Theodore Dreiser: An American Tragedy (Library of America No.140)

When confronted with a novel of 934 pages one naturally has to ask oneself: Is it worth it? Several stumbling blocks initially seem to suggest a negative answer. Listed by some critics as the "worst-written great novel of the world," the first stumbling block for many readers is Dreiser's English. Dreiser, son of German immigrants and initially educated in German, seems to have had a life-long love affair with the kind of overextended German sentence structures that--for the patient reader--usually create beautiful arches to final conclusions but also often just drift away half finished. English readers beware! And the word choices--also often criticized? I'm not an expert in the words choices of the early 20th century, but I must confess that several of his adjectives and verbs strike me to be unnecessarily stilted, at times even a bit silly. And the plot? Well, the title tells you up front that there will be no happy end. But is it a tragedy? Not by classical standards. The hapless, shallow, feckless hero is not of tragic stature and the unavoidable choices he has to make are certainly not choices between moral goods of equal value. Still, this is a haunting and beautiful novel. What makes this a convincing American tragedy is, in my view, that it shows tragedy in a most peculiarly American costume: A boy of extremely strict religious upbringing, breaks away from its confinements, wants to enjoy the easy pleasures of modern life and a quick rise in social standing--but does so without either the knowledge nor the patience, discipline and energy needed in the process. What we follow is the wobbly, pathetically selfish rise and quick demise of a young man who is victim as much as victimizer. Yes, this is a long novel because Dreiser spares us no details. His long journalistic career has given him a sharp eye for social, commercial, political, and legal details of the early 1900s. He loves to heap it on and on and on. Be prepared for an exhaustive exploration. At the same time, it is a novel of surprising psychological subtlety. Its long, convoluted sentences serve Dreiser well in his connection. Often a sentence starts from one psychological insight and morphs into its opposite before the sentence is concluded. I don't remember any other author who uses this effect as successfully. This is not an easy novel to read through. Particularly the first adolescent love affairs of our immature hero are given too much space for my taste. (My reason for only four stars.) But once one has waded through these, the rest is spell-binding in its relentless increase of pressure on a hero unable to understand his own actions and motives, the complexities of his surroundings or the predicaments he faces as a result. This is an American tragedy in no small part because for Dreiser true tragedy seems no longer an option in this happy-unhappy country of limited people confronted on all sides with seemingly unlimited opportunities. A sobering assessment.

I chose this book simply because it was on Modern Library's 100 Greatest books of the 20th century list. I knew nothing about the author and from the title and the summary on the back, knew only that probably something bad would happen. This is the way to read the book.

People have said that it is overly long or wordy. It may seem like this in the beginning, but even at this part the book is not boring or dry. It is the story of a boy growing and maturing at this point, and it is precisely this personal growth (in detail) that makes the book so powerful. You, as the reader, become one with the protagonist because you have witnessed his entire life.

The preface in the version I read said something to the effect that the story builds slowly like a tsunami, finally striking you with all that built-up force. I am a 29 year old male who does not often cry, and I was in tears for the last hour of this book. After finishing I looked at myself in the mirror and I was shaking and my eyes were completely bloodshot. My only thought was what a terrible book that was, and why anyone would write something like this.

I read a lot of the supposed "best books" like the ones on the Modern Library list, and this is the most immediately powerful novel I have ever read.

I first read this book about 65 years ago, when I was in high school, and, to my surprise I enjoyed it far more now than I did in the last century. Of course Dreiser overwrites; but in this work he does so with great passion, moving the reader deftly through the lives and foibles of its characters, so that you are left feeling that you know these people inside-out.

A long, labourious read, this. One reviewer has commented that Dreiser leaves no stone unturned. I would put it rather that he leaves no pebble unturned. The book, as far as prose style is concerned is - to be quite frank - an ugly book. Even Dreiser's admirers here and elsewhere admit this.

Nevertheless, the book, a bildungsroman of the character Clyde Griffiths, leaves one, regardless of how erudite and well-read one is, unsettled and disturbed. Unlike Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel or Phillip Carey in Of Human Bondage or Stephen Daedalus in A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, Clyde is not particularly artistic or intellectual - or, really, particularly much of anything. This makes for, along with Dreiser's, at times, simply horrid prose, a book with which one feels one ought not to bother at several points along the way. Personally, for instance, I think that the whole third "book" should be at least halved.

But, as H.L. Mencken says in the Introduction to my copy of the book, the fatalism deeply engrained in the sinews of the work is what makes it what it is. At the end - actually well before it - one can't imagine things turning out any differently than they do. But as we read the final pages, thoughtful readers will reach the unsettling conclusion that they are not immune to a plight such as Clyde's, that had things gone differently at a certain point in their lives, had the wheels turned a bit more slowly or more swiftly, they might well (if they have had any life at all in them somewhere along the way) found themselves in Clyde's predicament. Ultimately, then, the work is not an indictment of America or its materialism, as almost all reviews posit; it is an indictment of life itself. It is an unpleasant yet powerful read.

