From the Bookshelf of Reading 1001…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
This was a fairly quick read and an interesting little book. Basically a group of characters who are "city folk", move to the country and attempt to make an ideal life. It seems, though, that what they say doesn't quite click with what they do. No one really wants to take part in all the work that it takes to run their farm so everyone just kinds of pursues doing what is most gratifying for them. There are 2 women among this group--Zenobia, a stunning woman both intelligent and elegant--and Pris
...more
I enjoyed this, although I was disappointed there wasn't more about transcendentalism and the communal life in it. The self-sufficient community is just a backdrop for a love triangle with assorted hangers-on, one of whom is our unreliable and sometimes blatantly hypocritical narrator. It's a much easier read than The Scarlet Letter.
...more
I read Hawthorne for the first time last year (The Scarlet Letter) and loved it. So, I was very hopeful about this book. Unfortunately I did not like it nearly as well. I found it too slow, and quite dull. Hawthorne's voice is almost lyrical in its prose, and although I enjoyed that I simply didn't connect with the story or the characters.
...more
I read Hawthorne's The Marble Faun earlier this year and found it great fun, partially because the action primarily takes place in Rome, and I was reading it while visiting that great city. In contrast I found The Blithedale Romance to be somewhat lumbering, weighted down by the politics of Charles Fourier, the overwrought character of Zenobia and the irksome naivete of the narrator. Read The Scarlet Letter instead.
...more
Jun 20, 2013
Kai Coates
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
group-1001-books-to-read
Jan 30, 2015
Amanda Dawn
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-books-challenge
Mar 02, 2017
Claire
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-books-to-read-before-you-die
May 29, 2017
themis
marked it as to-read-before-you-die
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-to-read-before-you-die
Dec 28, 2017
Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount)
marked it as 1001-tbr
Jan 13, 2018
Sorobai
marked it as to-read
Jun 02, 2019
Yvonne
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2020
Kate
added it
