Sister Carrie

 

Books and Beer Club doesn't meet in December, so at the November meeting, the group picks a LONG classic to be discussed in January. I wish I could recall the suggestions that were tossed out. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser sounded the most interesting to me, mostly because Carrie ends up in New York City. The woman who recommended the book absolutely loved it. The reviews online echoed that.

I definitely did not love the book, but I didn't hate it either. It's the story of Carrie (called Sister Carrie  not because she's a nun but because that's what her family at home called her growing up) who leaves her small town in Indiana for the big city of Chicago. Her plan is to live with her sister and get a job to support herself and then kind of wait for life to happen.

She meets a guy, Charles Drouet, on the train to Chicago. He wants to meet her once she's settled and she really isn't comfortable with him coming to her sister's house. Until... she gets sick and loses her lousy job and needs help. They live together apparently as man and wife.

Drouet introduces her to his friend Hurstwood, a married man with a demanding wife and two older children. Carrie and Drouet are attracted to each other. Hurstwood mistakenly thinks that Carrie is married to Drouet and Carrie mistakenly thinks that Hurstwood is single.

The story kind of bumbles along, much of it descriptions of Carrie's life with the two men. I guess that would make this classic novel a character study. I was intrigued by lines that could have just as easily been written today as over 100 years ago. Here's one example, noteworthy as we watch the demise, redefinition, and repurposing of department stores and shopping malls all across the country.

The nature of these vast retail combinations, should they ever permanently disappear, will form an interesting chapter in the commercial history of our nation. 

They were along the line of the most effective retail organization, with hundreds of stores coordinated into one and laid out upon the most imposing and economic basis. They were handsome, bustling, successful affairs, with a host of clerks and a swarm of patrons.

What I've found exceptionally interesting is reading the commentary on the novel in an attempt to figure out why I didn't love the book. Those are riveting and lead me to believe that our book club discussion in another few weeks will be as well.

Just to keep this complete, here's the line I took offense at. I mean, really?

There was another fellow there, representing Burnstein, a regular hook-nosed sheeny, but he wasn’t in it.

 

 

Of Mice and Men

Add John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men to the list of classics that I'm finally getting around to reading in my old age. I'm somewhat surprised that I've never read it before (and am racking my brain trying to figure out if I've ever read The Grapes of Wrath). During the pandemic, my adult son is on a reading tear and Of Mice and Men is one of the few fiction books that he's read. I decided to read this one along with him and I look forward to discussing it with him later today. If anything noteworthy comes out of my discussion with him, I will surely add a postscript to this blog post. I am sure his ideas about the plot, the setting, and the characters... and their underlying meanings... will be quite thought-provoking.

In case you aren't aware of what this book is about, it's about migrant farmworkers, George and Lennie, in the Depression-era short novel. George is the brains of the pair of friends while Lennie is the brawn. They are saving for a stake. They hope to own a house and have some land. Lennie, in the dream, will take care of the rabbits. I read this novel not knowing how it ends, another thing that's kind of surprising considering how many high school and university reading lists include this title.

This is a story about outsiders. About those who don't belong to mainstream society. It's a story of how outsiders can come together and then how they end up apart.

Living with the racial unrest brought to a head by the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the following really struck a chord within me. Over 80 years after the writing of Of Mice and Men, things couldn't be more similar.

     Crooks stood up from the bunk and faced her. "I had enough," he said coldly. "You got no rights comin' in a colored man's room. You got no rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus' get out, an' get out quick. If you don't, I'm gonna ast the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no more."

     She turned on him in scorn. "Listen, Nigger," she said. You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?"

     Crooks stared hopelessly at her, and then he sat down on his bunk and drew into himself.

     She closed on him. "You know what I could do?"

     "Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. "Yes, ma'am." 

Steinbeck experimented with something he called a "playable novel." It was meant to be a sort of cross between a novel and a screen play. It's been on Broadway and there have been three film versions of the story. I'm considering watching one in the next few days just to see how true it is to the actual words of the novel.

This novel is under 100 pages so if for no other reason than you want to add a classic to your list of books you've read, this is a good classic to pick up.

P.S. I was surprised by how on the same page my son and I were after reading this book. My older daughter, rather than reading the book, watched the movie. Some of her observations were a little different from ours.

The Sorrows of Young Werther

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's first novel, written in 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werther, was the classic novel that Books and Beer Club selected to read this month. We weren't sure if we were going to attempt a Zoom book club meeting or miss another month. Mid-month, one of the members suggested this "short" book so that we could read it and be ready for our normal meeting date.

This is definitely a book that I never would have selected on my own. Written in German and translated into English, some of the language was a bit flowery and "old" for me. The story, however, is timeless. Werther is a young man who is resisting what society - and his mother - would have him to - go into diplomatic service - so he can pursue the arts. He's a passionate young man and believes that everyone should be so passionate. He meets a young woman, Lotte, who is responsible of the care of her younger siblings after the death of her mother. Werther falls in love with the children and falls in love with Lotte. Sadly, as is often the case, Lotte is promised to another. Werther meets her intended, Albert, and the three of them form their own sort of alliance.

The novel plays out in letters that Werther is writing to a dear friend back home with many messages to his mother. Sometimes these letters reference people and things that we're not familiar with as part of the story. At the end of the novel, it is implied that the dear friend becomes the narrator and finishes up the telling of Werther's story.

I'm not sure for whom I'd even recommend a book such as this. It was relatively short and quick to read and was a better read than many of the romance titles that the club has read in the past.

The Good Earth

Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Good Earth, is a classic I probably should have read in high school. Or in college. Or sometime before right now. Now that I've read it, I'm surprised that I never have read it before. Once again, I'm grateful for my Books and Beer Club because it has me reading classics that should be on the "read" list of anyone who calls themselves a serious reader.

Honestly, I had no idea what this novel was about. It really was about the good earth, about the importance of the land in the life of Wang Lung and his family. There were parts of the story that I loved. How the family really came together during the floods and droughts that threaten Wang Lung's livelihood. Other parts, about how Wang Lung searched for satisfaction in a tea house, not so much. But overall, I'm glad that I've now read this and look forward to discussing it with my book club in two weeks.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

When I woke up yesterday morning, my e-reader app told me that I had 66% of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey to get read by this evening's book club. I read during most of my normal TV time last night. I read longer at bedtime than I normally do. And I read all morning. It took me nearly 4 weeks to read the first third of the book and less than 24 hours to read the remainder.

That's not because I was totally absorbed in the book. I didn't hate it, or I would have dropped it once I saw I was having trouble getting thru it. But I certainly didn't love it. It's a classic and I was curious. That's my sole reason for sticking with it. If I didn't have people to discuss the book with, I would have had no incentive to finish it, though. So I'm glad I'll get to discuss it with my book club.

I'm writing this before heading out to Books & Beer Club so perhaps my opinion of the book might change or my thoughts might be more favorable. I'm sure I'll walk away with a better appreciation about why this book is such an important one. On one level, I know this already. But on the more self-centered level, do I really care? I kind of wish I was able to get the Sparknotes out of the library, but they're waitlisted at the moment. I didn't want to look at them when they were available prior to my reading the book.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was set in either the late 50s or the early 60s. I needed to frequently remind myself of such. The asylum where it was set is like a miniature version of society. The issues being dealt with are timeless.

I was fascinated by the Native American issues brought up in the novel. I think those wouldn't even be discussion points in a normal book club situation. But since we recently read Killers of the Flower Moon, I plan to bring up some connections if no one else does.

I'd love to hear from you if you either loved or hated this novel.