Mosses from an old manse

About the book

Hawthorne opens with a reflective account of the old house and surroundings that give this collection its title, then moves through tales and sketches of very different kinds. In The Birthmark and Rappaccini's Daughter, attempts to control or perfect life become entangled with intimacy and mistrust. Young Goodman Brown turns a night journey into a disturbing problem of belief and interpretation. Other pieces use fantasy, allegory, satire, or observation to examine pride, guilt, artistic creation, and the wish to stand apart from ordinary humanity. Hawthorne's narrators often leave the reader uncertain how literally a strange event should be understood. That uncertainty gives moral judgment an additional difficulty: the desire to identify evil or impose an ideal may itself be part of what the story asks us to question.

• Perfection and control
• Guilt and suspicion
• Interpretation

Why read it

For a varied collection that repeatedly makes the wish to improve, judge, or master another life into a source of unease.

Tales and sketches · English text