The Scarlet Letter

My Review

I have now, admist my boredom and ire, that which gives me great nausea—the kind which one may not vomit in an outward projectile violent fit but in a torrent of viscious and confusing wandering of the mind—I succeed in my initial interpretation, between his infinite sub-clauses, and in my continual disdain of the actual act of reading, persist in my lack of interest in Hawthornes writing. Were I, with the wisdom I have accumulated at my stage in life, a student of secondary education, as many who are in the late teenage years, I would, of course, have the same distaste of the ADHD writings of Hawthorne.

Ok, I can't anymore. While The Scarlet Letter was much better than The House of the Seven Gables, it was still extremely long-winded, overly detailed, and slow-moving like cold molasses. I only read this because it is a hihgly acclaimed piece of literature—probably by those who insist on using rare artifacts of language just to show people how smart they are, discounting the fact they are failing to actually communicate effetively, whichi is the entire purpose of language. Still, I gave Hawthorne another try, and now, I can say with complete confidence, this is the last time I read the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

I feel obligated to share one of the funnier reviews I read at Goodreads. It is not even a review but an accusation of the repetition and over-engineered phrasing that Hawthorne so commonly utilizes.

"Hester walked across the room. She stepped upon her left foot, her right foot, and then her left foot again. One wonders, why doth she, in this instance of walking across the room, begin her journey upon the left foot and not the right? Could it be her terrible sin, that the devil informeth the left foot just as he informeth the left hand and those bewitched, left-handed persons amongst us? Why, forsooth, doth the left foot of sin draggeth the innocent right foot along its wretched journey from one side of the room to the other? She walked across the room, I tell you! Guilty feet hath got no rhythm..."