Sinclair Lewis for the Masses!
Sinclair Lewis is regarded as one of the most influential American authors of the 20th century, yet he seems to be unknown/unread by most people. So I have sort of 3 general purposes for starting this thread.
1 - If anyone had read Lewis, and would like to give their impressions of the book they read by him, please do so
2 - Perhaps discuss why he is fairly unknown, and why many of his novels are now out of print. (I had to hunt up some of his novels on eBay, in hardcover, becasue there aren't even any paperbacks of them)
3 - For anyone who has not read him - I'd like to give a loud recommendation for doing so! If you like Steinbeck, Scott Fitzgerald, or other authors who write about common Americans, Lewis is great. I'd particularly recommend Babbit, The Prodigal Parents, Kingsblood Royal, and Arrowsmith.
Lewis has a rich, sometimes humorous writing style, and a talent for depicting the everyday person and the challenges that they face. He truly is one of my favorite writers. His books are realistic, personal, and they get under your skin in the best way. He was the first American to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, yet in conversations about great American authors, I doubt you will hear him mentioned with the likes of Steinbeck, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, or Faulkner. I think he deserves to be - and I wonder if there are others out there that agree!
I have read all the novels of Sinclair Lewis .....
There are a couple of reasons for his decline in popularity. One is his topical subject matter is just not understood by younger people and I don't think he rates high with academicia. If you are not introduced to a writer in high school or college, you are not too likely to read him as an adult. Lewis was an iconoclast and he attacked everything within site: Rotarians and Boosters in Babbitt, commercial religion in Elmer Gantry, and small town America in Main Street.
He was also an ironic writer, and if you don't understand the subject, how will you know if the writer is indulging in irony?
His books don't have the universiality that Hemingway's do, but I think every well read person should read the three mentioned above.
When Lewis parodies the poet of the common man, Edgar Guest, with his character Chumm ? in Babbitt, it's not half so funny if you've never read Edgar Guest. As Dorothy Parker said, "I rather flunk my Wasserman Test, Than read a poem by Eddie Guest."
When Carol Kennicut (?) is asked what she thinks of her new home town after marrying the town doctor and moving to Gopher Prarie, MN, she replies, "It's an ash heap." This remark by a fictional character created quite a stir when the novel Main Street was published, but it doesn't carry such an impact today.
It hasn't been too many years ago when Burt Lancaster starred in Elmer Gantry. I think he won the academy award for best actor. But tv has made us so inured toward 'Pray for Pay' preachers that the hard drinking Gantry is not so much of an anomaly today.
These illustrate a few of the reasons Sinclair is not so popular today, but I would still recommend him to the avid reader.
It's not that Lewis isn't universal ....
but that his subjects of ridicule are no longer understood. For example, his ironic treatment of Chataquians: no young person would understand what a Chataquian was. His parody of Eddie Guest is another example. Edgar Guest used to have a poem run daily in news papers, but it has been years since this occurred. His truisms like Winners never quit and Quitters never win are not understood as being hackneyed or trite.
I am not saying that Lewis wasn't a good writer, but his irony, allusions, and parodies aren't understood by today's readers.
As for Faulkner, he is the idol of todays professors. As I Lay Dying and Absolam! Absolam! are required reading in many college courses.
Steinbeck is certainly a much more universal author in Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. Even his novels such as Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat are more easily understood than the peccadillos of George Follonsbee Babbitt.
Arrowsmith can probably be digested by the younger reader more easily than Babbitt or Main Street.
I don't know where you get your allusions to 'working man' ...
George Babbitt wss a well-to-do real estate agent who didn't have a thinking bone in his head. Dodsworth was a retired millionair auto exec sadlled with a feather brained wife whom he eventually got rid of. They were excellent choices for Lewis' parody and irony, but they cetainly wren't working men.
I don't know where you get your allusions to 'working man' ...
George Babbitt was a well-to-do real estate agent who didn't have a thinking bone in his head. Dodsworth was a retired millionaire auto exec sadlled with a feather-brained wife whom he eventually got rid of. They were excellent choices for Lewis' parody and irony, but they cetainly wren't working men.