I had never heard of this book except that it was the inspiration for the 1952 film A Place in the Sun- however, this novel (published in 1925) is actually based on a real murder case from 1908 when Clarence Gillette (supposedly) drowned his pregnant lover in upstate New York.
The book is separated into three parts. The first part shows Clyde (based on Gillette) as a young boy resenting the position that his parents' religious missionary work puts he and his siblings in. Resenting this poverty-stricken life he acts out by taking a higher paying job at a hotel and spending his money on things that his mother would find to be "sinful". Clyde is involved (in a two degrees of separation kind of way) in the accidental death of a little girl making him flee for Chicago.
In Chicago he stumbled across a wealthy, distant relative who offers him a job in New York. Clyde begins working in his Uncle's factory and despite rules forbidding dating fellow employees he begins an affair with an equally poor Roberta. In the meantime he falls desperately in love with Sandra, a beautiful, wealthy socialite. As soon as it becomes apparent that Sandra reciprocates Clyde's feelings and that an engagement is eminent- he finds out Roberta is pregnant. When his attempts to procure an abortion fail, Roberta demands that he marry her. When he sees his future with Sandra melting away he hatches a plan to murder Roberta and make it look like an accidental drowning as Roberta cannot swim.
When the moment of truth comes Clyde is unable to push Roberta into the lake, but Roberta loses balance and when both of them fall in, Clyde is unwilling to save her. Clyde is apprehended by the police and following a sensational trial (where the details of his intent and action remain murky) he is sentenced to death in the electric chair.
First off- this book could have been shortened by 200 pages and still gotten the exact same point across and (I believe) done it stronger. The most heartbreaking thing about this book is that every character seems to be trapped and doomed by the expectations that society's impressed upon them (and the expectations they put upon themselves don't help-thank god we don't live in the early 1900s). I read in reviews that Clyde's mother is one of the most sympathetic characters in the book, but I found I resented her shoving religion down each of her children's throats to the point where they act out and their lives crumble. Shockingly enough I think I felt the worst for Clyde. That probably sounds crazy, but he was just so lonely by nature and was so tormented- I think being able to sympathize with someone who is willing to drown his pregnant lover is a testament to the quality of Dreiser's writing and character development. As I said before I feel that the overall work could have benefited from a few major cuts, but it's the human struggle for each character that made the story interesting.
B-
*Time Magazine All-Time 100
*Random House- The Modern Library- 100 Best
*Newsweek's Top 100 Books
*The Novel 100
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