The House of Seven Gables (1851)
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
271 pages (Kindle Digital Edition)
Rating 5/5 🥰🥰🥰
I wish I never get to see or stay in one of the houses that resemble this house of seven gables. Fabled in a mysterious dark past, damp, mottled and decaying, it would not just send a resident into the state of depression but also steal their wits and sanity. The plot starts with introducing us to the long term sole resident of the house and ends with her deserting the house with a throng of relatives making way for progressive change and improvement.
I liked the pacing and the placement of the different elements in the plot. All the characters - no matter how small and trivial - are well defined and their involvement makes the story whole and complete. There is a picturesque nature to the narrative .. felt like watching a movie in 3D. The character that I most loved is that of the old,senile and tender gentleman Clifford who as it turns out is the main character in the story towards the end.
The outline of the story is this. The house of seven gables which has been passing through generations of Pyncheons was built on a cursed land by the first Colonel Pyncheon. Mysterious and unexplained deaths in the family are not a surprise with many having gone that way. Time passes and there are only four or five survivors of the family name and there was a history of unjust treatment meted out by a couple of them at the hands of one of the parties involved. The story sees the resolution to that injustice and eventual restoration of wealth and power into the hands of the wronged but rightful parties.
It is filled with suspense and mystery throughout. There is a sense of some Gothic horror unfolding but until the end all things don't add up and clear out forming a perfect puzzle. I loved this very much. The writing is simply superb and has a quaint style of the time it was written.
Comments
Post a Comment