The House of the Seven Gables
106. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables
The house of the seven gables has belonged to the illustrious Pyncheon family for generations. Yet, rather than being a status symbol for the proud family, it signifies doom and decay. The original Pyncheon who built the house obtained the land through falsely accusing its former owner, a common farmer named Maule, of witchcraft. Ever since the house was built, therefore, it has been under a curse, and several of the owners have died in mysterious circumstances. It is now occupied solely by an old spinster, Hepzibah Pyncheon, and a young daguerreotypist who lodges in one wing of the house. But when Hepzibah’s brother finally returns after a long absence, and a young cousin named Phoebe comes to visit from the country, a fateful chain of events, which could either trigger the curse or break it, is set in motion.
For a book that contains a curse, several mysterious deaths, a secret passageway, ghosts, and hypnosis, this novel is astonishingly unexciting. I enjoyed Hawthorne’s writing style overall, but it took him way too long to get to the point! Instead of telling a story, Hawthorne simply created little individual scenes, which he set up and described in excruciating, mind-numbing detail. For this reason, I felt like the plot really suffered; although the actual events are quite interesting, most of them aren’t introduced until the last chapter or two. In addition, I was dissatisfied with the ending, which seemed incongruous given the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the rest of the novel. I would actually have preferred a darker, less happy resolution! (I’d be more specific about this, but I don’t want to spoil the novel for anyone.) Overall I was very underwhelmed, and I won’t be reading this book again.
On the up side, though, I get to start Soulless now! :)