Jocelyn's review
status:
Read in January, 2008
OK, this is an old book, a "classic" many people were forced to read in high school or college. I picked it up when I was home visiting my parents. I don't know why I love Victorian novels so much. Characters, their intentions and their actions are explained TO DEATH and it can feel very claustrophobic to read them sometimes. There's not a ton that's left open to interpretation. In this novel. Dreiser tells you exactly what kind of person Carrie is—emotionally intelligent—and exactly what kind of person Hurstwood is—shrewed and calculating. Yet, somehow, halfway through the book, you realize there are things going on with these characters that swim below Dreiser's exhaustive descriptions. Dreiser is so patient. He builds and builds and builds his story and his characters. But I, at least, was never bored. And I found the story very relevant—it has a long shelf life because it deals with class and social striving and greed. And adultery and DIVORCE, which, god, how muc...more
OK, this is an old book, a "classic" many people were forced to read in high school or college. I picked it up when I was home visiting my parents. I don't know why I love Victorian novels so much. Characters, their intentions and their actions are explained TO DEATH and it can feel very claustrophobic to read them sometimes. There's not a ton that's left open to interpretation. In this novel. Dreiser tells you exactly what kind of person Carrie is—emotionally intelligent—and exactly what kind of person Hurstwood is—shrewed and calculating. Yet, somehow, halfway through the book, you realize there are things going on with these characters that swim below Dreiser's exhaustive descriptions. Dreiser is so patient. He builds and builds and builds his story and his characters. But I, at least, was never bored. And I found the story very relevant—it has a long shelf life because it deals with class and social striving and greed. And adultery and DIVORCE, which, god, how much of that really went on in the late 1800's? It also made me realize that though we live in a media-saturated world, people were not any less aware of how they did or didn't stack up next to cultural ideals. And, like Carrie, women who are otherwise smart and independent in spirit still fall for shit men—or whore themselves out to achieve material wealth and higher social standing. ...less
Sister Carrie 
