Four Classic American Novels: The Scarlet Letter, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Redbadge of Courage, Billy Budd

by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane

An adulteress, a runaway boy, a terrified soldier, and a maltreated sailor-all the heroes of these must-read novels have become part of our American literary heritage.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature, Novels, American

752 pages, ebook

First published April 1, 1969

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history.

Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.

Reviews

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1192910.html[return][return]I guess I was just not in the mood for this. I found the archaic language tedious, the moral dilemmas artificial and not very interesting, and the portrayal of Puritan society unrealistic; I also was repelled by the author's lengthy autobiographical digression about working in the custom-house at the start. Well, one more nineteenth-century classic that I will never have to pick up again...

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have only read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and I liked it. The large amount of racism in the book is hard to swallow and I am sure I would have enjoyed it more if I was a kid but other than that it is a nice adventure story. I will say the language is a bit tough to get through since the author writes the word the way the characters would have pronounced them.

[Caitlyn]

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1992)

[Amber]

Still trudging through the classics.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

only read Scarlet letter and Huck Finn