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    The House of the Seven Gables
    The House of the Seven Gables
    The House of the Seven Gables
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    The House of the Seven Gables

    Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Narrated by Peter Marinker

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    To inherit a great fortune. To inherit a great misfortune.’ These words, from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s notebook, neatly encapsulate the theme of The House of the Seven Gables – that of a family whose fortunes are poisoned by its past misdeeds. The sins of the Pyncheon father are visited upon his children over a period of several generations, until such time as one of his descendants unites with a member of the family he has wronged. Love conquers hate, and new blood washes away the original crime. This intriguing and insightful novel truly deserves its significant place in the canon of American literature.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateMay 1, 2006
    ISBN9789629545406
    Author

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne was born is Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. His father died when he was four years old. His first novel, Fanshawe, was published anonymously at his own expense in 1828. He later disowned the novel and burned the remaining copies. For the next twenty years he made his living as a writer of tales and children's stories. He assured his reputation with the publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 and The House of the Seven Gables the following year. In 1853 he was appointed consul in Liverpool, England, where he lived for four years. He died in 1864.

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    Reviews for The House of the Seven Gables

    3.5/5

    85 ratings65 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Albeit a tedious read, I'm respecting the fact that is a classic reflecting thedark romanticism of the period.
    • 3/5
      The only reason I gave it three stars was the author's outstanding command of English prose. As a novel this book was insufferably boring. It took me two weeks to finish it. A work of this small size normally takes me a few days.
    • 3/5
      Another atmospheric read for the Halloween Group Read but this one evoked some mixed feelings. I was expecting the slow, deliberate pace of 19th century fiction, and certainly got it. It required a willingness to be patient with the unhurried exposition of characters and the frequent pauses for admonitory reflection, plus an acceptance of the fact that there aren't going to be any electrifying moments. I wasn't in any hurry and was able to relax and enjoy the trip.What I didn't enjoy was the ending. After 290 pages of this slow trip, we get a sudden and very pat ending for our characters in about 50 pages. Yet, even at that, very little of the story's completion came as part of the plot through the offices of the characters. Instead, the narrator interjects himself for half of it to give us an "oh, by the way" explanation, clarifying what has happened. I was rather disappointed by all this.In the end, I'm glad I read it, enjoyed it, and would mildly recommend it. If you don't look for modern pacing or excitement, it can be quite pleasant...like floating along on a slow-moving stream with a nice view.
    • 5/5
      Spinster Hepzibah Pyncheon lives alone with a scowl on her face in her family home until the day Cousin Phoebe with her bright sunshine shows up to lighten every aspect of Hepzibah's dreary existence. Together they try and hold the Pyncheon legacy together in the old house and seem to be doing well until Hepzibah's brother Clifford returns and brings back to the surface a generations old curse on the Pyncheon family. A hidden deed, stolen property, mysterious relatives and a house that has seen it all weave a story that takes the reader back to the very beginning, providing clues along the way. What really happened between the Pyncheons and Maules; why was one family set for life and the other destined to live in poverty? What really happened that night so many years ago to plunge brother Clifford into a lifetime of despair? And, most importantly, who is the real villain of this story??My Thoughts:I thoroughly enjoyed this book...I enjoyed the language and the descriptions and didn't get caught up in them as I've read some people do. Of course American Lit is my favorite, so I'm sure I'm biased. I think what I needed from this book was a truly enjoyable slow paced, but not too slow paced, journey through a narrative. I definitely got that.I felt like I knew Hepzibah, Phoebe and even Clifford. I hated Judge Pyncheon because he just reeked of meanness, and the way he treated Clifford was unforgiveable...as if he was just trying to push Clifford over the edge. Holgrave, who lived in one of the gables, gave me the creeps a little because he was such a mysterious character the entire time...I was never sure of his intentions, nor was I sure Hepzibah or Phoebe was safe with him. I loved Phoebe and Hepzibah...Hepzibah for her acceptance of her life (to a certain extent) and for welcoming Phoebe into her home and not even being jealous when her beloved brother wanted to spend more time with Phoebe than her...and Phoebe's simple acceptance of Hepzibah, just the way she was. I also loved Phoebe's simple love of life. She opened her eyes each morning to see the sun, to see Clifford, to see their garden, to spend time in the shop...she is a true pure hear, and I think her presence was a blessing for Hepzibah.I kept waiting for a ghost. Twice I thought I had the story figured out...and twice I was wrong. When Clifford and Hepzibah left, I didn't see that coming at all and was so disappointed but frightened at the same time. I decided then that Clifford was a psychopath...See. I was all over the place...and I really didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't figure this out until the very end of the story, and that was cool bc it doesn't happen very often for me anymore. Are you confused?Good.:)Final Recommendation:I would read this one again just for the sheer enjoyment of reading Hawthorne's prose-like narrative. If you enjoy words, language, Hawthorne, "typical" American Lit, dark, spooky old timey stories, you'll like this one.Don't try to fly through it though; take your time and enjoy it :)Yes, I'm an English teacher; why do you ask?;)
    • 3/5
      I liked Hepzibah. And Hawthorne's descriptions are vivid and pleasing to the mind's eye. Those are the only nice things I can think of to say about this book. Hawthorne's narrative is rambling and I still can't tell you what the hell the plot was of the book. Completely and utterly forgettable. This saddens me since I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter and love what short stories of his I've read.
