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Title: Mosses from an Old Manse and other stories
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Genre: fantasy, realism
Book Number/Goal: 3/52
My Rating: 2/5
Notes: for Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction course
Download: at Gutenberg project
Review:
This is a collection of unrelated short stories, ranging from fantasy/science to supernatural to "slice of life". They were written in the first half of 19th century, which accounts for the old-fashioned verbosity, simplistic plots and heavy-handed morals. Still, several stories are quite enjoyable. My favorite was "The Celestial Railroad", which describes an allegoric trip to Heaven. It's a parody/sequel to John Bunyan's book "The Pilgrim's Progress", written in 17th century and apparently popular at the author's time; it's difficult to appreciate all the wicked snark without the knowledge of the original story, but many references are easily inferable, and of course it's possible to google up the details.
Other notable titles: "Feathertop: A Moralized Legend" - a charming tale about a witch and a scarecrow she brought to life; "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter" - stories about "mad scientists" who had tried to improve the Nature; "The New Adam and Eve" - two humans discover the empty city on a post-apocalyptic Earth; "Monsieur du Miroir" - an amusing anthropomorphism; "Mrs. Bullfrog" - a tongue-in-cheek story of a man whose marriage didn't turn out quite as intended.
I'd rate the collection as 3.5-4 if it consisted only of the stories I liked, but unfortunately, about half of them are dead boring for my crude tastes.
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Genre: fantasy, realism
Book Number/Goal: 3/52
My Rating: 2/5
Notes: for Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction course
Download: at Gutenberg project
Review:
This is a collection of unrelated short stories, ranging from fantasy/science to supernatural to "slice of life". They were written in the first half of 19th century, which accounts for the old-fashioned verbosity, simplistic plots and heavy-handed morals. Still, several stories are quite enjoyable. My favorite was "The Celestial Railroad", which describes an allegoric trip to Heaven. It's a parody/sequel to John Bunyan's book "The Pilgrim's Progress", written in 17th century and apparently popular at the author's time; it's difficult to appreciate all the wicked snark without the knowledge of the original story, but many references are easily inferable, and of course it's possible to google up the details.
Other notable titles: "Feathertop: A Moralized Legend" - a charming tale about a witch and a scarecrow she brought to life; "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter" - stories about "mad scientists" who had tried to improve the Nature; "The New Adam and Eve" - two humans discover the empty city on a post-apocalyptic Earth; "Monsieur du Miroir" - an amusing anthropomorphism; "Mrs. Bullfrog" - a tongue-in-cheek story of a man whose marriage didn't turn out quite as intended.
I'd rate the collection as 3.5-4 if it consisted only of the stories I liked, but unfortunately, about half of them are dead boring for my crude tastes.