The Latest in ye olde Literature
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Treasure Island: Part II
PART II THE SEA COOK CHAPTER VII I GO TO BRISTOL Jim is stuck at Livesay’s house while the doctor goes off to London to find a substitute doctor to tend to the village while he is away, and the Squire goes off to procure a ship. Young Master Hawkins gets to hang out with…
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Treasure Island: Part I
This book is separated into parts, though the chapter numbers in each part do not reset. This blog composes the entirety of Part I. PART I THE OLD BUCCANEER I The Old Sea-Dog at the “Admiral Benbow” Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesay, and the rest of these gentleman having asked me to write down the whole…
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The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson
Expectation Versus Reality The last two books I summarized were fairly depresso espresso. A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Letter both involved stories where everyone started out miserable, stayed miserable, and in the end, were still miserable. Or dead. Fascinating, but not exactly comforting. I have still been on a French Revolution kick…
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The Scarlet Letter: The Complete Summary
Introduction Unlike the last two books I summarized, this is a book that I have actually read before, though I read it back in high school, which is more than half my lifetime ago at this point. The only thing I really remember about it is the surprise ending, which I will not reveal here,…
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Reflections on The Scarlet Letter
The edition of the Scarlet Letter that I read (Barnes & Noble Classics) included a forward by Nancy Stade that was more of an analysis of the book than a foreword, so I saved it for last. In many ways it solidified the thoughts I already had on the book, and added a few additional…
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The Scarlet Letter: Part 4
XIX The Child at the Brook-Side Fairies: myth or reality? I’m David Attenborough and in today’s chapter I’ll be your guide as we observe the strange greeting ritual of the emotionally stunted Puritans. Our scene opens with a juvenile Puritan playing in the woods. Although she is a member of a species traditionally feared by…
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The Scarlet Letter: Part 3
XIII Another View of Hester Hester muses about how Dimmsdale looks way worse than the last time she saw him. She feels partly to blame and knows that Chillingworth has played a part in making him extra pathetic. Since Dimmsdale has an instinctual fear of him, but is unable to do anything about it, she…
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The Scarlet Letter: Part 2
Welcome to the exciting continuation wherein the story progresses in a mostly linear fashion. It has words! Punctuation! Dialogue! All the things you expect in a book that has characters! VII The Governor’s Hall Then, as now, trivial matters tend to take the forefront of public interest and political debate. Such is the case regarding…
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The Scarlet Letter: Part 1
I The Prison-Door Ah New England. Untouched by white people. Every time a new land is settled, it is seen as a pristine utopia, and as such, needs a prison. One cannot have paradise, of course, unless one regularly culls those who do not conform. Boston was no different, and within twenty years of settlement,…
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The Custom-House: A short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne always struggled making a living as a writer, and often had to resort to working actual jobs and keep writing as a side gig. One of these jobs was at a Custom-House in Salem, MA. This is the place where taxes and dues are assigned and collected on imported goods. At the start of…