An American Tragedy

Rating:
Summary: Does this plot sound familiar? Laci Peterson......
Review: Laci Peterson you are not alone... In the beginning of the 20th century, in up-state New York, a very real and tragic event occurred and became the basis for Dreisser's novel, An American Tragedy. Clyde Griffiths, the central character of this novel, fell out of love with a co-worker, Roberta Alden, but not before she became pregnant with his child. Clyde fell madly, hopelessly in love with a younger, captivating and much wealthier woman, Sondra. So, Roberta and baby drown, initially mysteriously. The boat is recovered and found to have been rented to Clyde. Later, of course, Mr. Griffiths is charged with the crime, and his affair with Sondra is disclosed, though the media refer to Sondra as Miss X. Nothing but circumstantial evidence connects him to the crime.
What is "American" about this tragedy? I think the answer resides in Clyde's aspirations, their impact on all he touches, and the impact of the his past on the drive to dream fulfillment. Once Roberta has drown, Clyde swims to the shore of the lake, a new immigrant, a young man on the verge of what he hopes will be a new and glamorous world. It is, as one critic described, a vapid world, but it is what he wants nonethless. Behind him, at the bottom of that lake, rests his past -- a world of poverty, a world without opportunity, the world of his childhood. He came to that Lake with the intention of killing Roberta, but was spared the trouble. She fell overboard and all he had to do was nothing, simply let mom and baby sink, while he swims quietly to shore. But the past is not so easily shed. It sticks to him and ultimately brings him to trial for his actions, or his failure to act, and his intent to kill. Readers of this book might benefit from reading Elizabeth Hardwick's provocative, essay, "Seduction and Betrayal," though I think she errs in her contention that "the whole drive of the novel is to make us feel Clyde's loss..." Rather the whole drive of the novel is to make us feel that Clyde and everyone he touched lost. Drawn to a new world, but unable to shed the old, he drags everyone and everything down with him.
Trust me: no one will every say, "Gee, I wish An American Tragedy had been a bit longer." The novel is exhausting, unpredicatable and at times almost amateurish in its flow. Still, it has an infectious quality about it and, most unfortunately, continues to resonate.

Rating:
Summary: What is the real tragedy?
Review: Dreiser's story is very easy to read. He writes in a very descriptive style, giving many details to the story. I found it very interesting that the story was based on the life of Chester Gillette who drowned his pregnant girlfriend in a New York lake in 1906. The obvious tragedy in the book is the murder of an innocent girl and then the execution of the young man who killed the girl. But the real tragedy is one that is found in our society. Self-interest comes before any other value in our society. This self-interest is characterized by social and economical gain. While I believe the worship of social gain has subsided in the last century, the desire for economic gain has grown a great deal. So the real tragedy lies in this- that many people don't value anything other than self.

The book closely follows the life of Clyde Griffiths, a weak individual who seems to have no will of his own. The author tries to portray the main character as a cog with no freedom in society. This theme of Naturalism gives too much weight to the influence of genetics and environment. In reality, the main character made awful decision that were deserving of punishment.

The story was very interesting, and I found myself getting angry at the main character as he made poor (tragic) choices. At times, the book was slow because of the descriptive style. But overall the book was interesting, and shows the American tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: A tragedy, to be sure
Review: I read this book, word for word. The length did not put me off, as I have loved reading all my life and regularly chose books much longer than average. But I could not enjoy this one. The ending turned me off completely, but I was unhappy with the book long before the ending came around. I know it is considered a classic, but it was the only book of those required to be read in my junior year of high school that I did not like. I won't go so far as to say I despised it, but it comes close. Even before we get to the moral deficiencies of the main character in the latter half of the book, I just couldn't get into the story.

Rating:
Summary: Men in White
Review: Compare this to The Bonfire of the Vanities, another attempt to illustrate twentieth century US society through the hubris and public humiliation of one man. Do we want to spend the majority of the book on the formative years of the protagonist and his victim? Wolfe wisely placed the crime just one hundred pages into his seven hundred page book. Dreiser, by contrast, gives us five hundred pages of back story before starting the real drama, which focuses all the characters and institutions - - courts, politics, newspapers, business, church - - on Clyde Griffiths. The characters are real enough, the societal critique valid enough, but, for large parts, the delivery is about as subtle and engaging as that of Clyde's street preacher parents.

Rating:
Summary: An American Masterpiece
Review: Theodore Dreiser captures the American spirit in his brilliant portrait of early 20th century commerce and society. His observations are as relevant in the early 21st century as they were one hundred years ago.

Clyde Griffiths is the hero and the anti-hero of the novel. Clyde grows up poor with parents who preach on the streets for a not very good living. He lives the American dream as he rises both economically and socially. He moves from the position of bellhop to factory manager through cunning, avarice, and hard work. He rises from social outcast to man about town using the same skills.

Eventually he is forced to choose between two loves: his pregnant poor mistress and the wealthy small town social whom he dreams of as his wife. How he extricates himself from this situation causes his downfall and eventual ruin.

Through Griffiths rise and fall, and further fall, Dreiser weaves the themes of the importance of money and social class in America. His character has no moral compass, no conscience. Ultimately this leads to his annihilation.

I highly recommend this book to those who love American literature. It is not a book for the fainthearted. You need to dedicate yourself to this book when you read it. But your efforts will be rewarded by the gifts of an American masterpiece.


Rating:
Summary: An American Tragedy
Review: An American Tragedy, by Theodore Drieser, puts a weak man in the way of temptation and then observes the consequences. Drieser creates suspense early and maintains it, so this book, while lengthy, is a fast read. I went to bed early at least a couple nights to read this book.

