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giovanni_pn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
nekreader's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up several classics from this Barnes and Noble series at a small town library book sale with the thought that I really should read some of these titles. I started with Main Street and loved it.
The book seems timeless; the frustrations of trying to change a system that doesn't want to change, the gossip and banality of small town life, the struggles of labor versus management, the clashes between the newly arrived in the US and those groups who have been here longer, all depicted in this story of a young city-bred bride who follows her new husband to his hometown, still resonate today. If you have ever sat in a meeting discussing the best colors for chairs at a fundraiser or what the decorations should be at the junior prom or spent an entire cocktail party discussing the relative merits of this car versus that car, and thought to yourself, for this I went to college, Lewis has expressed your frustration for you. Lewis speaks to two ways in which our lives become narrow. One, like Carol, we make choices that create limits. We move to the suburbs, have children, take the promotion, don't take the promotion, stay home with kids, don't stay home with kids. Overall, the characters are not really likeable. Even Carol, the would-be change agent, is frustrating because she never seems to break away from her choices or find peace with them. She couldn't find a way to be happy either in staying or leaving. The characters who temporarily travel beyond the confines of their daily lives seem to actively choose not to see new possibilties, but return satisfied that their town is the best of what the US has to offer. The citizens of Gopher Prairie don't seem that far away from voters today who just want to elect a regular guy, someone just like them, for President.
But Lewis also is criticizing small town America. The town itself may be the book's most interesting character, its rules, its moral codes, its social stratification. The book's real power stems from the laying bare of a complex social system that restricts the boundaries of the individual lives within it. Lewis ascribes great power to the collective force, leaving the reader with the sense that the situation hopeless, that individuals who think differently from the group either must succomb to the forces or leave. This is a book I would love to discuss in a book club.
Why not five stars? Because I thought the book could have been shorter and the writing could have flowed more easily. Lewis' observations are vicously funny and damning, but I sometimes found myself skimming the details because there were just so darn many of them.
The book seems timeless; the frustrations of trying to change a system that doesn't want to change, the gossip and banality of small town life, the struggles of labor versus management, the clashes between the newly arrived in the US and those groups who have been here longer, all depicted in this story of a young city-bred bride who follows her new husband to his hometown, still resonate today. If you have ever sat in a meeting discussing the best colors for chairs at a fundraiser or what the decorations should be at the junior prom or spent an entire cocktail party discussing the relative merits of this car versus that car, and thought to yourself, for this I went to college, Lewis has expressed your frustration for you. Lewis speaks to two ways in which our lives become narrow. One, like Carol, we make choices that create limits. We move to the suburbs, have children, take the promotion, don't take the promotion, stay home with kids, don't stay home with kids. Overall, the characters are not really likeable. Even Carol, the would-be change agent, is frustrating because she never seems to break away from her choices or find peace with them. She couldn't find a way to be happy either in staying or leaving. The characters who temporarily travel beyond the confines of their daily lives seem to actively choose not to see new possibilties, but return satisfied that their town is the best of what the US has to offer. The citizens of Gopher Prairie don't seem that far away from voters today who just want to elect a regular guy, someone just like them, for President.
But Lewis also is criticizing small town America. The town itself may be the book's most interesting character, its rules, its moral codes, its social stratification. The book's real power stems from the laying bare of a complex social system that restricts the boundaries of the individual lives within it. Lewis ascribes great power to the collective force, leaving the reader with the sense that the situation hopeless, that individuals who think differently from the group either must succomb to the forces or leave. This is a book I would love to discuss in a book club.
Why not five stars? Because I thought the book could have been shorter and the writing could have flowed more easily. Lewis' observations are vicously funny and damning, but I sometimes found myself skimming the details because there were just so darn many of them.
tittypete's review against another edition
4.0
Snappy prose but went on a tad long. An educated woman from the city marries a small town guy and moves with him to his small town. The people are kinda shitty and judgy. She’s kinda stuck up and a bit of an idealist. She tries to improve the town but gets shit on. Toward the end she just can’t take it so she moves out and goes to DC. There she finds that she misses the small town. She goes back and sorta gives up. I enjoyed all the Minnesota talk.
