Theodor Dreiser, 1900 Date Read: 11/25/2022
[spoiler] A very young woman, Carrie, is seduced by a man. His friend eventually seduces her and essentially kidnaps her after stealing a ton of money and abandoning his family. Carrie ends up making it big as an actress and her second seducer ends up committing suicide after several years of homelessness and extreme poverty. [/spoiler]
I'm not at all sure what I think of this story. I am also not sure what the author intended one to think of it. I think his purpose was to show how badly people fuck up their own lives by wanting too much. And as Carrie ends up getting everything she ever wanted, but still isn't happy, I also think he was trying to show how living in an ideal future instead of living in your actual life isn't a good idea.
But again, I'm not sure.
As so many other novels I've read so far on this list, this one is also very sad and mostly constructed of awful people being awful to each other. I don't think anyone in the entire novel demonstrated any love or familial feeling. Even Carrie's sister was more wrapped up in running a household and obeying her husband to expend any thought for her own sister.
This is highly accurate of actual life and not a complaint, by the way. Most people are so deep into their own thoughts and lives and dreams that they rarely surface to acknowledge the reality of other people.
In all, I did enjoy reading most of this novel. The parts where Carrie and George were struggling to make ends meet and each falling further and further into depression really hit a little too close to home for me, as that describes much of my first marriage.
Length: Read on Google Books
ReReadability: I may read this one again
Classic: Yes, and extremely well written. The author clearly has spent a lot of time studying humans and portrayed them very accurately.
Comments