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An American Tragedy
  
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An American Tragedy (Paperback)

by Theodore Dreiser (Author) "DUSK-of a summer night ..." (more)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Signet Classics (1 Sep 1964)
  • ISBN-10: 0451502353
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451502353
  • Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 12.7 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,401,597 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #50 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Dreiser, Theodore

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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The All American Novel!, 8 Jan 2003
By Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: An American Tragedy (Signet Classics) (Paperback)
Dreiser has crafted an immmense, complex novel based on the life of Clyde Griffiths, a man who commmitted a famous murder out of desperation in 1906. Born of a poor Mid-western Salvation Army family, Griffiths becomes romantically involved with a woman of his own class, only to fall in love with a socialite just beyond his grasp. A series of miscalculations evolves and Griffiths finds himself lost in his own web of tragedy and panic.
Occurring mostly in the resort of Big Moose Lake, N.Y. during the hey-day of Adirondacks, the mood and characters are all too believable and Dreiser paints a romantically painful picture of a man who cannot escape his roots and destiny.

Don't be beset by the voluminous writing. The structure, narration and characterization is perfect. Dreiser truly has created the perfect All American novel. If you can pace your reading to prevent getting ahead of yourself, you will notice the careful style Dreiser has created that turns a neat full circle by the end.

Made famous by the film, "A Place In The Sun" with Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters and Elizabeth Taylor.

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16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars ... And lead us not into temptation!, 10 Aug 2001
By ingrid.lang@pandora.be (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews
This review is from: An American Tragedy (Signet Classics) (Paperback)
Clyde Griffiths certainly has been led into temptation by his creator Theodore Dreiser: here he is, only an inch away from all he has ever wanted (money, beauty, status) and he thinks he can get it by paying the price of killing his former girlfriend. Dreiser, being a moralist, does not let him get away with it. On death row Clyde for the first time in his life makes a moral decision and perhaps reclaims his soul but loses his life. Neither could his victim, Roberta, resist the temptation of doing the wrong thing in order to get what she wants. Sex outside marriage does not seem much of an issue to us but this is turn of the century America and she herself is convinced that it is sinful. She falls victim to Clyde's seduction because she sees him as someone who can lift her out of her deprived existence on a fungous farm into a better life. It is true that she is also sentimentally in love with him. Up until the end Clyde feels that those who have not been tempted as he was should not judge him. He grew up repelled by the shabbiness of his home and confused by the failure of his parents (who are street preachers) to achieve any tangible success in life. He rejects their bible messages but, due to his lack of education and social isolation, has nothing to replace them with. When he does earn some money he wastes it on an exploitative girlfriend. Years later we see him in a minor position in his rich uncle's factory. He meets Roberta, who works for him and has a clandestine affair with her. And then it happens: he catches the fancy of a very rich society girl who brings him into the wealthy set, makes him presents, gives him money, plans a future with him. Roberta, by now pregnant and threatening a scandal, is an obstacle. I have long wondered why Clyde is presented not just as a criminal with a deprived childhood but also as a flawed human being. It is easy to scoff at the things he longs for but who among us is really free from the same longings? It must be because he has no resistance: at every point he gives in to temptation: he runs away after an accident and never finds out that no charges were pressed against him. He misspends his money and lies about it. He grasps the opportunity of pushing Roberta into a sexual relationship although he knows he should not...
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