jmoravec's review against another edition
5.0
Has anything really changed in the last 100 years for small town white life? It sure doesn't seem like much has. In this book from 1920, we have anti-socialism, passive aggressiveness, the hypocrisy of "conservative values", a bit of racism (I guess Swede's and German's were the bad guys back then? Sure makes me wonder what my grandparents' parents who were in those groups experienced on the Prairie), bickering about the "correct" version of Christendom, worship of a rich guy who people doesn't live in the town but is also not really liked where he lives in the City, and good ole' conservative "cancel culture" by running people out of town because they don't fit in the town (or in one case because the not so trustworthy man's version of events was believed over the newcomer woman teacher's)
Yeah, this book clearly shows that America has had issues for a very long time (and we're not even talking about non-white issues here), but this book was was a very enjoyable read. I realize that it may seam bleak from descriptions one might read of it, but really the book was more funny, thought provoking, heartbreaking, and entertaining than I thought it was going to be. I bust out laughing a few times at Carol's inner monologue and hypocrisy of the villagers, and was distraught and angry when. The prose itself, which normally I'm not good at noticing, was meandering and sometimes slow, but it was hard not to enjoy every word and experience how beautiful English (and America through the descriptions) can be. Honestly its because of reading experiences like these that I read "the classics." You never know when a book will surprise you.
Yeah, this book clearly shows that America has had issues for a very long time (and we're not even talking about non-white issues here), but this book was was a very enjoyable read. I realize that it may seam bleak from descriptions one might read of it, but really the book was more funny, thought provoking, heartbreaking, and entertaining than I thought it was going to be. I bust out laughing a few times at Carol's inner monologue and hypocrisy of the villagers, and was distraught and angry when
Spoiler
Bea her son died and her husband was run out of townjthierer's review against another edition
4.0
I love books where I'm not sure how I'm 'supposed' to feel about a character, because that usually means the characters are fully realized creations and not stereotypes. It also often means I have some examining of my own personality and choices to do.... In Main Street, I found myself simultaneously irritated by, sympathetic to and identifying with Carole as she struggles to adapt to life and marriage in a small Minnesota town. Even though this was set around 100 years ago, there was much to recognize of today in the attitudes of the main characters. The reformer who doesn't bother to learn about the place she's trying to reform, the small town gossip who provides a sympathetic ear and then repeats everything you say, the parent who refuses to believe a single bad word about her baby...the list goes on. While this probably isn't the book you'd turn to if you're looking for a ripping plot (very little really happens) its a slice of life from the past that still resonates today.
thecriticalreader's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I bought Main Street because I have never read any Sinclair Lewis books. I am a history major, so I looked forward to reading a contemporary description of 1920s America.
Plot: Main Street does not really have a plot, nor is it supposed to. Just as a person's life does not follow a perfect plot structure, this book does not follow a definitive plot structure. I found the first quarter of the book brutally slow (although the slow pace is intentional on Lewis's part), but I soon became engrossed in the world and the characters.
Characters: Main Street has some of the best main characters I've ever read. Carol Kennicott and Will Kennicott are fleshed-out, believable characters. At turns they are endearing, pitiful, infuriating, lovable--just as people are in real life. I've never read a male author who captures the female perspective so accurately. If you told me this book was actually written by a frustrated woman in the 20th century I would believe you. Carol is strong, independent, bold, and capable. She detests being tied down in the role of small-town wife and mother. And yet, she is also a loving mother and wife. She can be supercilious and frivolous, but she is also a voice of compassion and justice in a town full of small-minded, bigoted people. Lewis perfects the balance of human strengths and flaws.
Setting: Setting is Lewis's other strength. The title itself, Main Street, is an evocation of a setting. At the time of writing, his descriptions of Gopher Prairie were probably easily recalled by Americans. He writes so precisely because he presumes (correctly) that his audience will already have a blueprint image of the small town in their head. However, as a modern reader who is unfamiliar with 1920s smalltown America, some of his descriptions get lost in translation. Many Midwest small towns still resemble Gopher Prairie in many ways, but in many ways, they are quite different. Despite this barrier, the atmosphere of Gopher Prairie still shown brilliantly.
Themes: Main Street is all about themes; it does not hide its commentary. In fact, the themes are so relevant to modern America that this story could easily be retold in a modern setting. Lewis explores bigotry, smallmindedness, neighborliness, social relationships, marriage, love, consumerism, conformity, and reform. Yet he does it without dehumanizing his characters to make his point. Much like John Steinbeck, he holds a mirror up to society without answering the questions or problems he raises.
