Arrowsmith

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Summary: Lewis ditches satire, comes up with clunker
Review: If an author wanted to portray the difficulties and conflicts of interest inherent in the medical profession to the world, a biography of some famous surgeon or medical researcher might be just the ticket. If, on the other hand, an author wanted to write a lasting novel of top quality, I believe that there is no other way than to develop one or several characters in as much depth as possible, to plumb their very souls (as they say in the classics !) Irving Stone-style fictionalized biographies are another way possible way to go-you can combine the two genres. What Sinclair Lewis created in ARROWSMITH is a piece of socialist realism that drags dreadfully, a book in which no character is open to us, a psychological void. The novel is more a sociology of the American medical profession in the first decades of the 20th century, a kind of uninspired exposé of medical colleges, country doctors, pharmaceutical firms, big city surgeons, and top-level research institutions---a social catalogue peopled with insipid characters that lack all the zany but convincing frenzy of Lewis' other books. We follow Martin Arrowsmith's career from small town to university to North Dakota hick town and on up. It's not an easy climb; it's not a Hollywood story, I'll grant you that. There is an exotic interlude on a plague-stricken West Indian island to liven up the far reaches of the novel, but nothing can really stir you much if you've hung on till then. The basic problem is, as I've already claimed, that the characters take second place to the process. Who can forget Babbitt or Elmer Gantry ? There are no such larger-than-life figures marching through ARROWSMITH. The protagonist's first wife is so thinly-drawn as to be almost invisible, like some cardboard cutout instead of a flesh and blood woman. She conveniently takes a back seat to her husband's career. The characters tend towards stereotype. A couple characters from other novels---George Babbitt and Chum Frick---have walk-on appearances, and there is a Prof. Schlemihl, (who, so satisfyingly, Lewis did not fail to mention, was quite a porker) but none of the main actors in ARROWSMITH will stick in your mind. Romantic interests are added from time to time, like salt to soup. I felt, as I read, that Lewis' real talent lay in caricature. When he wrote, tongue-in-cheek, about the "small town glories" of 1920s and '30s America, and he let his imagination soar, he was unbeatable. When he reined himself in, trying to be 'serious' and 'natural', he lost touch with that special genius. Written in between four of his greatest novels---"Main Street" and "Babbitt" came before and "Elmer Gantry" and "Dodsworth" came after, I can only think that Lewis' imagination faltered when he wrote ARROWSMITH. It comes to an unsatisfying conclusion and is entirely forgettable.

Rating:
Summary: A fond memory of a good book
Review: If you have any interest in science or research or medicine, you'll probably like it.
I read it once about 2 years ago, and the character of Arrowsmith remains in my mind as potently as Huck Finn. It also paint's a pretty picture of 19th century North East America.
The university and laboratory 'scenes' are realistic.

Rating:
Summary: Enthralling
Review: Lewis has written such a wonderful story, filled with tongue-in-cheek contempt for the mercenary ways of mankind. In Arrowsmith, he has created a protagonist who is not without flaws, but has good intentions. Also a wonderful story for people who enjoy medicine or the medical world. (But you don't have to to enjoy the book!) After reading it, I'll want to check out some of Lewis' other works.

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Summary: Heroism as Self-Honesty
Review: Martin Arrowsmith is a man with a mission, a scientific truth-seeker, an idealist who perpetually returns to his pure research interests despite the material influences and social pressures of the world around him.

Lewis's biographical novel portrays Arrowsmith, accompanied by his sympathetic wife, Leora, in a roundabout career from medical student to small-town doctor to public health administrator to bacteriology researcher. From boyhood to middle age, Arrowsmith walks a lonesome road, placing verifiable scientific knowledge and sincere craftsmanship above money, publicity, political power and social status (this is Lewis's affront to American "commercialism"). Ultimately, Arrowsmith is heroic in his remarkable perseverance and quest for truth, although some might label him a cold-hearted escapist for deserting his wealthy second wife, young child and promising New York City career in favor of a rustic laboratory and rugged backwoods existence on a fellow rebel researcher's Vermont farm.

Modern readers will find Arrowsmith's devotion to his early 20th century "science as truth" dogma somewhat tiring, narrow and dated. Yet, in a broader sense, what is most important is that Arrowsmith consistently remains true to his core personal belief (which in his case just so happens to be scientific truth). His unwavering self-honesty is what makes Arrowsmith an eternally heroic figure.

However powerful its message, the novel unfortunately reads like a patchwork of stages in our hero's career, somewhat artificially connected with the support of unconvincing reappearances of Arrowsmith's medical school classmates later in their careers (e.g., the sudden reappearance of the crazed, doctor-turned-missionary Reverend Ira Hinkley on Arrowsmith's trip to fight the plague in the West Indies, where incidentally Leora tragically dies). I conjecture that in reaching beyond the familiarity of his family's medical practice and venturing into the more rarified realm of scientific research, Lewis has stretched--as a chronicler commonly does but, I would say, a novelist should not--too far outside his own life experiences. The result is that this classic novel falls short of becoming a more emotionally engaging literary work with a truly believable flow of realistic life events.

