Sister Carrie cover

Sister Carrie

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945)

Original en 156474 words First published 1900 United States

Caroline Meeber, eighteen, takes the train to Chicago in August 1889 with four dollars and a sister's address, and is noticed on the train by Charles Drouet, a drummer with easy manners. What follows is America's first honest city novel: Carrie's drift from collar-work to comfort, Drouet's easy generosity, the restaurant manager George Hurstwood who steals ten thousand dollars for her and spends the rest of his life paying for it, downward, one small compromise at a time. Suppressed, pirated and forgotten, Dreiser's first novel resurfaced as an American classic: the money, the desire, and the rocking chair at the end.

Text sourced from Project Gutenberg (public domain in the United States); the Project Gutenberg trademark and license text have been removed on import. Public-domain status determined by the author's death year + 50 years rule.

Table of Contents

  1. 001 cover Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser Contents Chapter I. 2550 words
  2. 002 He took out a neat business card, on which was engraved Bartlett… 2753 words
  3. 003 In the central portion was the vast wholesale and shopping district… 2501 words
  4. 004 “Oh, you haven’t,” he said, eyeing her keenly. 2514 words
  5. 005 Carrie sensed the root of the opposition at once. 2573 words
  6. 006 Carrie got up and sought her lunch box. 2670 words
  7. 007 Drouet, for one, was lured as much by his longing for pleasure as by… 2528 words
  8. 008 “What’s the matter with her?” asked Hanson, when she went into the… 2541 words
  9. 009 The poor girl thrilled as she walked away from Drouet. 2507 words
  10. 010 In reality, Carrie had more imagination than he—more taste. 2520 words
  11. 011 Carrie recognised the glance and the girl. 2504 words
  12. 012 She distinguished very carefully between the young boys of the… 2508 words
  13. 013 “Say, Carrie,” he said one morning, shortly after they had so… 2550 words
  14. 014 On the other hand, her own feelings were a corrective influence. 2508 words
  15. 015 “Well, you rest a little while I smoke,” he said, rising, and then he… 2502 words
  16. 016 In this conversation she heard, instead of his words, the voices of… 2585 words
  17. 017 At the stable he picked a gentle horse, and they were soon out of… 2516 words
  18. 018 He plunged his face in a basin of water, and puffed and blew as he… 2502 words
  19. 019 He consoled himself with the thought, however, that, after all, he… 2553 words
  20. 020 “Suppose we didn’t have time to get married here?” he added, an afterthought striking him. 2504 words
  21. 021 “I don’t know until I look it over. 2504 words
  22. 022 At this moment Bamberger was exclaiming, “Pearl, you are joking with… 2511 words
  23. 023 “I don’t know. I don’t suppose so.” Then, lifting his hand… 2539 words
  24. 024 Both Hurstwood and Drouet viewed her pretty figure with rising feelings. 2516 words
  25. 025 He was irritated to think that this should come up when he wished to… 2504 words
  26. 026 She felt the flood of feeling. 2550 words
  27. 027 Nothing came of this incident at the time, for the truth is it did… 2503 words
  28. 028 Chapter XXIII. A SPIRIT IN TRAVAIL: ONE RUNG PUT BEHIND When Carrie… 2510 words
  29. 029 “Now, be reasonable, Cad,” said Drouet gently. 2511 words
  30. 030 “Damn her!” he said softly, with his teeth firmly set, “I’ll make it… 2544 words
  31. 031 To her credit, be it said, she never once counted on Hurstwood. 2561 words
  32. 032 “Sit down,” he said, pulling a chair forward from the side of his… 2509 words
  33. 033 Then began one of those pointless social conversations so common in… 2501 words
  34. 034 The servant girl hurried upstairs, convinced by the man’s strained and emphatic manner. 2510 words
  35. 035 “Won’t you come along with me?” he said, as if there was great danger that she would not. 2512 words
  36. 036 “Yes,” said Mr. Kenny, and then, turning the word again added: “How… 2628 words
  37. 037 Carrie, ignorant of his theft and his fears, enjoyed the entry into… 2512 words
  38. 038 “What kind?” said Hurstwood. 2510 words
  39. 039 “I expect so,” said Carrie, agreeably. 2526 words
  40. 040 When Hurstwood came, Carrie was moody. 2530 words
  41. 041 Vance was in his element here, as Hurstwood would have been in former days. 2612 words
  42. 042 If one thinks that such thoughts do not come to so common a type of… 2568 words
  43. 043 “By George! it’s a shame they should have it all,” he vaguely thought… 2500 words
  44. 044 “Oh,” said the man, showing plainly the enlightenment which had come to him. 2505 words
  45. 045 Carrie was very indifferent to the suggestion. 2532 words
  46. 046 “I will,” said Hurstwood, standing back, and feeling intense relief at her going. 2535 words
  47. 047 “Well, I do,” he answered. 2504 words
  48. 048 “I went to see some of the variety managers,” she said, aimlessly. 2504 words
  49. 049 Hurstwood reasoned, when he neared the last ten dollars, that he had… 2500 words
  50. 050 Hurstwood said nothing. He had seen the new things she was buying… 2510 words
  51. 051 Hurstwood read this, formulating to himself his own idea of what would be the outcome. 2545 words
  52. 052 “How do they arrange this, if a man hasn’t any money?” inquired Hurstwood, discreetly. 2570 words
  53. 053 They now ran into the business heart of Brooklyn uninterrupted. 2503 words
  54. 054 “Are you paying room-rent where you are?” “Certainly,” answered Carrie. 2531 words
  55. 055 It was about this time that the newspapers and magazines were… 2527 words
  56. 056 “Well, let her have it,” he said. 2518 words
  57. 057 “Ah, yes,” said the latter, when she applied; “Miss Madenda—one hundred and fifty dollars. 2516 words
  58. 058 No more weakly looking object ever strolled out into the spring… 2502 words
  59. 059 “Yes,” said Hurstwood, indifferently. 2508 words
  60. 060 Not long after the management decided to transfer the show to London. 2682 words
  61. 061 Seeing the opposition to his action, he looked sullenly along the… 2515 words
  62. 062 At this moment Hurstwood stood before a dirty four story building in… 1907 words