Sister Carrie Books

Reviewed by Anne Marie Medema (age 12) for Reader Views (3/08)

"Carrie's Courage" by Norma Jean Lutz is another book written for the "Sisters in Time" collection. Lutz is a skilled author who writes historical novels to give knowledge to her readers of specific events or issues in history. She weaves in characters with numerous personality traits to make her point about what life would be like during that time period. Lutz successfully brings characters alive and relates them to young female readers. Lutz uses vivid descriptions to tell her story and makes the reader feel like they are actually where the story takes place.

"Carrie's Courage" is about a young girl named Carrie who likes to pretend when she plays. In this story Carrie meets Dvora, a Jewish girl. Carrie helps Dvora get over the fear of going to school because she is new in the neighborhood. Soon after Carrie meets Dvora she finds out that her great Aunt's adopted son is part of the Ku Klux Klan, a group of people who harass others because they are from different nations or religions. Carrie and Dvora quickly become good friends. Dvora is ridiculed because of her Jewish religion. Carrie has to decide if she will stay on Dvora's side and lose her friends or remain with her friends and reject Dvora. Carrie soon finds out that her friends do not care if she plays with Dvora. Carrie's decision is made for her. Later the Ku Klux Klan burn a wooden cross in Dvora's yard. Dvora and the uncle she lives with are obviously scared and upset. Carrie's parents assure them of their safety because the Ku Klux Klan is disliked in the community. Carrie discovers that her friendship with Dvora is so strong that nothing can break them apart. Dvora eventually moves to another neighborhood with Jewish roots. Even this distance between the girls cannot break their friendship.

I recommend "Carrie's Courage" by Norma Jean Lutz to girls who are age 9 to 12 who treasure lasting friendships. I like the way Lutz encourages girls my age to build relationships based on what is inside a person's heart. Race or religion should not matter to a relationship because you like the person for who they are. In my own life I related to this story because I have Jewish friends who I am a friend with because of our common interests and personalities. Friendship is not based on religious beliefs. Bring yourself into a wave of friendship with "Carries Courage" by Norma Jean Lutz.

I think that anyone who LOVES SUSPENSE WILL LOVE this book. I promise. I love history and this has a lot of history and excitment. Don't worry about bad books because Carrie's Courage is one you can always count on.

I think that anyone who LOVES SUSPENSE WILL LOVE this book. I promise. I love history and this has a lot of history and excitment. Don't worry about bad books because Carrie's Courage is one you can always count on.

Carrie's Courage is a wonderful book about a ten-year-old girl named Carrie Ruhle who befriends a Jewish girl named Dvora who has just moved into town. Will Carrie be able to stay friends with Dvora though because her best friend Violet absolutely hates Dvora since she is Jewish? Can Carrie save her new friend from the white-robed Ku Klux Klan who is terrorizing the Jews, blacks, and other immigrants in her neighborhood before it's too late? Find out as Carrie and her friends struggle with racism in this fantastic book called Carrie's Courage, which is one of the many books in the spectacular Sisters In Time series.

I think that Carrie's Courage is a wonderful faith-based book that kids ages 8-12 will enjoy reading. I loved the short, flowing, and very interesting poems the author added to this amazing book. The characters matched their 1920's time frame very well. I thought that the ending was kind of sad though. If you like American Girl books then I think you will love this brilliant book. I'm hoping to read all of the books in the whole series.

Reviewed by a student for Flamingnet Book Reviews
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Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations

Morrow's book serves as a good source for readers interested in learning about Indiana's rich literary heritage.FROM BEN HUR TO SISTER CARRIE is beautifully written and meticulously researched. I especially enjoyed the many black and white photographs that accompanied the text.

a very hard book to read, but satisfying the way it is when one masters a difficult game--its uses of language are a raw, acerbic testimony to what was probably a strange way of growing up in a dysfunctional family that has probably grown tolerably eccentric. I am glad that people write this way.. it preserves writing in a strange way by reinventing it... ...this book is not at all for the faint of smart.

Works of Theodore Dreiser. The Financier, Sister Carrie, The Titan and Twelve Men. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

Dreiser's novels effect the lives of everyone who reads them. I this ebook to everyone. It will leave you thinking and thinking and thinking.

