A review by alliepeduto
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
2.0
Honestly probably wouldn’t have even bothered to rate this two stars if it hadn’t been for the fact I had the wonderful opportunity last month to visit the “real” House of the Seven Gables. In an example of life imitates art, the book was so wildly popular that by the late 19th/early 20th century, the owner updated the house to more accurately reflect what was in the book. It was a tourist attraction (think movie filming sites in today’s world) whose proceeds funded education programs for immigrants, and they still do that today! If you have the chance to visit Salem, I highly recommend the tour (Nina was our guide and she was incredible), since it still does important work that’s needed.
That being said, this was pretty terrible, in a hilarious kind of way. I mostly listened to it as a sleep story because it kept putting to sleep, and then I would skim what I missed. Sometimes I would wake up snd think, “there was no way that happened,” and it totally did. It read like a fever dream, and I don’t mean that as a compliment (is that ever a compliment? I’m not sure).
Still, glad I read it (I got some great sleep), and definitely recommend learning more about the house than reading the story.
That being said, this was pretty terrible, in a hilarious kind of way. I mostly listened to it as a sleep story because it kept putting to sleep, and then I would skim what I missed. Sometimes I would wake up snd think, “there was no way that happened,” and it totally did. It read like a fever dream, and I don’t mean that as a compliment (is that ever a compliment? I’m not sure).
Still, glad I read it (I got some great sleep), and definitely recommend learning more about the house than reading the story.