jenmcmaynes 's review for:

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

2.0

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Ugh. Carrie is such a passive character; nearly every major decision in her life (living with Drouet, “marrying” Hurstwood, taking to the stage) was made for her by others. Also, though she is the “main” character, I think more time was given to Hurstwood and his fall from respectability and comfort, which at times bordered on the unbelievable (a man who thinks himself too good to work as a bar tender decides instead to be a lower class scab during a trolley strike? I don’t think so.). There are hundreds of pages of not much happening; the story finally picks up when Carrie makes a name for herself as an actress, mostly because at last, something is finally happening! Honestly, there isn’t much to recommend this story, except the setting and time: it is an interesting look at urban life and work coming into the 20th century.