    • 4/5
      819 The House of Seven Gables A Romance, by Nathaniel Hawthorne (read 15 Sep 1965) I found this a worthwhile book.
    • 4/5
      Still a classic.
    • 5/5
      They just don't come like this any more. The House of the Seven Gables is a book that will take time to read, but is well worth it for the historical events, language, and thought. Relationships between characters are interesting and the history of the house itself brings you far deeper into the story than you could imagine. There is no one plot here, but several moving around and shifting all at once; each character having their own story told to its conclusion. If ever you wanted to pick up a book for the single purpose of diving in to complex language and thought, into deep feelings and actions related to such, this is one of those books. There are scenes and images that will remain with you as beautiful, heart warming, or sad, all the way throughout. Inspiration for writers and thinkers can come from these pages, don't be modern and rush through each page. This is a book best read in time, as if you were living in the days when books were the television of the era. Set aside your schedule for a little while each day and go back in time. You'll be glad you did.
    • 5/5
      Hawthorne wrote this book in the warm aura of his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter. This book dwells on the theme of whether a Puritan history - replete with its sad stories like the Salem Witch Trials - will haunt the New England culture forever or whether New England can overcome such sad austerity.

      The hope for the future lies in the characters of Phoebe and Hargrove, who end up getting married in this story. They are open to new ideas and open to learning from the past. They seek to experiment in new things like gardening while researching the past. They are Renaissance people for another era. They might not have the best education, but they are interested in learning and growing as people. They alone can free the New England mind (and mind you this book was written in the nineteenth century) from sterility and stagnation based on pride.

      It is interesting to read this classic in my current setting in the modern American South. The New England mind of the nineteenth century is a distant and foreign concept to me. A miniature picture of its norms before the Civil War is interesting. While the Southern mind was becoming more entrenched, the New England mind was figuring out new ways to grow and expand its virtue. Puritanical idealism still exists in the American South. Perhaps we need to listen to Hawthorne more to overcome our stagnation in our contemporary setting. Perhaps we need our own Hawthorne to overcome the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow in our history and so to embrace growth.
    • 4/5
      I bought this book at the "Old Manse" in Concord, Massachusetts where Nathaniel Hawthorne lived for three years with his bride, Sophia Peabody. The house is wonderful to visit and seems alive with their presence --there are notes they wrote to each other etched in the glass using Sophia's diamond ring. The House of Seven Gables still sits in Salem, Massachusetts. The book is grossing in its finely drawn characters, quaint detail of daily life of the time and creation of an atmosphere of dread. The house is, itself, a character, witnessing from just after the Salem witch trials through one hundred and fifty years, the torment and decline of a family. The novel does suffer from the flaws of many novels of the period - a reliance on untimely deaths, inheritance of great wealth and sudden marriage. The narrative style also creates a distance from the characters' internal lives as though all has been observed on a stage. It is, however, compelling and very funny in parts. It would also be suitable for a teenager who enjoys tales of the occult since the conflict of the novel begins with the sentencing to death of a villager for the crime of witchcraft.
    • 3/5
      I found it a bit of a slog but still worth the read. Most interesting were details or expressions that I thought wouldn't have been around in 1851. A description of a Cunard ship bringing news from Europe brought a smile to my face.
