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Product Description
Review
"A handsome text: the commentary and notes are really valuable."--E.N. Feltskog, University of Wisconsin
"Excellent in all respects; a valuable teaching tool."--Benjamin Fisher, University of Mississippi
"Nice notes and introduction. Well bound."--Daniel Finkman, Occidental College
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Excellent in all respects; a valuable teaching tool."--Benjamin Fisher, University of Mississippi
"Nice notes and introduction. Well bound."--Daniel Finkman, Occidental College
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
McTeague (1899) chronicles the demise of a San Francisco couple at the end of the nineteenth century. Inspired by an actual crime that was sensationalized in the San Francisco papers, it tells the story of charlatan dentist McTeague, his wife Trina, and their spiralling descent into moral corruption. Norris is often considered to be the `American Zola', and this is one of the most purely naturalistic American novels of the nineteenth century. With its compelling portrayal of human nature at its most basic level, McTeague is a gripping and passionate tale of greed, degeneration and death. It is also one of the first major works of literature to set in California, and it provided the story for Erich von Stroheim's classic of the silent screen, Greed.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is another early natural realism novel by American author Frank Norris in around 1899. His writing style was inspired by Emile Zola (my favourite author). There was some controversy regarding the content at the time but to be honest compared to Zola the realistic incident (child wetting himself) most discussed in the press at the time is very mild in comparison.
This is the dark, nasty tale of McTeague, a slow witted dentist; his girlfriend Trina and their mutual friend (Trina's cousin) Marcus. The basic storyline being that Marcus wants Trina but gives way to McTeague. The dynamic occurs when Trina wins a fortune and Marcus regrets his magnanimity and falls out with McTeague.
An interesting angle with the construction of the story is another couple Maria (McTeague's housemaid) and Zerkow (a Jewish merchant) also get together but based on his belief that Maria has a hidden fortune in a gold dinner service. The dynamic of both couples rotating around both a real or imagined fortune is clever - suffice is to say brutal murder is the outcome.
This is a very slow burn sinister story with the build-up of the relationship of McTeague and Trina taking far too long I found. The depiction of the late 1800s America is very appealing but the realistic thrust of the story is just too meandering overall. Trina's miserliness dominates and steers the McTeague downfall. The extremely dramatic cowboy/western style ending, though worth the read of the book for, is the finale of about the last 10th of the book and appears somewhat out of place and perhaps overly contrived.
I found also that a significant event which lays McTeague low also mis-placed in that I'm sure (give the circumstances, which I won't state as it could be a spoiler) he could have found someway to carry on his profession.
In summary a good read but not nearly as enthralling as The Wheat.
This is the dark, nasty tale of McTeague, a slow witted dentist; his girlfriend Trina and their mutual friend (Trina's cousin) Marcus. The basic storyline being that Marcus wants Trina but gives way to McTeague. The dynamic occurs when Trina wins a fortune and Marcus regrets his magnanimity and falls out with McTeague.
An interesting angle with the construction of the story is another couple Maria (McTeague's housemaid) and Zerkow (a Jewish merchant) also get together but based on his belief that Maria has a hidden fortune in a gold dinner service. The dynamic of both couples rotating around both a real or imagined fortune is clever - suffice is to say brutal murder is the outcome.
This is a very slow burn sinister story with the build-up of the relationship of McTeague and Trina taking far too long I found. The depiction of the late 1800s America is very appealing but the realistic thrust of the story is just too meandering overall. Trina's miserliness dominates and steers the McTeague downfall. The extremely dramatic cowboy/western style ending, though worth the read of the book for, is the finale of about the last 10th of the book and appears somewhat out of place and perhaps overly contrived.
I found also that a significant event which lays McTeague low also mis-placed in that I'm sure (give the circumstances, which I won't state as it could be a spoiler) he could have found someway to carry on his profession.
In summary a good read but not nearly as enthralling as The Wheat.
Format:Paperback
This is a profoundly naturalistic novel, fixed on the dark side of the human species, his vices like jealousy, avarice and greed. `(Alcohol) roused the man, or rather the brute in the man, and now not only roused it, but goaded it to evil.'
Its philosophy is determinism: people follow their desires `blindly, recklessly, furious and raging at every obstacle' in `the changeless order of things'.
This determinism of no escape is perfectly illustrated in the last image: `As McTeague rose to his feet, he felt a pull at his right wrist. Looking down, he saw that Marcus in that last struggle had found the strength to handcuff their wrists together.'
The picture is sometimes overdone, a caricature: `The hideous yelling of a hurt beast, the squealing of a wounded elephant.'
And ultimately, the novel is less impressive than `The Pit' or `The Octopus', because it lacks a framework. People are acting as in a void. The novel is a pure illustration of characters. There is no social conditioning; e.g., the fact that a new legislation is introduced to regulate the profession of dentist is mainly used as a vengeance, out of jealousy.
But, all in all, it is (still) a courageous book and a very worth-while read.
Its philosophy is determinism: people follow their desires `blindly, recklessly, furious and raging at every obstacle' in `the changeless order of things'.
This determinism of no escape is perfectly illustrated in the last image: `As McTeague rose to his feet, he felt a pull at his right wrist. Looking down, he saw that Marcus in that last struggle had found the strength to handcuff their wrists together.'
The picture is sometimes overdone, a caricature: `The hideous yelling of a hurt beast, the squealing of a wounded elephant.'
And ultimately, the novel is less impressive than `The Pit' or `The Octopus', because it lacks a framework. People are acting as in a void. The novel is a pure illustration of characters. There is no social conditioning; e.g., the fact that a new legislation is introduced to regulate the profession of dentist is mainly used as a vengeance, out of jealousy.
But, all in all, it is (still) a courageous book and a very worth-while read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4th-rate Zola. Nevertheless. . .
If you've not seen Greed, the story is that of a stupid giant of a dentist who is taken with a woman whom his best friend has been half-heartedly courting. Read more
Published 19 months ago by monica
A forgotten masterpiece.
I first saw the silent film 'Greed' (1924) and was moved by the superb acting in it. I wanted to read the novel but had expected it to be unlike the film. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2006 by Mr. Ruairi McGovern
McTeague and his neighbors are America's bottom feeders.
As a high school literature teacher, I have helped hundreds of students experience turn-of-the-century San Francisco and the inhabitants of Polk Street. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 1998
As dangerous as a Comanche attack, and somber as steam beer.
The Norris novel stuns the senses. It is the Cadillac of ingenuity. drama vs. rest. the rest, and the rest...descriptive and natural. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 1998
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