Nathaniel Hawthorne met Abraham Lincoln once upon a time:
There is no describing his lengthy awkwardness, nor the uncouthness of his movement. … He was dressed in a rusty black frock-coat and pantaloons, unbrushed, and worn so faithfully that the suit had adapted itself to the curves and angularities, and had grown to be an outer skin of the man. . . . The whole physiognomy is as coarse a one as you would meet anywhere in the length and breadth of the States; but, withal, it is redeemed, illuminated, softened, and brightened by a kindly though serious look out of his eyes.
Speaking of Hawthorne, I have an interview from Audible.com with authors Orson Scott Card and Ben Bova in which they fall into talking about American literacy. They said public schools failed to teach a love for reading by forcing children to read hard, bad writing and telling them the books they might like to read are inferior quality. Card said Hawthorne was never a good writer and shouldn’t be forced on unsuspecting students as good literature. He took a shot at Moby Dick too, which is just sacrilegious.
Perhaps he’s feeling a bit spunky due to the movie production and comic book series of Ender’s Game. Nah, he probably feels this spunky all the time.
It’s one of my hobbyhorses that Moby Dick shouldn’t be assigned as children’s reading. But that’s not because I think it’s bad writing. It’s great writing, but it shouldn’t be read by anyone who hasn’t first mastered Shakespeare. Leave it till they’re grown up. That’s how I did it in my own life.
Leland Ryken, who was one of my literature professors, always expressed disgust for Moby Dick. When I asked why, he said he had no patience for “interminable works.”
Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?
I’ve wanted to write full-time all my life. Recently I got a job that means a lot to me, though (librarian at the Bible School of my denomination), and I think I might have a hard time giving that up. If I ever get the chance I’ll have to give the matter a lot of prayer.
Faith, was that question directed to me, or to Loren?
I have precisely the same kind of job you do, but I think it would be possible to carry on the with novel writing while doing the job too. However, it doesn’t really look as if I’ll have to make the choice.
I think Hawthorne would be better served if selections from Twice-Told Tales were assigned rather than The Scarlet Letter. And Melville would be better served by “Bartleby the Scrivener” rather than Moby-Dick. You have to work your way up to the novels.
I’ll go with that, Frank. When Card complained about Hawthorne, my first thought was of a couple passages in The Scarlet Letter which I favor and then of two short stories which are classics: Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil. Though are just as good as The Swimmer or The Lottery or any other short story assigned in high school.