Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Ever have one of those reading experiences where you're all, This Is Fine But Not Magnificent WHILE you're reading, but when it's over you're all, THAT WAS THE GREATEST OF THE GREATS. Sister Carrie is that thing.

It was written in 1900, that awkward-time-for-books era when authors were all VICTORIAN MORALS, I DECRY YOU! And readers were all, LOLWUT? Theodore Dreiser was a naturalist, so he abandoned the whole Victorian idea of every tale having a moral and every sinner getting their due, and instead wrote about...real life? I am a fan of this (but I am also a fan of Victorian moralizing, truth be told, so I guess what I'm saying is I like All The Books). His realism led to Sister Carrie, the tale of a young woman sleeping around a good bit until she strikes it rich, being censored and not selling well at all (actually, his publisher tried to pull the publication because his wife found it "sordid").

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The main complaint was that Carrie never gets what's a-coming to her. Which. Not really sure what that is. Poverty and death, surely.

ANYWOOT. So Sister Carrie is about...Carrie...who moves to Chicago to work and live and generally do Things In The Big City. Like you do. Then she meets a MAN with nice CLOTHES who buys her THINGS and...well, we know where this is heading, don't we? Then she meets ANOTHER MAN who ALSO HAS DOLLARS and her first MAN is all EEXXCCUUUSSE ME? [Spoilers below]

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And there are many shenanigans, most of which are depressing but beautiful but mostly really, really depressing. She runs away with man number two, who tricks her into fake marrying him, and they set up shop in New York City. He spirals down into poverty while Carrie spirals up into fame on the stage. Eventually, man number two ends up homeless and Carrie ends up having everything she ever wanted- mainly money and comfort- but finds that she is still unhappy END SPOILERS. Carrie's a fascinating character- she's irritating, but in a way that your younger sister who makes bad decisions but who is still lovable and charming and feisty is irritating. Man Number Two is ALSO fascinating, and watching his fall from grace is just heartbreaking.

This is a VERY APPROPRIATE companion to The Great Gatsby. They're both ultimately about how chasing the American Dream is ultimately unfulfilling and probably impossible. Which is true. And I like books that are Truthy.

Five stars out of your mom
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19 comments:

  1. I love Sister Carrie. Another book that I liked for similar reasons is McTeague by Frank Norris, which is essentially CRAZINESS.

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    1. That is on my shelf. Craziness is a great way to move it up the list...

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  2. I liked reading your review far more than I remember liking reading Sister Carrie. Then again, I haven't read it since 9th or 10th grade English (had the same teacher for both grade and thus cannot remember when I read it). Oddly enough, my 15 year old self wasn't drawing many conclusions about truthiness and the the American Dream.

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    1. I also drew no conclusions from what I read for school freshman year...Bless Me, Ultima? Really? All I drew from that was that owls are fucked up. Or something.

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  3. Victorian moralizing, why do I love you so much? YOU ARE SO JUDGY AND YET YOU HAVE WON MY HEART.

    Also, please close your quote marks after 'sordid' so that I can sleep tonight.

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    1. GAH! FIXED. And I just don't know what it is about Le Moralizing. That scene when what's-his-name (her father) finds Lil' Emily in DAVID COPPERFIELD after she's run away with some guy and everyone's all THAT WHORE and her Dad's all I LOVE YOU AND DON'T CARE- I WEEP. And I also go- everyone except Dad is stupid. BUT I STILL WEEP.

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  4. Great review! I've been meaning to read this for some time. I took a "Rise of the Victorian Novel" class in college where we read Pamela (among others) and my professor was like if you like Pamela you should read Sister Carrie...and I now see the similarities. Fake weddings, men that buy girls things, Victorian Judge-iness, etc. Plus, you have to love Victorian novels that make the woman the winner (i.e. financially independent, if not happy) rather than the man (says my inner feminist).

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    1. YOU DO HAVE TO LOVE THESE THINGS. This is why I heart George Eliot. The woman always wins. Unless she sucks in real ways, not in fake Victorian ways, in which case she loses.

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    2. Someone tried to pull that "Feminists lauding Sister Carrie" view in my seminar course last week, and I had to hit the brakes. Carrie is miserable - yeah, she gets rich & successful, but she hates herself, she can't find love, she's never content. I don't know... I just don't see any of the Feminist ideals, there. Not to mention, she takes very little agency in her life - she is led by men throughout the entire book, until the one decision to leave Hurstwood, which is only done because he's hit rock bottom & she's selfish.


      I dunno... random rant done, I s'pose.

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  5. This is a totally depressing poke-the-eyes-out type of book, and I LOVE IT! Read it in grad school, and we had a hell of a time discussing it.

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    1. IT IS SO DEPRESSING. The gas scene in the homeless shelter? I DIED SEVERAL DEATHS.

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  6. I don't know what rock I've been hiding under but I've never read this book! Ack, time to remedy that! Thanks for the reminder. And thanks for the gifs that always make me laugh ;)

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  7. You perfect summed up my feelings on this book: “Ever have one of those reading experiences where you're all, This Is Fine But Not Magnificent WHILE you're reading, but when it's over you're all, THAT WAS THE GREATEST OF THE GREATS. Sister Carrie is that thing.” Yup. I was so DEPRESSED and FRUSTRATED when reading it, but after I finished, I loved it! When I pass it on a bookshelf, I think, “Oh, that’s such a great book!” Although, I notice I haven’t yet felt compelled to reread it. I’m reading Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady and kind of feel the same way. I think I will love the whole but I’m not really enjoying it bit by bit.

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  8. I picked this up at a used book store and had no clue what it was. It's one of my favourite books. It was such a weird, in-between time, where it was maybe, sort of okay for women to be doing these sorts of things... but not really... I don't know. It was just so unique and refreshing! Needs a re-read soon.

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  9. Also: do you think Carrie on Sex and the City is a nod to Sister Carrie? Yeah... probably not...but that would be super cool.

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  10. Oh, I liked Sister Carrie so much more than The Great Gatsby. It's probably a character thing. Like you say, it's pretty incredible watching Carrie go up and Hurstwood go down.

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  11. This is one of those books that I've always known about (about which I've always known?) but never known what it was about (I can't even figure out how to change that one to not end in a preposition). Now that I do, I think I have to read it.

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  12. I love this book! I'm reading it again now because it's the first assigned text for my American Lit. seminar this Fall -- the Professor e-mailed us and asked us to read 'the most boring book we will ever read' before the start of term, so we could get it out of the way.... how sad was I when I kept reading on and found out that she meant Sister Carrie!! =-/

    Ah, well, I get to read it again, discuss it again, and maybe write about it again. AND possibly even change a Lit Prof.'s mind about it?

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  13. I just re-read this one, and I agree with you completely EXCEPT that Sister Carrie isn't about Carrie. It's totally about Hurstwood.

    Although, really, it's not about either of them (or it's about both of them, but only in relation to the consistency of Drouet)... which is to say, it's about that non-acheivable American dream that you mentioned.

    So you're 50% right AND we're basically in agreement on this one - CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!? ;)

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