Regis Reads

I remember seeing this classic on my mom's bookshelf as a kid, reading about a page, and putting it back, bored to tears. I thought that by now, as an aspiring English student, I would have more appreciation for it, but I may have a ways to go yet...

Check it out on Amazon!

Judge the Cover:

The cover of my particular edition boasts a rather more attractive Hester Prynne, but the basic idea is the same. A dark-haired young woman lost in thought, wearing Puritan clothing and sporting that unmissable letter "A". "What does this all mean?" you are meant to ask, "Who is this woman?"...read on, my friend.

What's Going On:

It begins in 1642 Puritanical Boston, Massachusetts, and beautiful young Hester Prynne is led to the scaffolds for public shaming. Though she is married, her husband has not arrived to meet her in the New World (presumed lost at sea), and now she has born an illegitimate child. The Puritan community judges and scorns her, and demands to know who the father is so that he may be judged also, but Hester refuses to name him. She is labelled with the symbol of an adulterer, and must live out her days in ignominy.
Yet watching in the crowd are two men who have further parts to play in her life: the pious young minister Mr. Dimmesdale, and the stranger who has just arrived in town to see his wife publicly condemned on the scaffolds...

Optimal Reading Scenario: English Class

This book is perhaps best enjoyed when someone who is really passionate about it is pointing out all the best bits to you, ie: that really weird prof who spent years developing their thesis on one obscure sentence of the novel. You may end up reading over it more times than you care for, but at least you'll get something out of it, rather than turning the last page and wondering what you just read.
Not like that happened to me, or anything.

Crack it Open:

"If truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom..."

I knew the basic premise of the book when I began, and wondered, "what could possibly fill the rest of those pages?"...I'm sorry to report, that there is not much of interest to me here. I'm a reasonably fast reader, and this is not a long book (approx. 250 pages), but it took me months to slog through it. This is partly because of the old-fashioned style of writing, partly a lack of connection to the characters, and partly because I had so many other more interesting things to read!

The Scarlet Letter basically deals with the issue of how people are judged by the faults the world can see, while "hidden" faults go unpunished (...or do they?). I'm sure there are lots of other themes and scholarly insights to be found, I just don't care enough to go into them.

Please don't judge me: I know this is the first classic I'm reviewing here, and I actually really do enjoy the classics. Just not this one. I would love to tell you that my inner nerd enjoyed this, but when it came down to it, I really just glazed over and had to literally force myself to keep reading.

If you want to know the story, and are looking for something a little more, ah, interesting, you could always check out the 1995 remake with Demi Moore and Gary Oldman.
I think they took some liberties if you know what I mean.

Regis Reads Rating: * *

Mischievous Monkey Rating: 0

Unless we're talking about the movie, the only saucy times are a couple holding hands in the woods.

Have you read The Scarlet Letter? What did you think? Am I judging it too harshly? 

Disclaimer: These are my own opinions, and I have not received compensation of any kind in exchange for this review. Dangit!