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Title: The House of the Seven Gables (Classic Fiction) by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Peter Marinker ISBN: 9-6263410-3-3 Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks Ltd. Pub. Date: 01 September, 1996 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 3 List Price(USD): $19.98 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.48 (48 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Hawthorne's Supernatural Thriller, 19th Century Style
Comment: Nathaniel Hawthorne is probably one of the most despised figures in the American literary canon, at least in the minds of the millions of school children forced to read "The Scarlet Letter." I will go so far as to admit I never finished that novel. I took one look through the book and laughed at the ridiculous idea of reading such a convoluted looking story. That was at age seventeen. Now, many years later I am able to go back and actually read some of these daunting novels. What is surprising is that they are not daunting at all, just written in an ornate style from a different age. The plots often deal with the same issues and concerns modern people fret about. For those uninterested in relationships and human dramas, there are also great old stories with supernatural elements, which is where this book comes in. This edition of the book includes an introduction by Mary Oliver and several commentaries on the work by Edwin Percy Whipple, Henry T. Tuckerman, F.O. Matthiessen, and Herman Melville. The Melville commentary is actually a letter the author of "Moby Dick" sent to Hawthorne where he concludes with a demand that Hawthorne "walk down one of these mornings and see me." Pretty neat.
In "The House of the Seven Gables," the author tells his reader the story is a romance. What he means by this terminology is not a cheap paperback that involves swooning hearts with Fabio on the cover, but "a legend prolonging itself, from an epoch now gray in the distance, down into our own broad daylight." Hawthorne's specific goal is to show that the bad behavior of one generation devolves on future descendents. He accomplishes this by examining the Pyncheon family, a clan founded on America's shores by the stern Puritan Colonel Pyncheon, who used his considerable influence to inveigle prime real estate from one Matthew Maule in the 17th century. Pyncheon carried out this task by using the Salem witchcraft scare to secure Maule's execution. In his last moments, Maule laid a curse on the good Colonel and all of his descendents, telling him that God would give them blood to drink as a punishment for this evil injustice. Shortly after the Colonel builds his house with seven gables on Maule's property, he dies in a way that makes Maule's curse seem to be a reality. Rather than trace this terrible evil down through the ages in minute detail, Hawthorne only touches on a few important points before beginning his story in the middle of the 19th century.
The Pyncheon family is slowly moldering into extinction when Hawthorne introduces us to poor old Hepzibah Pyncheon. She lives alone in the ancient estate, reduced to near starvation because her brother Clifford is in prison and Jaffrey Pyncheon, a rich judge who lives in his own manor in the country, refuses to offer her assistance. The only way to survive for Hepzibah is to open a penny store in an old part of the decaying house. Just when things reach a nadir, another Pyncheon turns up to save the day. This is Phoebe, a vivacious young lady who lives in the country. This fetching lass is a blessing for Hepzibah; she runs the penny store, helps to lift the gloomy atmosphere in the house, and when Clifford returns from his long imprisonment, Phoebe entertains the doddering man with her multitude of charms. She even strikes up an acquaintance with Holgrave, a young boarder in the house. Things start to look up when yet another tragedy strikes the Pyncheon family, leading to the momentary evacuation of the ancestral estate by Hepzibah and Clifford before Hawthorne settles all accounts in an ending that is both quick and highly implausible.
The reputation this book has with many people is not good. They disparage the lengthy digressions, the massive amount of time Hawthorne takes to explore Hepzibah's dilemma over opening the penny store, the sentences that go on and on without seeming to make any point whatsoever, and the organization of the book as a whole. There is some foundation in these charges. The chapters describing the penny store do seem interminable, especially when viewed in the context of the story as a whole. As for the descriptions of Hepzibah's scowling countenance and Clifford's puny mental state, we get the idea well before Hawthorne quits harping on them. Yes, there are flaws in "The House of the Seven Gables."
However, I personally enjoyed the deeply rich 19th century prose. Hawthorne's command of the English language is impressive and, at times, as precise as a cruise missile. One need only read the chapter about Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon's unfortunate incident in the house to grasp the beauty of this author's style. As for the digressions, if people have a problem with chapters such as "Alice Pyncheon" and the introductory material setting down the history of the doomed family, it is really their loss. It is when Hawthorne writes about supernatural elements that he really managed to grab me. If this counts as a lengthy digression from the story, I will take more, please!
