House of Seven Gables

[battery chucka' one]

Wonderful book!!! Just finished last week. I enjoyed immensely more than Hawthorne's other 'big' work (The Scarlet Letter). Great story with likeable characters. The 'twist' at the end was also great. I'd recommend to anybody.

On another note, I started Candide by Voltaire immediately following House... Am loving that silly little tale, too. Should finish by tomorrow.

[PSUFAN]

Candide is definitely an enjoyable read.

[battery chucka' one]

Candide is definitely an enjoyable read.

I wholeheartedly agree!!! I finished yesterday. Very fast read. Silly and scathing at the same time. Being Voltaire, I expected a diatribe against Christianity as a whole but was pleasantly surprised that though he attacked some hypocritical elements, there was much more there. Eldorado was wonderful as a utopian state (where God was central, to my shock). And to say that the characters were flawed would be an enormous understatement. Not to mention, it was wonderfully funny that Pangloss never seemed to die. Excellent. The pacing was great, too. Totally unorthodox. I also loved the 'telling us way too much in way too many words' chapter titles. Hilarious!!! Great book, Candide. We must cultivate our garden (the parallels drawn for the Garden of Eden with that phrase were surprising, too).