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A review by thatdecembergirl
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
I'm now seething mad at the people who mock Stephen King for the massive volume of his books. It's overwriting, they say. Some even go as far as to say he's got words diarrhea. But I'd argue that Nathaniel Hawthorne is the genuine form and the actual, irrefutable victor of the overwriting Olympics. The Scarlet Letter could be wrapped up in 50 pages or maybe under (30-ish pages would be best, I suppose), but here we are, 200-ish pages of archaic nonsense. And kids in America still have this shit as one of their mandatory school readings? In 21st century? Well, my condolences. Truly.
In short, I don't like this book. It feels like a waste of time even with all the skimming I did. Because please, the writing style is almost unreadable; Hawthorne kept blabbing almost about anything mid-sentence. This is unreadable to the extent that I had to open a Wikipedia page just to make sure that I don't understand things wrong. As I reader, I feel very much frustrated. I don't want to read a lengthy description about FLOWERS THAT BRUSH AGAINST THE DRESS WORN BY HESTER'S DAUGHTER THAT MOVES DELICATELY AS SHE WALKS BESIDE HER MOTHER. It's hard to care about the characters because they all behave like a platoon of true misogynist jerks. Also, it's doesn't make sense to me to see how attached Hester is to her so-called Scarlet Letter (A for Adultery? Ewwww lame) when it's just something easily detachable. THEY DIDN'T EVEN TATTOO THE GODDAMN LETTER ON HER FLESH... why bother wearing the letter dutifully for SEVEN FRIGGING YEARS TO FRIGGING EVERYWHERE??
I can't even rate this book. I cannot bring myself to even put one effing star. I'm THAT mad. Everything is awful here, and what angers me the most is that I perfectly knew that my fellow countrymen here where I live still behave just like the people around Hester. When extramarital pregnancy or whatever it is you call pregnancy that happens outside wedlock, they shame and blame the woman harder than the man. Men are given sympathy oh-so easily. Men can redeem themselves, men can be pardoned for the sake of his reputation and life achievements and his promising future but what about the women? God, I'm so furious.
Words of advice: if you're planning to voluntarily read this book (like me), just... don't.
Especially if you're not someone like me, who loves to keep reading a book she hates (just so she could write a lengthy review about how she hates it).
In short, I don't like this book. It feels like a waste of time even with all the skimming I did. Because please, the writing style is almost unreadable; Hawthorne kept blabbing almost about anything mid-sentence. This is unreadable to the extent that I had to open a Wikipedia page just to make sure that I don't understand things wrong. As I reader, I feel very much frustrated. I don't want to read a lengthy description about FLOWERS THAT BRUSH AGAINST THE DRESS WORN BY HESTER'S DAUGHTER THAT MOVES DELICATELY AS SHE WALKS BESIDE HER MOTHER. It's hard to care about the characters because they all behave like a platoon of true misogynist jerks. Also, it's doesn't make sense to me to see how attached Hester is to her so-called Scarlet Letter (A for Adultery? Ewwww lame) when it's just something easily detachable. THEY DIDN'T EVEN TATTOO THE GODDAMN LETTER ON HER FLESH... why bother wearing the letter dutifully for SEVEN FRIGGING YEARS TO FRIGGING EVERYWHERE??
I can't even rate this book. I cannot bring myself to even put one effing star. I'm THAT mad. Everything is awful here, and what angers me the most is that I perfectly knew that my fellow countrymen here where I live still behave just like the people around Hester. When extramarital pregnancy or whatever it is you call pregnancy that happens outside wedlock, they shame and blame the woman harder than the man. Men are given sympathy oh-so easily. Men can redeem themselves, men can be pardoned for the sake of his reputation and life achievements and his promising future but what about the women? God, I'm so furious.
Words of advice: if you're planning to voluntarily read this book (like me), just... don't.
Especially if you're not someone like me, who loves to keep reading a book she hates (just so she could write a lengthy review about how she hates it).