Reading the Classics discussion

This week we will be reading and discussing Part 2, Chapters 38-47

I couldn’t keep from reading on ahead of schedule. Already nearing the end of Book 3. Dreiser draws things out so that I found myself all in, and couldn’t stop reading.

Jerilyn wrote: "I couldn’t keep from reading on ahead of schedule. Already nearing the end of Book 3. Dreiser draws things out so that I found myself all in, and couldn’t stop reading."

So you're near the end of the book! I for one am really happy to know it's that gripping. Am enjoying it a lot, but that's something to look forward to for sure.

I don't think I have ever detested a literary character as much as Clyde!

Clyde’s self-interests twists him into a character I abhor. What would his mother and father say about him? He is slowly becoming their antithesis. He is showing no mercy to achieve his selfishness goal.

I'm not at all sure Clyde's parents provided much of a moral compass to their children. That's not to excuse Clyde at all, but it's not like he's the first of the young'ns to go astray. I wonder if we're going to learn more about Asa and how he became who and what he is.

Ok just this sentence alone..."And Clyde, hearing the ring of genuine affection, and sensing anew his old-time power over her, was disposed to reenact the role of lover again, if only in order to dissuade Roberta from being too harsh and driving with him now".

😡😡😡

I could not agree more on Clyde...he is terrible. And I also think he didn't receive much moral guidance from his parents, which I find ironic given their profession to fervently promote Christianity and the Bible.

I don't want to say too much yet, as I believe only Jerilyn has indicated she finished Book 2... but wow! More commentary in a little while... today being the end of the week, we should all be drawing closer to the end of C47.

I'm done with Book 2....oh boy!

Ok, so that's 3 of us. To everyone else I say SPOILER alert...
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I have never killed anyone, or tried - that's my story and I'm sticking to it - but Dreiser captures pretty much bang-on how I think it would feel, as someone with a conscience and a healthy sense of right and wrong. The fear, the indecision, the confusion, the push and pull of should I/shouldn't I, the paralytic fear of taking the final action. Constant thinking and rethinking, thrown for a loop by every little wrinkle - the guide asks questions, there are more people in the area than expected, the proprietor insists that Clyde sign the register, Roberta leaves her hat behind, etc etc... every curve ball forcing Clyde to rethink and recalculate.

Dreiser appears to avoid the more graphic details, as he did at the end of Book 1 for the car accident. As a 3-part book with climactic ends in the first 2, I wonder ahead what lies at the end of Book 3. A guilty verdict? A suicide? I'm fascinated to find out if and how long Clyde gets away with this. How far does he manage to progress with Sondra? Do they get engaged? Elope? Marry? Does her family accept him on any level? When exactly does his world finally (and justifiably) get ripped from beneath him?

Thoughts?

Dreiser is extremely descriptive and it does make you feel the struggle that Clyde deals with. I found myself knowing what was going to happen but hoping I was wrong.

The car accident/climactic end to B1 (plus the title) had me convinced about what was coming at the end of B2. It still surprised me how well Dreiser put me inside Clyde's head, so I agree.

Not to be macabre, but I wanted there to be more 'to it'. Dreiser lets it play out like an accident in the end. Clyde is guilty of not helping, but he more or less got lucky: she slipped and the boat capsized. Even in Clyde's immediate thoughts, I thought that let him off too easily. I wanted more graphic struggle from Roberta, for him to hit her purposefully with an oar, push her away. These are the things he considered doing, and I wanted the torture coming for him to be unambiguously deserved. Not that it isn't already, but if he's going to do the thing, I wanted it to cost him even more.

Not certain I'm getting that thought across in the way that I mean to.