I'm not going to lie, reading through two chapters of Dreiser's novel, Sister Carrie, was challenging. When I first started reading, I found it really distracting that Dreiser kept pulling back to narrate what was happening in the story. It was a very strange type of writing, and it reminded me a lot of watching a movie with the director's commentary on. Dreiser would give readers extra details about Sister Carrie's background and comment on scenes as they were playing out. At first I thought it was kinda cool but then I just got really annoyed at jumping back and forth.
Also with this novel, I really wanted to shake Sister Carrie for being so naive! That or write her a letter and tell her to get off of the train and go back home, cause she was so not ready for what was ahead - she couldn't even make it to the city before getting into trouble! When I began reading, I almost pitied her for being so innocent, but then I just became irritated that she was being so dumb. Growing up in a very small town myself, I was hoping she would represent the country life a little better. However, I was severely disappointed because Dreiser lets us know pretty quickly in the novel that Sister Carrie has zero street smarts when she gives out her new address to a complete stranger who also happens to be a complete creep.
Perhaps I would have to read the novel in its entirety to completely understand the story Dreiser was trying to tell. However, from what I got from the reading we had to do, I'm not so sure. Maybe if Sister Carrie grew a brain...
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