Customer Reviews

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Other Short Fiction (Bantam Classic)

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For those who read the full title of MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS, it is forgivable if they assume that Stephen Crane's novel is a sensationalistic tale of a fallen woman. Sensational it may be in parts, but it is far closer to the flood of naturalism that was dominating American literature in 1893. Naturalistic writing was marked by a belief that human beings were at the mercy of a brute and unfeeling nature that rigged the deck against anyone who dared to attempt to rise above his station. The usual result was the crushing defeat or death of that person. Crane had done extensive reading of European authors who led the way with their own naturalistic writings. In MAGGIE, Crane wrote of a good girl who wanted no more than to find the right guy to love, but everyone in her environment, even her own family, worked in tandem not only to stop her from achieving her goal but to demolish her in the process.

Maggie lives in the slum section of New York. Her dreams to better her life are much more modest than the heroines of any novel by Edith Wharton. Lily Bart of Wharton's HOUSE OF MIRTH was poor like Maggie but Lily sought to mingle with money and to marry into it. Maggie's dream was no more than to find love, and when her brother brought home his friend Pete, she thought she found it. Pete was handsome and what today we would call a "player." He dates Maggie for a while, raising her hopes of marriage, but after living with her, he tires of her and dumps her. Maggie's family is outraged, not so much at Pete for being a cad, which he certainly was, but at her for violating the Puritanical rules that forbad such a relation. Her family itself was not a paragon of virtue. Her mother and father drank heavily and alternately abused or ignored Maggie and her brother, who himself had impregnated several women and then dodged them when they showed up at Maggie's apartment demanding that he own up to his responsibilities. Maggie's sin, such as it is, pales into insignificance by comparison. Her family will not accept her back so she is left to wander the streets as a prostitute. The ending is predictable; Maggie jumps into the East River and drowns. In the literary world of naturalism, Crane had to create a hostile universe and people it with uncaring characters whose only function was to show that this universe truly was a hideous place to live. Once readers finish the novel, they are often stunned with the imbalance in the scales of cosmic justice, suggesting that Crane's vision of a brute nature may never go completely out of fashion.

Just to let folks know--this version has passages that have been altered, shortened, or entirely removed from the original, and the ending is considerably changed. If you want Crane's work as it was originally published--and the ending that is both heartbreakingly bleak and visually evocative of her descent into the depths, definately buy another version. I recommend the Penguin Classics edition.

Let me first state that I do not own this specific edition of Maggie, and that I am only reviewing the actual story of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. I wasn't going to review this book since it is not the one that I own; however, after reading a previous review I decided that I had to review it.

First, this book is pretty much about what everyone said it is about. It is about a family living in the slums of turn-of-the-century New York. The protagonist of the book is a young girl named Maggie, whom is full of dreams and aspirations, unlike her loser relatives. Her main dream is to meet a good man and fall in love with him and start a family, to live happily ever after. However, the fellow that she chooses to fall in love with is a loser whom ends up leaving Maggie. Her family, not yet satisfied with all the harm that they caused Maggie during her childhood, disowns Maggie and drives her to her doom. I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say that it doesn't end well for Maggie. It is extremely sad and disappointing to realize what Maggie could've been so much more. She was a beautiful and moral girl. Instead, she ends in tragedy.

Now, the previous reviewer stated that this book cannot be a classic because it is too short. I wasn't aware that there is a length requirements for classics. Also, the outdated slang and cussing is outdated because the story takes place in turn-of-the-century New York. I personally felt that this slang added greatly to the feel of the story.

You, the reader, should be the judge on the quality of this novel. Do not let poor reviews detract you from picking it up and giving it a good read. I am confident that if you focus on what Maggie could have been, it will make it easier for you to enjoy the story.

One knows right from the start that "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets" is not going to have a happy ending, since it definitely does not have a happy beginning. Crane's portrait of turn-of-the-century Bowery life is unflinching in its bleakness of poverty, highlighted by moments of black comedy and Crane's insistence upon color description. It is a quick paced examination of the realities of what living in poverty can do to the human spirit.

The title character grows up in an abusive household, her father soon dead and her mother a drunk. Maggie is forced to work at a shirt factory to help out, dreaming all the while that a better life exists somewhere. For Maggie, it might, since she is a beautiful young woman. But her innocence and naievete cost her when she is taken in by the charms of Pete the bartender, her brother Jimmy's friend. Believing that Pete loves her, Maggie is completely seduced by him and finally forced into a life of prostitution. It is not a situation from which the reader can expect a happy fate.

Crane's novella is populated with mean sketches - of the poor and the wealthy, of Maggie's drunken and abusive mother, of the neighbors who love to see someone else in misery. Crane realistically depicts the speech patterns of this Irish immigrant family (which might be difficult for some readers to decipher) and captures the hardships that awaited those who could not rise above their station in life.