Rating:
Summary: A Realistic Novel Without a Clear Protagonist
Review: Once again, Sinclair Lewis engulfed me. This is the fourth of his works that I have read (Elmer Gantry, Main Street and Babbit being the others) and although I didn't like Arrowsmith quite as much as those three, I still couldn't put it down.

Unlike so many novelists, Lewis' endings are impossible to predict. They're not necessarily happy, or tragic, they're open-ended, which often mirrors real life. For Martin Arrowsmith, he ends up, in a sense, free and able to devote the rest of his life to research without any distractions. At the same time, he's lost his first wife and deserted his second and their son.

Like the main characters of Lewis' other books, Elmer Gantry, Carol Kennicot and George Babbit, Martin Arrowsmith is not clearly a protagonist or an antagonist. The reader sympathizes with his frustrations, especially in dealing with his first wife's knee-jerk family. At the same time, I found myself rather angry with Martin's attitude now and then. Many of the other major characters: Max Gottleib (Arrowsmith's mentor), Almus Pickerbrauh, and Terry Wickett (Arrowsmith's friend and partner) evoke the same mixed reactions. Once again, I think this is an example of Lewis' realism, for in real life, there are few "pure" heroes; and even the noblest soul is tainted at times.

Read this book to understand the personal frustrations and conflicts that infect everyone's soul; read it for a contrasted depiction of American life in small towns, mid-sized cities and large metropolis' in the earlier 20th century. But read it.

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Summary: Very impressive book!
Review: One of the coolest American books, I've read it twice

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Summary: A book that could change your life
Review: Read Arrowsmith early in life, and you'll want to become a doctor, marry a Leora, and read everything else Sinclair Lewis wrote. While not "fashionable," Arrowsmith's search for truth and his relationship with Leora are far beyond any politically correct world view. The writing is incredible. When I first read it (a dozen or so times ago), I could not fathom how any writer could be so creative, so different, so perfect. Give it to your favorite teenager. You could change his or her life.

Rating:
Summary: Another Sinclair subculture tour, lighter on satire
Review: Sinclair Lewis's novels typically look at a facet of American life, circa 1920, via an "biography" of a fictional character. _Babbit_ examined the world of a boobish, hapless real-estate dealer. _Elmer Gantry_ showed us the lives of preachers and clergymen and charlatans.

_Arrowsmith_ is recognizably another entry in this series. It is partially set in the fictional midwestern state of Winnemac, and George Babbit makes a cameo appearance. This time around, we see the state of the medical profession, from the practice of a small-town doctor to high-end clinics and public health offices. But unlike George Babbit or the hilarious scoundrel Gantry, Martin Arrowsmith M.D. is someone with ideals. He's no saint; he occasionally neglects an understanding wife and "blows" many opportunities to advance his career by spending too much time in a lab, persuing basic research.

But Martin eventually does succeed on his own terms, idealism intact, a rare victory for a Lewis character.

_Arrowsmith_ was definitely a slog compared to _Babbit_ or _Elmer Gantry_. There are plenty of satirical bits, but they are fewer and far between. Those interested in the nitty-gritty of medicine and scientific research before electronic gear, electron microscropes, and computers might forgive the relatively slow pace.

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Summary: Opening our eyes to a world so wide, yet so common.
Review: Sinclair Lewis, in his novel, ARROWSMITH, reflects the common ordinary feelings that every student of graduate studies and those from junior colleges face, self confidence. Upon graduation, I always feared of making th grade in the real world. His charecters are among us, the chapters are metaphors of our own lives and dreams. Do read it and see the reflections Lewis carries to you.

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Summary: Lewis the Optimist
Review: The central conflict of this novel--commercialism versus scientific idealism--reveals a different sort of author than we see in Babbitt and Elmer Gantry. In these earlier novels, Lewis neglects to offer a clear alternative to the unspiritual, conformist materialism of George Babbitt and Elmer Gantry.

(O.K., Seneca Doane and Frank Shallard do represent an antidote of sorts. But Doane gets little attention in Babbitt and, considering his condition at the end of Elmer Gantry, Shallard's "philosophy" seems as futile as Gantry's.)

In Arrowsmith, readers finally get a clear sense of one sort of life--and one sort of culture--that Lewis would prefer, namely, one dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge rather than material gain or intellectual homogeneity. In his pursuit of truth, Martin Arrowsmith faces many obstacles. He must overcome the accepted belief that one's duty in life is to make other people comfortable with themselves, no matter how shallow or simple-minded they might be. He must overcome the natural human desires for love, fame, money, respect, etc. Lewis's recognition of such conflicts makes Martin Arrowsmith's life more believable. But, at the same time, Arrowsmith's imperviousness to the usual effects of these conflicts--pessimism, greater self-awareness, less self-confidence, to name a few--seems suspiciously optimistic.

I doubt many readers will recognize Leora Tozer as a legitimate female character, some critics to the contrary. No doubt she represents an ideal from the perspective of many men: she lives ONLY to care for and to please Martin Arrowsmith. But does anyone know such a woman?