the house of the seven gables oxford worlds classi more fun than i thought it would be
TRANSCRIPT
The House of the Seven Gables (Oxford Worlds Classics) by
Nathaniel Hawthorne
More Fun Than I Thought It Would Be
The sins of one generation are visited upon another in a haunted New
England mansion until the arrival of a young woman from the country
breathes new air into mouldering lives and rooms. Written shortly after
The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables re-addresses the
theme of human guilt in a style remarkable in both its descriptive virtuosity and its truly modern mix of fantasy and realism.
Personal Review: The House of the Seven Gables (Oxford Worlds Classics) by Nathaniel Hawthorne Purchased in anticipation of a trip to Salem, MA to visit the actual House of
the Seven Gables, I have to admit that I enjoyed this book far more than I
thought I was going to. Written in 1851, The House of the Seven Gables is at once both a period romance and history of the Pyncheon family,
focusing on a several week period of the lives of the current owner,
Hepzibah Pyncheon, her brother Clifford, cousin Phoebe and their lodger,
Holgrave. Themes of guilt and retribution run throughout the novel, as the
histories of both the house and the Pyncheon and Maule families are all
brought to light.
Hawthorne relies heavily on not only his own family's history to help him
build some of the plots in his novel, but also on the general history of the area, with aspects of the novel dating back to the Salem Witch Hysteria of
1692. The house has stood for centuries as a spectator to these
happenings, and seems to be haunted by the ghosts of the suffering that
has occurred within its halls.
While suffering from many of what I see as familiar plot devices for its time
(family secrets, hidden identities, convenient deaths and sudden marriages
that let everyone live "happily ever after"), Hawthorne was still able to craft
and wonderful and imaginative novel. While some of the descriptions may
seem extraordinarily long by todays standards, I felt as though this added
to the books charm. Some may find it hard to read, but if you let yourself
be picked up by the story and not try to think your way through the book,
you'll soon find yourself completely engrossed in poor Hepzibah's trials
and tribulations.
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