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A review by varvara
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
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.
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.