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by: Theodore Dreiser
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781593082260
ISBN: 1593082266
Label: Barnes & Noble Classics
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 496
Publication Date: December 01, 2005
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
Sales Rank: 289447
Studio: Barnes & Noble Classics
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.
When small-town Carrie Meeber arrives in 1890s Chicago, she cannot know what awaits. Callow, beautiful, and alone, she experiences the bitterness of temptation and hardship even as she sets her sights on a better life. Drawn by the seductive desire to rise above her social class, Carrie aspires to the top of the acting profession in New York, while the man who has become obsessed with her gambles everything for her sake and draws near the brink of destruction.
Dreiser’s first novel, Sister Carrie (1900) was inspired by the life of one of his sisters, who had eloped to New York with a disreputable lover. Its sympathetic depiction of Carrie’s love affairs shocked its publisher, whose grudging efforts won few initial readers until the book’s successful re-publication in 1907. Today it resonates with Dreiser’s clear-sighted understanding of life in the increasingly mercantile world of the big city, and with his belief in the domination of fate over free will. Particularly in the unflinching tragedy of its final chapters, the novel broke new ground in American fiction for its gritty realism and for the character of Carrie, who begins “a half-equipped little knight” and becomes a truly modern woman.
Herbert Leibowitz is the editor and publisher of Parnassus: Poetry in Review. His books include Fabricating Lives: Explorations in American Autobiography and Hart Crane: An Introduction to the Poetry. He is currently writing a critical biography of William Carlos Williams.
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Getting Your Mrs. Degree Without Going to College
"Sister Carrie" is a novel that I happened upon accidently. I ordered it when I thought I was ordering another and it was delivered to my door. Since it was recommended for a creative writing class, I figured I might as well read it since I love a long, epic novel. Little did I know what I was getting into.
Carrie reads abruptly Brittish at first, with all the proper nouns and pronouns making it seem, straight away, like a snobbish and bourgoise book. Once I got past the first few pages, however, ... Read More
Rating:  - A mostly interesting story
"Sister Carrie", to begin with, is written in a most curious fashion. Theodore Dreiser, an author I'd never heard of before, writes in a very interesting and distinct style. Some would probably feel frustrated with it, as well as his rather blunt way of writing, but it's rather different and certainly good.
A story of a girl's slow and steady rise, "Sister Carrie" will capture readers first with its intrigue. Obviously, the idea of young Carrie whisked away to the city and within moments as ... Read More
Rating:  - User Carrie
This is about life for a single woman at the turn of the century, when a good marriage or poverty were the only two choices a woman had, along with needlepoint. Yes, times were difficult for a single woman who had to go it alone; I will give that point. However, I don't see that as excuse to throw morality out the door, to use and be used by other people, and be constantly on the prowl for somebody better or more, prettier "things". I had a dislike of Carrie from early on. Dreiser repeatedly tries to ... Read More
Rating: - Fractured Fairy Tale and/or Horror Story on Capitalism
"Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth." Mahatma Gandhi
"She (Carrie Meeber) wanted pleasure, she wanted position, and yet she was confused as to what these things might be." p. 145 "Sister Carrie"
Critics may scoff at the immorality of the main characters, the persistently subtle, yet always stinging slams at the evils of Capitalism, or how depressing the novel is. But despite it all, my interest ... Read More
Rating: - Material Girl...100 years ago.
Written at a time when women still lacked the right to vote, Sister Carrie offers an uncommon (and not initially accepted) commentary on women and independence. It also addresses that timeless theme of how the city changes the individual. Dreiser's turn of the century novel chronicles the young adult life of Carrie Meeber, who leaves her small town home for a more exciting life of Chicago. Taking residence at her sister Minnie's meager apartment, Carrie is immediately plunged into a pit of lower class struggles; ... Read More
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