Writing Style: Main Street is eloquently written. Sinclair tends to use a higher vocabulary, but his sentence structure is not difficult to read. His dialogue is genius, although he uses it sparingly. There is one scene between Carol Kennicott and her husband, Will, that is an absolutely brilliant use of dialogue. This scene occurs at the end of the first quarter of the book or so, and this is the scene that pulled me into the novel completely. Unfortunately, Sinclair exhibits his brilliant "back-and-forth" dialogue sparingly.
Conclusion:
Main Street has a slower start, but it is well worth the read.
munkchip's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
quietkristina's review
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cross-posted from my blog: http://quietandbusy.blogspot.com
In my continuing quest to wrap up my Classics Club Challenge this year, I picked up Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. I have never read anything from him before, making this a great fit for the "classic by a new-to-you author" prompt in the Back to the Classics Challenge as well. Since I read so many books from the past, I'm used to not knowing much about them before I start. There's not a whole lot of buzz flying around the internet for books that are over 100 years old. However, in this case, I had actually seen a few reviews on classics blogs and gotten a few comments praising this novel, so I started off hoping that this would be an entertaining one.
The plot of Main Street follows Carol Kennicott, a young women recently graduated from college in Minneapolis and freshly married. She loves art and music and wants to have a big, exciting life. She isn't exactly sure what she would like to do, but she knows that she wants adventure and culture. Her new husband, Will, is a prominent doctor in a small town named Gopher Prairie in Minnesota. At first, she is very hesitant to move there with him, but he assures her that there are opportunities for her there; she is just what the town needs to liven it up. Intrigued by the idea of introducing art, music, and community improvements to the place, she agrees to move there and set up a household.
Within minutes of arriving at Gopher Prairie, Carol begins to feel like she made a mistake. The townspeople there are nice enough on the surface, but lurking underneath is a culture of closed-mindedness and judgement. Carol's enthusiasm for art and music are interpreted as arrogance and her efforts to improve the town are viewed with suspicion. She is constantly being gossiped about and watched by her neighbors, her every word and action picked apart in an effort to find faults. The few times she arranges events, they never go according to plan, and she soon becomes frustrated at the town's adherence to their old ways. Even her husband becomes annoyed with her, eventually accusing her of thinking that she is better than their neighbors and wondering why she can't simply be happy with things the way they are.
Naturally, in the face of this criticism, Carol falls into a depression. She begins to see Gopher Prairie as a prison instead of a home and she yearns to get away from it. Her feelings improve somewhat with the arrival of a son, Hugh, but she still feels like she is meant to do more than waste away in a stagnant town having the same conversations with the same people over and over again. She tries to distract herself in various ways, including developing a close (and scandalous) friendship with a like-minded man that works in the tailor's shop, but as usual, everything she tries to do ends very poorly. Eventually, she feels like she simply must leave in order to find her own happiness, but taking control of her own destiny is a difficult thing and she's not sure if she truly wants to walk away from everything she knows.
This novel covers the span of several years in Carol's life, and I have to say that Lewis did an excellent job covering the complexity of her feelings and the monotony of the years she spends in Gopher Prairie. My edition of the novel had 517 pages, and parts of it definitely dragged on. I believe this was on purpose to give the reader a sense of what Carol was feeling day after day in the town. It was tough at times to see her get disappointed again and again by everyone around her, but this was an effective technique to make you understand her struggle. I don't mean to imply that the entire story was depressing either; it was often witty and sarcastic. There were genuine moments of happiness and excitement throughout as well. As we all do in real life, Carol cycles through a lot of emotions rapidly throughout her days. At times she is hopeful, determined, and loving. At other times she is bored, cynical, and melancholy. She is imperfect as well, and has her moments of being arrogant just like everyone else, even though she doesn't realize it. It was realistic to the way people actually think, which I really appreciated.
I was also impressed with Lewis' ability to write a believable female character feeling isolated and yearning for freedom. I could deeply relate to her struggles. I moved to a new, smaller state a few years ago, and I work in a small town where everyone has known each other for years. It's hard to fit in. The things Carol was thinking were often things I have thought too. I know what it's like to be feeling great about life and hopeful one minute, then get smacked down by a weird comment and feel sad the next. I know what it's like to have a hard time finding people with the same interests as you and feeling lonely a lot of the time. Carol's inner monologues were very genuine and allowed me to make a strong connection with the story. I could empathize with her, so I was invested in her struggle.
