Re-reading The Scarlet Letter

So I'm currently re-reading The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I'm pretty sure every kid in America had to read this classic at some point during his or her pre-college education, and for good reason. Hawthorne is definitely a genius with words. Even his Introductory chapter, "The Custom House," has some brilliant moments in it. However, reading it again as an adult, without being forced to by a public education syllabus, allows me to be a bit more rationally critical. And I just have to ask: Does anyone else think he kind of blathers on a little too much? I mean, some of these chapters are rather repetitive. I know writers were more verbose at that time, but still. I think this novel could actually be quite a bit shorter. But maybe that's just me.