The Marble Faun (1860) was the last of the four major romances by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Writing on the eve of the American Civil War, Hawthorne set his story in a fantastical Italy. The romance mixes elements of a fable, pastoral, gothic novel, and travel guide. The climax comes less than halfway through the story, and Hawthorne intentionally fails to answer many of the reader's questions about the characters and the plot.
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"Hawthorne has a very poetic love language and a lot of renaissance visuals in this book. I love where I go when I read the pages.(And having spent some time in Italy allows this book to be a lovely escape from my now hectic world.) " — Tamara (5 out of 5 stars)
"Hawthorne has a very poetic love language and a lot of renaissance visuals in this book. I love where I go when I read the pages.(And having spent some time in Italy allows this book to be a lovely escape from my now hectic world.) "
" I read an edition published by Dell in 1960 with a general introduction by David Levin, which I could not find on goodreads. It has no ISBN. "
" What can I say? I love Hawthorne.Ellie NYC "
" Rich descriptions of Victorian-era Rome. Also made me aware of the history of forced conversions of Jews during that time by the Roman Catholic Church. "
" difficult to read (due to subject matter,) but sooo worth it! "
" It was frustrating! Beautiful descriptions of Italy but then Hawthorne refuses to explain the mystery at the heart of the story. Gorgeous writing, though. My equivalent of a lap dance. Tantalizing but no fulfillment! "
" I had high hopes for this one, since I loved The House of the Seven Gables, but it was tedious and unremarkable. Hawthorne's distracting zenophobia tainted the story. "
" This is the story of four young friends as they explore the art and daily culture of 1800s Rome. Lovely language and inspiring discussions of masterpieces dominate this book, along with moral dilemmas to spice up the plot. "
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) is considered to be one of the greatest American authors of the nineteenth century. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and made his ambition to be a writer while still a teenager. He graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine, where the poet Longfellow was also a student, and spent several years traveling in New England and writing short stories before his best known novel, The Scarlet Letter, was published in 1850. His writing was not at first financially rewarding, and he worked as measurer and surveyor in the Boston and Salem Custom Houses. In 1853 he was sent to Liverpool as American consul and then lived in Italy before returning to the United States in 1860.
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