Reviews

Hawthorne's Short Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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onmywaytobefamous's review

doesn’t need any explanation i think, just freaking boring

Had never read Hawthorne before and regret having waited so long to do so. Writing is livelier than I had expected and does not trades as dated and flowery prose that I was concerned about. The enjoyment of the stories depends upon the allegory contained in the story as the characters are more to serve the allegory than themselves. At times the allegories seems heavy handed and detract from the story. The Birthmark is as good as advertised. Also highly recommend the Prophetic Pictures and Dr. Heidiggers Experiment.

eacolgan's review against another edition

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4.0

i'm not actually sure i've read all the stories in here, but i had to put something up to stand for how much i love hawthorne's short fiction. i read the stories mostly one at a time, during a class on american lit in college. i thought i hated american lit, and i was mostly right, but boy was i wrong about hawthorne. :)

beestew93's review against another edition

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3.0

I've been struggling with ye olde Nathaniel for quite some time now, but after finally starting this collection of short stories (for the THIRD. TIME) I have to finally admit defeat. He's just not my favorite classic author. While I remain in awe of his ability to weave pictures through the use of his words (and write so eloquently along the way), getting through even this short collection of 24 short stories was a struggle.

This collection holds a few of the classics, such as "The Birthmark", but also offered a few for consideration that I had never heard of before. "The Antique Ring" made a particular impression, and remained one of my favorites throughout the collection.

In short, for all who consider themselves fans of Hawthorne this collection is for you! For those on the fence, like I was, this collection offers a quick look at the world renowned author without requiring you to delve too deeply into his world. Enjoy!

judyward's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm a fan of short stories and these short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne are some of the best.

jerefi's review against another edition

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3.0

This book of short stories is very good, but like anything written by Hawthorne, the language can be a little tougher to wade through than some of the fiction we choose to read. I think it was definitely better reading a story here or there in between other books than reading all the stories back to back give the reoccurring themes. If I would have read them back to back, I think it would have felt repetitive in terms of the messages/lessons within.

kittywriter's review against another edition

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5.0

Some of the themes get repetitive if you read the entire book at once, and I also got tired of the feeble female protagonists, but Hawthorne has a way with words.

baddogjordan's review

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4.0

Love Hawthorne. Chilly, creepy stories that would be lovely to read by a campfire in the heart of the woods. I only wish that instead of moralizing, he would go right up to the horror he is constantly dancing around. But OG for a reason. Should be on every bookshelf.