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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy both explore the American Dream (or, simply, young aspirations) gone awry. The latter is largely viewed as a major success for Dreiser and for 20th Century realist American literature (I say, not being an American). The former, as I understand it, was more of a financial failure.
I do not understand why. The desitute rocking chair is just as despairing an end as an electric one. What is done sensationally in Tragedy is done softly, almost meditatively, in Carrie. Perhaps the backstory build-up is more intense in the former, as allegiances shift in the reader. But, I don't know, could we not say that of Drouet and Hurstwood in the latter?
At the same time, the religiosity and construct of sucess DOES make Tragedy the richer read. But then, Carrie was one of his first. And I confess the conclusion of Carrie is a bit didactic, but to me, that fit with the tone. Again, we had our morals fixed in place from the start: do we need the bangs and crashes in order to illustrate this is NOT a how-to guide?
"Carrie passed along the busy aisles, nuch affected by the remarkable displays of trinkets, dress goods, stationery, and jewelry... She could not help feeling the claim of each trinket and valuable upon her personally, and yet she did not stop. Thete was nothing there which she could not have used - nothing which she did not long to own" (p. 31)
"How true it is that words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Little audible links, they are, chaining together great inaudible feelings and purposes" (p. 11)
I do not understand why.
At the same time, the religiosity and construct of sucess DOES make Tragedy the richer read. But then, Carrie was one of his first. And I confess the conclusion of Carrie is a bit didactic, but to me, that fit with the tone. Again, we had our morals fixed in place from the start: do we need the bangs and crashes in order to illustrate this is NOT a how-to guide?
"Carrie passed along the busy aisles, nuch affected by the remarkable displays of trinkets, dress goods, stationery, and jewelry... She could not help feeling the claim of each trinket and valuable upon her personally, and yet she did not stop. Thete was nothing there which she could not have used - nothing which she did not long to own" (p. 31)
"How true it is that words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Little audible links, they are, chaining together great inaudible feelings and purposes" (p. 11)
A failure and a success. A drifting mind, or a firm decision? What is it that drives us? Is it our instinct? Is it our most primal and animal instinct that drifts us towards new opportunities, that drifts us to the next point in our life? Or is it a firm decision of our mind, a thoughtful decision we make? Who are we? The world surrounds us, and defines us - or do we define the world?
Theodore Dreiser dives in the human being, and presents the reader with a disturbing story depicting the always lost, always demanding, always searching and always desiring soul that dwells in each and every one of us. The characters in this story are as human as they can possibly be - they struggle, they drift and they decide, they make fatal mistakes, they have good or bad luck - but most of the time, they are indecisively rocking in the rocking chair, while thinking about life and its possibilites, terribly afraid to move because they realize that a next step can change everything. This is what makes Dreiser's characters so real - this constant struggle with everything, the fear of rejection, the fear of poverty and fall - this is what makes them arise from the paper in their strikingly terrifying realistic form.
If you could unveil the souls of the people you know - what would you see? Who are we? What do our actions tell us about ourselves? One bad decision and your fate can change in a blink of an eye. Sister Carrie will take you on a ride through the shabby corners of the human mind, through the unwelcoming streets of New York, through the wealth and poverty - and it will leave you wondering: what if ... Ahhh, to be confronted with the harsh reality in its purest form, to shiver and think it all over again, hearing two voices in your head as Hurstwood, Carrie, Drouet, your mom, your friend, your teacher do - as every human being does. Welcome to the mess that comes along with our ability to think - and decide.
Theodore Dreiser dives in the human being, and presents the reader with a disturbing story depicting the always lost, always demanding, always searching and always desiring soul that dwells in each and every one of us. The characters in this story are as human as they can possibly be - they struggle, they drift and they decide, they make fatal mistakes, they have good or bad luck - but most of the time, they are indecisively rocking in the rocking chair, while thinking about life and its possibilites, terribly afraid to move because they realize that a next step can change everything. This is what makes Dreiser's characters so real - this constant struggle with everything, the fear of rejection, the fear of poverty and fall - this is what makes them arise from the paper in their strikingly terrifying realistic form.
If you could unveil the souls of the people you know - what would you see? Who are we? What do our actions tell us about ourselves? One bad decision and your fate can change in a blink of an eye. Sister Carrie will take you on a ride through the shabby corners of the human mind, through the unwelcoming streets of New York, through the wealth and poverty - and it will leave you wondering: what if ... Ahhh, to be confronted with the harsh reality in its purest form, to shiver and think it all over again, hearing two voices in your head as Hurstwood, Carrie, Drouet, your mom, your friend, your teacher do - as every human being does. Welcome to the mess that comes along with our ability to think - and decide.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things. Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better, or she rapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse. Of an intermediate balance, under the circumstances, there is no possibility.”
This book is as much about Carrie Meeber, the young woman who comes from rural Wisconsin to Chicago in the 1880s as it is about George Hurstwood, the older married Chicago business manager who falls for her. What I liked most about this book was its time capsule quality. Dreiser really brought the streets of the nascent Second City to life and later those of New York as well. He gave me a glimpse of how some people lived during those times and, sometimes down to the penny, what a dollar could get you and where. I liked those details. The plotting was a little hackneyed maybe, but overall I appreciated this classic novel and especially I appreciated Dreiser’s non-judgmental stance.
Another book from the Modern Library list of the 100 best English-language novels published during the 20th century
I never wrote a review for this book because I read it when I was younger and didn't even know about Goodreads nor did I know good English :D I recently found my book, it was in my native language (Azeri) and remembered how much I enjoyed reading it. For all I remember it was about the struggles of a young girl who wanted to be famous and had to get through a lot to achieve her dreams. It was a great read, I always remember it fondly.
I tend to have a different way of rating "classic" books to contemporary novels. This one gets three stars because it was not altogether an enjoyable experience. It was incredibly interesting from a contextual point of view, as it was pushing the boundaries of the time in an innovative way. Having said that, its then progressiveness is now far behind the times and while I am more than used to blatant misogyny in the books I read the narrator's blunt and assertive commentary on the female sex was grating and difficult to get around. My personal favourite was "A woman should some day write the complete philosophy of clothes. No matter how young, it is one of the things she wholly comprehends." I really enjoyed the way it explored the few options available to both the working class, to women, and especially to working class women. In particular, I thought the critique of the commercialisation of sexuality was really fascinating.
On the whole, the flaws of the text are flaws that are pretty much universal to texts of the period. The biggest fault I had with it was the lack of concise and selective writing. No one reading this book is under any illusions about its size but when it dedicates a whole chapter to the specific dialogue of a play or a character getting a shave it becomes quite tedious and wordy.
It was not the best book I have ever read and it was certainly not the most enjoyable however it is one that I am glad to have read and though I am not in a hurry to reread it, I certainly recommend it to anyone who has not read it before.
On the whole, the flaws of the text are flaws that are pretty much universal to texts of the period. The biggest fault I had with it was the lack of concise and selective writing. No one reading this book is under any illusions about its size but when it dedicates a whole chapter to the specific dialogue of a play or a character getting a shave it becomes quite tedious and wordy.
It was not the best book I have ever read and it was certainly not the most enjoyable however it is one that I am glad to have read and though I am not in a hurry to reread it, I certainly recommend it to anyone who has not read it before.
Read for my American lit class, I sunk many hours into this book. The narrator is condescending and snide and the story is droll and annoying.
3.75. Would have been 3.5, but the ending was very good, though depressing. No one will ever be happy.