The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
By knicnax
@knicnax (2233)
Philippines
June 27, 2010 9:56pm CST
I just finished "The Scarlet Letter". It has a very interesting story. What drove me to read the book was because I wanted know what the Scarlet Letter really means and how it came to be called the Scarlet Letter. Before reading the book, I knew that it's about adultery.
It took me a very long time to read the book. I guess it's due to its Old English language that I find boring. Also, there weren't many exciting parts of the story except for the comet that spelled "A", the forest encounter and the New england holiday up to the ending.
The story made me sympathize with Hester and the Minister. Forbidden love! I'm not a person who enjoy love stories much, mainly because romance novels tend to be unrealistic. This however seems very real. I really like the story :)
How about you, how do you find this book?
2 people like this
11 responses
@getbiswa2000 (5544)
• India
28 Jun 10
Hi,
The story is not only interesting, in my consideration, it is educational and historic at the same time. The story delineates the crookedness of religious maniacs, who would establish their selfish beliefs above humanity. The love was forbidden, yet lofty and admirable. The relationship wasn't holy in religious sense, but the novel proved the dominance of humanity over social taboo. The relationship was built on a very strong foundation. The story also depicts the inner strength of a woman, to what extent she can tolerate for the sake of love. This book can be found on project gutenburg site for free. Thanks.
God bless you
2 people like this
@adeena2000 (845)
• Philippines
28 Jun 10
I haven't read that book yet but I will make time to read it. Thanks anyway for the advance information. I will enjoy it much since it seems you were enjoying reading it. Thanks again. 
2 people like this
@ratyz5 (7808)
• Philippines
28 Jun 10
Really?
So that's what I would expect from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Reading this post of yours just got me interested in looking for this particular title. Not that I find adultery very fascinating or that the realism, as you have mentioned, of the romance attracts me. I guess I just fancy reading these kinds of books since I recently finished reading Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. However, what made me read this classic was that, I got to watch a movie Dorian Gray and it really got me interested if the book and the movie were the same..
Thanks for this post! (^_^ )
2 people like this
@RobtheRock (2433)
• United States
28 Jun 10
I had to read it in my high school English Literature class years ago. I liked it and in a way was upset that the female was punished but not the male. It described the way things were back in those days.
2 people like this
@blou020714 (163)
• Philippines
28 Jun 10
i have read that book back in college during my english project. i choose to read it coz i find the title so intriguing but then it turned out that the story so dragging, so mellow and hey it has put me to sleep. thank god i was able to finish it but nuh never mind of reminiscing the story again that'll just put me back to sleep..hahahaha
2 people like this
@jltongco_12181 (9)
• Philippines
28 Jun 10
Hi knicnax!
I have the ebook on The Scarlet Letter, but I haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. I took on first Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And by golly, I've been on that ebook for almost 2 months now, and I'm only halfway through. The book is actually interesting but i tend to go through some texts again because i find the Old English language quite difficult to comprehend. Sometimes i fall asleep in the middle of reading some chapters.
When I first heard the title the Scarlet Letter, i thought the setting was during those years when there was an epidemic on the scarlet fever. I guess i thought wrong.
I hope i get the time to read the book, after i finish Pride and Prejudice, that is! Although I don't find adultery exciting and interesting.
2 people like this
@Angelwriter (1954)
• United States
25 Jul 10
I had to read this for college and liked it more than I thought I would. I sympathized with Hester more than the minister, though. It's been some time since I read it, but I seem to remember him being cowardly. I also found Pearl interesting.
1 person likes this
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
28 Jun 10
It was brilliant. I hated it. :D
It wasn't the least bit hard for me to understand because of the old English, but I did find it quite boring. It was an amazing book in its own right, but I thoroughly hated the story so I couldn't enjoy it. Personally I'm not a fan of "forbidden love" and I don't think adultery is the least bit romantic. I couldn't sympathize with them like you could.
1 person likes this
@knicnax (2233)
• Philippines
28 Jun 10
I guess I appreciate dark novels more. I hate love stories that have happy endings! haha. Anyway I agree with you, the book is boring. that's why I enumerated the only parts I felt "happy" about the book. I usually finish a novel in 1 to 3 days. I finished this book in the span of 4 months.
1 person likes this
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
29 Jun 10
Wow... long time! But at least you finished it. I know loads of people who give up on boring novels. Personally, I'll read anything I start all the way to the finish because that's how I practice good comprehension reading things I don't enjoy. (Loads of help when I'm studying!) I also usually finish novels in 1-3 days... but I think it took me a week and a half on Scarlet letter. It was a book I was reading for school so I was also reading novels I enjoyed more on the side.
Yeah, I like happy endings. It's one of the reasons my English teachers hated me. 
1 person likes this
@knicnax (2233)
• Philippines
29 Jun 10
I know! It was so boring. I read like water for chocolate in the middle of reading the scarlet letter (took me one day, also I've read this book a year ago).
The book is just to boring for me to read continuously, felt like I was wasting my time. The story in itself's great, how it was written wasn't as great.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
29 Sep 10
I read The Scarlet Letter some thirty years ago, when I was still a voracious reader. I can't remember the plot now but I remember how trapped Hester was. The novel came in too strong for me back then. When I was in college, women were beginning to express their ideas, their sentiments, their rights. I sympathized with Hester, I suppose, because her time was a gruesome world.
@much2say (55607)
• Los Angeles, California
30 Jun 10
We had to read this in my 11th grade English class. I found the story and writing to be intriguing! Well, my English instructor was an odd sort, but he was into symbolism and I got a huge dose of it in his class. You can really pick apart a story and read into it . . . there was so much of it in The Scarlet Letter. I think it's a strange pick for high school reading - but because it was about "forbidden love" - it was an interesting plot for me at the time!
1 person likes this
@aquariand (464)
•
28 Jun 10
I haven't read this book but ti sounds interesting, i prefer fantasy novels and sci fi novels but sometimes i read romance novels if i haven't any other to read.
1 person likes this
