Sister Carrie

Dreiser (and Sister Carrie) as expected. However, I am SO disappointed with the book itself. The format is large; each page is far too wide for rapid reading and far wider than the standard paperback and hardback book page. And this classic of American Naturalism has been presented with some in-text punctuation errors (some incorrectly used quotation marks not found in a much older edition) and most inexcusably, a back-cover blurb that inanely claims the novel takes us "to the staggering HEISTS of fame and stardom." The word wanted is of course "heights." A petty yet sad example of the disrespect in which the publication of the written word is held today.

Sister Carrie explores the connection between happiness and awareness. Carrie is a pretty young woman from the Wisconsin countryside, come to Chicago to live with her sister’s family, and improve her life. But Carrie is unready for the whims of fate, and fortune. After finding factory work too difficult, she becomes dependent on two men she meets for shelter and friendship. Her story reveals how a person needs to know what he or she wants, how that is a prerequisite for happiness, or they will drift through life, often a victim of others’ desires.

There are no heroes and no real villains in Sister Carrie. The two men in her life manipulate her in different ways, and with different motives, but each has his own fatal flaw, a weakness that prevents him from reaching his potential as a person. In the case of the salesman Droue, the flaw is immaturity, for though his career is successful and he convinces Carrie to live with him, he can never fully connect with her or any other woman in a truly loving manner. In the case of Hirstwood the flaw is more spiritual. As a successful hotel manager he buys his own myth of invincibility, and cannot accept he is not master of his own fate. When his hope is dashed of keeping Carrie on the side while remaining married, he impulsively embezzles a small fortune and tricks Carrie into running away with him to New York. Though he returns most of the money, this one act begins a chain of events that ends with Hirstwood’s complete ruin, and indirectly leads Carrie to a life of success as an actress.

The sad irony running throughout is that Carrie herself never feels love. She is directionless and lets others steer her course. Several times in the book when asked what she will do, her answer is “Well, I just don’t know.” While she has feelings, likes and dislikes, when push comes to shove she is at a loss. Even when Hirstwood virtually kidnaps her, her outrage is short-lived. When she finally earns her independence from him, it is without any feeling of triumph, and more of a stumbling onto a path she never had conceived.

None of the main characters in Sister Carrie are fully aware of and able to act on their limited power to control their lives, and so none are able to achieve the balance and level of contentedness that leads to real happiness. In the end, Carrie is wealthy and famous, but a little wiser, lonely and sad, pondering the ephemeral nature of her new status. The futility of material success when the soul stays underdeveloped is the powerful message of the book. It was an especially meaningful message, in an age – the “Gay 90’s” – when many Americans were enjoying wealth and prosperity undreamed of a few years earlier.

But to me it was also a weakness, since this makes the characters less believable. Dreiser the writer seems more intent in creating stereotypes for a morality tale, than describing the lives of real people. For example, even assuming a pretty young woman with an unaffected and natural grace manages to become a belle of the New York stage, it hardly seems likely she could achieve her prominence without higher levels of relationship to the people around her, i.e. true friendships.

It’s interesting to note the circumspect manner in which Dreiser deals with sex. It is never mentioned, and only indirectly implied once or twice in the context of Carrie’s life with Droue, with the phrase “kept woman”. I imagine turn of the century readers were somewhat scandalized to read about a nice young woman who consents to be a concubine, without apparent moral qualms. So Dreiser chooses to brush aside the matter of sex, perhaps understanding it was more commonplace than publicly admitted, so the reader should just move on and follow the story. In any case, Carrie demands that Hirstwood marry her after the abduction, and the question of sexual longing and loss hardly figures in the novel.
Sister Carrie is a testament to an America that was coming of age, and in need of additional personal awareness. It does not seek to condemn wealth and success, in spite of the many miseries included in the last third of the book, and to my mind it should not be read as social commentary. Its more of an allegory about the nature of life and how people deal, or don’t deal with it. It is worthwhile for every reader, essential to anyone interested in following the manners of the times, and an important contribution to literarature and understanding the huge changes we went through 125 years ago.

I ordered the paperback version thinking that it would be a normal paperback size book. When it arrived, it turned out to be almost twice as wide as a normal paperback book. The downside is that it is not very portable. I like to read while on a bus or train. Having this book open is like reading a textbook, not very practical in many situations in which I like to read.

So, before you buy, be sure you know the dimensions of the book. The one I received is about 8 inches wide, 10 inches high and about .7 inches thick.

I bought this book on a recommendation of another author who's work I enjoy. It did not quite live up to expectations but still worth the time invested in reading it.