NOT A WALK IN THE PARK

As I continue to read the novel, House of the Seven Gables, this quote garnered special attention …

“Is not the world sad enough, in genuine earnest, without making a pastime of mock sorrows?”

You see, that quote led to my asking—why did Nathaniel Hawthorne choose to pen tales concerning life’s greatest sorrows, which, in one way or another, challenge one and all to call forth a host of inner strengths, which continue to develop )or not), over the entirety of each person’s life time

In answer to my question, my intuitive voice had this to say—novels that prove most compelling are penned by authors who write in depth of that which they have intimate knowledge..

It’s also of interest to note that though I found the first several chapters of this novel to be slow-going, once the introduction of characters began to increase, the storyline picked up its pace, and though this read has not yet become a page-turner by any means, I’ve begun to wonder what’s to become of a charming woman named Phoebe, who, blooming with the beauty of youth’s good health, has joined the cast of characters, which (excepting the welcome addition of this cheerful young thing) had been described as so thoroughly morose that, clearly, the accumulation of every life experience had proved more painful than the human spirit, so cruelly broken, could bear. 

And so, why, you might ask, do I choose to plow on when reading this novel feels like a yoke weighing heavy round my neck?  Well—a novel doth not become a classic for no reason.  And that deeper truth hath aroused my curiosity to see where Hawthorne plans to take his characters (and his readership) until a lesson of such great importance hath been delivered so as to make a classic of this story, which, thus far, hath led me down a path so muddied by sorrow as to safely declare that having slogged half way through this tale of woe has, thus far, dragged my spirit as far away from a walk in the park as this voracious reader can get.

And yet, with persistence heartening my determined mindset to forge ahead I remain hopeful that, before too long, terrain, muddied by broken hearted sorrow, will clearly be seen as hallowed ground …

👩🏻Annie