I just finished reading Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis and was really surprised at how well the story has held up. You could almost move the novel from 1922 to today without changing anything and it still would be relavent.
I always wanted to read Babbitt but never got around to it, till now, so I was just wondering if anyone else who read it might have some thoughts and comments on it, especially if you think it holds up today or even if you don’t that cool, but why?
(PS I just realized it should be Babbitt, with two Bs and two Ts but I can’t fix titles. If a mod sees this can you fix the title) Thanks
I’ve read it (actually I’ve read several novels by Lewis - “It Can’t Happen Here”, “Elmer Gantry” “Mainstreet” “Dodgworth” (haven’t gotten to Arrowsmith yet).
I found it very good - I liked Babbitt’s interaction with the “bunch” in particular, but I also enjoyed the way Babbitt deals with his social superiors and his inferiors (groveling to one, and brushing off the other, all while being completely oblivious to the symmetry).
I think it holds up well - the culture of boosterism still exists, and as long as it does, the book will continue to hold up
I “read” it as an audio book earlier this year and thought it was pretty good.
I particularly liked the relationship between Babbitt and his son. I think Sinclair Lewis was really good at painting characters who were aware of their own disappointment in themselves (I say this only having read this and Main Street).
“He had always pictured heaven as rather like a fine hotel with a private garden…”
Babbitt, the man: Small-minded, mostly, kind of a bully, provincial, and yet you can’t help but like him. Not an easy task for a writer. Sinclair, you done good.
Read it when I was a teenager. I liked Arrowsmith more, possibly because the protagonist was more noble…but then, Elmer Gantry was even better, and he was just awful.
My fave, though, was It Can’t Happen Here. Scary as hell. Buzz Windrip was the same as Reagan, but even more like Bush II.
Babbitt is great and I definitely agree that it holds up well. I have found that with almost all of the Sinclair Lewis books that I have read. It has quickly made him one of my favorite authors. So far I have read Main Street, Babbitt, Arrowsmith, Elmer Gantry, Dodsworth, and Ann Vickers. Next I plan to read either Cass Timberlane or It Can’t Happen Here, hopefully sometime this fall. I would definitely second the recommendation to read Elmer Gantry. It’s amazing.
Dodsworth is probably my least favorite. It’s not that it wasn’t good–I’d still give it four stars–I just didn’t like it quite as well as the others. Ann Vickers is not as widely known as his “Big Five” (the first five on my list), but I thought it was very relevant as well. I’ll spoil this next part, just in case. I don’t think I give away anything but I’ll play it safe.
It addresses a woman’s struggles with her sexuality (not a gay/straight question, but rather the woman as a sexual being) and the woman’s choice between career v. wife & mother.
A fun fact about Sinclair Lewis is that in some of his books, characters from his other books make brief appearances. So if you keep reading, you might meet up with Babbitt again.