The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

I couldn't put this one down....... read it twice in a row in fact....... adultry, conspiracy, and humilation.... and the tearing at one's heart........ how quick to judge people are...... an amazing novel!

Highly over-rated, although there are some very good sequences, particularly those between Roger and Hester. Hawthorn writes pretty turgid prose, even for his time, and to the modern ear its positively glacial.

I hated this book...with a passion! It may be a classic, but still. I couldn't even get through it!

Adultery in Puritan-era New England; it doesn't get any better than this.

The scandal in Puritan America is delicious. Especially since so little has changed!

This is one of my favorite novels

I love when the book said that the "A" no longer stood for adultery but stood for able.

Hester shows her love and devotion to her lover even though it was wrong to be with him.

stigma

Awesome - thought provoking!

This book was stupid and i would not reccomend it for anyone who loves excitement!I wanted to go to sleep so badly, and if i didn't have to take a test on the whole book, i would have!

the book was so obvious, i never felt surprised. my biggest problem with book was hawthorne's blatant attempt at influencing the reader, i generally agree with his ideas anyway, but the book would of been better if he had been more subtle.

It's a good story and a nice read. But it isn't something I'd recommend.

I was just going to rate this book until I saw the comment about "rent the movie". If you'd rather rent the movie, please don't rate books... different medium, and I've never seen a movie that has been better than the book it was based upon. Hawthorne was one of our great founders of American literature. The Scarlet Letter is a portrait of that time, brilliantly done. If you're bored by this, don't read any Pulitzer prize winners from the last 20 years.

I guess it is the times we live in, but this book was not as "scandelous" as I thought it would be. It is hard to relate to a time when a woman was made an outcast for having premarital sex. I had a hard time getting into this one.

Maybe it's because I had to read this in high school, but this book just didn't do it for me. The casual reader probably won't pick up on the symbolism that makes the book rich. Without the symbolism, there's really no reason to read it.

I really hate this book. I found it boring, obvious, and silly. Hawthorne's over attention to detail in places is hard to read and boring. The characters are sad adn not completely described. Many people love Hawthorne but I sure don't!

With the movie, you can more deeply understand the book. Though it's a tragic love story, it reveals how strong a human should be once he finds his true love.

I enjoyed the symbolism within the reading. Many topics for discussion.

I hate this book, how could one call it a classic? Dragging on about this whole "love" affair, making something natural and healthy and good into a dievient act of gross proportions. It's all about culture, the culture feels it has a right to know-the characters (parts of the culture) feel they are obliged to tell the culture. The culture disgusts me.

Very interesting at times, but a definite STINKER. Most of it was boring. Sometimes, entire chapters were extremely boring. The characters, I think, were very well explained. Each one had it's own characterstics and traits. I found Dimmesdale to be the most interesting of the bunch. Not a page turner. A nice piece, but boring. Not reccomended to anyone, especially youngens. I think I can sum it up as, BORING.

Although everyone rants and raves about how classic this book is, you'll probably end up falling asleep before you get to the part where the "letter" come into play. My advice, watch the movie, they always are more entertaining with Hollywoods help.

Exploring the depths of human emotion and intolerance, the Scarlet Letter is a classical book that much can be learned from. With a continuously mysterious undertone, it keeps you reading till the end. A good book to study or just read for pleasure.

Unforgivable melodramatic and completely out of touch with vernacular spoken by people he was trying to reach, Hawthorne's novel was terrible even for its time. Interesting symbolism. Terrible telling.

This book was boring. Nothing happened. I don't see what was so scandalous. Hard to read old fashioned language, even with a teacher assisting.

The Scarlet Letter is the best book I have ever read. Hawthorne displays the artistic touch that authors don't have anymore as he paints this subtle, captivating story of love, guilt, corruption, redemption, and hope. Before I began reading The Scarlet Letter, all I heard was how boring it was. But as I began reading, page after page was brilliant. Hawthorne beautifully counterbalances the somewhat dark subject material of the book with a prologue that is lighter mood, and at times even deleriously funny.

On the whole, I enjoyed the story. The Reverend's personal torment about Hester Pryne's pregnancy and being unable to claim his own child is wrenching. However, the first chapter about the "Charter House" slows the reader down considerably.

Good book. Scandalous. Keeps you reading. You want to find out what happens. A book that you will always remember. Memorable characters like Hester.

The Scarlet Letter was an awesome book filled with the basic conflicts we all face, backdropped against a setting less forgiving than the one we live in. A story of love called lust and one of the strongest heroines in literature today. An excellent book.

I loved this book! The language was beautiful, full of imagery and symbolism. A clever attack on American Puritanism.

A slow story with only limited interest. Read the Cliff Notes instead.

Even though this novel is required for most high schoolers, it can be a good book to read.

This book is readable, but doesn't speak to modern audiences. I was not able to relate to the characters, and felt removed from the story. I doubt I would read it for fun, but it is often assigned at school.

Hawthorne weaves a beautiful story about injustice, persecution, and subsequent redemption.

The Scarlet Letter is very intriguing.

I got a funny story to tell about this book. I think most of the people in the U.S. have read Scarlet Letter in High School or even before. Unfortunately, I only read the first half of this book. In my English Class, my teacher divided the reading between all my classmates. So, I only read part of it, and the rest, I got by listening to the summaries. Looking back, I am sad that I was not encourage to read the whole book by myself and not be able to give you a full scoop on this book. But I still recommend this novel, just for the fact that it's a "Classic".

The best guilt, lust, drama ever written!

Classic. Better than the movie.