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A review by shoelessmama
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
3.0
I can see why this novel is considered a classic of American literature. This is a mammoth sized book and yet my interest never flagged- not even once. I had strong feelings about every single character and the writing was brilliant. It gets less than perfect stars from me through no fault of the author. I just wasn't feeling the subject matter at this point in my life. I found it depressing. Especially knowing from page one what the outcome was going to be. It was like Pinocchio with adult themes and an unhappy ending. That being said I think this will make an excellent discussion for book club which I'm really looking forward to.
**Okay, I have to qualify one thing about the writing... I really hated a lot of the dialogue- Golly gee it really dated this novel. I also got a little annoyed at the overuse of the word (in all forms) "compel" by the end. Why was every character constantly "compelled"? I kept hearing the priest in "Just Like Heaven" (you know, the one where Reese Witherspoon is in a coma and haunting Mark Ruffalo) saying "The power of Christ compels you!!!" while shaking holy water around the apartment trying to get the less than amused Reese to leave off.
**Okay, I have to qualify one thing about the writing... I really hated a lot of the dialogue- Golly gee it really dated this novel. I also got a little annoyed at the overuse of the word (in all forms) "compel" by the end. Why was every character constantly "compelled"? I kept hearing the priest in "Just Like Heaven" (you know, the one where Reese Witherspoon is in a coma and haunting Mark Ruffalo) saying "The power of Christ compels you!!!" while shaking holy water around the apartment trying to get the less than amused Reese to leave off.