Audiobook · read by volunteers
Sister Carrie
Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945)
Read by J. M. Smallheer, zinniz, Sheila Morton, spiderman0521, Andrea, Bob Sage, Roger Melin · 47 chapters · 17 h 47
About the book
Caroline Meeber, called Carrie, leaves her small town for Chicago in the 1880s with a few dollars and high hopes. She finds a harsh world of factory work, low pay and cold rooms, and she is soon tempted by the comfort and glitter that others offer. As she moves from one situation to another, her path crosses that of a man who gives her money and affection and of another whose own fortunes will change. Theodore Dreiser, a leading figure in American naturalism, writes without moralising and with a patient eye for the city, its department stores, theatres and boarding houses. Sister Carrie is a story of desire, ambition and the pull of the American dream. Seven LibriVox volunteers share the reading of its 47 chapters. It remains a powerful picture of ambition and the city.
Introduction
Theodore Dreiser lived from 1871 to 1945 and was an American novelist of the naturalist school, which sought to describe life with the frankness of a scientist and to show how circumstances shape the individual. Sister Carrie, published in 1900, was his first novel, and it deals with the gritty reality of life in the growing American city. It tells the story of a young country girl who moves to Chicago and begins to realise her own version of the American Dream, first by becoming the mistress of a man who can support her, and later by making a name for herself on the stage.
The book had a troubled start. Its publisher, Doubleday, was uneasy about the way it treated its heroine, who is not punished for her choices in the manner that readers expected, and it was released with little support. It sold poorly at first, and Dreiser was deeply discouraged. Over time, however, it came to be recognised as a landmark of American realism, and a new edition in 1907 reached a wider public.
What makes the book distinctive is its refusal to judge. Dreiser is interested in the forces of money, desire and social climbing, and he lets the story unfold with little commentary. His settings, especially Chicago and then New York, are drawn in detail.
The recording has 47 chapters and runs for about seventeen and three-quarter hours. Seven volunteers share the reading. It is a long but absorbing listen, especially for those curious about the roots of the modern American novel and about the world of working women in the late nineteenth century. Its long chapters and shifting scenes are well suited to extended listening.
Public domain
Theodore Dreiser died in 1945: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text