One of the biggest ideas in the novel, and the idea that the novel is probably the most famous for exploring, is small town America and its reluctance to embrace change. Lewis makes it clear throughout the story that Gopher Prairie's Main Street is no different from any Main Street in any small town. The people are stuck in their ways, judgmental of others, and hostile to change. He lampoons the citizens of Gopher Prairie pretty mercilessly, creating characters that are unbearable in their simultaneous ignorance and arrogance. Not everyone is completely terrible, but everyone ends up being disappointing in one way or another. Whether it's through constant spying and gossiping about each other, being outright cruel to anyone who doesn't follow their societal norms, or being unwilling to try new things, the townspeople are quite the cast of characters. At the same time, they do have their moments of being kind and loyal as well, and even Carol doesn't hate everyone all the time. Living in a small town seems to require a fairly complex balancing act, and Lewis shows throughout the story that saying the right words, wearing the right clothes, and behaving the right way are deeply important matters that trump real forward progress. Yet, even in this socially fraught atmosphere, these places get a hold on people. Carol is consistently torn between leaving and staying in Gopher Prairie, even though it makes her miserable most of the time. She admits that there is a certain comfort in the community of a small place where everyone knows each other. So while the overall tone is negative towards these little towns, there is a grudging acknowledgement of the comforts they bring people too. Again, it was a realistic, if unflattering, portrayal.
I think was stood out to me the most of all in Main Street was the ending. I won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but I appreciated how it focused on inner changes rather than outer ones. It wasn't a perfectly neat ending, or an exciting one. I wouldn't even say it was particularly satisfying. What is did give you though, was a lot to think about. I liked that it was quiet and probably pretty close to what would happen in real life.
So although this book was long and deliberately monotonous a lot of the time, I really enjoyed my experience with it. I thought that it was very realistic and relatable to what people go through when they move, particularly women who move for a husband and find themselves adrift in a strange place. I liked watching Carol's journey. I was also happy to get a chance to read Sinclair Lewis's bitingly sarcastic prose. I would like to try another one of his novels eventually. This was one of those times where the book definitely lived up to the good things I heard about it.
In my continuing quest to wrap up my Classics Club Challenge this year, I picked up Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. I have never read anything from him before, making this a great fit for the "classic by a new-to-you author" prompt in the Back to the Classics Challenge as well. Since I read so many books from the past, I'm used to not knowing much about them before I start. There's not a whole lot of buzz flying around the internet for books that are over 100 years old. However, in this case, I had actually seen a few reviews on classics blogs and gotten a few comments praising this novel, so I started off hoping that this would be an entertaining one.
The plot of Main Street follows Carol Kennicott, a young women recently graduated from college in Minneapolis and freshly married. She loves art and music and wants to have a big, exciting life. She isn't exactly sure what she would like to do, but she knows that she wants adventure and culture. Her new husband, Will, is a prominent doctor in a small town named Gopher Prairie in Minnesota. At first, she is very hesitant to move there with him, but he assures her that there are opportunities for her there; she is just what the town needs to liven it up. Intrigued by the idea of introducing art, music, and community improvements to the place, she agrees to move there and set up a household.
Within minutes of arriving at Gopher Prairie, Carol begins to feel like she made a mistake. The townspeople there are nice enough on the surface, but lurking underneath is a culture of closed-mindedness and judgement. Carol's enthusiasm for art and music are interpreted as arrogance and her efforts to improve the town are viewed with suspicion. She is constantly being gossiped about and watched by her neighbors, her every word and action picked apart in an effort to find faults. The few times she arranges events, they never go according to plan, and she soon becomes frustrated at the town's adherence to their old ways. Even her husband becomes annoyed with her, eventually accusing her of thinking that she is better than their neighbors and wondering why she can't simply be happy with things the way they are.
Naturally, in the face of this criticism, Carol falls into a depression. She begins to see Gopher Prairie as a prison instead of a home and she yearns to get away from it. Her feelings improve somewhat with the arrival of a son, Hugh, but she still feels like she is meant to do more than waste away in a stagnant town having the same conversations with the same people over and over again. She tries to distract herself in various ways, including developing a close (and scandalous) friendship with a like-minded man that works in the tailor's shop, but as usual, everything she tries to do ends very poorly. Eventually, she feels like she simply must leave in order to find her own happiness, but taking control of her own destiny is a difficult thing and she's not sure if she truly wants to walk away from everything she knows.
