43 Books/Authors - #1 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

I started this project over on 43Things, to write about 43 books or authors who have influenced me. I'm going to post the list and comments here. I have added to it over time and in no particular order. For some reason I feel compelled to share these musings here.

I think I’ve read this book more times than any other. One of the reasons it was important to me when I first read it in high school was probably that it was written by a fellow Hoosier.

Carrie starts out from Columbia City, WI…which I misread as Columbia City, IN until a college professor pointed out my error (in front of 49 other students). I’d neatly missed that because I grew up outside of Columbia City, IN and because there IS no Columbia City, WI, and because Dreiser is from Indiana, for pete’s sake.

So I could imagine myself taking that train up to Chicago from Columbia City.

I was also attracted to the non-judgmental way that Dreiser writers about Carrie. She just does the things she does and he doesn’t moralize about it and she doesn’t have to really ever pay for her sins. A remarkable thing for any time, let alone for the turn of the last century.