Opinion

[Michelle Pinsky]

This was a passage from my report when asked if The Scarlet Letter was a good piece of literature or not:
"I believe that this piece of work is not an example of good literature because; it is not entertaining and because the style of writing does not fit with the current times. Hawthorne writes in such a way using language and sentence structure seemingly design to confound and impress his reader. His vocabulary and sentence structure are difficult to follow and don’t comply with the commonly used syntax of current American English. For example, “But it is an error to suppose that our grave forefathers- though accustomed to speak and think of human existence as a state merely of trial and warfare, and though unfeignedly prepared to sacrifice goods and life at the behest of duty- made it a matter of conscience to reject such means of comfort, or even luxury, as lay fairly within their grasp.” (Hawthorne 74) Not only is this sentence a giant run-on, it also includes unnecessary details that go on unnecessarily. When he does get back to the point of the passage, the reader has most likely forgotten what the sentence was about in the first place. His additional words add no useful information to the story whatsoever. He also has the tendency to overuse the word ignominy or other forms of the word as I have found it used in the book nineteen times."

[mono]

Hello, Michelle Pinsky.
Somehow, I must have neglected to read your post, until now. I respect your opinion, and agree that some of Hawthorne's language (similar to contemporary authors of his time) can seem quite verbose, difficult to understand, and greatly different from the language anyone (including most modern authors) use today. To my knowledge, the passage you typed, one cannot consider a run-on sentence; truly, it does stretch overwhelmingly long, and may require to read a few times for comprehension, but Hawthorne uses precise punctuation:

But it is an error to suppose that our grave forefathers - though accustomed to speak and think of human existence as a state merely of trial and warfare, and though unfeignedly prepared to sacrifice goods and life at the behest of duty - made it a matter of conscience to reject such means of comfort, or even luxury, as lay fairly within their grasp. (Hawthorne 74)

Hawthorne lived between the years 1804 and 1864, nearly the same time as Charles Dickens (1812-1870), an ocean away, who, many consider, the king historical writer of long sentences, a very narrative rhetoric, and exaggerated, in-depth descriptions. Having read much literature from their era, most authors of the time (and for decades following) wrote in a similar style to the joy of some readers (like me), but to the dread of others (as you have communicated).
One must acknowledge, however, that each era of literature contains specific styles that some writers conform (as Hawthorne, Dickens, Lawrence, and Balzac did), and others will rebel with different styles (as Eliot, Hemingway, Woolf, and Whitman did); you acknowledge it well, stated modestly in an opinion, and some other opinions will, of course, agree or disagree.