A review by readfineprint
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

5.0

An American Tragedy is one of my all time favorite books, but I’m due a reread because not only have I never heard a single person talk about it on bookstagram, in real life I’ve never met anyone who has read it. So I read it years ago and now I’m doubting myself, but the EIizabeth Taylor movie made of this book won six Oscars so there’s that. Don’t look it up unless you want to know the entire plot of the book.
❤️
I remember I approached an English teacher about how it would be a perfect classic for her students to read😂. I’m kinda embarrassed about that now but I guess I was passionate!
❤️
It’s about a boy who forfeits his life for the American dream, and also about an America that made him want to do it. It made me think about why I want certain things in life, and how badly I want them, and what extent would I go to to get them? I don’t want to give you a single spoiler just in case you don’t know this plot, because it really is sad and chilling and a little twisted.
❤️
After An American Tragedy I read Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and I enjoyed it too, but not as much as Tragedy. On Goodreads it says Dreiser is known for, “portraying characters whose value lies not in their moral code, but in their persistence against all obstacles, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency.” I don’t know about all that but it sure sounds smart! I just know #thisbookhasmy❤️