It's very rare that I will read a book strictly on the strength of the author's name. Theodore Dreiser's works captivate me with the same intensity that Anne Rice and J.K. Rowling elicit in their own legion of admirers. For me, Dreiser has yet to disappoint: "Sister Carrie", "Jennie Gerhardt", "The Genius", and "American Tragedy" never fail to evoke strong identification with the main characters.

I won't go into the plot of "American Tragedy" here: read other reviews if you're looking for spoilers. What I will say is that it's one of Dreiser's finest achievements. He never merely tells the story of one protagonist struggling against the odds to win the money, the girl, salvation, whatever the issue at stake is. He also holds the society that the character lives in up to scrutiny, shining a harsh light on prejudices, unfair mores, and inconsistent applications of justice.

The tragic drama of Clyde Griffiths and Roberta Alden, although set in the 1920s, could have transpired just as easily in modern times. Premarital sex, waning passion, the destruction of one former love to facilitate access to another deemed more desirable: these dark themes are prevalent today as well. Society may change, but human nature doesn't, and in focusing his work on the intricacies and cruelties of human nature, Dreiser has created a timeless book.

In my opinion, Dreiser has never had an equal, nor a successor.

The writer of the introduction says that Dreiser could have gotten the point across with far less reptetition, ergo, fewer pages. This book has 3 parts: By the time I reached the second section, I would have to disagree. This seemingly aimless repetition,(primarily the moral preverocating of the Clyde character) is what creates the grinding tension that keeps one reading in spite of the fact that this book is not a traditional 'page-turner'. It is more like watching a terrible accident happening in v-e-r-y slow motion...you just have to keep looking. By the time the second part kicks in, you are hooked by the story itself, as well as the social complexities that it presents. The third section is as riveting as any courtroom drama ever written.

While reading American Tragedy, one of the things that came to mind was, what if Teddy Kennedy had not been the scion of one of the most powerful political families in the nation? Would he have fared any better in front of a jury of his peers than did Clyde Griffiths?

I wasn't very excited to see An American Tragedy listed on my class's syllabus a couple of semesters ago. It is very, very long. It is, as its title trumpets, a tragedy. And Dreiser has a well-known reputation as an overly verbose, antiquated, and clunky writer. So, my expectations were probably so low that it was inevitably going to exceed them. But when I read An American Tragedy, it did well more than exceed those low expectations. I found it to be a big, brilliant, and surprisingly fresh read.

An American Tragedy is the story of Clyde, a man barely raised by his poor, religious parents. After taking a job as a bellboy in an upscale Kansas City hotel and getting a glimpse of the higher life and after pursuing the flirtatious Hortense, whose love is seemingly for sale to the highest bidder, he finds himself with desperate hopes of achieving the American dream. After a minor tragedy drives him from Kansas City, he sees his dreams coming nearly into reach, in the prospect of marriage to Sondra. The realization of his dreams, however, is threatened by his low-class upbringing and by his relationship with a factory-girl Roberta.

Clyde's story is a big, sprawling one. An American Tragedy really feels like reading three separate novels--the opening section in which Clyde leaves his childhood behind, the middle section in which he tries so desperately to scale the social ladder, and the final section concerning his crime and trial. Despite being long and involved, though, my attention never wavered. Dreiser's narration is appropriately varied--at turns dramatic, humorous, biting, and, mainly, sad. It's a big, sad, well-told story that moves along with a surprising pace and that is infused with even more surprising heart.

In addition to being well-told, An American Tragedy offers very much what its title promises--a uniquely American tragedy. It, like The Great Gatsby and other modernist and naturalist classics, offers an affecting reminder that the American dream doesn't work for everyone; that it can place fissures in society, divorcing people from their pasts, their families, and their places; that it can influence us to forget our own and others' full humanity; and that it can produce grim desperation. I read a lot of classics, and they often leave them cold, perhaps feeling admiration for them but little true appreciation. An American Tragedy is different. It's a grim and exhausting read, but it's brilliant and affecting.

To criticize Dreiser for being a little wordy is like criticizing a salmon for wanting to spawn. It's such a banal take. I mean, really. Do any of his critics ever put in some extra effort or does every book have to kowtow to the level of the reader's abilities to concentrate. Maybe this book asks for those who read faster so that the repetitious sections can float by more smoothly. I love Dreiser and I loved Sister Carrie and liked Jennie Gerhardt.

This novel provides an engrossing view of American society in the early 1900s by following the partial rise and complete downfall of Clive Griffiths. The examination of Griffiths's life offers comments on poverty, wealth, religion, politics and morality. Griffiths is truly a flawed hero, and the reader will have trouble finding sympathy for him despite his deprived background. His greatest sin is that he is never satisfied; he always wants more. In the end he discovers that "more" comes at great cost to himself and those who care for him.

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."