Wednesday, December 15, 2010

McTeague by Frank Norris

I am not sure what to think of this book. On the one hand, this novel is light years ahead of its time in terms of style and tone. First published in 1899, this dark tale about the self-destruction of a dentist feels like a modern terror story.

On the other hand, this book suffers from dozens and dozens of unnecessary pages that just drag on with pointless scenes and dialogue. By the end of the novel I was left with the impression that this could have been a brilliant story, if only the editor had cut out 100 pages or so. To make matters worse, the ending is slightly cheesy, which is too bad, for overall this is a very interesting tale.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars