Student Book Review:


House of the Seven Gables, The

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classic

by: Nathaniel Hawthorn


Review done by:

 Ankur Moitra
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The House of the Seven Gables is a story that not only deals with every aspect of life, but also as you read about life you begin to learn more about life in itself.
The story begins long before the birth of our main character. It begins with two heads of two different families, Colonel Pyncheon and Matthew Maule. The colonel soon has a quarrel with Matthew Maule, over land. Because Colonel Pyncheon was a wealthy man and was used to getting what he wanted, and when Matthew Maule dared turn down the colonel's offer on his land, the colonel took action. He, as was customary in those times for a gentlemen to do if in a quarrel with a common man, accused young Matthew of being a wizard. And, thus Matthew died by hanging as a result of his being accused of being a wizard. But, this incident did not go unnoticed, for young Matthew had a family, quite large, too, who keeping their hatred within, now despised the Pyncheons.
In fact, the Maules too took action, or their revenge. Colonel Pyncheon had just received a quite valuable document, which promised to the Pyncheons many thousands of acres of Indian land for their own. The Maules did not hesitate in stealing and hiding this extremely valuable document. They hid the document because the land was signed off to the Pyncheons, and thus the Maules could not take possession of the land. Although that very same day the colonel was murdered, never was it admitted by the Maules that they killed the colonel, nor was it ever proved. After that incident, the Pyncheons began to decline and then more then ever they needed that document. Soon in the future the Pyncheon fortune had been completely depleted and the Pyncheons, once more began their desperate search for the deed.
Hence forth each family thought that they took a separate path from that of the other, but each was gravely mistaken ...
Although, for the brief overview I have given, this book does not sound like much, you too, as the Pyncheons and Maules, are deceived. In fact this book is so excellent that I highly recommend it to all who can read at such a high level as this, for to read a book such as this without understanding it is useless.

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