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whatshereadyesterday's review against another edition
4.0
Leave it to a reader like me to love a book not well received by others. The House of the Seven Gables is truly a fable as to how a person, or many persons, live or exist or psychologically or physiologically die with the past. Hawthorne has split himself up among the main four characters and for me, knowing my literary history, is always the best writing that shows a writer's relationship with themselves. It really is a fable about living with or without the past, how to exist alongside something ugly or morally ambivalent and chapter 28 is truly TRULY a masterpiece of the Gothic.
janey's review against another edition
5.0
Oh man, this was a welcome relief after some of the depressing stories I've read recently!
books_arts_journals's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
cameroneader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
michaelpdonley's review against another edition
4.0
My second book in a row published in 1851 (Moby Dick being the other). I definitely liked this one better. Hawthorne composes every sentence with emotion and detail. The story is downright spooky. When one makes a poor or unwise or evil decision, it can affect generations that follow. I believe that.
delandaab's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
2.0
If I couldn’t tell that some of characters weren’t ghosts until the end, I fear Hawthorne does way too much with his descriptions. However, I do like the way he writes. The narrator during the Judge Pyncheon chapter was quite enjoyable.
lalawoman416's review against another edition
4.0
Love the old Gothic books. Old homes, blood feuds, possible ghosts. They sure knew how to write them.
robbstarks's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
“a dead man sits on all our judgment seats; and living judges do but search out and repeat his decisions. we read in dead men's books! we laugh a dead men's jokes, and cry at dead men's pathos!”