The Scarlet Letter

By: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Narrated by: Flo Gibson

This powerful story of passion, adultery, honor, and repression caused a tremendous controversy in 1850 when it was published, because of its provocative subject matter. Set in Puritan New England, the novel begins with Hester Prynne, a young woman with an illegitimate baby daughter, leaving prison to face her scornful townsfolk. Forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" to remind people of her adultery, Hester obstinately holds her head high and refuses to reveal the father of her child. In the process she cuts herself off from society - and her lover. Why won't Hester reveal her secret? The answer has much to do with guilt, passion, and repentance - timeless themes within a splendid story that has remained a literary classic for over a century.

Public Domain (P)2003 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"A masterpiece." (Henry James)

Still resonates!

Even after a span of 160 years this story by Mr. Hawthorne still captures the essence of human nature with a humor and whit not often displayed in these much later days.

Infuriating

I wanted to listen to the recording as I read the book, however it was difficult to follow along as the “chapters” listed in the recording do not follow the chapters in the book. For example: to listen to chapter 3 in the book, you have to go to the middle of the recording to chapter 10 to follow along. Get it together audible, it’s not that hard. Also, the narrator does not have the voice to narrate. Very flat and boring. Luckily this version is free.

Disappointed....

Sadly, I found that this book was ruined by the reader. The voice seemed old, crone like, rough and manly although the reader is a woman.

Although the sensibilities of both the time of the story and the time of it's writing are both some what foreign to most of us today, still the character of Hester was more cowed than would render her a heroine. Also the portrayal of the little daughter as a wicked sprite was less than generous.

Great book; narration a challenge

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator puts too much effort into the voices of the characters, and makes them either pathetic (Hester and Dimmesdale), laughable (Chillingsworth), or cloying (Pearl). I don't believe any of it is supported by the text.

Any additional comments?

The narrator's talents were well suited, I thought, to the long introduction concerning the custom house. It's a chapter first-time readers might do well to skip, although, once worked through, it's a wonderful piece of writing, and the narrator does a good job capturing its humor, which is possible to miss on the page.

The reading of the Scarlet Letter

The story was read thoroughly. The change in the readers voice to signify the different characters was a bit of a distraction.