If I had to assign a Hawthorne novel to a group of slack jawed high school students, I would give them this one in place of "The Scarlet Letter." At least with "The House of the Seven Gables," someone might enjoy the eerie curse that united the Maules with the Pyncheons for two centuries. A letter sewn on clothing cannot stack up against ghosts, a disembodied hand, and mysterious deaths. The kids will still grumble, but not as much when they realize there are less "thees" and "thous" tossed around in this novel.
Rating: 4
Summary: Characters You Won't Soon Forget
Comment: Although I'm a big fan of Hawthorne's short stories, this is my first venture into his novel writing. His short stories, by their very nature, move from conflict to climax without much ado. They are preachy, pedantic, and allegorical--and I love them. "...Seven Gables" moves along at a much slower pace, developing symbolism and characters with greater subtlety and depth. The plot itself is not much deeper than one of his short stories. We watch humbled, yet strong Hepzibah struggle for a living from a one room shop in the house. Along the way, she meets a variety of characters and becomes host and confidant to a long-lost relative, gentle Phoebe. Phoebe is sunlight, poking into the shadows of the gabled house, bringing vivacity to its occupants, Hepzibah, Clifford, and Holgrave. Yes, Hawthorne hints at sinister things in the past and present of the old house, but only with the arrival of Judge Pyncheon do we begin to suspect trouble brewing.
The conclusion of the book involves death and hidden riches and suspicions and redemption. The symbols throughout--the house, the chimney, the elm tree, the chickens, etc.--manage to reveal their purposes in due time. In a satisfactory manner, Hawthorne contrasts the insidious nature of religious hypocrisy with the virtues of honesty and gentle love. The horrors of the Pyncheons' past fade away in the light of Phoebe's commitment and care. Her time in the house brings life to all within...all except one.
Hawthorne could've encapsulated this tale in one of his short stories. He could've sliced away words with meticulous demand. Instead, he allows us to know and care for the people in his story. Some readers, granted, will find it difficult to care and will call it a waste of their time; sure, it takes a little effort. But, just as Phoebe and Hepzibah display sacrificial love, a reader who's willing to give the time might find worthwhile rewards by the book's end.
If you're already a fan, you'll enjoy it. I certainly did. If it seems too long, try some of his short works and work up your appetite for these heartier courses. This is rich stuff.
Rating: 4
Summary: A mixed review from this Hawthorne fan
Comment: What can you say about Nathaniel Hawthorne's "House of the Seven Gables" that hasn't been said before? It's dark; it's Gothic; much of it is depressing; and the language is dense 19th century prose. Those who read primarily for plot will find it slow going, and those who look for likeable characters may be largely disappointed. In other words, for modern readers, this book may be a tough sell. Personally, I found it a little dull and a letdown after having recently reread (and enjoyed) "The Scarlet Letter."
Nonetheless, "The House of the Seven Gables" has its pleasures. Hawthorne, the scion of an old Massachusetts Puritan family, injects an unusual sense of historical depth into his writings. This is certainly true of "The House of the Seven Gables," which explores the idea of character flaws, evil and retribution passed down from generation to generation in a single family. Of course not everyone in the family is guilty, but the sins of a few taint the lives of all. As in much of Hawthorne's work, the supernatural, sometimes implied and sometimes explicit, plays a role in the workings of the plot. Even the daguerrotypist--nothing but an early photographer to us--must have given the 19th century reader a frisson because of his combination of mesmeric powers and miraculous ability to produce telling images out of pure light.
Hawthorne is a master of description, an expert at using his words to create images that convey far more than simple visuals. Even when the plot seemed stale and the characters wooden, the author's use of the language made it worth continuing. Hawthorne's descriptions of a little boy's love of animal-shaped cookies, of the garden with Maule's bitter well, and of the dead Jaffrey unmoving in his chair, to mention just a few, made the book well worth reading. "The House of the Seven Gables" may or may not be Hawthorne's best work (that's always a matter of opinion--try some of his short stories too), but it is an interesting book nonetheless
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Title: The House of the Seven Gables (Cliffs Notes) by Darlene Bennett Morris ISBN: 0822005956 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 14 October, 1964 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Scarlet Letter by NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE ISBN: 0553210092 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 April, 1965 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
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Title: The Blithedale Romance (Modern Library Classics) by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Gretchen Kay Short ISBN: 0375757201 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 14 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Uncle Tom's Cabin (Bantam Classics) by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Alfred Kazin ISBN: 0553212184 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 January, 1983 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare ISBN: 074347712X Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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