The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne (#8 American Lit)

Mr. Hawthorne sure had to have a dark side to come up with both The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. Pretty much the whole book is dark, dreary, and depressing. Poor Clifford was falsely imprisoned 35 years ago and Hepzibah scares all the townsfolk because she has poor vision, which causes her to always have a squinty frown on her face. But, then young and vibrant Phoebe is introduced as a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cursed home. What a random assortment of characters that are all not what they seem. Hawthorne loves to incorporate many characters where "what you see" is NOT "what you get." Judge Pyncheon is always smiling and happy looking, so when he first comes into the shop you believe he is well-meaning, but turns out he is actually evil. The way Hawthorne describes and forms his characters is reminiscent of Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead. It takes a much more in depth look into each character's true self to understand their desires and motivations .

The book was rather odd. I think I may have to include the "Governor Pyncheon" chapter up in the top ten weirdest chapters ever. Judge Pyncheon is dead in a chair and the narrator continues to speak to the reader sort of asking-- why isn't the Judge getting up? doesn't he have places to go? what about the important dinner he is missing? Quite bizarre.

Apparently when a book is labeled a "romance" that just means there can be ghosts, curses, and portraits of creepy old men who have emotions (sort of like Harry Potter!). For a book that started off so dark and was sort of slow, Hawthorne sure did tie it up into a very nice little ending. Everyone who deserved success and wealth found it and those who were evil and spiteful got what they deserved--eternal damnation. :) Karma is a bitch.