Nathaniel Hawthorne, Master of Dark Fantasy

Extollager

Extollager

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Here's a place for the discussion of the writings and life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may have a formidable reputation as an author given to indulging in symbolism, and he may have suffered, like Dickens, from the attentions of English teachers who have inoculated people against reading him with enjoyment. Actually he's really good.

The best thing is to read his writings, but I'll recommend as exceptionally interesting this book --

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0802142052/?tag=brite-21

Philip McFarland's Hawthorne in Concord
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And I might suggest, as an entry into the world of Hawthorne, an often forgotten piece -- "Feathertop", with its combination of whimsy, pathos, weirdness, and fairy-tale atmosphere....

I would also suggest that something such as The Marble Faun (which I thought was quite good) or The Blithedale Romance should be left until one finds whether or not he or she has a taste for Hawthorne.

And yes, teachers have a lot to answer for when it comes to robbing people of enjoying this man's work....
 
As the Marble Faun has been mentioned several times recently and is not something by Hawthorne I have read before I think I will get this next.

The Hawthorne Reader published by Penguin also looks very good and for someone who has read some of Hawthorne's work but a while ago it may be a good bridging work to peruse before reading less 'famous' works like Marble Faun and to a lesser extent Blitherdale Romance as well as those supernatural stories.

We never covered anything by Hawthorne in any studies I did at school or Uni actually, which is possibly even worse than any heavy handed teaching of his oeuvre.
 
j. d. worthington said:
And I might suggest, as an entry into the world of Hawthorne, an often forgotten piece -- "Feathertop", with its combination of whimsy, pathos, weirdness, and fairy-tale atmosphere....
Click to expand...

I agree. I enjoyed it very much when I read it a few years ago.

"Rappaccini's Daughter," on the other hand, is one of my favorite pieces of short fiction, ever. I also love "The Artist of the Beautiful" (but I'd say that one was somewhere between fantasy and science fiction) and "Egotism; or The Bosom Serpent" (although in general I don't care for allegories).
 
I got the Library of America edition of the Tales and Sketches -- looks like all of the stories are here in one volume.

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I like JD's idea of discussing "Feathertop," which I think I have read... a long time ago; I've bookmarked it to read again very soon.
 
The fact that Hawthorne's writings can easily be found on Project Gutenberg (and no doubt elsewhere on the Internet) makes it easy to have a group discussion of his shorter works. Having just re-read "Feathertop," I will begin.

This is a charming comic fantasy, one of Hawthorne's most accessible stories. (I can recall as a child reading a play adapting the story; it worked very well in that format, also.) No wonder it has been adapted for movies and television many times. Hawthorne's writing is vivid and direct in this story; one can easily picture the delightful old witch and her creation. There are many amusing little bits. I particularly like the ship with its cargo of salt at the bottom of the ocean.

Of course, a deeper satiric theme lies beneath the surface of this amusing fairy tale. Much like "The Emperor's New Clothes," the story allows us to see the outer pretence we all wear to hide our true selves. Who has not looked into a mirror and felt like poor Feathertop, dismayed at what we see there?
 
What do you know -- I don't think I'd ever read "Feathertop" after all, so thanks all the more, JD, for recommending it! It reminded me a bit of my (so far) favorite E. T. A. Hoffmann story, "The Sandman," in that Feathertop is a bit like Olimpia -- however attractive, really an artificial being. But the contrasts between the two stories are numerous. I was reminded also of the mischief wrought in Book I of Spenser's Faerie Queene by the evil magician Archimago and the deceiving sprites he sets to work. Again the differences are important -- especially on account of Feathertop's own dismayed disillusion.

What about the portrayal of tobacco in the story? One way of reading it might be to relate the story to the old association of tobacco smoking not with being cool or tough but with indulgence in reverie. You get a bit of that in some things by Arthur Machen, I think, although I can't say I've read his Anatomy of Tobacco.

(sigh) I know better than to get started on Nicotiana.

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Among Hawthorne's fantastic works, I listed these off the top:

Rappaccini's Daughter (perhaps his greatest weird tale)
The Birthmark
Young Goodman Brown
Ethan Brand
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
The Celestial Railroad

J. D. Worthington suggested the current story, "Feathertop," and

"The Minister's Black Veil"
"The Ambitious Guest"
"The Wedding Knell"
some of the "Legends of the Province House"
"The White Old Maid"
"The Hall of Fantasy"
"The Procession of Life"
"Roger Malvin's Burial"
"Earth's Holocaust"
"The Artist of the Beautiful"
"The Snow Image"
"The Devil in Manuscript"
"The Wives of the Dead"

and, of course, The House of the Seven Gables and The Marble Faun, both of which have more than a touch of the fantastic and supernatural about them [JDW material ends here] --

Since discussion of "Feathertop" seems to have ebbed, would you like, JD, to nominate another story for our attention?
 
Well, "Roger Malvin's Burial" then?

I think of the phrase, attributed to Greil Marcus, the old, weird America in connection with this story, which could have been the subject of a ballad.

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So I guess we'll see if anyone wants to discuss it.
 
I had never heard of this story, so I went to Project Gutenberg to read it. I must admit that at first it seemed to be the sort of early 19th century tale with which modern readers often have little patience. The dialogue (particularly from someone so badly wounded and wandering in the wilderness) is unrealistically elevated.

The sudden ending of this story certainly came as a shock to me. I had to go back and re-read several paragraphs to make sure that I had not missed something. Without warning, I had been snatched out of a realistic, if grim, account of a period in American history into an ending which I can only call Biblical in its mysterious intensity. (Old Testament, to be precise. I'm sure you can tell which familiar story from Genesis was brought to mind by it.)

I'm still scratching my head over this story. What is Hawthorne trying to say to me about duty and cowardice, superstition and faithfulness, living and dying?
 
Young Goodman Brown hooked be on Nathaniel Hawthorne.
 
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