    • 2/5
      The House of the Seven Gables begins with a preface by the author that identifies the work as a romance, not a novel. That may be the author's preference, but I think most romance fans will be disappointed if they read this book. The book is a classic by a famous American author, so it deserves to be read. Once you finish the book and look over the complete plot, you can see how romantic love has healed a 200-year family curse. Therefore, in that regard it is a romance. However, the experience of reading the book is more like wondering through a dreary haunted labyrinth. I did not find it enjoyable to read. I suppose the book can be considered a parable with a message aimed at the stiff necked 19th Century New England descendants of the Puritans. They are a people who behave in proper ways, but have an ancestral history of executing their neighbors on trumped up charges of witchcraft. They are haunted by a secret guilt of association because of the actions of their ancestors. The story told by this book is about the Pyncheon family that parallels this New England story at large. The book's narrative comes as close as possible to being a ghost story while still remaining within the world of realism. I can imagine that a reader who believes in ghosts can come away from this story with the impression that it is indeed about ghosts. Likewise, another reader who doesn't believe in ghosts will say the story is about people who suspect that there may be ghosts in their lives who are intent on mischief. Either way Nathaniel Hawthorne skillfully weaves a family story filled with angst. One feature of the book that surprised me was the role of Mesmerism (today we call it hypnotism). As described in this book it appears to be occult magic. Likewise, a lot of the melancholia described in this book would today be called clinical depression. Thank goodness for the character of Phoebe in the story. Her young sunny disposition is a breath of fresh air into an otherwise dreary environment. She’s a reminder of the eternal possibility of renewal brought by young people to human society. Read in November, 2008
    • 4/5
      Phoebe Pyncheon arrives at her cousin's old house to help her cousion Hepzibah. But thre is mystery in the house.In the story, landscape is calm and nice.The mysterious mood is also good.
    • 4/5
      What can I say? I thought this book was a great Gothic novel that was very apposite for a Halloween read. One thing that contributed to this being a wonderful reading experience for me is now that I’m finished with the 999 challenge I really treasured the leisurely pace of the story and the long, lush sentences. I loved the way the characters were revealed bit by bit, often with little homilies on their quirks. For those who are looking for a fast paced thriller with twists and turns in the plot this is not the book to choose. If you enjoy stories that are built on atmosphere and character with some philosophy thrown in for good measure I recommend this as a fine example of that type of novel. I also have to admit, that sometimes I suspected that Hawthorn was writing with a little “tongue in cheek” attitude toward the reader and having a sly laugh on us—or perhaps inviting us to laugh with him.
    • 5/5
      the American Gothic at its finest. Utterly finest.
    • 5/5
      "This contrast, or intermingling of tragedy with mirth, happens daily, hourly, momently. This gloomy and desolate old house, deserted of life, and with awful Death sitting sternly in its solitude, was the emblem of many a human heart, which, nevertheless, is compelled to hear the thrill and echo of the world's gaiety around it." The incredible detail of The House of Seven Gables left me feeling extreme pity one moment and laughing out loud to myself the next. This was just about everything I could ask for in a novel - a curse that spans generations, a haunted house and a wealth of description. A great read.
    • 2/5
      I was bored to death. It felt like reading a journal, like a case study. Hawthorne really loves his adjectives, a lot of describing and less ACTION! (haha) Where's the ghosts? Where's the so-called "romance", not even a kiss! If the characters are trapped inside the HOUSE, the novel also had me trapped, it seemed to never end!!! It was too gloomy, sad, miserable and all of its synonyms!The last 3 chapters were actually bearable. Maybe because its nearing the end (hehe). Nice happy ending to a really really gloomy book.
    • 4/5
      This story is about a poor woman and her cousin. I think this story is a little difficult. But I like this book.　
    • 3/5
      I was intrigued by the back cover and the promise of a ghost story and came away fustrated and disappointed. a great, creepy set-up in the early passages but the endless pages of minute descriptions were repetitious and interrupted the flow of the story. the supernatural elements appeared to be after thoughts crammed into the story rather than driving it.
    • 3/5
      I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book when my first impression was it was going to be dark and depressing. Somehow it was still dark but the depressing elements swifted into something like an early form of mystery novel and I was left with the feeling that I liked it. If you have to read a dark gloomy setting novel you could do a lot worst than this one I think :)
    • 4/5
      The House of the Seven Gables, one for each deadly sin; The scene for the allegory of the corrupted soul of man is set. But who is/are the corrupted soul-s? The present inhabitants of the house, Hepzibah and Clifford, a sister and brother with so refined tastes combined with lack of means that they come through as half-witted? Beside them there is but a very respectable and very rich cousin, Jugde Pynchon. Then along comes Holgrave, a daguerrotypist who is taken in as a lodger in the house, and little Phoebe, a young poor but levelheaded cousin, from a distant branch of the family, wandering from the countryside.The evil will be revealed, through the very architecture of the house and garden, through their small daily tasks and even through the daguerrotypes; The evil trancends superficial traits, and will eventually reveal who it works upon and how.A satire, a cultural critic and a romance at the same time. All done in a style demonstrating the theory of Trancendentalism. At first difficult to read; But once you decide to stay focused, you are treated to precise characterizations that only can be made using figuratively and poetic language, language that conjures up pictures revealing truths that in themselves are far from poetic.
