Are you tired of reading? Are you looking for a book to put you into a nice reading slump? Or a coma? Well, I have good news and bad news… The good news is that this book can help you in those areas. The bad news is that means you have to read it…
The House of the Seven Gables
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Pages: 288
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Published: March 1, 1851
Publisher: Signet Classics
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: September 2, 2024
My rating: 
Thoughts
“I wish you would speak more plainly,” cried Phoebe, perplexed and displeased…
Me too, Phoebe. Me too.
I’ve been wanting to read this book for a long time. It’s been on “100 Great Classics” lists. It was the author’s favorite work of his own. I also like ghost and haunted house stories.
I’ve never read The Scarlet Letter; arguably Hawthorne’s most famous work. If I had, I might have decided this one was best left unread. That’s assuming his writing style didn’t change much between the two.
It’s disappointing because I really wanted to like this one. And there’s a lot going for it. It’s got a solid base of characters, good history on the house. But for me it was lacking the most important thing – a story. Sure, there are things that happen in this book. But to what end?
I would like to say that this book is about vengeance, or greed, or redemption, or forgiveness. And it may be all of these things. And it may be none of them. But it sure as heck isn’t about clarity. Or brevity.
Speaking of brevity…
As you likely noticed, I gave this one lonely star out of 5. That’s a pretty high rating if you ask me. But I give points for effort. That being the effort I put into finishing this little book. Oh yeah, one star for not being longer!!