"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!

"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!

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.

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.

"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!

Dreiser's Sister Carrie is an urban novel. A country girl comes to the city, ends up with a slick saleman as a kept woman, but runs off with a bar manager to New York where she finds fame as an actress. Her bar manager husband falls on hard times and kills himself. Carrie's fortunes rise as Hurstwood's falls. The characters operate in the world of the city with its mystical pull. Their decisions and some chance events help guide along the plot, but this is a world of survival of the fittest. Carrie turns out to be fit, while Hurstwood does not. There are undertones of Darwin's theories. Dreiser himself occasionally appears as a voice in the work separate from the narrator and the characters. The Norton Critical Edition contains useful reference works at the back and a bibliography helpful for starting research.

Sister Carrie is undoubtedly a hallmark of American literature. Whether one reads this as a social Darwinesque glorification of American society or a scathing criticism of capitalist individualism and urban naturalism, Dreiser's work encapsulates the fabric of American society and history. Unfortunately, Dreiser has gone long underappreciated, and the sheer importance of his work has yet to be fully recognized.

Norton's edition is spectacular, compiling a significant amount of background information about Dreiser and the writing of Sister Carrie, as well as critical responses and reviews. Another edition worthy of attention is the University of Pennsylvania "unabridged" publication, regardless of one's opinions about the authenticity or genuousness of un-editing the edited (originally published) Sister Carrie.

Here is a snapshot, written by a journalist, of Chicago and New York of 110 years ago. Dreiser, according to the excellent background notes in this Norton edition, had never read "naturalist" novels before he wrote this one, but had been heavily influenced by Balzac. What we have here is social and political messages delivered in the context of the life of a young, idealistic woman who comes to Chicago to escape the boredom of a small town and to make her way in the world. I'm reminded of the book, Devil in the White City, and how it mentions all the young women who flocked to Chicago in the 1880s and 1890s and were in awe of that booming city's majesty and bustle and life. What Carrie finds is utter indifference and dullness until a man sets her up in a "love nest." What a scandal! Soon Carrie grows weary of this guy and is taken with the true tragic figure in this story, a successful married man named Hurstwood. Hurstwood falls in love with Carrie and blows his whole life up for that love. All of this is based on a true story of Dreiser's own sister, we learn from the background notes, but Dreiser has embellished this squalid little tale to give us the demise of a man in minute and realistic detail, all the while commenting on the meaning of success, material well being, and what happiness is all about. This would all be trite if it weren't framed in journalistic realism. Carrie ends up a smashing "success" in the theater, but never finds true contentment. Question: What is the good life? Answer: It comes from internal sources, not external materialistic ones. But money, nevertheless, helps along the way to give you the leisure time to even contemplate this question. Dreiser doesn't seem to address this.
The corrosive depression that Hurstwood suffers is hard to take, but the scenes of old New York hark to today's downtown New York, south of 34th Street, where you can still see the buildings Dreiser describes, and you can still see the hard-luck people as well.
This is a unique American novel, well worth the time. This edition is also well worth the wealth of information it provides.

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat, Sisters of the Extreme is a "reissue" of 1982's Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady -- cut, streamlined and reformatted beyond all recognition. Evidently, the authors took the edge off their book for a more "conservative" era -- either that, or they assume their reader's minds have been so numbed by drugs that we NEED heavy edits and People Magazine-inspired "look" to hold our limited attention.

Sure, there are a couple of new excerpts worth reading (the one from Mary Woronov's "The Mole People is revealing), but for the most part, Sisters of the Extreme seems to be pandering to old YUPPIES who need a little stimulation. I swear that if I read ANYTHING by Carrie Fisher ever again, it will be too soon -- enough of the "I went to rehab and got a bad haircut" trip. Get over it.

In the introduction, the authors do say that they edited some excerpts for space and deleted others all together. When I got out the two editions and compared them almost line for line, I discovered a disturbing trend -- whereas Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady allowed one to take the writings at face value, Sisters of the Extreme has definite agenda. Sisters of the Extreme doesn't LIKE drugs. It doesn't want ME to like drugs. It wants me to be TITILATED by the writings. The difference is clear.

