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| | Sister Carrie (The Pennsylvania Edition) |  | Author: Theodore Dreiser
Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $7.14
You Save: $17.81 (71%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  106 reviews
Sales Rank: 2665573
Media: Paperback
Edition: The Pennsylvania Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 679
ISBN: 0812211103
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780812211108
ASIN: 0812211103
Publication Date: April 1981
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Excellent customer service. Order inquiries handled promptly.
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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
Product Description
Unexpurgated version of Dreiser's story of a country girl's rise to riches as the mistress of a wealthy man.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 101 more reviews...
 Getting Your Mrs. Degree Without Going to College October 6, 2008
"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, I was at once intrigued and secretly invited to hear, not read, the tale of an original fem fatale.
As I read, I could actually hear the dialog and ambience of the era, horse-drawn carriages, the buzz of a cafes, restaurants and lodges. And, of course, the rather brutish brother-in-law whom Carrie encounters as an adversary when she moves to Chicago in the late 1800's.
The novel was the first for author, Theodore Dreiser, who later went on the write, "An American Tragedy", in 1925 a novel that brought universal acclaim.
"Carrie" reads with the striking atmosphere of a completely different set of rules and behavior standards and though, the language is a little outdated, it still tells the story of a young woman's plight of constant rejection during a time of very strict ideals set on single and married women. Her's is a fairy tale of seeming immediate acceptance with dreadful undertones of ownership and emotional abuse.
I'm incredibly challenged with the style and verbose writing of Mr. Dreiser and confident that a movie is sure to be in the works. A great read!
 A mostly interesting story May 16, 2008
"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 a wealthier man's "wife", will have raised a few eyebrows. The way her life progresses is interesting too, from extremely low, to good, to almost better off, to bad, to better, and then finally to excellent. Her personality, though relatively static, is curious to follow as well. At first, as a meek, shy, pretty girl, she gives off the very image of chastity. At the end, she is a strong, independent woman. The change is slow, and yet Carrie does not ultimately change all that much.
Above all, though, it's a great read. It's written in such a way that's easy to read, and though there are the usual dry spots of an early 20th century novel, it reads well. Characters are impressive in their realistic qualities - their weaknesses, their faults, their virtues and their beliefs. The story progresses smoothly and will keep the reader hooked.
A great read, cool writing, and a curious story. All in all, a pretty awesome book. I wish I'd found it sooner. Recommended!
 User Carrie May 9, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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 portray her as a little country innocent when she was, in fact, a shallow, dull, weak-minded but evidently physically attractive woman. She uses her sister then dumps her; she uses her first "live in" boyfriend, then dumps him for a married man; she uses the married man but is on the lookout for another. She is always looking for happiness by latching on to someone else's money and finery. Wouldn't you know it, she manages to become a self-supporting actress after using everybody along the way. Oh, but she is innocent and naive the whole time--yeah right. Dreiser uses Carrie as a vehicle to attempt to show capitalism as being vulgar, selfish, and self-destructing. If Carrie were typical, he would have a point.
The book is a little over-the-top, in my opinion. Carrie is just too pretty, too "innocent"; the men are incredibly stupid to be lead around by the nose by this creature. The married man's collapse and ruin over his failure with Carrie is over done. The characters are all dislikable and hard to identify with. The book left a sour tast in my mouth.
Fractured Fairy Tale and/or Horror Story on Capitalism January 31, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"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 never waned from the first page to the last. Yes, Dreiser's super-duper liberal (although liberal back in 1900 is a tad different than what we consider liberal today), but this man could sure write beautifully! At times, he's almost a poet, as I found myself reading some sentences and paragraphs two to three times over for their sublime brilliance.
Dreiser's prose is both honest and brave. He develops his characters beautifully, at a slow, methodic pace, carefully unraveling the mysterious air of each of the three main characters until the very last pages. Yes, he's iconoclastic. Yes, he gets a bit too preachy toward the end of the novel. Yes, he's a bit dark and discouraging. Yes he's a bit too liberal for many folks. And yes, his bitter, but many times brilliant observations are a tad too cluttered with sarcasm and irony. Yet for me, I just couldn't put this one down, nor forget about it when I finally did.
Carrie, Carrie, Carrie ... it is so easy for all of us to sit back and judge you. You slept your way to the top in many people's eyes. You sold your soul to become successful in our material world. Yet most people who have become successful in our society have led far worse lives than Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" and many of them are lionized. We have to ask ourselves, is it our jealous, judgmental nature that makes many of us go tisk-tisk about the lack of this gal's morals? My glass house is waaaay too thin to do this. Yet, I do not advocate in any way, shape or form using others to get what you want in life. The pursuit of materialism should never mean the sacrifice of one's ethics, morals and values. However, I do believe that Carrie was coming to this realization toward the end of the novel. In order to not disclose too much to those who haven't read this yet, I will say no more.
As I stated above, this classic definitely isn't without its imperfections. If you are a staunch conservative, there's a good chance this writer will irk you a bit. I also thought Dreiser was a bit too harsh in regards to the fate of the book's male protagonist, perhaps punishing him for being the quintessential all-American, conservative Capitalist that he represented early on. He also is a writer who tends to be idealistic to a fault, getting way too preachy and sanctimonious for most of us mere, marred mortals to handle at times.
Overall though, I really, really dug this classic novel. This is the first time I have read Dreiser, and I greatly admire his compelling, penetrative style. The story is well written, no real action, very little plot, mostly a character study of some very realistic people whom we all have known in life. The beauty of this simplistic story is the way it plays on just about every emotion imaginable, which made it for me, never a dull moment.
I loved it. 5 Stars!
Material Girl...100 years ago. June 16, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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; to pull her weight she takes a job as a factory girl in a shoe shop for wages that can barely afford her basic necessities let alone the simple pleasures of Chicago life. Not quite used to the rigorous demands of intense manual labor, she yearns for something greater. By chance, she bumps into a wealthy, flirtatious gentleman - Drouet - whom she had previously met on her train ride into Chicago. His initial courting is unsuccessful but he eventually takes Carrie on as a kept mistress. Their relationship is at best superficial. He offers material things and compliments to her beauty.
Without spoiling the rest of the story, Carrie's raw and innocent drive for success takes her on a series of relationships and adventures first in Chicago and later in New York. As a historical piece, Dreiser provides vivid descriptions of these two cities right down to the street level. He treats the city as a state of mind, with narrative insights weaved between powerful stretches of dialogue.
100 years later, present-day readers might see Carrie as a heroine, despite her unabashed materialism. This was the very reason for its lack of marketing support; the historical fact is that the wife of Doubleday's CEO was upset by Carrie's bachelorette success going "unpunished" by the author.
As was mentioned above, the "city" has transformed her into a woman who is set in her ambitions. Dreiser's style allows us to see things from the point of view of many characters and not just Carrie's. There are snippets of moralizing here and there which give the reader a sense that Dreiser was in some ways a prophet - he foresaw the unbridled potential of American individuality, its drawbacks, and how it is generally actualized in the American city. And for the time period, this was a paradox for women. But Carrie shamelessly lives her life they way she wants to. Classism and sexism aside, Carrie Meeber carries on the American dream.
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