An American Tragedy (1925)

The character study of Clyde Griffits is captivating but he never does seem to reslove his quilt. Never acknowledges his child which was also part of the murder. It's whole different era but still a fasinating story. ( )

Clyde Griffiths, a poor, uneducated, working class boy from the midwest, heads east to work for his wealthy uncle who owns a shirt collar factory in upstate New York. Excluded from social activities enjoyed by his relatives, Clyde is lonely but soon falls for Roberta, a pretty farm girl who works under him in the factory. Relationships between supervisors and workers are forbidden so they keep their relationship quiet. A little later Clyde becomes intrigued with Sondra Finchley, a local society girl who includes Clyde in outings initially to enrage Clyde's snobby cousin Gilbert Griffiths. Clyde, wanting very much to be part of high society, pursues Sondra with the hopes of marrying her. When Roberta gets pregnant, Clyde attempts to find a doctor to abort the pregnancy but has no success. Seeing no other way out, Clyde murders Roberta. Soon after Clyde is arrested, found guilty and ultimately goes to the electric chair. ( )

To be honest, I skimmed the last several pages of this book. It was so long in the first place, and the last part was rehashing what happened in the first part. But, I am counting this as a book I have read, and the first 600 pages were quite interesting. This isn't going on my "recommend to others" list, simply because the last few hundred pages were so tedious, and I don't care to own it for my private book collection.

I did enjoy seeing the character of Clyde develop, loved watching him grow into the young man he turned out to be. I related to the loneliness that led to his choice for relationship, and thankfully could not relate to his choice concerning wealth. Fascinating character study and interesting commentary on social expectations, both outwardly and inwardly imposed. ( )

Wow! Amazing writing and such an artfully developed character that I had a hard time accepting his getting the come-upanse for his actions. ( )

Wow! Amazing writing and such an artfully developed character that I had a hard time accepting his getting the come-upanse for his actions. ( )