Sisters of the Extreme is a product of the times. It's been dumbed down and punched up. Sure, the authors include a couple of writings on sex magick and a few counter culture cartoons, but the overall smell of political correctness is stupifying.

The gist of my review is this: if don't already own a copy of Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady, go ahead and buy Sisters of the Extreme. Then, go on a quest for the Real Thing.

In the meantime, the use bibliography in Sisters of the Extreme to find and read the original sourced writings. You'll be glad you did.

Sisters Of The Extreme is an informative and engaging presentation of famous female authors who write about the drug experience includes a variety of works from such notables as Bronte, Alcott, Di Prima, and more. Writings from historical works through modern times are gathered in Sisters Of The Extreme, a fine survey of the lives and experiences of women who have had their lives changed by drugs.

Being on the fringe of consensual reality and yet being able to take some notes of the journeys beyond, is an awesome gift. The stories in SISTERS OF THE EXTREME are such gifts of the God-Us. I have the original SHAMAN WOMAN, MAINLINE LADY and went through my contribution, line for line, and the only difference noted was my photo had shrunk in this new, revised edition. (This is consistent as now, being in my fifties, I notice that I am shrinking some also.) The tone not only is consistent from the first edition but vividly expansive. (I was somewhat embarrassed being in the first edition, with the stereotypic cover -- yet in this new volume, I am honored not only for the outrageous company kept and new sisters included but engaging graphics.)

As the God-Us dances about the universe, skirt swirling the galaxies, being on the fringes gives the wildest ride. This book is a travelogue by explorers of multi-dimensional realities written in white ink, from the heart of our Sisters-in-the-Clan-of-Encouragement: this book is a major herstoric contribution to the sext of human consciousness.

Jeannine Parvati (Baker) Author HYGIEIA: A WOMAN'S HERBAL

Sister Carrie was published half a century after Flaubert's Madame Bovary, but the stories are similar in many ways. Both are about women who want more from life than their initial allotment, and both fall into societally-unapproved liaisons in their attempt to get more. There are two major differences between the books: First, although Emma Bovary's first affair is initiated by her lover, Emma thereafter becomes the pursuer of increasingly reluctant lovers. By contrast, Carrie seems to "fall into" her relationships merely by her inability to say no to men who are (and continue to be) entranced by her. Second, the author punishes Emma for her licentiousness by giving her a hideous, painful death, whereas Carrie's only punishment is to experience loneliness at the top as she rises in fame and fortune. Which ending do you find more believable? I haven't decided yet.

I usually keep every paperback book I purchase; however, I will not be keeping this one. Colleen Davis' father is an alcoholic and is dying of related problems. He also was physically abusive toward his older daughter, Violet and was emotionally abusive toward the children's mother. Colleen's mother couldn't tolerate her husband's drinking and his abusive behavior so she leaves but apparently sees nothing wrong with leaving her children in the home to have to tolerate their father's behavior. Violet comes home to visit her father in the hospital and then spends the entire book trying to get up enough courage to actually enter the hospital. Violet also for some poorly explained reason is extremely hostile toward Colleen, whom she has not seen for many years. Colleen blames herself for her parents divorce years earlier but is hostile toward both of them and also is hostile toward her older sister who she believes should have stayed at home to help take care of her after their mother left. She spends a great deal of time trying to get her sister to reconcile with their father though she herself is not really reconciled to her sister, her mother, or her father. Vince is the sheriff who is Colleen's love interest but he can't bring himself to step foot in a hospital because his mother died in one years ago. He thinks "like some old horror movie, people check in but they don't check out". (I believe that was actually a commercial for a roach motel where the roaches checked in but didn't check out!) All of the five main characters in the book are so messed up that I couldn't like them and didn't really care what happened to them. I was very disappointed with this book.

The narrator who reads this book uses very little inflection and has an irritating voice to boot. Being an auditory learner, I prefer to listen to books over reading the words; this reader makes it almost painful. Since the material itself is far from scintillating, the reader could make up the difference with a good reading with lots of inflection and characterization, but she doesn't. Blah!