Theodoer Dreiser, Sister Carrie - who is she and what does she want?!

[country doctor]

If you were thinking of The Idiot, then Sister Carrie will be a breeze. The philosophical angle is there but incidental to the story, not central to it as in The Idiot.

it's a tough choice, both need to be read...the doc picked up 'the idiot' this spring and was supposed to be reading it already, but put it off for awhile...now that he's got his hands on these dreiser books he'd like to give them a read too...

either or, he'll get at both of them probably before labor day...

[Emil Miller]

it's a tough choice, both need to be read...the doc picked up 'the idiot' this spring and was supposed to be reading it already, but put it off for awhile...now that he's got his hands on these dreiser books he'd like to give them a read too...

either or, he'll get at both of them probably before labor day...

Well I'm not a particular fan of Dostoyevsky myself and so it would be no contest for me but if you have to read The Idiot as part of a study course, why not do so and read Sister Carrie later? The main thing is to read it at some time or other in view of Dreiser's important contribution to American literature.

[country doctor]

well mr. bean, the doc is a big fan of mr. D...he picked up both 'war and peace' and 'the idiot' this spring on the assumption that he'd read both this summer...'war and peace' was finished about a month ago, so it was time for the next...but that was before he picked up the two dreiser books...now with the nice reviews, he is gonna give 'sister carrie' the nod...

might even put 'the idiot' on the sidelines till next summer...the doc has a summer residence and another for the three other seasons of the year, so that is why if he doesn't get to this real soon it just might wait...

anyways, he's thinking of 'the gambler' first...

read the intro to 'sister carrie' this morning...will probably crack the opening pages tonite...

[dfloyd]

If you don't quit referring to yourself in the third person, I'm going to think that you are the fiction here.

[country doctor]

well the doc is up to the big nite in the theatre for carrie...nice easy read, but the doc's been busy with summer and all and just had to finish up a book on jm barrie and his weird antics so haven't got all that far into the book...as an aside, here's that neverland book that the doc just finished...

http://www.amazon.com/Neverland-Barr.../dp/1605980633

[country doctor]

While Carrie is the honeypot round which all the flys buzz, ultimately the study of Hurstwood is the focus of the novel: an almost scientific study of the middle-aged man in Western society.

Of course the phenomenon of 'middle age crisis' has become virtually passé since the '70s film Middle Age Crazy with Bruce Dern and Ann Margret. (Doesn't appear to be on DVD...)
http://www.amazon.com/Middle-Age-Cra...0179438&sr=1-1

**SPOILER ALERT**

=======================================

But Dreiser's study of Hurstwood is more like 'middle age stupid', as he ruins his own life for a taste of sweet young Carrie; proceeding then as he further ages to make mistake after mistake (incipient Alzheimers?) leading unto poverty, destitution, and suicide.

Really it's a terrifying study of alienation and decay (moral, mental, physical).

Although I must say, Hurstwood is a much more sympathetic character than Clyde in An American Tragedy, who commits an horrifically brutal crime against an innocent person.

Incidentially, the main characters of The Financier and The Genius are both marginally modeled on Frank Lloyd Wright.
http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Lloyd-Wr...0180232&sr=1-1

the doc hasn't read 'american tragedy' yet and wishes that he hadn't found read the 'spoiler alert' about what happens...but he does agree with the true power of the book being on the 'hurstwood' character...

the fall from middle class respectability is something that is happening even in today's society...but today it might be because of the corporate downsizing taking place...some folks have a harder time than others in adjusting...for most all who this has happened to, it is a difficult transition...

carrie's 'luck' is believable and heartwarming, but the power of the novel is in hurstwood's fall...a good read...now that the doc has seen the spoiler, he'll probably wait a good long time to pick up dreiser's other book...maybe he'll forget this thread and post by then...