    • 3/5
      The House of the Seven Gables is another one of those "must read" classics that has sat on my "to read" list for years. I actually read and enjoyed The Scarlet Letter in High School (and have read it a few times since then). I've read a few of Hawthorne's short stories and generally enjoyed them, though I can honestly admit to finding some of them exceedingly dry. Unfortunately, I also found Seven Gables to be a bit dry for my taste.The premise of the book sounded very promising to me. A centuries-old house haunted by ghosts of generations following greedy land grabbing and mysterious deaths/murders. An old spinster and a young girl/lady work together to try and revitalize the house and the family. The setting and the backstory work to bring the Gothic Horror genre to early America. In spite of the Gothic tone suggested by the synopsis, Hawthorne touts the story as a Romance. In fact, I found very little "Gothic Horror" or "romance" in the story. I suppose it could be deemed a "romance" in the more broad sense of romanticising an idea or an era. There were possibilities of conventional romance between the young Phoebe and the boarder staying at the house. In fact the book seemed like it tried to swing in that direction once or twice but was repressed by the situations.The book begins with the building of the home in colonial times by Colonel Pyncheon, a renown soldier who helped in the Salem witch trials and other similar events. The Colonel receives the property for his house in what some claim to be ill-founded circumstances and shortly after the home is completed, the Colonel is found dead in his study. Generations later, the story picks up with the spinster Hepzibah Pyncheon opening a penny store out of the side of the house. She has also taken on a boarder to try and bring in some income. The boarder is a mysterious daguerreotypist (a precursor/cousin vocation to photography) named Holgrave. It is suggested that Holgrave is a wizard or some other practitioner of "dark arts." A teenage cousin Phoebe Pyncheon shows up out of the blue to stay at the house and shortly afterwards Hepzibah's brother Clifford also shows up. Phoebe is naive, optimistic and innocent. Hepzibah is grizzly, reticent and gloomy. Clifford is eccentric and confusing...he seems to be mentally struggling due to some earlier trauma. Together, the three of them make for very interesting residents to the home. From the other end of town another cousin, the Judge Pyncheon, visits from time to time to try and convince Hepzibah to essentially give him the house and property and for the three of them to come and live with him. We're not told why, but Hepzibah vehemently abhors the suggestion and constantly throws the Judge out of the house with whatever insults she can come up with.The story progresses with some very wonderful descriptions of the town, the house and the inhabitants. We learn a lot of very intricate details about the furnishings of the house, the clothing of the people, the art and decorations of the area and the nearby vegetitation. We casually observe the rather mundane actions of the characters as they go through the commonplace motions of life. And yet the author keeps us at arm's length from any real action or information concerning the true tension between the characters. There are ongoing suggestions of a problematic and potentially violent history between the Judge and Clifford. There are numerous insinuations into the dark nature of Holgrave. But for page after page no action occurs to substantiate any of the rumors or bring any validity to the anxiety trying to be created.Near the end of the novel we finally do have a rather abrupt confrontation with dramatic results. The characters involved are immediately confused and unsure what to do and so the results are unexpected and impetuous. The action rambles on for a few pages more and then everything calmly resolves itself and life returns more or less to normal.Thinking about the book as coming from the mid 19th century, I can definitely appreciate the attention to detail and the very subtle nuances and slow investigation of life. As an English major, I can try to put all sorts of symbolism on the house and the characters in an effort to make the story more interesting. I do not doubt at all that Hawthorne may have had some secondary mode in mind as he laid out the characters and events of the story. I'm sure there are some compelling and valid close readings of the book. But in my initial reading I found the story overly dry thanks to a lot of heavily descriptive sequences that had some great poetic flourishes but didn't serve to create tension, action or advance any sort of plot that I found compelling. As a story, the book is bogged down with details and nuance. As a symbolic or poetic work, it feels a little too guarded or obtuse. Perhaps a second reading would help, most likely with the aid of a Hawthorne expert or some commentary. But for the time being, I'm not really interested in a second reading. The characters were slightly interesting but not compelling enough for me to want to return to them any time soon. As one of the "Greatest American Novels", I'm not entirely sure how this one meets the criteria. I can appreciate the artistry but am not compelled by the overall result.***2.5 out of 5 stars(NOTE: I will likely re-read this with a closer reading or some commentary to try and better appreciate what Hawthorne is doing here)
    • 3/5
      It's obvious from this book that Hawthorne was a damn good writer, but that doesn't necessarily make him an equally good storyteller. To my mind this novel should've been a novella or short story. Far too much time was spent developing the five characters in the story, at the expense of any kind of narrative drive. There's some really great stuff in here, starting with the first chapter detailing the origin of the house and the fate of its owner, but then the reader has to wait until he reaches the last third of the book to get to the rest of it,. Even then, he has to wade through lengthy passages and chapters that do nothing really to push the tale to its conclusion, a conclusion which left this reader less than satisfied. Two and a half stars out of five for great writing but not-so-great story structure.
