Babbitt

Rating:
Summary: A book about the roaring 20s that is hardly dated
Review: This book focuses on the ideals at the time, as George Babbit epitomizes the person confronted with the American ideal of the 1920s, an ideal that still exists, in a modified form, today.

The early parts of this novel detail Babbit's possessions, the items in his home being the same as all respectable upper middle class persons in the city of Zenith. Babbit is part of the Boosters and the Chamber of Commerce, as is expected of him. Life is as it should be, but the dreams of the fairy child hint at something Babbit is missing.

Babbit's friend, Paul Reisling, recognizes something missing in himself as well. The man Babbit relates to most feels constrained by the way things are, personified by his shrewish wife. While Babbit continues to try to maintain the status quo and indulge in Paul's friendship, Paul lashes out. Their first conversation in the Athletic Club (where most of the "good guys" in Zenith frequent) hints at what is to come, not only concerning Paul, but George as well.

Paul's act triggers the change in George, as with Paul's sudden absence George finds himself in a more modest rebellion of the values he has accepted. The ideals of the fairy child and his youthful dreams of becoming a lawyer for the people propel him to go against the norm.

No, this rebellion, while spurred by idealism, is not idyllic, noble, or even healthy. It is his rebellion though, and for a brief moment, George feels a freedom sorely missing from his life. Unfortunately, the reality of being a respected businessman turned rebel sinks in quickly.

This novel deals with the obsession with consumer items, keeping up with the Joneses, and all those materialistic ideals that predominated the 1920s, as a post-war boom and new technologies led to an ad-oriented consumer society that continues to exist.

While my simplistic analysis of the 1920s is an interesting time capsule in this book, and applicable today, the more universal element to this story is how one is confined by the expectations of society, regardless of what that society is.

This appeal of depicting the 1920s, seeing how it relates to the present day, and how it can also relate to any time period and any culture makes this a novel that anyone can identify with.

Why only 4 stars? Some parts of the novel dragged a bit, and Babbit's brief metamorphic rebellion was a bit underdeveloped. A lot more could have been done with it. Lastly, the language is dated, and while an interesting lesson in 1920s colloquialisms (lots of gees, gollys, etc.) and unique contractions (e.g., f'rinstance) might entertain some, it seemed stale (with the gees) and unnecessary (with the f'rinstances) to me.

Overall, a good read. Not the most entertaining book I've read, nor the most aesthetically pleasing, but the theme helped carry me through to the last page.

Rating:
Summary: A really boring classic
Review: This classic by Sinclair Lewis is set sometime in the early 1900s (1920s ?). It was written to show the shallowness of life of the average, middle-class men of the day in their pursuit for money, popularity, etc.

I found this book to be incredibly long and boring, but I think that was part of the point. At any rate, it's a classic, and in the words of a great literary critic, "These works are no longer on trial - the readers are."

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Summary: Are We A Nation of Babbitts Yet?
Review: Before reading "Babbitt," a 1920s-era cavalcade of a middle-class social climber's daily life and decline--by one of America's most illimitable muckrackers--ignore, if you can, academic whiners who insist Sinclair Lewis wrote second-rate novels that have lost their luster. Even if you find Lewis' almost chirpy, concise and unusually witty treatment of George Babbitt--booster, scoundrel, moral klutz--offputting and oddly reminiscent of the typical "personality profile" you'd probably find in "People" or "Newsweek"...you'll be amazed at how closely "Babbitt" mirrors the conventional business ethic behind today's headlines.

Eighty years after its initial publication, "Babbitt" resounds with the kind of disgust anti-WTO protesters registered in 2000 against America's empire of "market forces"--and what that kind of misbehavior can do to a person. But perhaps eighty years has been far too long--at least long enough for us to forget Lewis' powerful message. Yes, long after the nation's initial sip of The Gilded Age revealed a dissonant aftertaste--one that resulted in both civil unrest and the eight-hour workday, medical benefits for employees, Social Security and hundreds of other hard-won reforms--the reappearance of a new, lean-and-hungry Babbitt on the cusp of the 21st Century requires that we never forget to remember where avarice, hubris and self-satisfaction have led us before. Babbitt is rich. Now what?

Did we already ask you to take a look at George Babbitt? Well, just take a look at that good old George Babbitt--an orotund, well-dressed farmboy who honestly believes that a smallish fortune in real estate is proof positive that he is "superior" and some kind of Renaissance Man. Really nothing more than a self-deluded social climber desperate to gain more status and lose the private celebrity of a rootlessness he can't grasp, Babbitt is driven by the forces that made him: Having been taught to confuse "consuming" with "power", "real estate" with "substance" and "self-interest" with "morality", Babbitt never seems to understand where his superficial understanding of himself and the world is bound to end. Still, without what constantly elludes and haunts him--what more to expect from a walking market survey?--Babbitt just knows he'd be nothing. Even when opportunity knocks and the reader sees how far out of his league he has managed to malinger, Babbitt the Fool threatens to snowball right into oblivion. His values just aren't up to snuff when it comes to footing the bill in the purchase of his illusions. He's a cross between a bush-league Donald Trump and Frankenstein.

Sinclair Lewis is perhaps the only Nobel-Prizewinning author who never gave up his day job: As a novelist, Lewis remained a journalist at heart. Not content to muse and muddle over deep feelings or states of being, Lewis, in the style of any good muckracker, literally cut to the chase, opting pragmatically to hook-up with a large audience rather than appease a small circle of critics--who, by the way, came along for the ride anyway. This popular novel about the boundaries of what we now call "pop culture" may ring like a tin trumpet in the ears of those who are now accustomed to a more up-to-date tone-of-voice. But remember: The tone-of-voice Lewis used in "Babbitt" mirrors the superficiality and cloyed nature of his subject. "Babbitt" is an uproariously political novel that wields political correctness like a crowbar.

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Summary: Trying to Get Ahead in Middle America
Review: Sinclair Lewis is generally relegated to second-rate status by the academics - despite the fact that he was America's first Nobel Prize winner for Literature. As Robertson Davies, among others, asserted, Lewis is vastly under-rated and under-read among American novelists. He deserves far more attention - because of his literary gifts as well as his ability to mirror and illuminate the American character. Sinclair Lewis understood very well the forces at work in America in the early to mid part of the 20th century - not all of it positive. Perhaps Lewis' unpopularity in America is in part due to his caricatures of Americans in an unflattering light. No one should consider Lewis in the pantheon of literary immortals - but surely he fits somewhere in the curriculum. Lewis is highly readable, his satire is highly amusing, his prose is intelligent and his observations on the pitfalls and hypocrisy of pursuit of happiness in America are brilliant. His portrayal of Babbitt as the Lost Soul, knowing that he is lost but without the willingness or moral courage to find meaning in his existence, is a moving commentary on middle class America "getting ahead" that continues to be contemporary to subsequent generations.

Rating:
Summary: The Monument to American Commercialism
Review: America doesn't need a bronze memorial statue in the city park in the likeness of George F. Babbitt, the eminent businessman. (Imagine it: the statue would be of a rotund man in a high collar shirt, in suit pants cut too high at the cuff, holding a chewed cigar, and standing foot-forward in the pioneer stance of a successful salesman.) American has the memorial in print in this period novel.

Set in 1920, Lewis crafted the title character to portray the new mammalian beast reigning in the business world: The Middle Class Salesman. The species is very much alive and well in our era, but Lewis was first to discover and name this gargantuan, this colossal figure of Commericalism. Lewis stands behind Babbitt much like a puppeteer would, making him respond on cue, and making his actions create the beginning of the fall of the Empire. For these reasons alone, one should read this novel.

By now, the statue may have been marked by pigeons, but the permanent stare to the west by this hollow cast figure stands as a reminder to the rest of us that, although they lit the way, the got singed in the process. For this, we revere our business leaders.

Rating:
Summary: So those were the good old days?
Review: George F. Babbitt is middle-aged and middle-class. He lives in a medium-sized home in a medium-sized city in the Middle West. He's a middleman--he sells real estate. He went to a state university and depends on his secretary to fix the spelling and grammar in his letters. His children fight over who gets to use the car. His life is pretty straight and narrow, until he begins an affair when his wife is out of town and all of a sudden things aren't so middle-of-the-road anymore.

Sound like anyone you know? But "Babbitt" was published--almost unbelievably--in 1922. Funny how little some things have changed. Lewis's satire on suburban life and its conformities was an instant hit. Even today, we know what a Babbitt is--a guy who's all show and no go--whose lifestyle and opinions have been furnished for him but maybe whose soul is a little out of whack. It's a pity that schools usually assign the much slower-paced "Main Street". Read "Main Street" to see what life used to be like. Read "Babbitt" to see how we got to where we are today.

Rating:
Summary: This book is not involving
Review: From the jacket cover, Babbit would seem to be a highly provocative novel about the true nature of the American dream. While it is about the American dream, the book seems to run only on one joke: Babbit's rampant materialism. This joke wears thin within the first 30 pages, and the reading the 400 more pages is a tedious task.

Rating:
Summary: Only gets good near the end
Review: A one-joke book for three-quarters of the novel, satirizing the bourgeois conservative customs and morality of '20s business culture (a joke that could play equally well in the '50s). As such, a crushing failure, that wallows in its own too-unsubtle unsubtle humor. But then suddenly, with less than a hundred pages to go, the book suddenly gets good--very good, as Babbitt is confronted with a mid-life crisis. Novel gains an entire star for its thoughtful and sensitive treatment, that manages, with powerful irony, to manipulate the reader into hoping that Babbitt will return to his unthinking conservatism. 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging social satire
Review: What a terrific book! I bored all of my friends and my wife to tears telling them about this book that I was reading that was written in the 1920's (I'm guessing it was written in the 20's), and how relevant it was to our society today. It has pompous businessmen, evangelical conmen, hypocrital churchmen, and many more contemporary characters. One note to potential readers: This is a portrait of a person; it's not a thriller, or a romance or a mystery. As such, it has very little plot, so beware. But for readers who wish to try this book, and read it as a study of a class of people, most will find it very rewarding.

Rating:
Summary: What's to like?
Review: I don't understand why anyone would like this book. It was boaring and had to much of Babbit's everyday life. Sinclair Lewis spent pages on frivolis information. There was no plot to the story and the book went on forever. If this book is on your school reading list Pick another to read.