Ridiculous Reviewers On Amazon: One Star Review for The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Once upon a time, I taught high school English. My main class was American Literature, which means that the students are generally about 16 years old, and that, of course, the teacher must teach, um, American Literature. One of the required books was The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It's actually a wonderful novel about sin, judgment, love, sacrifice and family. It's honestly a bit rough for some high schoolers to follow. I'm a fan of Hawthorne, though, so I found these one star reviews enjoyable. Clearly some of them come from high school students forced to write reviews. I think you'll like them.

First, we have this little gem:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst. Book. Ever., April 24, 2002By A CustomerIt is my invariably correct opinion that the so-called author responsible for this overly extravagant and flamboyant style of writing should be dragged into the street and summarily executed, with EXTREME prejudice, for crimes against humanity and the English language.

This review is funny, though the last sentence throws the whole thing into confusion.

I am going to bring Hawthorne back from the grave to hit him, March 10, 1999By A Customer
Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, this the worst book i've ever read, I consider myself open to all fine lterature but I absolutely hate this book. But the writing is superb!

Get ready for a one star review from a HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER! Behold:

Duller than dirt, September 18, 2004 Jon G Shay I teach high school English, and was required to teach this to my students. I don't know who suffered more, me or them. To be fair, as one of America's first novels, it has interesting elements and Hawthorne does a good job. On the other hand, it is excruciating to read. There is no suspense, little to sympathize or empathize with, and even less to enjoy. A better writer could have told the same story in half the number of pages. Some have labelled this book a tragedy; they are right only in the sense that it is tragically bad. And lastly, a one star review which I loved just for its title: 1.0 out of 5 stars How Can Sex and Sin Be So Boring?, March 6, 2001By NaturalCurl (Texas)