Book Reviews! Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy

Okay, this won't really be a review, but more like a reaction...I hate spoilers sooo much that I don't think I can write a real review, as that would require me to give away plot and character details. Plus, obviously these are "good" books: both are American classics.

When I read a book or pick a movie to watch, I aim to know as absolutely little about it as possible. I never read the back or watch trailers if I can help it. Basically, if it's by an author I like, a genre I enjoy, and maybe the setting appeals to me, I'm ALL IN.

So...that brings me to Theodore Dreiser.

Careful, Theodore! I think that room you're in
might be haunted!!

Dreiser was an American fella who wrote throughout the early 20th Century. He lived from 1871-1945.

His novels are part of realist/naturalist movement. In a nutshell, that means that you can expect ideas about environment and heredity affecting characters, their ambitions and place in society. Naturalism exists kind of in contrast to other movements from around the same time, such as Surrealism or Romanticism.

These are my favourite kinds of novels!! They can be a little pessimistic and depressing, but I'm just really interested in what happens to characters when they chase their ambitions in different environments. Also, for some reason, I just love stories set in oldie-times America or Europe. I also really like stories that show class differences and what happens when oldie-times people try to move between classes. I think it's because Annie was one of my first and most beloved movies ever. Got bit by the bug, I guess...

This pic is so cool. I would get a poster of it if I could...

So, I've spent the past three weeks or so reading these two novels. I started with Sister Carrie because I heard a podcast where they said I should read it, and I agreed with that assessment. It was written in 1900, but is set in 1890: my kind of book!

Without spoiling too much, it is really, really good if you like books about people and environments. Otherwise, you will probably find it boring.

I LOVED it!

Sister Carrie is a teen-aged girl (before that was really a thing), who leaves the farm to seek...something...in Chicago. The book opens on her train journey towards a new life, and that's all the spoiling you'll get from me!!

There are several characters who get the unlimited omniscient treatment, which is something I always enjoy. Good things happen, bad things happen, and I kept reading and reading and reading. Highly recommend!

Would you trust this man?

I liked Sister Carrie soooo much that I was disappointed when it ended - not by the ending, but that there was no more book left to read. And also a little bit by the ending. Thus, I opened up the Kindle store and bought An American Tragedy, hoping to keep the good times rolling. ("Good times" really in no way relating to the content of the stories.) It was like $6 because it's super-old...nobody wants to read it anymore? Sad...

The downside of e-reading: no page numbers! Boooo. Your progress through the novel is represented in a percentage that you can tap on the bottom of the screen to see. Due to my aforementioned hatred of spoilers, even those that relate to book length, I never look at the percentage read display. However, I suppose there is some subconscious security that I get from a paperback book, where I know approximately where I am in the progression of the story. This only bothers me in longer novels, and holy smokes this novel is LOOOONNNGGGG! The mass market paperback offered on Amazon shows it at 896 pages. I just kept thinking it was almost over, then...more book! It's actually 3 books in one, and each really is a stand-alone story in the main character's life, building on what came before it.

I totally enjoyed this novel, and would recommend it to readers who have a lot of time to devote to it. You spend so long reading it, it's like you will miss it when it's over...lots of good and bad things happen. Dreiser is especially good at creating a sort-of anti-hero: a character who does some horrible things, but you kind of understand his mind and background, and maybe root for him a little bit. You end up feeling sympathy, empathy, disgust, horror, love, sadness...what a ride! This book also gave me lots to think about regarding the title. What is the nature of tragedy? In what myriad ways is this book tragic? Why is this specifically an "American" tragedy? Well done, Mr. Dreiser!

This is the Green-Davidson Hotel in Kansas City, where Clyde gets his first
taste of the good life.

BTW - fair warning - this is *not* a feel-good story. But I guess you could probably guess that from the title.

One thing I think is interesting about this novel (written in 1925) compared to Sister Carrie (1900) is how much more explicitly Dreiser is able to portray the romantic relationships. I mean, it's not exactly 50 Shades of Gray or anything (which, my grandmother, Rainy, gleefully declares to be "absolutely filthy!"), but in the earlier novel, while "inappropriate" adult relationships are apparent, they are never directly described or addressed. Here, they are not only alluded to, but also "explicitly" described in the most artful and subtle way. Surprisingly (or not) it was banned in Boston in 1927 for being obscene.

Ain't no bellhops here.

This is interesting, also, when compared to the reaction to D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. An American Tragedy is not even close to as, um, "romantically detailed" as Lady Chatterley's Lover, which was written only three years later, and is waaay more explicit. Lawrence's novel was published in an edited form in 1930 the US, and eventually published unabridged in the UK in 1958. Penguin Publishing faced an obscenity lawsuit for publishing it, but was eventually found not guilty of publishing obscene material.  Contrastingly, with An American Tragedy, an assistant editor to the publisher was actually convicted for "selling an obscene, indecent or impure book", a conviction that was later upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Is it possible that Americans were more conservative than Europeans back then? (Hmmm...)

Anyway, don't seek out this novel if you're looking for juicy affairs or anything: check out 50 Shades or one of its hundreds of knock-offs for that. However, if you want a compelling and interesting plot, insanely developed character study, and a book that will consume many, many hours of your life, An American Tragedy is the book for you!

What are you reading this summer? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!! xoxo