Young Goodman Brown and Other Tales

by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Brian Harding (Editor)

The first paperback edition to include full annotations of these twenty Hawthorne tales written between the 1830s and 50s, this volume contains the classic pieces Young Goodman Brown, The Maypole of Merry Mount, The Birthmark, The Celestial Railroad and Earth's Holocaust, as well as tales, such as My Kinsman, Major Molineux, which represent Hawthorne's interest in the spiritual history of New England.

About the For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Literature, Horror, American, School

398 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1835

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

[Marcela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puritans were the worst. I blame them for maybe half of what's still wrong with America.

[صبور · Rating 4 out of 5]

سه ماه از ازدواج گودمن براون جوان گذشته بود. با همسر جوانش خداحافظی کرد و سفر خود را برای یک شبانه‌روز در دل تاریکی جنگل، به همراهی شیطان آغاز کرد. در تمام مسیر نشانه‌ها و خاطراتی که به یاد می‌آورد گاه بازدارنده بود و گاه پیش بَرنده. شیطان به پیش می‌بردش و نشانه ها از رفتن بازش می‌داشتند. درنهایت اما، گودمن‌براون جوان سفر خود را به انتها رساند. در مهمانی شیطان، نیک و بد، خیر و شر، زاهد و پارسا، خلاف‌کار و بدکار، دین‌دار و بی‌دین، همگی در کنار یکدیگر بودند. برای گودمن‌براون اما دردناک آن بود، که همسر خود را در میان خیل جمعیتی دید که به ضیافت شیطان گرد هم آمده بودند و نتوانست او را از آن جشن دور نگاه دارد. پس از بازگشت از مهمانی و تمام شدن آن شب، از صبح فردا گودمن‌براون نمی‌توانست به کسی اعتماد کند نه به معلمی که آیین مسحیت و پارسایی آموخته بودش و نه به کشیش، و نه به خیرین متظاهر و از همه مهم‌تر، همسر و فرزندانش. گودمن‌براون جوان در تنهایی و انزوا جان سپرد. مرگ او مرگی بود کاملاً نمادین در جهت به تصویرکشیدن انزوا هنگام گزینش نیکی برای انسان معاصر. همگی در تشییع جنازه‌ی او شرکت جستند، گویی به جشن مرگ آخرین انسان نیک آمده بودند.‌‌
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ترجمه‌ی این داستان از ناتانائیل‌هاثورن را می‌توانید در اینترنت به فارسی امین‌مدی بیابید و از خواندش لذت ببرید.

[Bastia Marlowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another grad seminar read, or re-read. It is odd that I always favored Poe over Hawthorne in my younger days, but my tastes have definitely changed. I found myself liking Hawthorne and yet still baffled by his simple description filled with allusion. If I have a chance, I might give Poe and Hawthorne another read....there's just SOOOOOO many books to read.

[Natacha Pavlov · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Flower and maiden were different, and yet the same, and fraught with some strange peril in either shape."

At last I've wrapped up Hawthorne's short stories. Though they were a mixed bag and occasionally somewhat dense, I generally enjoyed the descriptive prose and bittersweet cautionary Gothic tones.
Some of that can be visually glimpsed in the 1963 film 'Twice-Told Tales' with Vincent Price , featuring 3 segments of Hawthorne tales: Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, Rappaccini's Daughter, and The House of the Seven Gables (a role that Price had previously played in 1940).

Though the style must've challenged me even more at the time, I liked my high school intro to him with 'The Scarlet Letter', and deserves a reread.

[Thomas Tidwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in 2020. Definitely was a bit hard to read considering the dark subject matter with the timing of, you know, worldwide pandemic. But very good, rich stories. I don't believe we read all of the stories for my "Great Books of the World" class, but the ones I remember best are:
-Young Goodman Brown
-Rappichini's Daughter
-The Birthmark
-Ethan Brand and the Unpardonable Sin
-The Gentle Boy

Very good stories for discussion, with themes of sin, perfectionism, and tragedy.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful stuff. Dark Romanticism with themes of good vs evil. Lots of allegory. Fantastic writing. These are stories that will make you think.

[Tessa Field · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was okay. sometimes entertaining. sometimes it was cool to draw parallels with the modern day. mostly an academic read

[Janejellyroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hawthorne is one of the best short story writers in American history.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this out of the library to read “Rappaccini’s Daughter” after reading “The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter,” which adapted her as a character.