The main theme in this bundle of masterful short stories, highlights of American naturalism, is `brotherhood', or the absence of it.

In `The Open Boat', `the subtle brotherhood of men was here established on the seas. Each man felt it warm him.'
In `Maggie', there is no brotherhood. Home is a `regular living hell.'
In `The Monster', one man opposes the euthanasia of a heavy burned Afro-American (`he saved my boy's life), thereby defying public opinion, the force of the street (`everybody says it.')
In `The Bride comes to Yellow Sky', the protagonist brings his `foreign' (from another city) bride home. He fears the hostile reaction of his fellow citizens. But, the notion of marriage (a form of brotherhood) convinces a wild gunner not to shoot him.
In `The Blue Hotel', a heavy drinking madman provokes fiercely the guest of a hotel.

Brotherhood is the only means to fight Fate: `Fate should be deprived of the management of men's future. The whole affair is absurd.' (The Open Boat).
Or, `one viewed the existence of man as a marvel, a glamour of wonder to these lice which were caused to cling to a whirling, fire-smote, ice-locked, disease-stricken, space-lost bulb.' (The Blue Hotel)
And, `when it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him', there is the strength of brotherhood to vanquish the forces of nature. (The Open Boat)
The main characters in this book are the interpreters of this strong message: `the wind brought the sound of the great sea's voice to the men on shore, and they felt they could then be interpreters.' (The Open Boat).

These forceful short stories are a must read for all lovers of world literature.

This is a tragedy-strewn story exemplifying the poverty of life in New York City during the 1890's. Maggie is the daughter to Mary Johnson and Mr. Johnson. Having grown up in an alcoholic home, spending much of her time walking on eggshells around her parents, it is a mystery as to how she grew up to be a naïve and hopeful young lady. Maggie desires a way out of her current life but is looking in all the wrong places. Much to the dismay of her drunken mother, Maggie begins to date a man named Pete. He is a confident bartender, and in Maggie's innocent eyes he seems to offer a better life. All Pete has in mind is taking advantage of Maggie's innocence. Mary, Maggie's mother, dislikes Pete (to say the least). A hypocritical alcoholic, she spends most of her time in uncontrollable rages, which seem to define her reputation among neighbors. She judges others for their sins while she drinks away her life. SparkNotes helped me get a better grasp on what this book was all about. Although Crane is thought of as a noteworthy and classic author, this book was not a display of that. The good thing about this book is that it is short. The rough language and hillbilly style of dialogue was frustrating to read through. The plot was hidden and the story a bit confusing. However, the author depicted the nature of city life in that time quite well not hesitating to be raw and honest. In all, however, I wouldn't recommend this book to others because it failed to capture my interest and was difficult to read.

I read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets in about an hour and a half, but it didn't seem nearly that long, and I was sad when it was over. It's a very tragic story, and the reader feels real sympathy and pity for Maggie, making the end of the story even more sad. While I haven't read all of the other stories, the two that I have read were excellent. The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky was absolutely wonderful, and it's a testament to what love can do for someone. I read The Open Boat the other day, and I was impressed with that one as well. The camaraderie of the men in the boat was unparalled, and it really made me feel for them. As for the other stories, I haven't read them yet, but I will shortly. Highly recommended.

This collection contains Maggie, a story that captures realism at its finest. It is short, but powerful. "The Open Boat," is an autobiograpical account of a ship wreck, that would lead to Crane contracting tuberculosis. This short story was BORING! I recommend that one reads Maggie and saves the rest of the book for a blizzard to read.

This was a classic????????
Not that that this book was terrible, but a classic?
Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!!

Maggie was this street girl from the 1890's New York. She came from a poverty-stricken home who cussed a lot and beat up their children whenever they had the chance. She grew up an urbane child, and she fell in love with this butt-head, at first the Butthead appeared romantic and caring, yet when he dumped her for some other whore Maggie became insane and craved to become a prostitute. In the end she ended up hooking a man who was probably the most disgusting piece of s*** in all of New York. This book is a true tragedy indeed.

Just because this author wrote a classic book doesn't mean that every book he'd ever wrote was a classic. This book was filled with outdated cussing, outdated slang, and some more outdated cussing. Besides, it was too short to be a classic NOVEL anyway. However, there are some good things about this book. The plot is definitely well-written. It gives us a glance of how miserable some people truly are, and that fate can guide them to a very destructive ending. They have nothing to live for because they do not have futures. And so their hopes often are tied to a string, such meeting a man who you really love, and soon finds out that he doesn't love you. If you were Maggie, what would you have done. Wouldn't you probably end up walking the same path as she did?

Although I have not read the entire book, I have read most of it. Though some would say that its boring, it was a new experience for me. In the sense that I was reading about a different type of book, thats not science fiction for once. I enjoyed the book, but for those who don't like to read in the accent that its written in, then they may not enjoy the book as much.