Wednesday, December 1, 2021

December 1, 2021: Project Gutenberg at 50: The House of the Seven Gables

[2021 marks the 50th birthday of Project Gutenberg, the amazing web resource for full texts from across literary and cultural history. So this week I wanted to share a handful of the American literary works you can read in full on PG—add yours for a crowd-sourced weekend reading list, please!]

Speaking of historical romances (as I was in yesterday’s post), I don’t know any American text that more thoughtfully considers that complicated genre than does the Preface to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables (1851). And while the novel that follows isn’t nearly as perfectly constructed as The Scarlet Letter (1850), I’d argue that besides being far less well-known, it’s also more interesting on some pretty key American themes. Read it on PG and see what you think!

Next Project Gutenberg reading tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What would you add to our reading list?

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