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A review by merrinish
O Doutor Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
3.0
So I picked this up (or was given it, I can't remember the origins) a couple of years ago because it won a Pulitzer in 1926, and I'm still determined to make it through that list.
Most of the Pulitzers have either been a giant miss or a giant hit with me, but this one became a little of both. I absolutely loved large parts of the beginning. In particular, the way that Lewis describes the college that Arrowsmith attends: "It is a Ford Motor Factory, and if its products rattle a little, they are beautifully standardized, with perfectly interchangeable parts."
I think my main problem with the book was the titular character, Martin Arrowsmith. He was an inherently selfish and self-centered individual, whose main lesson in the book wasn't nearly as satisfying as I wanted it to be. Giving particulars would ruin the book, but I definitely found myself wanting to kick his shins toward the end, even though I can completely follow the line of how he got from an idealistic medical student to where he is at the end.
Sinclair Lewis is a superb writer, even though Arrowsmith is not a superb human being.
Most of the Pulitzers have either been a giant miss or a giant hit with me, but this one became a little of both. I absolutely loved large parts of the beginning. In particular, the way that Lewis describes the college that Arrowsmith attends: "It is a Ford Motor Factory, and if its products rattle a little, they are beautifully standardized, with perfectly interchangeable parts."
I think my main problem with the book was the titular character, Martin Arrowsmith. He was an inherently selfish and self-centered individual, whose main lesson in the book wasn't nearly as satisfying as I wanted it to be. Giving particulars would ruin the book, but I definitely found myself wanting to kick his shins toward the end, even though I can completely follow the line of how he got from an idealistic medical student to where he is at the end.
Sinclair Lewis is a superb writer, even though Arrowsmith is not a superb human being.