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Sunday, December 13, 2015

Second Title: The House of the Seven Gables


     After a decently-casual read such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I decide to move to a more difficult, intellectual, and aged piece of literature. For my next novel to pick apart, I chose Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables. Hawthorne wrote this way back in 1851 with the idea of superstition and family honor in mind. This novel, though rather dated, already seems to be one of the most intelligent books I've read, as I've found myself getting lost in the beauty of the Victorian-era language. Currently, I'm approaching the novel's third chapter.
      A film was also made based off this novel in 1940 of the same name, starring horror icon, Vincent Price as Clifford Pyncheon, the former inmate of the family. Though the film adaptation seems to greatly differ from the novel, critics say the film did have some potential, even for its time.
     I chose this novel specifically to challenge myself and broaden my spectrum of literature, as I have not practiced in analyzing the text of many novels written before the 1900s. Casually, I have read many. Analytically, I have read few. Stay tuned in, for I'll be picking everything I can out of this diffucult yet beautiful piece of literature.


Also, here are a few relevant links to help amplify our reading and analytical experience:

Complete plot summary from SparkNotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sevengables/summary.html 


Critical review of the novel by Jane Smiley (she didn't like it much): http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/may/13/featuresreviews.guardianreview28 

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