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Hawthorne: A Life
Handsome, reserved, almost frighteningly aloof until he was approached, then playful, cordial, Nathaniel Hawthorne was as mercurial and double-edged as his writing. “Deep as Dante,” Herman Melville said.
Hawthorne himself declared that he was not “one of those supremely hospitable people who serve up their own hearts, delicately fried, with brain sauce, as a tidbit” for th...more
Hawthorne himself declared that he was not “one of those supremely hospitable people who serve up their own hearts, delicately fried, with brain sauce, as a tidbit” for th...more
Hardcover, 528 pages
Published
September 30th 2003
by Knopf
(first published 2003)
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It's not easy to write a biography of someone whose middle name might as well have been Ambivalence. Wineapple's bio is the more entertaining of modern bios because she really emphasizes this peculiar aspect of both his persona and his appeal. A notorious fence-sitter, NH professed indifference to abolition, feminism, politics, and just about every other concern of the real world, claiming the artist must reside in the imaginary. In reality, he wasn't above pressing the flesh, calling in chits, ...more
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Excellent biography and history. In all my reading of the New England writers of this time and place: the Alcotts, Thoreau, Dickinson, Emerson, etc. I feel I've read around Hawthorne. Not a very likable character, but one that evokes sympathy, from me at least. He embodied the restlessness and dissatisfaction that seems, at least in part, to curse all humans. Never fulfilled whether writing or not writing. Never happy where he was, in New England, England or Rome. Hawthorne held anti-slavery vie...more
This is a very well-done biography of Hawthorne. I read it mainly because I am fascinated by 19th century New England and the amazing collection of people who lived and worked there.
You don't read this book and come away with a whole lot of admiration for Hawthorne, who was self-centered, rather lazy, often morose. I felt that the author did not find him all that lovable herself. But he was nonetheless a complex and interesting person, and I certainly find myself more interested in...more
You don't read this book and come away with a whole lot of admiration for Hawthorne, who was self-centered, rather lazy, often morose. I felt that the author did not find him all that lovable herself. But he was nonetheless a complex and interesting person, and I certainly find myself more interested in...more
Beautiful prose and a fascinating snapshot of the man behind the myth, as the cliche goes. As much Hawthorne as I have read, I had not realized that he had such a lout for a son (trading on the family name/fame for cash) or that Pearl was modeled after his elder daughter. With ample research as well as an accessible style, Wineapple's work is both scholarly and worthy of the label page-turner. I think that, in some spots, she could have actually paired back on the details (such as when she del...more
Great biography of Hawthorne. I've been to Concord so many times, so this fascinating story of Hawthorne's life is especially meaningful. Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Alcott, Melville - all neighbors and friends, wow! This is the story of Nate Hawthorne and what shaped his life as a writer, including his private life with his wife and family at the Old Manse in Concord and his relationships with the friends who shaped his life as one of the great American authors.
Very well done biography of one of the early lions of American literature. Hawthorne was a troubled soul, seemingly never content with his situation or location. A loner, relatively speaking, who preferred the company of his wife and himself to the "real world." This book has made me want to reread some of the Hawthorne works in my library.
Excellently written but unfortunately as Hawthorne aged he became more and more unlikeable....and irritating and so did Sophia. Anyone interesting in this literary period and circle would be well disposed to read The Peabodys about Elizabeth, Sophia (Hawthorne) and Mary (Mann) - great book in every way.
A really great bio! It was interesting and a good read and still academic! I read this bio at the same time as reading all of his work. Doing this was really fascinating, but I am not sure whar affect it might have had on my reading.
Recommended by the smart, jolly guide at the Old Manse on Saturday. There are messages scratched on the glass with a diamond ring there; the house is amazing!
After reading this book, I still don't feel like I have a clear idea who Hawthorne really was, but I'm pretty sure I don't like him.
Scott Rhee
marked it as to-read
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Brenda Wineapple is the author of the award-winning Hawthorne: A Life, Genêt: A Biography of Janet Flanner, and Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in many publications, among them The American Scholar, The New York Times Book Review, Parnassus, Poetry, and The Nation. A Guggenheim fellow, a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, an...more
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