Staff Pick
At the turn of the century, a country girl leaves home for the big city. At a time when the only option for women was to marry well, Carrie shows us a different road. While her rabid ambition and vanity indicate her true nature, the society in which she navigates is harsh and unforgiving. Dreiser's portrait of the ugliness of human nature is stunning. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
An 18-year-old girl without money or connections ventures forth from her small town in search of a better life in Theodore Dreiser's revolutionary first novel. The chronicle of Carrie Meeber's rise from obscurity to fame — and the effects of her progress on the men who use her and are used in turn — aroused a storm of controversy and debate upon its debut in 1900. The author's nonjudgmental portrait of a heroine who violates the contemporary moral code outraged some critics and elated others. A century later, Dreiser's compelling plot and realistic characters continue to fascinate readers.
Synopsis
"Sister Carrie came to housebound and airless America like a great free Western wind, and to our stuffy domesticity gave us the first fresh air since Mark Twain and Whitman." Sinclair Lewis
"It is a great novel and belongs on anybody's list, absolutely." Garrison Keillor
An eighteen-year-old girl without money or connections ventures forth from her small town in search of a better life in Theodore Dreiser's revolutionary first novel. The chronicle of Carrie Meeber's rise from obscurity to fame and the effects of her progress on the men who use her and are used in turn aroused a storm of controversy and debate upon its debut in 1900. The author's nonjudgmental portrait of a heroine who violates the contemporary moral code outraged some critics, including the book's publisher, Frank Doubleday, who tried to back out of his agreement his firm had made with Dreiser. But others were elated and Dreiser's compelling plot and realistic characters continue to fascinate readers.
"Sister Carrie stands outside the brief traffic of the customary stage. It leaves behind an inescapable impression of bigness, of epic sweep and dignity. It is not a mere story, not a novel in the customary American meaning of the word; it is at once a psalm of life and a criticism of life Dreiser's] aim is not merely to tell a tale; his aim is to show the vast ebb and flow of forces which sway and condition human destiny. The thing he seeks to do is to stir, to awaken, to move. One does not arise from such a book as Sister Carrie with a smirk of satisfaction; one leaves it infinitely touched." H. L. Mencken
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Synopsis
A teenage girl without money or connections leaves her small town in search of a better life in Dreiser's revolutionary first novel. The chronicle of Carrie Meeber's rise from obscurity to fame and the effects of her progress on the men who use her and are used in turn aroused much controversy upon its debut in 1900.
Synopsis
The first masterpiece of the American naturalistic movement,
Sister Carrie made its controversial debut in 1900. Condemned for its alleged immorality, the novel traces the fortunes of a small-town girl's rise from obscurity to fame.