Customer Reviews

Sister Carrie

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Okay, I'll admit it: I'm normally one to stick with the bestseller or current Oprah list suggestion; books like "The Da Vinci Code" or "The Bark of the Dogwood." And while those books were enjoyable, I will go back and visit (or re-visit) the "classics." Such is the case with "Sister Carrie." At first I was afraid this was going to be some turn-of-the-century, stodgy, "Oh, My! Look at that!" type of novel. Boy, was I wrong. This is one great book, and Dreiser not only gets down and dirty with the material, but presents it in a non-preachy way that will knock your socks off.

T.Dreiser is without a doubt, one of the most underappreciated authors ever to grace the American scene. This book is, or should be, on the same level as "To Kill A Mockingbird" or "Grapes of Wrath." I highly, highly, highly (can you tell I liked it?) recommend this book to you.

Sister Carrie is a lovely book. It tells a rather profound story--placed specifically in its time, which was of course the 'Modern Day' for the time it was written. As a result a book that was once a critical document of patterns of behavior of some of the author's contemporaries has become, for better or worse, an important historical chronical of the dangers of selfishness and uninhibited personal ambition. Oh, the story is no longer anything unfamiliar, but the grounding and the character studies make this book very affecting and, true to the ideals of its unfortunate literary designation of 'Naturalism' (a meaningless term which limits instead of explains a readers' expectation, much in the way that science-fiction or horror classify something as not necessisarily what it in fact is), this is a very believable and realistic story.

The writing itself, as other readers and critics throughout the past one hundred years or so have repeated when attempting to find fault with Sister Carrie, isn't the most impressive thing about the book. However, in its defense, the cut and dry, occasionally pasted on moments of philosophical conversation and the rugged and perhaps at times inconsistant speech patterns of the various characters somehow, for me, created an even more believable picture, zoning in on those people who attempt to speak both above and beneath their social class and educational backgrounds for either personal gain or in a futile effort to 'fit in'.

A wonderful book, because of its flaws, in fact, that reads like a quick-paced and absorbing tale always on the verge of tragedy. That tension, that what-will-happen-next feeling pervades throughout the book and concludes by providing quite an impact indeed.

In my English 3 honors class, we had to pick a novel out of a list, and then do a big project on it. I chose this book, because the summary that my teacher gave me made it look very interesting. This book took me so long to read, but I still enjoyed it! It ends totally different from the how it starts and there was no way to predict what was going to happen. I'd heard that this book was banned by some when it came out, I didn't find it offensive at all. Maybe women were'nt allowed to have affairs back then?! Overall, I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to any book lover!

Sometimes you are told to read a book because it is a classic and then it turns out to be really awful. 'Sister Carrie' is a classic, written in 1900. And it still is...

it is the great story of Carrie, a Midwestern girl who moves to Chicago, moves in with a man, gets stolen in a way by someone else and moves to New York. It is a story about wealth and poverty and many opposites. She makes her own life, starts out poor and living with her sister to becoming a succesful Broadway star while her husband in NY ends poor and eventually commits suicide.

I didn't like it as much as 'An American Tragedy' but it is still very good.

This book is an interesting commentary on class relations at the beginning of the 20th century. Having been written at the time, I never got the impression that the author was stretching to capture the ethos of the period. The story of a girl leaving home life to escape poverty and experiencing many changes is one that can also be seen in Hardy's Tess D'Ubervilles and Shaw's Pigmalion. In fact, the author was influenced by those authors. The evolution of the characters is delicately written and extremely convincing. My one complaint would be that the characters are somewhat transparent in terms of their emotions and desires.

Wow. I can't believe how many reviews have been written about this book!

I would recommend this book to people interested in the concept of the city. Although its notoriety stems from its "naturalistic" depiction of the characters, I thought it was the depcition of the urban environment of Chicago and New York which stood out.

While the intertwined fates of Carrie, Drouet and Hurstwood occupy the foreground of this book, I found myself consistently drawn to the back ground.

Since Dreiser came up as a newspaperman, this makes a certain amount of sense.

The details that Dreiser includes about the day-to-day life in the big city at the turn of the century were worth the price of admission, so to speak. The plot of the novel, concerning Carrie and her rise and fall and rise, was less notable, as far as I'm concerned.

This is not a short book, and some of the economic turmoil suffered by the characters tapped in to a larger well spring of fear and anxiety about social status that many Americans(including myself) share.

While not what I would call a "fun" read, it is fairly light, and certainly worthwhile.

Sister Carrie is a serious, thoughtful look at the role of money in the lives of men and women at the turn of the century. It delves into a number of serious themes: poverty, loss of wealth, role of women in society, urban culture. The characters, particularly Carrie herself, are well drawn and memorable.
However, the book is not the easiest read nor is the language the most elegant. An important, if not imperative, read-

Classic story of small town girl comes to the big city to make her fortune. Written in the same realistic style that Dreisser used in An American Tragedy, Sister Carrie offers more for the reader to digest.

Carrie arrives in Chicago to stay with a sister and her family and quickly realizes that the city is not as galmorous and she had dreamed. Fortunately for Carrie she possesses characteristics that will help her-charm and beauty. She is immediately sought out by a fast talking salesman who takes Carrie in and introduces her to a glimpse of the good life. Through Charley Druitt, Carrie meets and becomes romantically involved with George Hurstwood, a successful yet married, businessman.

George gives up all for Carrie and spirits her away from Chicago; eventually to New York where they settle. In New York Carrie and Hurstwood's lives spiral in oppossite directions. While Carrie embarks on a successful stage career, Hurstwood suffers a series of bad luck and is undone by it.Even with her professional success, true happiness alludes Carrie.

I finished it last weekend, it is not that difficult to read word wise but after you read it you have to digest all they Dreiser is saying. He is sending many messages through the plot that I realized at the end, you could really discuss the book forever because (published in 1900) it deals with all of the many changes in society.

Some think of Carrie as a heroine but I dont think so. I did not really like her throughout the book until the end because she is sort of punished in a way (dont want to spoil it). She really was not proactive and destoryed almost everyone in her path.

I like how sometimes at the end of chapters and at the ednd of the tome Dreiser will generally speak about the message he is deliverering.

IF YOU ARE VACILLATING on wether (sp?) to read this or not, question your motives and what type of lit you like. It was interesting becuase I haven't read much from this time period. I would say if you have free time or are trying to educate yourself because the catholic school you attend is terrible and cenosred then go ahead.

It is like an ice cream sunday compared to the junk that is forced down your throat in my school. Indulge.

When reading booklists (one of my fav. hobbies) I came across this title and the review was somthing like a lover's life rises as her partner (Drouet) declines. I am only about 220/473 pgs. I was quite dissapointed at first but now there is immense action that is quite enthralling. I can't wait to finish, partly so I can read another novel.