SALEM — It isn't his most famous, but "The House of the Seven Gables" might be the story that most reflects Nathaniel Hawthorne's Salem roots — as well as his deep misgivings about them.
"The Scarlet Letter," his masterpiece, revolves around the Puritanism that took root here — but it's actually set in Boston. "Gables," meanwhile, is not only a Salem story, it refers to a specific Salem house, still in existence and open for tours. It turns on what the Puritan leader Cotton Mather referred to as "the wonders of the invisible world," a belief in the supernatural, a faith prominent in this city today.
If any find this intriguing, they might consider spending some of the Fourth of July at The House of the Seven Gables visitor center on Derby Street, where Hawthorne fans and scholars will conduct a marathon reading of the book from beginning to end, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The literary fun starts with Executive Director Anita Blackaby's rendering of the opening paragraph, a description of the ancient house. Picking up the thread later will be people like Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, novelist Brunonia Barry ("The Lace Reader") and state Rep. John Keenan, D-Salem.
"We want to revitalize the public's interest in this book," said Amy Waywell, the house's director of visitor services and marketing. "That's why this reading is happening."
Public readings were a popular entertainment during Hawthorne's times, said Nancy Schultz, chairwoman of the Salem State University English Department. "And what better way to commemorate a writer than to have his books read aloud?"
This reading comes on the 160th anniversary of the book's publication and, of course, on the birthday of the author, Salem's most famous son, who was born in 1804.
It also provides a less obvious benefit, Schultz said, in that each reader brings an individual interpretation to the text. Thus, giving a listen offers a chance to see the story through someone else's eyes. "It really is going to open the book up in interesting ways."
Hawthorne's story is fiction, but he made the house a character, as vivid as the several colorful individuals within. In reality, it belonged to cousins, the Ingersolls. It was a place he visited as a youth.
Meanwhile, the fictional owners, the Pyncheon family, are haunted by the fact their ancestor prospered in condemning Matthew Maule to death as a witch, gaining his land. This is the sin that mirrors Hawthorne family history with its real-life ancestors notorious for persecuting Indians, Quakers and accused witches.
It's said Nathaniel Hawthorne changed the spelling of his name to separate himself from people like the so-called "hanging Judge John Hathorne" of the witch trials.
"In 'The House of the Seven Gables,' Hawthorne grapples with the history of his own family," said Schultz, author of the new book "Mrs. Mattingly's Miracle: The Prince, the Widow, and the Cure That Shocked Washington City." "And the way a curse can be passed down from one generation to another."
That might seem a theme from another era, alien to our age of science. Why should the sins of past generations be visited on people alive today? It defies our sense of justice. Yet, despite all that, it's a theme that resonates. Just as the savage self-righteousness of his ancestors haunted Hawthorne, so the slavery of his time has haunted our own.
And Schultz notes that decisions made today, about the environment or the nation's collective debt, will trouble those who come after us just as the curse Matthew Maule hurled at Judge Pyncheon — "God will give him blood drink" — bedeviled his descendants.
Raw Video: Hail Storm Batters Oklahoma City
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
On Thailand Trip, Suu Kyi Visits Migrants
Raw Video: Pink Diamond Auctioned for $17.4M
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