This novel covers the span of several years in Carol's life, and I have to say that Lewis did an excellent job covering the complexity of her feelings and the monotony of the years she spends in Gopher Prairie. My edition of the novel had 517 pages, and parts of it definitely dragged on. I believe this was on purpose to give the reader a sense of what Carol was feeling day after day in the town. It was tough at times to see her get disappointed again and again by everyone around her, but this was an effective technique to make you understand her struggle. I don't mean to imply that the entire story was depressing either; it was often witty and sarcastic. There were genuine moments of happiness and excitement throughout as well. As we all do in real life, Carol cycles through a lot of emotions rapidly throughout her days. At times she is hopeful, determined, and loving. At other times she is bored, cynical, and melancholy. She is imperfect as well, and has her moments of being arrogant just like everyone else, even though she doesn't realize it. It was realistic to the way people actually think, which I really appreciated.
I was also impressed with Lewis' ability to write a believable female character feeling isolated and yearning for freedom. I could deeply relate to her struggles. I moved to a new, smaller state a few years ago, and I work in a small town where everyone has known each other for years. It's hard to fit in. The things Carol was thinking were often things I have thought too. I know what it's like to be feeling great about life and hopeful one minute, then get smacked down by a weird comment and feel sad the next. I know what it's like to have a hard time finding people with the same interests as you and feeling lonely a lot of the time. Carol's inner monologues were very genuine and allowed me to make a strong connection with the story. I could empathize with her, so I was invested in her struggle.
One of the biggest ideas in the novel, and the idea that the novel is probably the most famous for exploring, is small town America and its reluctance to embrace change. Lewis makes it clear throughout the story that Gopher Prairie's Main Street is no different from any Main Street in any small town. The people are stuck in their ways, judgmental of others, and hostile to change. He lampoons the citizens of Gopher Prairie pretty mercilessly, creating characters that are unbearable in their simultaneous ignorance and arrogance. Not everyone is completely terrible, but everyone ends up being disappointing in one way or another. Whether it's through constant spying and gossiping about each other, being outright cruel to anyone who doesn't follow their societal norms, or being unwilling to try new things, the townspeople are quite the cast of characters. At the same time, they do have their moments of being kind and loyal as well, and even Carol doesn't hate everyone all the time. Living in a small town seems to require a fairly complex balancing act, and Lewis shows throughout the story that saying the right words, wearing the right clothes, and behaving the right way are deeply important matters that trump real forward progress. Yet, even in this socially fraught atmosphere, these places get a hold on people. Carol is consistently torn between leaving and staying in Gopher Prairie, even though it makes her miserable most of the time. She admits that there is a certain comfort in the community of a small place where everyone knows each other. So while the overall tone is negative towards these little towns, there is a grudging acknowledgement of the comforts they bring people too. Again, it was a realistic, if unflattering, portrayal.
I think was stood out to me the most of all in Main Street was the ending. I won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but I appreciated how it focused on inner changes rather than outer ones. It wasn't a perfectly neat ending, or an exciting one. I wouldn't even say it was particularly satisfying. What is did give you though, was a lot to think about. I liked that it was quiet and probably pretty close to what would happen in real life.
So although this book was long and deliberately monotonous a lot of the time, I really enjoyed my experience with it. I thought that it was very realistic and relatable to what people go through when they move, particularly women who move for a husband and find themselves adrift in a strange place. I liked watching Carol's journey. I was also happy to get a chance to read Sinclair Lewis's bitingly sarcastic prose. I would like to try another one of his novels eventually. This was one of those times where the book definitely lived up to the good things I heard about it.
awesomeeallyson's review
2.0
If you want a book that is largely detail and not much plot than this is the book for you. Don't get me wrong, Sinclair Lewis has a way with describing not only the city, but the seasons, and every little aspect of the town beautifully. Specifically, when the seasons are changing I was reminiscing in my head and I could feel the change in the air and the smells.
But if you want a book with a plot line that makes you want to read the book, this isn't it. I got 200 pages in and nothing happened. Nothing new. Nothing worth making the book a worthwhile use of time at this point in my life. So I DNR'ed.
But if you want a book with a plot line that makes you want to read the book, this isn't it. I got 200 pages in and nothing happened. Nothing new. Nothing worth making the book a worthwhile use of time at this point in my life. So I DNR'ed.
blondereader's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Absorbing. Presented as a satire, it's actually pretty accurate. So sad about Fern. The way they treated her was saddest of all. Carol didn't deserve to be treated as well as she was.