As for Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, there's definitely more story in this one, but it's a sad one. It centers around Maggie, a pretty young girl living in the Bowery with her brother, Jimmie, and their alcoholic mother. She's drawn to Pete, a friend of her brother's, who takes her to restaurants and plays, and treats her well. But when she leaves the chaos of her own home to move in with him, she's immediately condemned by every one who knows her, especially her mother and brother. And when Pete's attention is drawn back to an old flame, Maggie has no one to turn to and nowhere to go.
Crane highlights the poverty, hard life and hypocrisy of the inhabitants of the Bowery. He also writes every conversation between the characters in very heavy dialect. It made reading the story a bit of a slog. So I didn't love this one either. But that's how it goes sometimes. At least it's another classic read and checked off my list.
Happy Reading!
Well done on getting another book checked off your Classics list. Shame it wasn't better. I'm not doing very well at all with the Classic challenge.
ReplyDeleteThis Classic's challenge is the only bookish goal I'm actually doing well with this year! I planned on reading more nonfiction and historical fiction this year, and I haven't done either. I planned on reading more of my own books this year, but I'm falling short on that, too. I keep getting distracted by other books. ;D
DeleteThis novella seemed promising, sorry the dialect spoiled it a bit.
ReplyDeleteI just didn't love it. And then it ended up being so sad, too. It's one I won't be reading again!
DeleteI remember being assigned to read Stephen Crane in a long ago literature class and my reaction was much the same as yours. I never felt any connection to his work and never really understood his great reputation among those who love good literature.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who found it hard to connect to his writing. I didn't enjoy any of his short stories.
DeleteCongratulations Lark on checking another classic of your list! Never read Stephen Crane but I have wondered about Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The novella sounds like a realistic and very sad picture of what life was like for many young women growing up poor in late 19th century New York. But I agree dialect matters and if the dialect is not understandable it can ruin the book. You have to know what the characters are saying
ReplyDeleteMaggie's story is very realistic...and very sad. And I'm not a huge fan of heavy dialect. I don't mind a few words sprinkled throughout, but not every conversation!
DeleteGreat job that you read it and finished it!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to be finished with this one! (I'm not a huge fan of short stories anyway, and none of these were very good.)
DeleteSounds like a tough life. Classics can be like that huh? sometimes they don't grab us necessarily but they often highlight when things were rough...
ReplyDeleteThat's so true! I guess that's why people keep reading them and why we call them a classic.
DeleteI guess I haven't heard of this Stephen Crane book. But it sounds very sad for Maggie indeed. yikes.
ReplyDeleteI felt bad for Maggie; she deserved better than what she got.
DeleteMi dispiace che il libro non abbia catturato completamente i tuoi gusti, a volte succede soprattutto coi classici dove le aspettative sono sempre molto alte
ReplyDeleteI was a little disappointed I didn't end up liking this one better, but that's how it goes. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteMaggie sounds like a tough read.
ReplyDeleteIt was just so sad and depressing! that made it hard, too.
DeleteToo bad this turned out to be such a downer of a collection. I like short stories in general, but mid-way through, I probably would have abandoned ship.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to quit halfway through, and I probably would have if it wasn't for the classics challenge I'm trying to finish this year. :)
DeleteSounds like a depressing slog at that. At least you got one checked off your challenge. Hope you love your next read, Lark!
ReplyDeleteI hope my next classic novel is better, too. I only have three more to get through this year. :)
DeleteI've heard of this story but never read it. Stories in heavy dialect drive me a bit crazy as it can be so hard to read. Too bad this wasn't as much of a winner as it could have been.
ReplyDeleteI don't love dialect in books...some authors do it really well and it's fine, but others not so much.
DeleteIt's a bummer that this one wasn't a winner, but that's awesome that you checked off another book for your challenge. :)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for better with this one, but the upside of it is that I did complete another category for the classics challenge ,and that made me happy. :)
DeleteI wish I had more time to devote to reading classics. The older I get, the more I realize just how many I've never read!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I read a lot of classics in my twenties, but now I have to sign up for a reading challenge to make myself keep reading them. ;D
DeleteThis does sound terribly sad.
ReplyDeleteI just felt so sorry for Maggie.
DeleteIt does sound like a hard read. Do you have Kindle Unlimited?
ReplyDeleteI don't yet, but I'm thinking about getting it.
DeleteOh gosh, I remember reading Maggie: Girl of the Streets when I was in college. It wasn't my favorite classic, but I do remember crying a lot.
ReplyDeleteIt is really sad! I felt so bad for Maggie.
DeleteMaggie sounds interesting but I'll probably give it a miss given the sad setting and the prose.
ReplyDeleteYou're not missing anything but not reading it.
DeleteI have tried to read a classic exactly one time and I didn't care for it any more than the books they force me to read in school. This doesn't sound like it would be for me.
ReplyDeleteSadly enough, Maggie sounds pretty realistic for its day and location. Sometimes I do enjoy "learning" about how bleak life was for lots of people in those days, but I'm not sure I could have taken another seven or eight stories in the similar vein. Enough is just enough, and the author needs to know when to quit.
ReplyDeleteCrane's take on life in New York City at that time is very realistic! But there had to have been hope and happiness back then, too. Not just poverty and hardship. I wish he would have shown some of that.
DeleteInteresting! I read Red Badge of Courage in high school and remember liking it, but I've always heard that Maggie was terribly grim, and haven't been inclined to try it. Sounds like that may have been wise...
ReplyDeleteIt's very short, so it reads fast, but it is a bit grim and the ending is so sad. I won't be reading it again.
DeleteThat sounds quite sad. I think the dialect part would be the hardest for me to get on with. But like you said, another one you can check off your list.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to get this category finished. Short stories aren't my favorite things to read. :)
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