I’ve filled a horizontal line this round. Bingo!

Beloved Classic:

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I have a lot of beloved classics but just in case I don’t read anymore of them this year, I figured I’d better lock this one in! This round gives me another full row filled across the top of the card. Bingo!

The Scarlet Letter is a real treasure of a novel, in my opinion. It offers contemporary readers a view of a society that formed the basis of early American life. Hawthorne claims, from his place in 19th century New England, that the puritan ways still lingered, and not for the better; an interesting evaluation for him to publicly make. Of course, this part of America is the same one that conducted the Salem witch trials. It’s a society that was born out of fundamentalism, indeed, the colonists themselves had left England, the old country, in a bid to shrug off Catholicism and indulgence, with a view on beginning their lives anew in ‘purity’. Perhaps aspects of this linger there still. As far as classics go, The Scarlet Letter is a challenging read but a rewarding one. There is an omnipresent narration that reminds you right the way through that this is a cautionary tale, a love story doomed from the beginning. I think Hawthorne was a bit ahead of his times, with this novel anyway. I do really love a classic that is also an historical fiction. The impressions of an author writing about the 17th century from the distance of the 19th century is vastly different to a modern interpretation of the 17th century and therein lies its value sociologically. Needless to say, The Scarlet Letter is one of my recommended classics.

Read my full review here.

For 2019, I’m teaming up with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse for an even bigger, and more challenging book bingo. We’d love to have you join us. Every second Saturday throughout 2019, we’ll post our latest round. We invite you to join in at any stage, just pop the link to your bingo posts into the comments section of our bingo posts each fortnight so we can visit you. If you’re not a blogger, feel free to just write your book titles and thoughts on the books into the comments section each fortnight, and tag us on social media if you are playing along that way.