Saturday, December 20, 2008
Books Reading Today
Posted by Paul Constant on Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 10:00 AM
There is no reading today. Instead, you should read The Scarlet Letter. Really. It's much better than you remember in high school. It's about our responsibilities, to society and ourselves. You can skip the introductory "Custom House" part, if you must, which makes The Scarlet Letter more of a novella, and much more manageable. You could read it in one snowy afternoon.
The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here.
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1
Instead, you MIGHT WANT TO NOT SHOULD see The Counerfeiters. NOT Really. Do whatever you want, imho
I looked up Slog search. Looks like Jen Graves gave The Counterfeiters a good review. And Dominic Holden got a weird postcard with The Counterfeiters on the front.
I really liked the DVD this week. Life is a concentration camp in my book. The scenes where they are scrubbing floors was especially inspiring. Twice a year in animal research laboratories I have to practically spitshine the goddamn ratholes for governmental inspection.
Do whatever you want! Disregard the idiotic egos that post on this site, imho
I looked up Slog search. Looks like Jen Graves gave The Counterfeiters a good review. And Dominic Holden got a weird postcard with The Counterfeiters on the front.
I really liked the DVD this week. Life is a concentration camp in my book. The scenes where they are scrubbing floors was especially inspiring. Twice a year in animal research laboratories I have to practically spitshine the goddamn ratholes for governmental inspection.
Do whatever you want! Disregard the idiotic egos that post on this site, imho
2
This is your life and you do what you want to do,
Just don't hurt nobody,
'Less of course they ask you, in the..
--Garden of Earthly Delights - XTC
Just don't hurt nobody,
'Less of course they ask you, in the..
--Garden of Earthly Delights - XTC
3
You dirty fucking liar. Last year, I helped a kid I was mentoring get through The Scarlet Letter, and it was ten times worse than I remember. Boring, predictable, preachy, turgid. No, no, if you want a tale of religious madness and persecution, if you want a celebration of adultery in the face of hypocrisy, read The Handmaid's Tale.
4
The Scarlet Letter is hands down one of the 10 greatest American novels ever written, way over the head of pompous, pontificating prats like Gitai.
7
Liar. Seriously, Mr. Constant, seriously?
The Scarlet Letter was a fluke first novel by an American Hack. The remainder of his body of work, remains largely and deservedly unknown, unread, and disliked.
We read The Scarlet Letter twice during school. Once in middle school and once in high school. The second time, the class had to choose a second Hawthorne novel...any of their individual choosing...and read it. Not one other student, all of whom loved reading, liked their chosen novel. And, I was the only one to choose The Blithedale Romance.
As I remember from the second reading, The Scarlet Letter was filled with symbolism of such weight, obviousness, and bluntness that they might as well have escaped from a Spielberg movie. Oh, I wonder what the A is for. The "psychological complexity" that most generally find enduring is not really complex. The characters are largely one-dimensional and hardly complex. Being tormented is not complexity if they never stop being tormented.
And, the writing, itself, is terrible. The sentence structure was dull, the word choice was uninspired. The tone was just plain blah. And, the whole novel should be burned at the stake.
The Scarlet Letter was a fluke first novel by an American Hack. The remainder of his body of work, remains largely and deservedly unknown, unread, and disliked.
We read The Scarlet Letter twice during school. Once in middle school and once in high school. The second time, the class had to choose a second Hawthorne novel...any of their individual choosing...and read it. Not one other student, all of whom loved reading, liked their chosen novel. And, I was the only one to choose The Blithedale Romance.
As I remember from the second reading, The Scarlet Letter was filled with symbolism of such weight, obviousness, and bluntness that they might as well have escaped from a Spielberg movie. Oh, I wonder what the A is for. The "psychological complexity" that most generally find enduring is not really complex. The characters are largely one-dimensional and hardly complex. Being tormented is not complexity if they never stop being tormented.
And, the writing, itself, is terrible. The sentence structure was dull, the word choice was uninspired. The tone was just plain blah. And, the whole novel should be burned at the stake.
8
The House of the Seven Gables is also great...there are some amazingly arch passages that if written today would definitely be considered campy/gay in the best sense. (And which makes the alleged Melville affair seem somehow more plausible!?)
9
Considering the weather this week, I think reading a collection of Jack London's short stories would be more appropriate.
10
I teach The Scarlet Letter. It's all about one thing and one thing only: the clitoris and the unruly and un-representable anti-patriarchal sexuality it represents.
Pay attention to the character of Pearl, how she is depicted, and recall the fact that Pearl is a slang term for clitoris.
Here endeth the lesson.
Pay attention to the character of Pearl, how she is depicted, and recall the fact that Pearl is a slang term for clitoris.
Here endeth the lesson.
12
I love Hawthorne's fascination with changing forms. He hatched the ideas that ultimately found expression in the the X-Men franchise
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