Clyde Griffiths is a young man "with a temperament that was as fluid and unstable as water." Raised in a poor family with narrow religious views, he quickly falls under the influence of an element with low morals and little education. He is offered an opportunity to redeem himself, but wastes it. At this point, the pace of the plot accelerates as he rushes toward destruction.

What is frightening in this book is what we have in common with the protagonist: Clyde wants power, and he wants to mate with the most desirable women available. Perhaps he is more foolish than most of us would be in pursuing these goals, but few men have not made some of the same mistakes that Clyde makes.

A subordinate theme in the book is the marked difference in opportunities available to the privileged few versus the many in the pre-Depression, pre-New Deal United States. A ruling caste, nourished by oligarchy, dominates the world that Clyde lives in, and those who are born outside of this elite group live circumscribed lives.

Another subordinate theme is the relationship between religion and morality. Drieser harshly portrays the weak who fall back on religion for support, but Clyde's mother, who is intensely religious, is portrayed in more positive terms. While she draws strength from her religion, she also brings her own strength. In the conclusion, we find that she has matured and acquired perspective as a result of the events portrayed in the novel.

(I have a minor complaint about the Signet Classic edition: the inner margins of this book are so narrow that you almost need to break the binding to see the text nearest the spine.)

Rating:
Summary: Dreiser's Masterpiece
Review: This is an amazing book. I don't really understand the complaints about it. Dreiser's writing had improved dramatically since Sister Carrie. In prose the substance of your ideas is the most important aspect, and there are many interesting ideas in this book.

Given our current culture of public trials, people rarely think about the motivations and politics behind everything. I found myself getting angry with the characters for simply following their natural inclinations. This book is very believable and true to life. American culture has so many tragic flaws that lead to so many of our collective problems.

The best edition is the Library of America edition or perhaps a used copy of the old illustrated Heritage Press edition.

Rating:
Summary: Does this plot sound familiar? Laci Peterson......
Review: Laci Peterson you are not alone... In the beginning of the 20th century, in up-state New York, a very real and tragic event occurred and became the basis for Dreisser's novel, An American Tragedy. Clyde Griffiths, the central character of this novel, fell out of love with a co-worker, Roberta Alden, but not before she became pregnant with his child. Clyde fell madly, hopelessly in love with a younger, captivating and much wealthier woman, Sondra. So, Roberta and baby drown, initially mysteriously. The boat is recovered and found to have been rented to Clyde. Later, of course, Mr. Griffiths is charged with the crime, and his affair with Sondra is disclosed, though the media refer to Sondra as Miss X. Nothing but circumstantial evidence connects him to the crime.
What is "American" about this tragedy? I think the answer resides in Clyde's aspirations, their impact on all he touches, and the impact of the his past on the drive to dream fulfillment. Once Roberta has drown, Clyde swims to the shore of the lake, a new immigrant, a young man on the verge of what he hopes will be a new and glamorous world. It is, as one critic described, a vapid world, but it is what he wants nonethless. Behind him, at the bottom of that lake, rests his past -- a world of poverty, a world without opportunity, the world of his childhood. He came to that Lake with the intention of killing Roberta, but was spared the trouble. She fell overboard and all he had to do was nothing, simply let mom and baby sink, while he swims quietly to shore. But the past is not so easily shed. It sticks to him and ultimately brings him to trial for his actions, or his failure to act, and his intent to kill. Readers of this book might benefit from reading Elizabeth Hardwick's provocative, essay, "Seduction and Betrayal," though I think she errs in her contention that "the whole drive of the novel is to make us feel Clyde's loss..." Rather the whole drive of the novel is to make us feel that Clyde and everyone he touched lost. Drawn to a new world, but unable to shed the old, he drags everyone and everything down with him.
Trust me: no one will every say, "Gee, I wish An American Tragedy had been a bit longer." The novel is exhausting, unpredicatable and at times almost amateurish in its flow. Still, it has an infectious quality about it and, most unfortunately, continues to resonate.

Rating:
Summary: What is the real tragedy?
Review: Dreiser's story is very easy to read. He writes in a very descriptive style, giving many details to the story. I found it very interesting that the story was based on the life of Chester Gillette who drowned his pregnant girlfriend in a New York lake in 1906. The obvious tragedy in the book is the murder of an innocent girl and then the execution of the young man who killed the girl. But the real tragedy is one that is found in our society. Self-interest comes before any other value in our society. This self-interest is characterized by social and economical gain. While I believe the worship of social gain has subsided in the last century, the desire for economic gain has grown a great deal. So the real tragedy lies in this- that many people don't value anything other than self.

The book closely follows the life of Clyde Griffiths, a weak individual who seems to have no will of his own. The author tries to portray the main character as a cog with no freedom in society. This theme of Naturalism gives too much weight to the influence of genetics and environment. In reality, the main character made awful decision that were deserving of punishment.

The story was very interesting, and I found myself getting angry at the main character as he made poor (tragic) choices. At times, the book was slow because of the descriptive style. But overall the book was interesting, and shows the American tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: Worth a read
Review: This book was recommended to me by a Russian friend who said that Dreiser had been popular in the Soviet Union. I could immediately see why. Early on in the book I was gripped with the sense of impending doom. The tragedy takes 800 pages to unfold, but you know that something bad is coming from the start. It is as tragic as the best of Russian novels.

The 1920s setting is full of social and economic inequities and demonstrates how individuals struggle against the rigid lines often drawn in a capitalist society.

Overall, a good book to glimpse at life in the early 20th century and to watch the slow unraveling of a soul. It also forces the reader to confront issues such as guilt, responsibility, fairness and intention.

While the first half of the book is gripping, the second book is overwritten and becomes boring at times. Also, the protagonist's changes in character sometimes seem to occur too rapidly or unexpectedly to be realistic.

Worth a read to become acquainted with Dreiser's style.