This
was the first book in the Hundred Book Challenge that felt like a chore. I
didn’t hate it exactly but every word was a special kind of torture to get
through. The end result was like the end of a long workout. I know it was good
for me but I can’t say I enjoyed the process or am likely to do it again.
“An
American Tragedy” is a laborious book. The author, Theodore Dreiser goes into
an almost mental patient’s level of description.
A
fictional example? Let’s say you wanted to say, “The man paid 50 cents for an
apple.” In “An American Tragedy” the sentence would read as follows:
And
inasmuch as the man, given to the natural inclinations of all men, at the end
of his day of labors- though such labors were not physical in nature, still he
expended not an inconsiderable amount of energy- found himself to be in want of
some manner of physical needs to build up not only nutrition and a general
feeling of wellbeing, but also the act of trading part of one’s hard-earned pay
for something else. This magical alchemy of commerce allowed the man to…” and
so on.
Someone
might have a lot of fun creating a computer program that Dreiserizes sentences.
The
story follows Clyde Griffiths, a young man who wants to improve his station in
love and life. The tragedy is that his drive ends up destroying the lives of
those around him. The story meanders around his life following him from his
youth where he was the son of evangelical parents who would, to the
embarrassment and frustration of Clyde, street preach. He eventually moves on
to other things as he seeks employment and love in areas he feels represents a
higher station.
Ultimately
he finds himself working in a management position at his rich uncle’s shirt
collar factory. He seduces one of the
poor factory girls and gets her pregnant while falling in love with a rich
socialite.
Spoiler
alert: He ends up murdering the poor factory girl. He gets caught almost
immediately, sits through an extended trial where his is found guilty, goes to
prison and is executed.
The
story is a tragedy but what makes it an American tragedy? Published in 1925,
the points of the story, if not the writing, are very contemporary. This
tragedy could only happen in America because they are based on American goals
and cultures. A mixture of puritanical religious fervor mixed with the concept
of the right to economic and social improvement.
It’s
all pretty much sad and depressing. The characters in this novel believe in
higher purposes but are driven by base and materialistic desires.
At
the same time, the story takes hard looks at various social issues, most prominently
the troubles faced by single women who find themselves pregnant. How women at
the time had absolutely no option and no future. No one would support them, no
one would help them and no one would even recognize them as human. This book is
best when it examines this and other truths that modern audiences would find
hard to believe while forced to admit that, yes, things aren’t too different.
Like reading a horror story and realizing its closer to reality than you are
comfortable with.
Like
a plate of lima beans or a bottle of kale juice, this book has important
qualities, I just couldn’t get past the taste and texture.
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