Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun
The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Marble Faun (1860) is Hawthorne’s last completed and longest romance—his term for the type of non-realist, symbolic, … Continue reading
Herman Melville, Benito Cereno
Melville’s Short Novels: Authoritative Texts, Contexts, Criticism by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars Benito Cereno is one of the post-Pierre short works of the 1850s by which Melville … Continue reading
Herman Melville, Pierre; or, The Ambiguities
Pierre; or, The Ambiguities by Herman Melville My rating: 4 of 5 stars What was left of Melville’s early audience was killed off by the dreadful Pierre, a year after … Continue reading
Henry James, Hawthorne
Hawthorne by Henry James My rating: 5 of 5 stars This short 1879 book is Henry James’s critical biography of the man who would at the time have been considered … Continue reading
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne My rating: 5 of 5 stars Preface What is The Scarlet Letter about? Generations of confused American students want to know! This short 1850 … Continue reading
Herman Melville, The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids
The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars After re-reading Moby-Dick, I decided to revisit this remarkable short story (or … Continue reading
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars [Note: all quotations from essays, letters, and reviews below come from documents included in this Norton Critical Edition.] In his … Continue reading
Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Walter Pater’s formula for romantic art’s dynamism (as opposed to the frozen majesty of the classical) was “the addition of … Continue reading
