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The Scarlet Letter | 
 enlarge | Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Publisher: Pocket
Category: Book
List Price: $3.95
Buy Used: $1.40
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New (38) Used (48) Collectible (3) from $1.40
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 33939
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0743487567
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.3
EAN: 9780743487566
ASIN: 0743487567
Publication Date: April 27, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Brand New! Immediate Shipment!
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Product Description
ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATEDBY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP Hawthorne's classic treatise on morality, judgment, and exile in Puritan America.
EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information • A chronology of the author's life and work • A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context • An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations • Detailed explanatory notes • Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work • Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction • A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 most importan novel found in American Literature June 10, 2005
Seng-ge Dorje (Brentwood, Ca United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Hawthorne's novel of sin and the quest for utopia is sublime. The language is rich, and the novel is filled with religious symbolism. No work of American literature quite captures America's search for 'the Holy Land' while showing the affect that such a myopic quest can have on the individual. Hawthorne, while roundly criticizing the more zealous of his faith, never leaves us wondering whether or not forgiveness is possible for the penitent. Through the strength of the lead character, Hester Prynne, the author conveys to us the power of love that exudes those of us who have recognized our own faults and worked to heal the wounds our ill deeds have caused. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in American literature.
This is when I fell in love with Nathaniel....... September 22, 2007
Tricia Love
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Just look at a portrait of him as a young man, note the noble brow, the handsome features, the sensitivity, how romantic......... Curl up with this book and let Nathaniel tell you his tale in his beautiful poetic language . This is a book to be read quietly, alone, not in an airport lounge or on the subway, but preferably in a beautiful garden or sunroom with the windows open. Let the beauty of his language flow over you and transport you back in time.
It is over 200 years since Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts, his great great grandfather officiated at the Salem Witch Trials. He was both disturbed and intrigued by his ancestry. One day when working at The Custom House in Salem to make ends meet as a struggling young author, he discovered in one of the upstairs rooms some dusty old boxes, on opening them he found them to contain relics from the past, long since forgotten. Yellowing documents and an intriguing piece of embroidery, a scrap of faded and torn material with the letter A embroidered on it. He picked it up, and while wondering what it was, he held it up to his chest, and at that moment he claims to have felt a burning sensation which caused him to drop the piece of cloth. It gave him inspiration for this story along with documents he found about a woman called Hester Prynne.
The scene he sets so vividly is somewhere around 350 years ago 150 years before he was born. In a time when behavior to which we can hardly be bothered to raise an eyebrow was in that day considered a punishable sin. A disgrace for life. Branded by having to wear a scarlet letter on the chest for all to see.
It is a feminist novel, (Nathaniel Hawthorne supported women's rights). Briefly, the protagonist Hester Prynne has a child from an adulterous relationship and refuses to name the father. Her husband a physician much older than she has never been a "proper" husband to her so she had looked elsewhere for love. The husband vows to find the father of the child, and in exchange for her freedom makes Hester swear she will never disclose who her husband is. Her husband being a physician quickly deduces who the father is from the way he is wasting away under his burden of guilt. He sets about a long period of torment of the young man of which Hester is aware but can say nothing because of her promise. Finally she has had enough and decides to come clean, shaming the devil, (her husband) and redeeming the young man. I do not want to spoil anything by divulging the name of the father of the child in case you do not know.
This is such a simple and brief account it would make Nathaniel wince to read it. There is so much more to the story. It states in the blurb that it is a psychological novel before there was a science called psychology. The way the characters in the story interact with each other, the symbolism, the different values of the day from Nathaniel's day, and then again to this day. The religious aspect in Puritan times, the emotional ups and downs as you empathize with first one and then another of the characters. It is a wonderful story and well deserving of its position as one of America's great classics.
Great Book June 23, 2007
R. Swaney
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In high school I switched English levels, which left me lacking in a lot of classic high school reads. This includes authors from Twain to Salinger and just about every generic book that someone says: "Oh, I read that in high school." This weekend I finally gave in to read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter and it was brilliant. His short piece The Custom House precedes the story and it was so descriptive and funny and that's certainly one adjective (funny) that I've never heard paired with Hawthorne. Most everyone seems to be familiar with the plot (especially after the 1995 film) and it all together is a rather simple story line: a married woman whose husband has disappeared has an affair and becomes pregnant. She's forced to wear the letter A in scarlet on her bosom as punishment. From here some fabulous ideas of witchcraft and black magic pepper the story and a great ending.
A true classic for me July 8, 2008
Jem (MD, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was always skeptical when teachers used the term "classic" when referring to a book. It always seemed to me to be a term to describe books I had to read that were going to suck. The Scarlet Letter was a happy exception; one that actually has meaning today as it did when written.
I really enjoy historical fiction. Hawthorne easily puts a reader into the time period by laying out the facts of puritan life and laws, the dress of the time, as well as with the old-fashioned dialog. Hestor's husband is "away" at sea and she has become pregnant. Normally, adultery would carry a very severe punishment, but the town can't prove her husband is alive. So, she is forced to wear a scarlet "A" (for adultery) on her chest whenever she's in public. This stigma will pass on to her daughter, despite her innocence in the matter. Hestor's stoic perseverence in the face of this humiliation is even more poignant when you learn who the father of her baby really is. This tale of a town forcing its morality on a person is still valid today. Women aren't forced to wear a scarlet A (at least in the US), but we still label people who are different or don't conform to our values.
Unfortunately, at the time this was written, authors were paid by the number of pages in their books. Readers can easily guess this caused uncessary bloating in stories and this book suffers the same. There is a lot of description and fluff that I found myself skimming over, but the heart of the story is still excellent. This tale is powerful and meaningful. Highly recommended!
 ugh August 22, 2008
Esther Schwartz (KS)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Why do books such as this keep being required reading in high schools? Havent there been any authors in more recent time that would provide students more relevancy? Obviously this appeals to those who are truly literature lovers--and that's fantastic. But for most kids, give them something they'll enjoy reading and maybe they'll learn to love literature more. Books like this just antagonize and demoralize those who are not naturally literature lovers.
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