Unforgettable
I read this book for my own enjoyment many decades ago and have never forgotten it. I was reading for months and months, and the more I read, the more compelling it became, as tho I were being sucked deeper and deeper into an immense oceanic whirlpool. Dreiser's masterpiece slowly became more real than my life, or seemed to.
I remember reading it in the laundromat when a Princeton student noticed me and jokingly said "oh, do you have to read that thing?" "No," I replied, "I'm reading it for myself and it's wonderful!" End of conversation.
But I like Wagnernerian opera too, so it would seem that I can handle length better than many people who prefer an artistic "quickie."
Fascinating Reality of American Society
Even though this book has been written long time ago; the issues Dreiser talks about are still current. This novel is a great over view of American society at any point in time. Somehow people manage to turn the American dream into American tragedy. The money driven society often forgets about the importance of things in life. Things, cars, money and status become more important for so many of us, that we live our lives forgetting about what is really important.
Among many of the works of Dreiser this novel and "The Genius" are my two favorite. Those two novels inspire me to stay focus on what is important in live.
Timeless and timely
Classics can be such drudgery, but this one rarely fell into that category. The premise is very good: poor boy grows up wanting to be rich. poor boy starts working for rich uncle. poor boy falls in love with poor factory girl. poor boy also fa...lls in love with rich girl and start moving in high society circles. poor boy gets poor girl pregnant. poor boy decides to kill poor girl so he can be with rich girl. And on and on. The hardest part to read was the dialogue. Apparently the most used word in the 1920's was "Gee". Other than that, it was so very good. I was repulsed by the main character, Clyde. I also felt sorry for him. Dreiser captured perfectly the class struggle in America. It doesn't seem much different today than in 1925 when this was published. So many of us seem to be clawing our way somewhere. It brings to mind something my college professor said to me, "When you're climbing the corporate/social ladder, remember you're always looking up at the next a-hole."
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