Another classic lit piece - should I give it a try?

[Feral_Sophisticate]

Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter

I've heard of it (and that the movie with Demi Moore rather sucked)... Should this be on my list of books to read?

[BenPanced]

Yes. It's not only a very good read, it'll also help you purge all memory of that execrable movie version.

[mccardey]

What happened to Wuthering Heights?

[nevada]

YES, a thousand times Yes and for god sake do not watch the abomination that is the movie.

[Feral_Sophisticate]

What happened to Wuthering Heights?

I may still give it a try. The Scarlet Letter is one that I came across when looking for quotes to use in my email. :)

[Ophiucha]

To me, the answer to the question "should I read this?" can be answered by the fact that you called it a classic. If it is a classic, it should be read - you don't have to like it, but I can't imagine it lacks merit, particularly to a writer.

[RobJ]

Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter

I've heard of it (and that the movie with Demi Moore rather sucked)... Should this be on my list of books to read?
No, you should be reading contemporary fiction.

[schadenfreude]

Hahahaha - as soon as I read Demi Moore, I remembered Easy A. I personally didn't see what all the fuss was about THE SCARLET LETTER, but I feel like that about a lot of classics. You should probably read it because it is a classic and ought to be read. *shrugs* Twas the only reason I cracked the spine of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, after all.

And I wholeheartedly second Ben's comment. To purging the memory of that execrable film - HEAR HEAR!

[Sarah Madara]

I tried to re-read it recently for a book club, ran out of time, and didn't care enough to finish. (I read it in high school but don't remember much.) BUT I can tell you this: if you get it on the Kindle, pay the 99 cents for a version with a working Table of Contents or be prepared to click through a lot of pages. The introduction, which is pure torture to read, goes on for 20% of the book. It's better to have a working link to chapter 1.

I think many people love the book just out of sheer relief to be through with that godawful intro...

I agree with RobJ that contemporary fiction is more useful.

[Feral_Sophisticate]

I agree with RobJ that contemporary fiction is more useful.

Hmmm... Care to recommend a particular book (or three)? I don't normally do romance (too much fluff, IMHO), but I enjoy a good dramatic read.

I've read "Angela's Ashes", "Tuesdays With Morrie" and "Marley and Me", for example, and liked all three, for various reasons.

Likewise, "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch was quite good.

I'm open to other suggestions - and to build a bigger book pile on my two side tables.

My girlfriend's gonna love that. :ROFL:

[Sarah Madara]

Hmmm... Care to recommend a particular book (or three)? I don't normally do romance (too much fluff, IMHO), but I enjoy a good dramatic read.


Depends on your taste and genre. What part of the bookstore do you want to see your books in? Shop there.

You're into horror and fantasy? I don't read much horror, although I loved House of Leaves. People have mixed feelings on that one, but I devoured it. Couldn't put it down.

Fantasy: I only know UF, and my favorites are the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. But they don't seem to be typical - most others I've sampled have more action and snarkier narrators. Sorry, not much help.

The last few non-romantic books I read and liked were:
- Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. You'll love it or hate it.
- Absence of Nectar - fantastic suspense novel
- Sarah's Key - reading now and enjoying it (but it's sad)
- Thanks for Coming - very funny sex memoir

[Feral_Sophisticate]

The last few non-romantic books I read and liked were:
- Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. You'll love it or hate it.
- Absence of Nectar - fantastic suspense novel
- Sarah's Key - reading now and enjoying it (but it's sad)
- Thanks for Coming - very funny sex memoir

Thanks! After your earlier comments, Thanks for Coming is already on my list of books that will likely be purchased. I'll check out the others mentioned above, though. Always good to diversify my library. :)

[blacbird]

No, you should be reading contemporary fiction.

Have you encountered the colloquial term for what extrudes from the posterior portion of masculine bovines?

[RobJ]

Have you encountered the colloquial term for what extrudes from the posterior portion of masculine bovines?
LOL, said with such grace.

[Purple Rose]

If you're going to read The Scarlet Letter (chick lit, IMHO) and want to chalk up your reading list of classics, then consider Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Chick lit too, but I found it far more readable and scandalous than the Scarlet Letter.

I don't think contemporary fiction should replace classics. It doesn't have to be either or. A balance is good; the reader's preference is essential. And everyone's happy!

[Mr. Anonymous]

The Scarlet Letter is a classic, because it was ahead of it's time, as far as subject matter goes. But honestly I think there are a lot of classics that are much more worth reading. The writing is overly-flowery and pretentious, the characters not particularly interesting, the mode of storytelling in general outdated, all of which combined to make the book a slog for me, when I read it in 9th grade. It is, of course, possible that I would have a different impression of it now, though.

Instead of asking us, though, why not read a bit for yourself, for free, and see if it's worth it?

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33

[Lady Ice]

The Scarlet Letter is in the public domain so you can read it legally online. I read a bit of it and found it okay but never managed to finish it. Anna Karenina is a good adultery read.

[LadyA]

As a massive Austen fan who has never read Pride & Predjudice (I know, for shame and all that) I can safely say that classics are not my thing. BUT my three favourite 'classics', that I would recommend you read, have to be:

REBECCA by Daphne Du Maurier (she's very good writing 'mood' and building dread for the last quarter of the book)

ORDINARY PEOPLE by Judith Guest (Brilliant, heartbreaking, worth reading just for Conrad's perspective alone (son and father get alternating chapters) and I wish they would teach us this in English schools like in the US, instead of things like Of Mice and Men)

LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding (The only shining light in a year of reading poems about potatoes and digging, courtesy of Seamus Heaney)

p.s. I've not read The Scarlet Letter, but Easy A is awesome - I went to my friend's fancy dress party dressed as Olive with a scarlet A on my top ;)

[Jamesaritchie]

Definitely read it, though I liked Wuthering Heights more. Reading contemporary fiction is a must, but a writer who doesn't read as many classics as possible is never going to be very good.

[Susan Littlefield]

Love Nathaniel Hawthorne. Yet, I have not yet read The Scarlet Letter.

[blacbird]

No reason not to, of course. I haven't read it, but I did get forced to read Hawthorne's next-most-read classic, House of the Seven Gables, back in my undergrad days.

The therapy helped me some, but only later.

caw

[CChampeau]

I was assigned to read The Scarlet Letter in high school. It had some spectacular symbolism, though it was slow in places. Nevertheless, it had an impact on me and I'll always remember it.