The Scarlet Letter: No Fear Volume 2 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Description

Bibliographic Details

• Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Title: The Scarlet Letter: No Fear Volume 2
• Publisher: ‎ Spark Publishing, SparkNotes; Revised Edition (July 10, 2009)
• Language: ‎ English
• Format: Trade Paperback – 419 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 1411426975
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1411426979
• Lexile measure: ‎ 1420
• Item Weight: ‎ 1.01 pounds
• Dimensions: ‎ 5.25 x 1.06 x 7.5 inches
• Book Condition: Used – Very Good
• Cover Condition: Very Good
• Edition: Revised Edition

Synopsis:

Have you ever tried to read The Scarlet Letter but realized midway through the second sentence that you were already lost? No Fear: The Scarlet Letter will change all that. No need to worry about losing the thread anymore: whenever Hawthorne’s sentences become too convoluted to follow, or you can’t figure out exactly what he’s talking about, simply look across at the right-hand page and a simplified, modernized text—using the kind of English we actually speak today—will set you back on track. Soon you’ll be reading Hawthorne’s own words fearlessly—and actually enjoying it. – Part of a very successful series.

The Scarlet Letter is a required book in many high school and university English classes, and this will help students understand Hawthorne’s classic novel.

About the Author:

Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral metaphors with an anti-Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce, written for his 1852 campaign for President of the United States, which Pierce won, becoming the 14th president.

Hawthorne's works belong to romanticism or, more specifically, dark romanticism, cautionary tales that suggest that guilt, sin, and evil are the most inherent natural qualities of humanity. Many of his works are inspired by Puritan New England, combining historical romance loaded with symbolism and deep psychological themes, bordering on surrealism. His depictions of the past are a version of historical fiction used only as a vehicle to express common themes of ancestral sin, guilt and retribution. His later writings also reflect his negative view of the Transcendentalism movement.

According to Hawthorne scholar Rita K. Gollin, the "definitive edition" of Hawthorne's works is The Centenary Edition of the Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by William Charvat and others, published by The Ohio State University Press in twenty-three volumes between 1962 and 1997. Tales and Sketches (1982) was the second volume to be published in the Library of America, Collected Novels (1983) the tenth.

Failing health prevented him from completing several more romance novels. Hawthorne was suffering from pain in his stomach and insisted on a recuperative trip with his friend Franklin Pierce, though his neighbor Bronson Alcott was concerned that Hawthorne was too ill. While on a tour of the White Mountains, he died in his sleep on May 19, 1864, in Plymouth, New Hampshire. 

Hawthorne was buried on what is now known as "Authors' Ridge" in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts.