A review by kathleenitpdx
Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis, E.L. Doctorow

4.0

This is Sinclair Lewis' classic novel about the conflict between "pure" scientific research and practical or commercial research. I read it in high school and had forgotten nearly all of it. And I wonder if my 16/17 year self got any of the satire. I got a couple of good chuckles from it. This was published in 1925 and I am fascinated by the depiction of the US in the early 20th century--the slang, prohibition, cultural divides, the "home front" during the Great War, travel by train, ship and auto. Arrowsmith's struggle in St. Hugh during a plague epidemic as he tries to conduct an experiment that means some people will not receive his possibly life-saving treatment continues to echo today.
I have trouble with the women in the book. Leora is described as the best of Lewis' women! What? because she tolerated being ignored and abandoned most of the time? because she was willing to sit and watch with adoring eyes while Arrowsmith worked? And Joyce who had been living a life of her own for some time who tried to remake Arrowsmith to fit what she wanted as a husband.