McTeague | 
panUgh! I have complicated thoughts upon finishing this. There are many things which I despised, chief among them the brutal antisemitism which poisoned so much of the reading experience. Also, for me, the story boils down to a sociological character study on the negative effects of money, the extremes to which greed can push people. The writing captures the tone and feeling of inevitable destruction excellently. That element kept me reading. Yet…⬇️
psalva I‘m left with a bitter taste in my mouth. The antisemitism, the violence, the abuse that the characters put each other through, the stereotyped brutality linked to “stupidity”- it was a lot. Also, the ending was a bit on the nose (see final comment). In the end, no matter the level of suspense, I feel like the journey wasn‘t worth it entirely. This had a lot of potential, but perhaps its value is as a historical document of the era and style. 1mo
psalva The fact that McTeague flees from San Francisco after murdering Trina, taking the money and his canary, and is led by his instincts to flee an unknown pursuer, ending up in Death Valley-all of that made for palpable suspense. Painting it as some kind of Darwinian atavism was a bit much. He ends up chained to Marcus, in Death Valley, the canary in the gilt cage a symbol of his destiny. I gave my rapt attention for so trite an end to the horridness. (edited) 1mo
dabbe #fanofthepan! #betterbooksahead 🙌🏻 1mo
Lindy Ouch! 1mo
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