

3* The Ambitious Guest, a tale that examines the consequences of ambition.

3* The Blithedale Romance, a work that explores themes of love, friendship, and social reform.

3* The House of the Seven Gables, a novel that tells the story of a family's history and secrets.

TBR The Marble Faun and TBR Fanshawe are also on the list, waiting to be read and explored.

Overall, while the download availability is convenient, the quality of the works may vary.

Having read "Scarlet Letter" in Jr High, I was truly surprised by how much I relished "House of the Seven Gables". The author described it as a romance rather than a novel, for a romance carries a moral. In this case, the moral was how the actions of past generations have an impact on the current one.

This book is an outstanding historical novel that depicts the changing times in New England. The Puritanical ways are evolving into new thoughts. The influence of the Salem Witch trials, which had cast a web of strife for many, is now coming back to the forefront. The greed and arrogance of ancestors, which had caused harm, are reaping their karmic consequences. There is also a change in class consciousness and fashion. New immigrants, as exemplified by the stereotype of the organ grinder and monkey, are emerging. Clifford shows his childlike delight in the music from an upstairs window, yet another change.

Some of my favorite scenes are set in the garden. A well-tended garden is truly magical. The descriptions of the chickens, flowers, and vegetables were delightful. It gave a sense of the mundane aspects of life back then, such as the fish monger, the small stores popping up, the ways of gossip, the way houses were built, and the colonial link to England, with the desire to be a LORD in Maine. There is political sarcasm galore!

And let's not forget the gothic ghosts, colorful characters, scowls and maidens, and a touch of magic. It's a tale of New England life, fictional yet historical nonetheless.

This review contains spoilers.

I have a rather hazy memory of reading “The Scarlet Letter” during my middle school days. At that time, after reading a novel about Puritan repression, I felt just as one would expect. However, “The House of the Seven Gables” was like uncovering a Hawthorne I had never known before. It was filled with ghosts, the eternal recurrence of historical memory, and high Gothic romance. This time around, it reminded me more of Horace Walpole and Matthew Lewis than the cold Puritanism I once associated with Hester Prynne. In this sense, it lived up to what Hawthorne identified most of his longer fiction as, namely “romance.”

In the late seventeenth century, the eponymous house, which was actually inspired by a historical 1688 colonial mansion in Salem, served as the residence of Colonel Pyncheon. He once accused a man named Matthew Maule of sorcery, had him hanged, and then stole the land on which he would eventually build his house. One day, the Colonel mysteriously keeled over at his desk, but his presence and his malevolence seemed to haunt the Pyncheon house in various ways.

Several generations later, Hepzibah and her intellectually challenged brother Clifford came to occupy the house. They were both descendants of the Colonel, but by now the family fortune and good reputation had dwindled to such an extent that Hepzibah had to open a store in her house to make some extra money and considered herself a complete failure because of it. Holgrave, a daguerrotypist, rented a room from Hepzibah upstairs. One day, a distant relation named Phoebe Pyncheon visited and quickly changed the whole atmosphere of the house. She brought vitality and energy to Hepzibah’s failing penny shop and gave Clifford the companionship and attention he needed. But just as soon as she appeared, she left again, and the house reverted to its former dilapidated state.

Judge Pyncheon, another member of the family and a wealthy and respected man in town, showed up at Hepzibah’s house and announced that he wanted to institutionalize Clifford. The Judge claimed that Clifford knew the whereabouts of certain documents that would give him access to vast tracts of land in Maine. While waiting to talk to Clifford, the Judge died in much the same way as the Colonel had so many generations before. Hepzibah and Clifford then headed to a train station to escape their strange circumstances. Later, Phoebe returned to the house with only the artist Holgrave in residence, and he confessed his love for her. Hepzibah and Clifford soon returned to live there, with Phoebe having inherited all of the Judge’s ill-gotten land. Holgrave then revealed that he was himself a distant relative of Matthew Maule, who had long ago been accused of conjury. The House of Seven Gables, which had long been torn apart by turmoil and strife, was finally exorcised by the ultimate power of love.

I read this novel mostly as a meditation on the transgressions of history and our inevitable tendency to bear witness to them, no matter how far removed in time we are from them, two of Hawthorne’s favorite themes. Indeed, it is interesting how the sins of Colonel Pyncheon seem to take place in a prelapsarian past while still having such a profound impact on the characters in the present. Hawthorne skillfully blends the oppressiveness of the past with the stark newness of the present throughout the novel. The figures of the Salem witch trials haunt the novel in spirit, as do all kinds of modern technologies. Published in 1851, with the possibility of freedom from the past being central to the novel, Hawthorne might have intended this to be, at least in some respects, a commentary on the coming Civil War. As Faulkner, another American writer equally concerned with the burden of history, said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

I enjoyed “The House of the Seven Gables” so much that I immediately picked up “The Blithedale Romance,” and a review of that will be posted soon.

Hawthorne is undoubtedly a remarkable writer with excellent capabilities. However, this particular book has aged extremely poorly.

Every rule for making a novel engaging or enjoyable seems to be disregarded here. The characters are stereotypical and lack any form of evolution. There are digressions and kilometer-long descriptions of nothing, long explanations and verbosities. The main plot is visible through binoculars for hundreds of pages and then culminates in a cheesy, melodramatic happy ending.

Perhaps it's also a matter of expectations. I was hoping for at least a minimum of tension, if not actual horror. But there was absolutely nothing.

I think that in other circumstances, I might have been able to appreciate it more. But no matter how you look at it, I believe it's truly difficult to withstand the heaviness of a book that I personally consider completely outdated in every aspect.

With all that said, I can only recommend it if you are explicitly seeking something with a truly slow, complex, and measured style.

Maule's Well that Ends Well

Maule's Well is a rather mysterious and interesting place. It has a certain charm that attracts people to explore it. The well seems to hold many secrets within its depths. There are stories and legends associated with it that have been passed down through generations. Some say that there is a special power in the water of Maule's Well, while others believe that it is a place where strange events occur. Despite the unknowns, people are still drawn to this well. They come to look at it, to wonder about its history, and perhaps to seek some kind of connection or meaning. In the end, Maule's Well manages to end well, leaving a lasting impression on those who visit it and becoming a part of the local lore and culture. It continues to be a source of fascination and curiosity, inviting people to come and discover its unique charm for themselves.