The House of Seven Gables

De: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Narrado por: Roslyn Alexander

The House of the Seven Gables is a fixture in Salem - and seemingly fixed in time. As the ancestral home of the Pyncheon family, its current mistress is Hepzibah Pyncheon, who has retreated behind a wall of false gentility. But into these dreary surroundings comes Phoebe, a country cousin whose youthful energy and sense of romance bring renewed life to the family.Public Domain (P)1999 Recorded Books

Light on plot, heavy on philosophy

Before buying this book, keep in mind that Hawthorne was trying to win over the European elite, and was engaging in what was known as "high art" which, by definition, is inaccessible to the masses. In other words, this book is designed to "bore" the average reader, as the narrator acknowledges in a couple humorous asides. It does this by constantly suspending the plot, which comprises only a fraction (maybe 1/4) of the book.

There's a section, lasting over 2-3 hours, where there's almost no plot development at all. Instead, Hawthorne alternates between philosophical musings, moral instruction to the reader, exhaustive psychoanalysis of the characters, and narration of quotidian events with no causal relationship to each other. The latter are episodic and mundane. For instance, "one day" a hen becomes depressed cuz she can't have chicks. "On occasion", Clifford would get excited by a parade. And so on.

If you love slice of life stories and philosophical commentary on the human condition, this book is up your alley. If you enjoy Gothic melodrama, you'll get some of that – and it's superb. But you'll find far more dark and suspenseful drama in books that were actually written to be entertaining, like Jane Eyre and Great Expectations.

My favorite fall read

Every time I start a new audiobook, the narrator’s voice is different than I expected. But the more time I spent with this one, the more I realized that she is precisely the person to be reading this lovely story.

Great narration

Alexander does a great job reading Hawthorne’s rollicking 19th century prose! Very fun to listen to.

Poetic narrative and powerful description

Ominous storyline with complex characters that make this classic tale feel familiar and close. Probably my favorite book.

Breathy narrator

Why must narrators take those quick, audible breaths that ruin the narration. It drives me crazy. Her voice, otherwise, is just fine. I just can’t stand those audible breaths. They should practice reading without doing so or not read at all. I might need to pay for a book if I really want to listen to it. I’ve read the book a few times and it’s one of my favorites so I may just move on and pay for something I haven’t yet read.

Reliving High School English Class

I added this title to my wish list simply to see what I remembered from English class late 1970s. I can’t say as I remembered much. Considering that it waswritten in a different century, some of it was wordy and disinteresting, but overall it is a clever multi-generational mystery that centers upon the story’s main character, the old House of the Seven Gables.

Wonderful story

Well written with a plot that keeps you guessing. I enjoyed the twist at the end and the narration.

Great narrator

I love Nathaniel Hawthorne. The old language is beautiful. It sounds like a poem in the form of a novel. Sigh.

Not My Cup of Tea

Firstly, the narration is excellent. Alexander does a wonderful job giving a voice to the story.
I think in the end, however, I dislike the style of Hawthorne's writing.
At times, it seems that he couldn't decide which manner of description he liked best, so he left them all in.
He described that monkey at least three different ways.
The story itself, for me, was merely fine. The long, loquacious details about almost everything felt tiresome to read and I didn't find the characters to be very engaging.
It just wasn't the book for me, but I don't think it is bad.

recommend with qualifications

It's a historically important work in American Literature and so I am glad I listened to it. Provides insight into New England small town life of those times which I found a bonus. The author is able to make the same descriptive points about his characters endlessly. That dates the work and I can believe I am saying this, but an abridged version could exist and thereby appeal better to most modern listeners.