Theodor Dreiser (1871-1945) (1933)

Theodore Dreiser, the outstanding American writer, was born into a poor American family in small-town Terre Haute, Indiana. At the age of sixteen he left home and had to support himself by doing odd jobs. As a youth Theodor rebelled against the poverty and narrowness of the life around him. One of his high school teachers recognized his talent and paid his tuition at Indiana University. But Dreiser left college after a year because he felt it "did not concern ordinary life at all." He had various jobs in Chicago: washing dishes, working in a factory, and collecting bills – experiences which he later used in his writing. He taught himself to be a newspaper reporter and supported himself as a journalist and editor, working in different towns of the United States for many years while he was struggling to become recognized as a novelist.

His first novel "Sister Carrie" was published in 1900. The book was partly based on the experiences of one of his sisters and described the life and struggle of a poor country girl who went to Chicago in search of work. The book was realistic and true to life. But it was pronounced immoral and banned. But Dreiser did not give in. He started his long fight for the right of a writer to describe life as he sees it. And in 1912 the novel became generally available.

Dreiser met with censorship again when "The Genius" was published and later with the publication of "An American Tragedy”, a novel which was based on a real-life case. But he still continued to expose the world of capitalism as a world of injustice, selfishness and cruelty.

Dreiser was a great realist. He established a new school of realism in American literature. In 1927 Dreiser was in the Soviet Union. A year later he published his book "Dreiser Looks at Russia" which was one of the first books that told the American people about Russia.

Dreiser was an active participant in the struggle of the progressive forces in America and supported the working class movement. His characters are victims of apparently meaningless incidents which result in pressures they can neither control nor understand. He based most of his novels on events from real life. He condemned not his villains, but the repressive, hypocritical society that produced them. His style lacks grace, but his best stories are powerful and sobering.

Check your comprehension.

1. When was Theodore Dreiser born9 2. What family was he born into? 3. Why did he leave home so early? 4. Why couldn't he continue his study at the university? 5. What was his first novel and when was it published? 6. What was the novel "Sister Carrie" about? 7. Why was the book banned? 8. What did Dreiser describe in his "American Tragedy"? 9. What were the main principles of his life? 10. When did T. Dreiser visit the Soviet Union?

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