Nathaniel Hawthorne
All I can say is that I simply adore Nathaniel Hawthorne. Adore him.
In high school, I read The Scarlet Letter. In college, two of the books we were supposed to read (but never got to) were The Blithedale Romance and The House of the Seven Gables. I very much enjoyed The Scarlet Letter, but never read the other two. I started them both several times, but just couldn’t keep my concentration because the language is from the mid-1800s.
I guess I’m finally old enough that either I get the language better or just have more patience for it, but I’m finally getting through Blithedale. I’ve wanted to read this one in particular for a while because of its subject matter — a group of people trying to live on a commune. It’s based on a real commune with which Hawthorne was associated prior to writing the book.
This man is excellent at making a political point but not shoving it down his readers’ throats. It’s just a story, but it says a lot about the subject. I think, in today’s world, this is a must-read. And I will add that everyone should also read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.
I won’t give you all my thoughts on these books because I think you should all draw your own conclusions. I think you’re all smart enough to figure it out. 
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