I liked it, but not enough to continue reading Hawthorne at present. I’ve never been enamored of his writing style, and working my way through the complete works of Oscar Wilde is more enjoyable (and humorous!).

I did like this:
“How often is it the case that, when impossibilities have come to pass, and dreams have condensed their misty substance into tangible realities, we find ourselves calm, and even coldly self-possessed, amid circumstances which it would have been a delirium of joy or agony to anticipate! Fate delights to thwart us thus. Passion will choose his own time to rush upon the scene, and lingers sluggishly behind when an appropriate adjustment of events would seem to summon his appearance.

Rep-re-sent! And why are we like this? Is it so that we will get sh*& done? In believing that the fruit of the NEXT flower will satisfy.

On a different note, I was interested to discover that there does seem to have been a fable about Alexander the Great and the poison maiden. “Good writers borrow from other writers; great writers steal outright.”

http://crossasia-repository.ub.uni-he...

And search Wikipedia: “Visha Kanya” and “Secretum Secretorum”

[David Meditationseed · Rating 4 out of 5]

With engaging writing, going through the supernatural and gothic world, Hawthorne is one of the exponents of this style in the early half of the 18th century, influencing many other writers who came after him.

Young Master Brown, for example, how many movie scenes we see were possibly inspired by this tale written in 1835, in which the protagonist seeing the most ordinary people in society: from pastors and priests to politicians to merchants, from acquaintances to unknown pedestrians of a city - watches them closely and realizes that they are devils or faithful of a satanic cult. I remember for example, The Devil's Advocate, or a TV adaptation of an episode of Grimm.

In this tale, the characters' names are related to the symbolic, a direct metaphor of the story itself, as in American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. Here we find a woman named Faith and the protagonist Goodman.

From the dark and mysterious adventure of a satanic cult, without the certainty of that if it is a dream or reality, and the participation in it of a kind of secret society with the most unlikely members, the author points to two profound reflections: the greater evil would be that which dwells within people? And guilt and obsession could intoxicate an individual's mind in a radical way until death?

[Kirstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathaniel Hawthorne is so underrated, so prolific, and most definitely one of my absolute favorite authors. This little collection of twenty short stories, pieces of fiction that set the foundation for the American short short as we know it today, is a must-read. (And how apt, how great is the cover illustration featuring a detail from Goya's 'The Bewitched Man'?!) This edition quite easily satisfies both a veteran admirer of Hawthorne's work, and newcomer to his oeuvre. I loved carefully working my way through the stories (curated in chronological order of their original publishing), and being able to experience the profound symbolism within the tales, the pure adoration of New England's origins, and especially the supernatural, superstitious darkness of Hawthorne's work once more.

[Raelene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hawthorne is much more exciting (if Puritan-based tales can be exciting) and accessible than I supposed he would be. His tales are deliciously ambiguous and expertly crafted. His particular theory of transcendentalism (access to the Oversoul comes through communion with another person) imbibes and clarifies all of his work.

[Jeffrey Falk]

This is certainly of immense historical interest, but the stories vary in quality. At the very least, Hawthorne wrote with the illustrative flair of a great artist (even when his themes, characters, and metaphysics were lacking) that largely died after his century.

[Tyson Crittenden · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories from Hawthorne definitely have common themes within them, and each one was unique in its own way. I am not much of a older story kinda person, but this book was definitely an interesting read.

[yórgos]

ο μπέλα λουγκόζι - αν δεν ήταν ο μπέλα λουγκόζι πριν γίνει ο μπέλα λουγκόζι - θα είχε γίνει ο μπέλα λουγκόζι αν είχε διαβάσει τις ιστορίες του χόθορν 'the birthmark', 'the artist of the beautiful' και 'rappaccini's daughter'.

[Wayne]

I have SO enjoyed "The Scarlet Letter",
and seeing I have this volume and no others
of Nathaniel Hawthorne's,
what better place to continue
a new affair with a newly-discovered writer.

[Alana Ko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy his short stories

[Deepshikha Khaira · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's OK....The Scarlet Letter still remains my fav Hawthorne book...

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This shirt story is crazy! So many symbolic references to the bible!

[Paul Foley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A proper witch's sabbath, that.

[Arun]

"...I have spent much thought upon the subject. I am convinced of the perfect practicability of its removal." - This will be my new favorite PR review comment.