Getting much grief

BoilerBaby 1 keeps giving me grief. Like any bibliophile, I continue to purchase books when I have many yet unread. She's so insistent that I look to the library more, and I suppose she's right. Either way, it has spurred me on to try to keep up on reading so that I can justify my book-Jones.

Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser. When I bought this book, we still had a TCBY in town and BoilerBaby 1 was employed there. That was two or three years ago, but proof that eventually I do get around to reading my books.

Sister Carrie isn't exacly a book that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. A price for everything, and those that have, are likely to enjoy life. Those who don't, find it difficult to change their lot in life, but for luck and happenstance. And woe be unto those that have and lose what they have, as is the case with Hurstwood.

It happens often enough that I read a book and am so drawn in that I find myself hoping that the characters will make the right choice or good things will happen for them, even though their fate is already spelled out in the pages to come, and I sometimes know it doesn't end well for a character. That was my feeling at several points in the book. When Carrie first moves to Chicago, I wanted her to find a job and happiness. I wanted her to turn down the deceptively easy road of moving in with Drouet. I wanted her to reject Hurstwood. I wanted Hurstwood to persevere when the going got tough. I didn't get what I wanted. Either way, I enjoyed the book.

The story ended with Carrie's success on the stage, but despite her past experiences, I suspect that if the story were to continue, she would have once again taken the expedient course rather than the smart course. Of course, life is much different for women now than then, and perhaps I shouldn't judge 19th century conduct through 21st century eyes.