    • 3/5
      After 20 years of dragging the book around I finally got past page 7. As a Boston native and spending a great deal of time in Salem near "The House of Seven Gables," I felt as a teacher I should read the book. It was quite difficult to get into...very slow in the beginning, but about half-way through the story picks up and the Pyncheon family become interesting. The characters are eccenctric and twisted, and the story well is interestingly weird.
    • 1/5
      Hawthorne is the equivalent of nudging someone and winking without actually thinking of anything interesting, risque, beautiful, or even useful. It is sad that a man with such a voluminous writing ability was seemingly devoid of any notion of what to do with it.
    • 2/5
      Two venues for mud runs happen to bear the name of the author of The House of the Seven Gables: Hawthorne Racecourse in Cicero, IL, and Hawthorne, NJ. This is perhaps what induced one LT reviewer here to write: "I read somewhere that trying to read Hawthorne is like trying to run through mud."In a rather strange coincidence, John Updike once wrote that "Reading Pynchon is like reading a very long Popeye strip, without the spinach." (Life, 61, No. 19, November 4, 1966) When you know that Hawthorne decided to make the House of the Seven Gables the dwelling of the Pyncheon family, the ancestors of Thomas Pynchon, the similarity of the two analyses is striking. I even wonder if Updike is the author of the comment on Hawthorne in my opening paragraph. I too experienced falling asleep after 3 pages of The House of the Seven Gables; spending 3 weeks to read it; being interested in the last 3 chapters only; being bored to death by the circumlocutions and the long incised sentences.But perhaps will I, for all these reasons, remember this book longer than if I had loved it. Strange, isn't it?
    • 4/5
      The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel HawthorneThis is the story of the Pyncheon family that is slowly becoming extinct. We meet Hepzibah Pyncheon, poor and old, who lives alone in the family mansion. This house was built with seven gables, thus the title. Without funds Hepzibah opens a penny shop to earn money to live on. Other characters in this tale are her brother Clifford, imprisoned because of the acts of Jaffrey Pyncheon, a wealthy judge who lives in his own country manor and is determined to find an ancient deed to other Pyncheon property.When the penny shop seems to be failing the young Phoebe Pyncheon appears. She is a lovely, vivacious, and enthusiastic young woman who lives in the country and has come to visit her cousins. She enjoys running the penny store and brightens the gloomy atmosphere in the house. When Clifford returns from prison she entertains him with her charms. In addition she meets Holgrave, a young boarder in the house and romance blossoms.This story is often considered a romance but I think it is more a story about the Pyncheon family and the curse it endured. Hawthorne sets the stage by giving us an overview of how the original Pyncheon obtained the property and built the house. His actions brought about a curse from the original land owner that is to last throughout the family's existence.There are ghosts and strange occurrences in the house and we are exposed to the lives of former residents. But life improves for the current residents when another tragedy strikes the Pyncheon family, particularly the judge. Hepzibah and Clifford temporarily leave their ancestral home. It all comes to a climax as the author weaves the tale into an ending that is unexpected but makes the reader smile. Many like to look at the symbolism used to represent aspects of the human condition. I have never been certain that Hawthorne chose to approach the novel in this manner. Nevertheless I like this tale more each time I read it.
    • 5/5
      Phenomenal language and characterization.
    • 5/5
      I feel kind of silly reviewing a literary classic. Obviously, it's a great book. If you're looking for a description, it's a comic/tragic cautionary tale about how wealth corrupts even the most innocent and noble. Personally, I think it should be required reading for every single person in the world.
    • 3/5
      Pales in comparison with Hawthorne's masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter; however, if you're familiar with The Scarlet Letter, it is interesting to see how certain themes and symbols interact between the texts, especially Hawthorne's fascination/repulsion with his Puritan past.