Reviews

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

prettyfairygirl's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ghostduchess's review

3.0

I listened to the audiobook. Good lord, this is a 34 hour listen. It's okay, but there's more detail than needed at times. At other times, it seems to attempt a "memory" type passage, but it's just a repeat of previous information.

hamsterpuppy72's review

informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

kkaste's review

informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

jmartin31545's review

challenging 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? Yes

3.0

swamp_witch's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No

2.0

princewales's review against another edition

2.0

Всю дорогу меня раздражал и бесил Клайд, но так и надо, наверное. И очень, очень-очень жаль его мать.

varvara's review against another edition

2.0

To be honest, I hated this book. I hated the repetitive writing style: the same words Dreiser used 3-5 times in 10-15 pages (presumably to get his point across better); the way Clyde's story was told and retold again and again (by him - several times to different people, his attorney, the prosecutor, and all of that - after we'd just read all about it).
I hated Clyde with passion; a weak, vain, pretentious wannabe, who thought only of himself at all times, blamed everyone else but himself for everything wrong in his life, and wasn't even smart enough to make him a little bit interesting. I think I finished "An American Tragedy" purely out of spite, as I hoped he'd be punished for his stupidity in the end.
I hated the name of the book; I'd rather call it "A Usual Story", as nothing behind Clyde's motivations was surprising or new to me.
I liked that Dreiser was really good at creating the mindscape of his main character; it felt like being inside Clyde's head at all times (which was not a pleasant experience for me, but still).
But all of these wouldn't be too much of a problem if not for the LENGTH of this book. If it were a 100-300-page-long story, it would be an interesting journey inside of the mind of a common, not-too-bright guy of the era (and probably there wouldn't be enough space for all the repetitions). As it is, I grew extremely tired of the story long before it was anywhere near its ending.

yeagleyreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

jschmidt10's review

5.0

One of my all-time favorite books.