On Day 875...
Having skipped highschool, and with it many of the classics that are mandatory reading, I have just finished The Scarlet Letter (we listened to it on CD during our drive to and from Northern VA). I have started the book about 5 times but I always quit before poor Hester Prynne could get off of that awful scaffold. Although Hawthorne is incredibly wordy, I think that the book is definitely worth the read.
It is sad that a large part of fiction written recently is greatly lacking when it comes to writing good, deep, thought-provoking books. They seem to be written for the sole purpose of becoming a good action flick. The Scarlet Letter, on the other hand, is filled with underlying themes of evil, revenge, unconfessed sin and the effects it has on those involved. Why is it that only after the preacher confessed the little girl became manageable? Why does Hawthorne feel that the husband was sinful than the wife or the lover? The way Hawthorne can leave so much untold, but still write an incredibly moving and real book is truly amazing.
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That said, I have also just finished The Da Vinci Code. The book has been a best seller for almost two years and so when I saw it at the library I thought I might as well figure out what everyone is talking about. :)
The thought and research that Dan Brown put into the book is incredible. There are so many odd, twisted little details, I can understand how some readers could be led to believe that it is true (never mind the fact that it is all based on a person's interpretation of one painting). If you have not read the book I would suggest that you do, if for no other reason than to know what our culture is reading and even believing. We need to be in the world, but no of it...
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2 comments:
Hawthorne's a trip. Try "House of the Seven Gables" sometime. It's really interesting. Hawthorne loves to throw in a mystical/magical element.
I read Da Vinci Code two years ago, before it became a runaway bestseller. Very intriguing; more interesting is some of his source material. (My favorite was "The Golden Ratio" - a MATH book all about the number phi!) I did do some further reading on folklore surrounding Mary Magdalene, too. Interesting stuff. It drives me nuts that people take the book as FACT, though.
I like "Angels and Demons" - the sort of prequel to "Da Vinci Code" - too. I just don't like all the negatives he throws in about the Catholic Church.
BTW, you didn't miss much by skipping all the so-called classics. :) I didn't even hit the Russians until college, but those are great, too: "Brothers Karamazov," "Anna Karenina," "War and Peace," you get the idea. I really recommend the Brothers K.
I wrote a paper in college on "The Marble Faun" by Hawthorne. I loved it--all the imagery and underlying themes. I've read the Scarlet Letter several times. Great read. -rlr
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