Main Street (Cliffs Notes)

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Advice for first time readers of Sinclair Lewis: Start with Main Street. I started with Babbitt, a worthy novel, but inferior to Main Street. They share a nimble, though often heavy handed touch of irony, and good characterization; and Mr. Lewis' trenchant social commantary is present in both.

We all know the story: Carol Kennicott (nee Milford), educated at tiny Blodgett College, wants action: She wants to travel and live in a big city where she can see plays and hobnob with intellectuals. She meets future husband Dr. Will Kennicott at a St. Paul dinner party; (Throughout the novel, her feelings toward Will oscillate between admiration for his efficient practice and good nature, and discomfort with his depthless character). Will coaxes Carol onto a train bound for the hamlet of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. The bulk of the novel, which, considering the context, could be considered picaresque, consists of Carol's haphazard attempts to reform the obdurate, immobile mindsets of the citizens of her new home. Among the improvements Carol suggests are a library board composed of the well read men of the town, and a campaign to renew interest in reading (In a town where the great books are bypassed for the contemporary moralistic, optimistic, and religious authors), and a theater company containing one fine actor and a supporting cast of hams, who bungle through one play (the frivolous "Girl from Kankakee"; poor carol had Shaw or Sophocles in mind. Throughout the novel, Carol evinces a blinding fear of living as a stereotypic denizen of the American Main Street; her fears are intensified by the birth of her son another fetter that could prevent a night train escape from Gopher Prairie), and the loss of several friends (the most notable being Miles Bjornstam, a Swedish horse trader who leaves for Canada after his wife's death) Made desperate by the seeming ineffectuality of her reform efforts, and these fears of decline into a town matron, Carol runs off to Washington D.C. for a period, before returning half broken to Gopher Prairie, tractable while still picturing herself as a maverick.

A five star review does not preclude qualms over a piece of literature. Main Street is truly a marvelous book, but there are flaws. Irony peppered moderately in a story can lend life and humor; too much can overwhelm the reader with a sense that the author has no other crutch than easy, predictable amusement. Also, this being an episodic novel, there sometimes seems to be little tying the book together save for the overpowering contagion of yearning for excitement, reform, and freedom that leaves Carol and others in Gopher Prairie so disappointed. These should not be deterent enough to suggest you steer clear of Main Street, though. As with every marred but overall fantastic booke light breaks the dark for the reader willing to overlook flaws that, were he or she writing the novel, he or she couldn't have ironed out. As glorious a work of literature as it is an historical document, this is a delight for any serious or recreational reader.

Rating:
Summary: The Excellent and Well Told Story of Carol Kennicott
Review: Carol is a girl with big dreams. When she marries Kennicott, she moves from the Twin Cities where she has supported herself, to rural life in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, where it is her dream to transform the sleepy town into something better.
The ups and downs of Carrie Kennicott's life were felt by each member of our Family Book Club. Just when it seems things can't get any worse for Carrie, they can -- but sometimes they get better.

This book has been subject to a lot of literary criticism. Surely, the story can be studied in many ways at many levels. However, one does not need to have a master's in English in order to get a lot of enjoyment out of Main Street.

Set in the 1920s, Carrie's story -- her feelings, the changes she tries to make to Gopher Prairie, and all of the people she meets there -- could easily be told today with only minor changes. And, although this book is overall rather depressing in nature, there were quite a few places that it had me laughing out loud.

Main Street really captures the aura of small town America, especially middle Minnesota. The real life Gopher Prairie is Sauk Centre, Minnesota. It's an interesting place to visit, as the main street there has now been renamed Sinclair Lewis Boulevard.

Rating:
Summary: a strange book but a hooker
Review: Lol. A strange book but I wanted to read it because I live in a hellhole in the Midwest and having come from a more sophisticated town previously this place was kinda a shock. Wanted to see if there were some parallels, but times have changes a lot since then. The Scandinavians reminded me more of Poles then Americans. I guess American culture really has developed into its own flavor. I could relate with Carol but she was too intellectually snub for me at times. She pissed me off with her mouth full of words and her actionless feet. However I suppose a lot of youth can relate with that. We all have these ideals yet fail to live up to them. Perhaps she reached too high? But I had to finish the book because I wanted to know if she would stay in Gopher Prairie. The book is funny at times, yet I'm not up for much sarcasm. It gets on my nerves. I like the part about the public WC being such a jewel in GP, the pride of it. LOl, that was hilarious. I think the book would've been funner if I knew more about the times yet perhaps I was expecting something else. Actually you can be pretty nieve like me and still like it especially if you're a foreinger because many of the charcters reminded me of typical Polish ways, which are so funny at times.