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Sister Carrie
Sister Carrie
The story of a woman who flees country life for Chicago, Illinois and falls into a wayward life of sin. One of the most important novels America has ever produced, it ruthlessly exposes the hypocrisy and meanness of middle-class standards, and establishes a new tradition in literary realism.
Book Excerpt
hed, and the grey fedora hat. He was, for the
order of intellect represented, attractive, and whatever he had
to recommend him, you may be sure was not lost upon Carrie, in
this, her first glance.
Lest this order of individual should permanently pass, let me put down some of the most striking characteristics of his most successful manner and method. Good clothes, of course, were the first essential, the things without which he was nothing. A strong physical nature, actuated by a keen desire for the feminine, was the next. A mind free of any consideration of the problems or forces of the world and actuated not by greed, but an insatiable love of variable pleasure. His method was always simple. Its principal element was daring, backed, of course, by an intense desire and admiration for the sex. Let him meet with a young woman once and he would approach her with an air of kindly familiarity, not unmixed with pleading, which would result in most cases in a tolerant acceptance. If she showed any tendenc
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4.8
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absolutely, worth reading.
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I didn't think I would like this book when I first started reading it, but as I got into it I couldn't wait to see what would happen with Carrie and the men in her life. The ending was unexpected but wonderfully written. I highly recommend reading it!
05/16/2011
How do I write a review about a masterpiece? I am totally unqualified. Suffice it to say that Dreiser has written a magnificent work, holding up a mirror as it were, to so many aspects of life. His characters reflect every human experience imaginable - love, hate, hypocrisy, greed, lust, success, failure, poverty, envy, pride, humility, disappointment, hunger, deprivation of body and soul, the loss of everything one holds dear, the tragedy of unfulfilled dreams, the joys of fame and fortune, the eternal quest for the meaning of life, the search for true love. What more can I say? Don't miss reading this marvelous novel. Dreiser also wrote "An American Tragedy", still in copyright in US, on which the 1951 film "A Place In The Sun" was based, featuring Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor.
10/23/2008
There aren't many classical books which I become entranced with, without having to struggle through pages, trying to finish the book. But this was one of the few. And this is the first book I read without skipping paragraphs, finding them a drag to read. Each paragraph rendered my jaws to drop with amazement at how wonderfully it was written. As I read, I'd constantly say to myself "wow"--it really is "wow," because Dreiser expressed the human emotion so well, that I felt as if I were reading about myself. I love George Hurstwood, and hated Carrie--but she was so human...so selfish...so passive like so many other humans of this world. This book reminded me greatly of "Gone with the Wind." My only disappointment was that the lacking in romance. Anyways, this is a MUST read!!!!
04/10/2007
This book reads as though it were written today, even though it was written in 1900. Tells the story of a small town girl trying to 'make it big" in the big city. Even though I did not always like the characters, I felt almost compelled to see what happened to them. The pace is a bit slow in the first half, but really picks up as the story progresses.The last few chapters were hard to get out of my head after I finished the book. Worth reading.
03/08/2006
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