Description

Book Synopsis
A superb depiction of a utopian community that cannot survive the individual passions of its members. In language that is suggestive and often erotic, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a tale of failed possibilities and multiple personal betrayals as he explores the contrasts between what his characters espouse and what they actually experience in an 'ideal' community. A theme of unrealized sexual possibilities serves as a counterpoint to the other failures at Blithedale: class and sex distinctions are not eradicated, and communal work on the farm proves personally unrewarding and economically disastrous. Based in part on Hawthorne's own experiences at Brook Farm, an experimental socialist community, The Blithedale Romance is especially timely in light of renewed interest in self-sufficient and other cooperative societies.

Trade Review
"Hawthorne, in putting this novel together, was engaged in the most serious literary enterprise of his career."
--Louis Auchincloss

The Blithedale Romance Penguin Classics

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    A Paperback by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Annette Kolodny

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
      Published 11 January 2001
      ISBN-13 9780140390285
      978-0140390285
      ISBN-10 0140390286
      Also in:
      Books by Nathaniel Hawthorne

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      A superb depiction of a utopian community that cannot survive the individual passions of its members. In language that is suggestive and often erotic, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a tale of failed possibilities and multiple personal betrayals as he explores the contrasts between what his characters espouse and what they actually experience in an 'ideal' community. A theme of unrealized sexual possibilities serves as a counterpoint to the other failures at Blithedale: class and sex distinctions are not eradicated, and communal work on the farm proves personally unrewarding and economically disastrous. Based in part on Hawthorne's own experiences at Brook Farm, an experimental socialist community, The Blithedale Romance is especially timely in light of renewed interest in self-sufficient and other cooperative societies.

      Trade Review
      "Hawthorne, in putting this novel together, was engaged in the most serious literary enterprise of his career."
      --Louis Auchincloss

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