The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12
..sIsTER CARR1E.s :

SISTER CARRIE
 By Theodore Dreiser. Harper Brothers.
 New York. e. (REv1EwED FOR THE BOOK
 SHELF BY, PAUL COOK, AUTHOR OF .ADRTFT WITH THE TIMEs.,D
 Sister Carrie.s by Theodore Dreiser. is a singular novel. It might be styled monochrome in fiction-a dull gray nar- rative of unhappiness. misfortune and fu- | tile attainment There is none of that cheerful unraveling which we are accus- toned to look for in the conclusion of most novels--none of that pleasantiround- ing up of various odds and ends to a sat I isfactory ending In the very beginning the perspective is vaguely depressing and | fhis impression grows on the reader with l irresistible power with the progress of an .s..,-stdctofg and unfinished career.
 Sister Carrie is tho sort of girl found in a great many small towns of the United States. In the early stages of our ac- quaintance with her she is ignorant. mso- 1 phistcated and lacking decision of char aeter She is pretty in negative sort of way, is emotional and imaginative, with out having a very clear conception of what either one means, and has some rather confused and nebulous ideas of making her way in the world. She has | the temperament of a drifter with the ! N~~~N~ l resistance.
 However, it first required half-hearted | battle to earn her own living as working l girl in Chicago. with it's consequent dis appointment and disillusionment, together i with the renewed acquaintance of a 1 fiashy though prosperous travelling sales man. who first met her on the train going frcm her home town to look for work in Chicago, to wear away the edge of Car rie's resolution.
 Her life with the drummer proves to be lfairly comfortable and Carrie is at least free from the haunting fear of having to toll once more in the sxeaty ranks of the bread winners. She develops somewhat, but slowly, save in the matter of improv- ! ing her personal appearance. Later on | another man enters the life of Carrie. He | is the prosperous manager of a large | saloon in Chicago. Despite the fact that 1 he already has wife and chlldren, this 1 man makes desperate love to Carrie | Eventually. the manager, whose name Is Hurstwood, steals large sum of money | lrnm his employers. forces Carrie to flee with him, by means of a subteruge, and the two finally reach New York after a trip to Canada, where conscience and the cold presence of detective. on his trail. induce the errant manager to restore the money he has stolen.
 While in Chicago, Carrie had taken part
 
 success on that occasion awakened in her mind desire to go on the stage. Hurst | wood and his supposed wife have a rath- CT hard time of 1t for several years in | New York. His business ventures do not | thrive He sinks lower and lower. re- peated failure sapping his will power, until i finally Carrie gets position as chorus girl and supports the man who was once wealthy and prominent in his little world. | After q while Carrie sickens of Hurst wood and leaves him. Her advance on the stage is rapid. She soon becomes a Broad way star, with her name written in let ters of fire. where the incandescent lights blaze to the world of folly and of fash ion. After living a life of peggary and starvation for a year or two, Hurstwood commits suicide in cheap lodging house.
 The first man who had part in shaping Carries life-not a very influential part, 1t is true-comes back to her when he learns that the little country mouse who was such an easy conquest in Chicago, has become stage celebrity Having cared no more at heart for tho salesman than she did for Hurstwood and maybe not as much Carrie sends him promptly about his business The dismissal does not seem to bother him very much.
 l Though successful in way, Carrie is still lonely and unhappy, an indeflnable but ever growing discontent shadows her life. The only man she might have cared for proves to be haruiy more than a passing acquaintance. Surrounded with all lfe's luxures, she still sits in her l rocking chair and rocks and dreams, waiting for something, she doesn't know what, but something that will never come | to pass.
 The whole story is a vivid and accu- rate depletion of certain phases of life in one of our great cities. written with the keen insight of man who has a firm grasp of his subject and knows his | types thoroughly. Every character In the book. with possibly one exception, is | what would be called in London town a "rotter." Sublimity of soul Is sadly lack | ing. Nobility of purpose is a missing quantity. Carries desire to do something worth while Is never fully aroused and her ideas, after all, are chiefly those of self-seeking and material comfort. The novelist has drawn her with a pitiless consistency and she changes but little, save in superficial ways. Even her stage fame is largely the result of chance and