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dbluminberg's review against another edition
3.0
Jennie, a young woman whose working class family is having a very tough time, uses her beauty and sensuality to help out.
karinasvirko's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
figaro's review against another edition
5.0
One of the more powerful novels I have ever read. Dreiser's characters are extremely well drawn--and that is the strongest aspect of the novel. Jennie and Lester, the main protagonists, are especially real, sympathetic, and deep. Many of the secondary characters are equally engaging, especially Jennie's crusty German father.
A magnificent meditation on the vagaries of fate and the inescapable limits upon human freedom, due to society and birth. Highly recommended.
A magnificent meditation on the vagaries of fate and the inescapable limits upon human freedom, due to society and birth. Highly recommended.
internetnomads's review against another edition
2.0
I got bored. You know this novel, the one with the girl who is sent to her own destruction inch by inch by the tightening walls of Victorian propriety. By the time Dreiser's feet arrived on this road it was very well-trod. This genre should have been hung in the rafters after [b:Tess of the d'Urbervilles|32261|Tess of the d'Urbervilles|Thomas Hardy|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358921541s/32261.jpg|3331021].
deegee24's review against another edition
5.0
This is a masterpiece by one of the greatest American novelists of all time. Dreiser is often derided by other writers for the awkwardness of his prose. This complaint is wildly overblown. It is true that Dreiser's prose style is often plain and occasionally clunky. It is also true that he sometimes interjects with half-baked evolutionary and economic theories as metanarrative. But "bad Faulkner" and "bad Conrad" are no less pompous and distracting than bad Dreiser. Dreiser is capable of some truly beautiful prose passages and writes more authentic dialogue than probably anyone. Furthermore, the sentence fetishists overlook Dreiser's exceptional skill at other fundamentals of fiction writing--such as narrative pacing, characterization, moral and psychological complexity, and world building. When you are first introduced to Jennie Gerhardt, she is a young, first-generation American girl looking for work as a hotel maid alongside her mother. You follow her epic journey as she is seduced by two powerful men. But although she is not exactly in control of her own destiny, her individual qualities are not fully extinguished by the end of the novel. She is as much a survivor as she is a victim--and the men in her life are shown to be deeply scarred by the diminishing spiritual and emotional rewards of material success in the Gilded Age. This is very different than, say, Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, which is a much simpler and less insightful textbook case of literary naturalism.
linotypejuliana's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.5
socorrobaptista's review against another edition
3.0
Uma narrativa interessante, que nos mostra as agruras de uma jovem bela e pobre obrigada a sobreviver em um mundo dominado pelos preconceitos e intolerâncias de uma sociedade patriarcal e conservadora.
evalwymmd's review against another edition
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25