Well, I'm on page 341 out of 856 - doesn't sound like I'm making much progress, but I've read 14 chapters today. One thing I have noticed about Dreiser is that he makes weird sentences - his grammar is quite odd. It would help somewhat if he used commas properly - his meaning would become clearer in those cases. But that would not fix everything. He also tends to start a good portion of his sentences with the word "and," which I find rather annoying. At other times, he will start three paragraphs in a row with the same phrase. I have always been taught to vary these types of things, so it is another point of contention I have with this novel.
I am, however, interested as to when the crime part of this drama is going to materialize. I thought it was coming at the end of Part One, but that was basically just a footnote in the plot. I think part of my problem is that authors of cop/lawyer books these days do not afford themselves the luxury of telling their story in 900 pages - most books are around 300 pages, so the authors have to get to the nitty gritty a little more quickly. It goes with the instant gratification society in which we live. For this reason, I am determined not to flip ahead some pages and find out what's going to happen (as difficult as that may be). I am willing to let Dreiser tell his story in his own time, knowing that the problem is with me and not him.
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