The Blithedale Romance in Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)

May 19, 2013 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, gutenberg, read-2013, american-fiction, e-books, mtbr-challenge-2013, fiction-19th-century

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

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The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one's self a fool; the truest heroism is to resist the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom to know when it ought to be resisted, and when to be obeyed.

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"When, as a consequence of human improvement," said I, "the globe shall arrive at its final perfection, the great ocean is to be converted into a particular kind of lemonade, such as was fashionable at ...more

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Nov 24, 2022 Franky rated it liked it

Shelves: classics, historical-fiction, history, romance, kindle, 2022-reading-challenge

I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around this novel since finishing. From what I gather and have read about, this was a much more personal novel for Nathaniel Hawthorne from previous works in that the basis for this novel is represented largely by what he took place in in his own time and his own life. The Blithedale Romance is historically based on the utopian (and, in Hawthorne’s mind, mostly failed) community experiment of the Brook Farm in Massachusetts in the 1800s which Hawthorne was a part ...more

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Nov 05, 2019 Richard Subber rated it liked it

The Blithedale Romance is Hawthorne’s third novel, an exemplar of Romantic Era fiction that has been called his “darkest” novel. It’s respected by modern critics.
It’s not a page turner. Hawthorne has what it takes to make sure that the characters are independently brought to life, but their relationships are not credible. Even a diligent and interested reader can feel that the love of Zenobia and Priscilla for Hollingsworth is downright mysterious and despairingly inarticulate. They love him, in ...more

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Jun 15, 2013 Nola Tillman rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-drama, 1001-books-to-read, classics

I'm still chewing on this Hawthorne novel, the first I've read since my attack on the Scarlet Letter in high school. Granted, I was immature then, but based on what I remember of the former, I preferred the love triangle of Blithedale to the life of Hester Prynne (though one of these days I'll reread and so may rejudge).

I enjoyed Hawthorne's writing style - his languid sentences, his beautiful imagery, his appropriate symbolism. I found the characters intriguing and interesting, and like any sta I'm still chewing on this Hawthorne novel, the first I've read since my attack on the Scarlet Letter in high school. Granted, I was immature then, but based on what I remember of the former, I preferred the love triangle of Blithedale to the life of Hester Prynne (though one of these days I'll reread and so may rejudge).

I enjoyed Hawthorne's writing style - his languid sentences, his beautiful imagery, his appropriate symbolism. I found the characters intriguing and interesting, and like any stay-at-home mom got caught up in the love triangle presented.

But there were some things that bothered me about the novel.

First, there was the matter of the three of the four main characters being hypocrites. While theoretically residing at Blithedale to establish a more perfect, socialistic method of life, we find that one seeks to destroy it while two are just idle rich people playing the workingman (or woman) game. They take comfort in knowing that, when things get really bad, they can return to the city and their wealth and never worry about starving, which scarcely allows them to define themselves as "living off the land." And during the height of summer, when true farmers are bound to the Earth, one journeyed to the seaside and two followed to the city, for a little "vacation" that left the rest of their commune shorthanded. I may have been enthralled by the characters, but I cannot say that I liked most of them.

Then there is Hawthorne's tendency to beat me over the head with symbols. In this, I don't mean he was heavy-handed with them. In fact, I found many of them to be excellent; I would read them and remark to myself, ah, this is an excellent parallel to x or y. Then, in the next sentence, the narrator would smack me over the head with the symbolism, often using the word "symbol" in describing how perfectly it represented x or y. I suppose this was to make sure even the stupidest could understand what Hawthorne sought to illustrate, but it read like a modern first novel trying to assure me of its literary importance. (It was nice, of course, in the absence of discussion, to have the author tell me I was drawing the appropriate conclusion. But mostly annoying.)

Finally, I find the conclusion of the love triangle to have fallen somewhat flat. (view spoiler)

Overall, I found the writing enjoyable and the story annoying. ...more

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Jan 22, 2018 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, classics

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

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