Rappaccini's Daughter

The Chain · #1 10-18-2003, 09:57 PM

Anyone read this book, that, (You all no this) inspired Running Through The Garden? I just finished. Stevie did a really nice interpretation... And all in all, it's just a good book. Did anyone catch the phrase in the story"untill she herself became the deadliest poison"...

dissention · #2 10-18-2003, 10:25 PM

Personally, I think it's better than "The Scarlett Letter," which is one of my all-time favorites (except for the Customs House in the beginning).

RD is just engrossing from the minute you pick it up! Very original and utterly fantastic. I think the last few pages are genius. And the ending is one of the most satisfying I've ever read (yet some people disagree with me and hate the ending!!).

I think Nancy (sodascouts) said she read it, too.

sodascouts · #3 10-19-2003, 12:10 AM

Yeah, I read it for a class back in '99. I liked the story so much that, when I heard the demo, I knew what it was based on immediately.

Here is the link to it: http://www.bartleby.com/310/1/3000.html

I especially love this passage:

"Whether or no Beatrice possessed those terrible attributes, that fatal breath, the affinity with those so beautiful and deadly flowers which were indicated by what Giovanni had witnessed, she had at least instilled a fierce and subtle poison into his system. It was not love, although her rich beauty was a madness to him; nor horror, even while he fancied her spirit to be imbued with the same baneful essence that seemed to pervade her physical frame; but a wild offspring of both love and horror that had each parent in it, and burned like one and shivered like the other....this lovely woman...had been nourished with poisons from her birth upward, until her whole nature was so imbued with them that she herself had become the deadliest poison in existence."

Great story! Great song!

P.S. All my friends in the English Dept. (even those who don't really appreciate FM) LOVE this song! lol

The Chain · #4 10-19-2003, 01:15 AM

Quote:

And the ending is one of the most satisfying I've ever read (yet some people disagree with me and hate the ending!!).

I hated the ending!

But than again, I thought the story was too short, so maybe, it's just the timing of the ending? You know what I mean. But the overall story is awsome.

sodascouts · #5 10-19-2003, 01:28 AM

I prefer a happy ending myself - but it's a great story anyway.

DownOnRodeo · #6 10-19-2003, 04:15 AM

I wish it was still 'Don't touch me!!' instead of 'Turn Around!', but then I'm so used to the latter now.
I skim-read the version Nancy linked to back when she first made us aware of it.

Don't forget the other Rappacini connection either ... Was it Livia who brought this up? The 'Every Day' video is pretty clearly based on the same story.

darklinensuit · #7 10-19-2003, 04:35 AM

I read it when I bought the demo a few years ago. I've never been a big Hawthorne fan. On Thursday I was discussing this song & story with a colleague who teaches English. She has not read this short story but is more appalled that I have never read the scarlet books.

- Jake

golden braid · #8 10-20-2003, 12:36 PM

Nancy, thanks for posting a link to the story. I just finished reading it and really enjoyed it. And I liked the ending too.