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Summary: A contemporary American tragedy that draws you in.
Review: McTeague is a tragedy, though not quite on par with the Greek and Shakespearean tragedies, is certainly worthy of praise. The author does a splendid job of vibrantly describing settings and characters. The characters are ones that you feel for and sympathize with as they all have their own tragic situations. Norris takes you through a rollercoaster as the characters in the book each have their highs and lows. Ultimately, McTeague, is more than just a story about mid-19th century California, but rather of the darker side of man himself. The evil qualities of man, such as lust and greed, are depicted in the book as well as the consequences of such qualities. Although McTeague starts of slowly at first, the novel sucks you in quickly and doesn't let go.
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Summary: San Francisco's Greed
Review: McTeague is Frank Norris's first novel and was published in 1899. It is the tragic story of a man who practices dentistry without a license and marries a girl who won $5000 in a lottery but keeps it all to herself. The first few years of their marriage are pleasant; the only negative thing is that his friendship with Marcus is over. He wanted to marry Trina, McTeague's wife and Marcus' niece, but did not get her. He tells the authorities and then the life of Trina and McTeague goes down. Without ever using money of the $5000 McTeague loses his practice and they grow apart. He starts hitting and abusing her and in the end does the most horrible thing. First she is maimed, later killed. McTeague flees and in off all places Death Valley meets Marcus again. Things can now be settled once and for all..The book, though over a century old, is still very readable. The main theme seems to be greed, in fact a movie was made long ago called Greed, based on this novel. Set in San Francisco everyone is greedy and people even kill for money, everyone is suspicious that they are keeping secrets and are not telling everyone about the money they really possess. Greed leeds in the end to death. Also in Death Valley...
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Summary: McTeague is a prophetic masterpiece!
Review: McTeague is one of the greatest works of "classic American literature" I have ever read. Frank Norris was a genius at being able to size up the inhumanity of humanity & roll it all up in one great big nasty ball of literature that packs a punch that will knock you on your bum! McTeague is an uncaring brute who knows not the chaos that he creates. His wife is a gullible victim with a heart of gold. His best friend is ready to steal away his most prized posession. To top it all off is an ending for the ages that will leave one of the most stark, naked pictures presented in all of literature's annals. Many people will not enjoy McTeague because of the sheer brutality & the negative, crushing tone of the novel. For those of you who don't need rainbows & unicorns in a novel, I have a feeling you'll be absolutely thrilled by this American masterpiece.
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Summary: interesting view of San Francisco in the 19th century
Review: McTeague was a very interesting book. It was a great example of naturalism and cultural values in the 19th century. It shows the relationships between man vs. nature and the animal instincts that are present in humans. Norris quickly pulls the reader into the scene with his incredible description of San Francisco and the people who live there. The book was fast moving and kept my inerest to the very end.
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Summary: An Excellent Novel
Review: McTeague was truly an excellent novel. While the prose was awkward at times, the story seemed to move at a steady pace with little to no downtime. Norris forces his reader to empathize with his characters, especially in times of stupidity and greed. For example, when McTeague foolishly shoves a cue ball into his mouth and gets it stuck, Norris made it so real I almost broke a sweat. Similarly, there were many moments where I was ready to put my fist through Trina (and thank god someone did). All in all, McTeague was a highly enjoyable read and an interesting perspective into the dark side of people.
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Summary: A commentary on Greed
Review: Mcteague, a novel by Frank Norris, is a book which shows how greed can destroy a person's life. Hardworking Mcteague suddenly comes into som money when his wife wins the lottery. He thiks this is cause to celebrate, but he doesn't know how wrong he is. Soon, his best friend turns on him when he feels he has a legitimate claim to the money. A man named Zerkow is driven to murder when he finds that his wife may be withholding very value pottery from him. Almost everybody in the book is devastated in one way or another from their greed. This book is an excellent satire of the evils of greed.
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Summary: McTeague is literary naturalism in the purist form.
Review: McTeague, the man, is the embodiment of the majority of human civilization. The simplicity and directness of the themes are so free-flowing they are hardly noticible: success, wealth, power, the fear of losing that which elevates citizens to one of the three social classes: 1) Wealth 2) Middle-class 3) Poverty. The characters in the novel: McTeague, Trina, Marcus, Zerkow, etc., are all simple-minded individuals longing for something that is universal in life: success and comfort. But what happens when that goal, that climax, is never achieved, almost achieved but never fully there or worse yet, achieved but then brutally snatched away? That is what happenes to McTeague, a dentist, who can no longer practice his craft because he holds no dental degree. What happens when that comfort zone, that stability, is yanked away and gnawed into pieces so miniscule it can't be reconstructed to its original form? Can he rise from his adversity or will he, like many before him and many after him, fall into the pits of criminal behavior and social depravity? As is always unfortunately the case, the latter is almost always what comes into fruition. There is a force in the novel that brings the characters quietly together. The dark happenings that they incur as a result of their narrow-minded longings almost makes what happens to them inevitable. The writing itself is lucid and relaxed, which is a real accomplishment considering the horror he puts his characters through. The scenes of San Francisco, the desert and the village-oriented type feel of Polk Street where the beginning action takes place are wonderfully described, not laborious as compared to the old and tragic English novels of the 19th Century and onward. For any literate individual interested in how greed can destroy a life, McTeague is the book for you.
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Summary: Well-evoked hatred
Review: Norris wrote well. He managed to create characters who were realistic and didn't live a storybook life. He also managed to create a book where the characters are impossible to identify with, who do such stupid and dreadful things that by the end of the book a strange mixture of pity, revulsion, and hatred for the characters results. A savage joy is evoked at the terrible deaths that moves and frightens the reader. Truly it is a thought-provoking book, and as such does Norris credit, but do not read it for other than sadistic pleasure.
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Summary: Depressing, pitiless, hypnotic
Review: Norris' story moves toward its predictably tragic ending with a hypnotic momentum that make this work one of the true classics of American literary naturalism. Above all, Norris' novel is composed of unforgettable images--it isn't at all surprising that Erich von Stroheim chose to adapt "McTeague" as the film "Greed" in 1924.
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Summary: Remarkable in its Detail; Entertaining
Review: Norris's "McTeague" is a wonderfully detailed account of the city of San Francisco in the early 20th century. His vivid descriptions placed me in the heart of the action of the novel: I could hear the trundling of the cable cars as they passed McTeague's "Dental Parlors"; I could feel the cool Pacific gusts on my face as McTeague fished near the the huge rocks to the west of Lincoln Park; I could smell the stale tobacco smoke and steaming beer as McTeague settled down to his afternoon snooze. If nothing else, "McTeague" is of historical importance. Norris makes a motion picture of San Francisco after the turn of the century and then shows it to the reader with words instead of pixels. The novel is captivating. As the novel progresses, the beast within McTeague continues to emerge. His evolution sets a trap, inviting you to anticipate his next move and compelling you to read on to see if you are right. Norris thrilled me with all the adrenaline-pumping gore--I was frightened and disgusted but powerless not to continue. The ironic fight-to-the-death ending, although unrealistic, is enjoyable as well.
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