who actually likes The Scarlet Letter?

[ButterflyBlood]

It gets assigned all the time but everyone seems to hate the book.

I also hated it. Pretty annoying how it would spend a whole chapter or two on some minor little detail that had no relavance to the rest of the plot, and then skip over the important events in only a page or two.

[noahmijo]

1. Ugh I hated that book. Was forced to read it for Honors English

in my Junior year in high school.

Really there are better Hawthorne stories out there.

Wayyyy too dense and unecessary detail.

[liberalnurse]

2. I loved the book.....

hated the movie......

[tjdee]

7. I wanted to KILL after that disgusting thing, LOL!

Although Gary Oldman was a great choice, I should have known it would suck when I discovered Hester Prynne would be Demi Moore. And what was with the Native Americans and her husband being all ultra psychotic? And the slave girl in her tub? Totally unnecessary, and the ending was beyond ridiculous.

[liberalnurse]

8. The movie was such a disappointment.

I read the book in the 5th grade......

[Cush]

3. booooring

I remember we were reading another story by Hawthorne and we we were bored silly with it (even the teacher). Can't remember what it was, but the teacher said "Ok, we're just going to skip this one" and we went on to something else.

[tedoll78]

4. I liked it..

but only when it was a skit on 'Saturday Night Live.'

The actress hosting that episode played a young hottie with a scarlet "B.J." on her breast who wandered into the village. The (male) village leaders insisted that she would be welcome to stay there once they learned that she cannot control her urges to, umm, perform. After hearing this, Will Ferrell popped-out with a scarlet "B.J." on his chest, assuming that if it was okay for her to stay, it'd be okay for him to return to the village as well.

Hilarious sketch.. :P

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. I had to read it in High School too...

my junior year to be exact, and I found it to be mind numbingly boring. I'm not really a big fan of Gothic novels (and yes this does fit the criteria of one) I like modernism the best (I loved reading Fitzgerald)

[tjdee]

6. LOVED the book. Skipped all the dumb details, LOL.

But the plot....that is a damn good story, and they pretty much butchered it with the movie.

The writing can be slow--I don't think I've ever read the first chapter at all, and I admit to having breezed over some of the descriptive passages.

Though, I especially liked the chapter in the woods where Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale meet, where Hawthorne described... love?...as always having to create a sunshine. If I wasn't feeling so lazy I'd go downstairs and get the exact quote, LOL.

[fugue]

9. I didn't like it at first

I then got into all the "dumb" details. A meticulously crafted book, The Scarlet Letter. I was impressed by the intertwining themes and the whole way it worked together.

I didn't agree with much of what Hawthorne said. (I loathed Pearl, who is sort of his voice in the story.) I thought the book was well done, though.

Having said all this, I should probably disclose that I'm an Aspie. We have a tendency to lean toward craftsmanship and analysis rather than the feel of a thing.

[barb162]

10. I had to read it in high school and it was a terrible choice

by the teacher. Other kids from other schools were reading things like "Atlas Shrugged" which I read every second I could until I finished it. The Hawthorne book, well, I believe I had to read every page about three times as I couldn't even concentrate on it. Hawthorne is not a first rate writer by any means. There were sentences that went on for well over a page for some reason.

[tishaLA]

11. It's an excellent book

and one of the masterpieces of American literature. Hawthorne, like Melville, knew that the "minor little detail" was in fact not so minor, nor so little. It is instead the thing of legend.

Of course not all books are for all people. Some even detest Moby-Dick, The Golden Bowl, The Man Without Qualities, or A la Recherche du Temps Perdu and instead favor The DaVinci Code or Salem's Lot.

[elcondor]

12. I love it

I was forced to read it in high school too, but it wound up being one of my favorite books. (I just skip the first chapter whenever I re-read it, LOL.)

I think a big reason why people don't like it is because most people are introduced to it through school. Book reports and analyzing every detail can take a lot of fun out of certain books. I've always loved to read, but even books I normally would have liked were ruined by a class discussion of the symbolism of a blade of grass. Yes, many books can't be taken at face value re: symbols and context but most people can do that themselves if they want to invest the time. It's more enjoyable that way, I've found. The Scarlet Letter was the exception for me.

The movie was absolutely atrocious, though, I'll give you that.

[last_texas_dem]

13. I liked it

I was assigned to read it for honors English my junior year of high school, too. It has a bit too much description, like Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, but I found both novels to be interesting. (The Grapes of Wrath is one of my all-time favorite books, actually.) However, I did try reading Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables once by choice, because the plot summary sounded pretty interesting, but I got bogged down somewhere in the third or fourth chapter. I hope to finish it someday, though...

[Melodybe]

14. I loved it, "the Counting House" is too long and is boring but it is a

really good book.

I love that Hester has all the balls and that Dimmsdale is such a coward. I love the implications it makes about the church and society. I think that it is definitely a book before its time, and Hester is such a great femake heroine.

Sorry that so many here didn't like it, skip the Counting House and enjoy.