Shop
Search Amazon:
by Theodore Dreiser
|
| Amazon Price: | $13.34 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $11.99 |
| Availablitiy: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
 |
|
Product Description
The text of the Third Edition is based on the 1900 Doubleday Page edition, with detailed annotations that reveal the author’s use of real people and places in Chicago and New York. The novel is followed by "A Note on the Text," which discusses the relationship between this edition’s text and that of the Pennsylvania Edition (1981), and a "Textual Appendix," which provides a generous sampling of the cuts Dreiser and his friend Arthur Henry made in the typescript version of Sister Carrie. "Backgrounds and Sources" reprints generous excerpts from Dreiser’s autobiographies and other writings that help establish his personal connection to the novel. Coverage of the supposed "suppression" of Sister Carrie by its first publisher is drawn from Dreiser’s correspondence with Frank Norris, Arthur Henry, Walter H. Page, and F. N. Doubleday. "Criticism" collects thirteen essays, six of them new to the Third Edition, that discuss Dreiser’s distinctive literary naturalism and narrative technique, the novel’s relationship to American culture, and issues of gender and class in the novel, among other topics. Contributors include Ellen Moers, Robert Penn Warren, Amy Kaplan, Alan Trachtenberg, and Donald Pizer, among others. A Chronology of Sister Carrie and a Selected Bibliography are also included.
Amazon.com Review
Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreiser's revolutionary first novel, was published in 1900--sort of. The story of Carrie Meeber, an 18-year-old country girl who moves to Chicago and becomes a kept woman, was strong stuff at the turn of the century, and what Dreiser's wary publisher released was a highly expurgated version. Times change, and we now have a restored "author's cut" of Sister Carrie that shows how truly ahead of his time Dreiser was. First and foremost, he has written an astute, nonmoralizing account of a woman and her limited options in late-19th-century America. That's impressive in and of itself, but Dreiser doesn't stop there. Digging deeply into the psychological underpinnings of his characters, he gives us people who are often strangers to themselves, drifting numbly until fate pushes them on a path they can later neither defend nor even remember choosing. Dreiser's story unfolds in the measured cadences of an earlier era. This sometimes works brilliantly as we follow the choices, small and large, that lead some characters to doom and others to glory. On the other hand, the middle chapters--of which there are many--do drag somewhat, even when one appreciates Dreiser's intentions. If you can make it through the sagging midsection, however, you'll be rewarded by Sister Carrie's last 150 pages, which depict the harrowing downward spiral of one of the book's central characters. Here Dreiser portrays with brutal power how the wrong decision--or lack of decision--can lay waste to a life. --Rebecca Gleason
Customers who bought this item also bought
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Charming, 2010-08-31
Sister Carrie floats from man to man and place to place. She is incpable of taking action for herself because she was raised to be a wife and mother. Finally, finding herself in a situation where she must find herself she does. She takes responsibility for herself and makes her way in the world. An easy, but long read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Fine story and wonderful characters. I loved it!, 2010-08-11
Written in 1900, this book is an American classic that has certainly passed the test of time. From the very first page I was immediately so caught up in the story that I read 220 pages the first night and only stopped reading when I was too sleepy to continue. This is a fine story that keeps getting better and better as it progresses. I loved every word of it!
There are three memorable characters in the book. The first is Carrie herself, a young woman who comes to the big city of Chicago at the age of 18. Her quest for a job and the challenges of working in a factory are clearly brought to light. I pitied her situation and was actually rather glad when the prosperous salesman, Drouet seduces her and she seems to better herself. He's not into marrying her but he supports her and treats her well. She even gets a chance to take part in a play that his lodge is putting on. There's another man who is interested in her though, Hurstwood. He is a manager of a prosperous restaurant-bar and has a good life. Even though he is married, he courts her. How this all turns out is the stuff of real drama.
This book has it all, but most especially it is a deep exploration of character. Each of them is sympathetic in his or her own way. And they are depicted so well that I could view the world through their eyes and actually get under their skin. This is a powerful emotional story. It is as real as it can get and the cities of Chicago and New York are presented in ways that clearly impact the characters and the challenges they face.
Don't miss this book if you can help it. It is a lush and real treat!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
AN EXCELLENT READ., 2010-05-17
When it comes to classic literature I feel like I have to take the time to read,because most classic books are so formal and use a lot of gulided age wording ,but with this text it was so easy,because the words are so natural and flowing like John steinbeck ,this excellent book Sister Carrie the charaters in this work of litature use words that people use still to this present day. Unlike Edith Wharton and Henry James whose text you really have to take the time to get into, but still excellent writers.The point is buy or borrow this book from your local library. To me the book is saying that when you're poor you might have to step over and use people to get the things you need and want,and morals are for the people who can afford them. Still True to any decade.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 "I Don't Know...", 2010-05-16
This novel is amazing in that it makes one want to read on and on, even while finding all of the characters deplorable. Much like Dubus' House of Sand and Fog, we find a story in which the dilemma(s) are wholly interesting, but the characters are impossible to sympathize with, Carrie especially. Okay, I'll admit, I had a pang of feeling for Hurstwood toward the end, but even he is too much of a horse's ass to take seriously. Every character's favorite phrase is "I don't know," and it is true. None of them have any clue. It's all about surfaces/appearances. This is what the characters live for. They are all shallow and pathetic...and somehow, Dreiser still manages to deliver a good read---you know what they say about a train wreck... The fact of the matter is, the characters have no substance; they care too much about getting ahead to think about consequences. I once read that this novel was a favorite of F. Scott Fitzgerald (my all time favorite author). AFter having finished it, and comparing it to some of Fitzgerald's own shallow, self-absorbed characters, I can see why.
This is a book that you will love to hate, at least as far as the main "players" are concerned. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I would never want to meet a Carrie, Hurstwood or Drouet in person :)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Faces in the Crowd, 2010-03-18
"Sister Carrie" by Theodore Dreiser was too scandalous in 1900 when it was originally published in a somewhat pared down version. Since then, Dreiser's original story has been restored and is hardly as scandalous by today's standards. It is a landmark work of naturalism, showing the rise of characters from poverty and the fall of the rich into despair due to egotistical decision making.
Oddly enough, the title does not do the book justice, for the book is not solely about Carrie Meeber, a young woman from Wisconsin who hopes for a better life in Chicago. After securing factory work, she soon finds herself a kept woman, the mistress of Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman who routinely ingratiates himself with pretty women. While Carrie has more than she ever hoped for, she constantly yearns for greater things. When Drouet introduces her to his friend George Hurstwood, Hurstwood becomes obsessed with winning Carrie over. He is successful in his venture but not without injuring her through deceit and forever changing the course his life will follow. The rest of the novel is devoted to the hardships that Carrie and Hurstwood face when they move to New York and how the tide of fortunes change for both of them.
Dreiser's story goes on far longer than it needs to, due to his moralizing strands inserted in an effort to pacify the more scandalous elements of his prose - an unmarried man and woman living together, shocking indeed for its time. Yet by the time the initial crisis of Carrie choosing between the two men arrives, it feels as if all of the story has been told. The middle section of the novel drags and while it is an easy read, it is not easy to keep reading. The reader will care little about Carrie or the two men in her life. She is vapid and two-dimensional, driven by lust for wealth and fame, while the men are just as empty-headed and egotistical, conscious only of what a beautiful woman will do for their own ego.
Dreiser managed to capture a lot of history in his novel, from Chicago's World Fair to strikes in the poor sections of New York City. He truly shows how environment determines one's fate and how it could be possible for one to rise above their station but not consider themselves happy or successful.
Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.
|
|