Main Street (44)

Main Street
Sinclair Lewis

On February 1, 2006 I finished Tom Brokaw's A Long Way From Home which is about his growing up in the 1950's. In it he made frequent references to Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. Shortly after finishing his book I found Main Street at a library book sale. The book was written in 1920, and I have a 19th edition hard cover published in April 1921.
The book follows Carol (Carrie) from the time after college as she starts a quest to find enjoyment and fulfillment from her life. She marries a country Doctor from Gopher Prairie MN and moves there with him (from Minneapolis). She has a hard time adjusting to small town life and gossipy people. She struggles to find friends she can relate to and often finds the people she confides in are not what they seem, or they somehow leave her life. I can't do justice to the book in a small blog entry but there is the on-going struggle for her to become happy with her life.. which if you look at the larger issues is just as valid today as it was 87 years ago. I think this is also an interesting look at small town life back before WWI.
The book isn't quick reading there is a lot of philosophizing as well as following her through the things she does.
It IS a wonderful book and well worth a read today. Lewis became the first American writer to win the Nobel Prize in Lit, and Main Street was his third novel and his first big success.
I also have Elmer Gantry another one of his novels, in the same binding as Main Street which was in a summer home my parents bought (furnished) years ago.. some day I will get to that as well. It appears that the copyrights on most (if not all) of Sinclair Lewis' works have expired and not been renewed. You can download zip files of many of his books from Universities and other places.. A google search will help you out.