Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis

Title: Arrowsmith
Author: Sinclair Lewis
Genre: Classic, award-winner, medical
Published: 1925
Read for: Battle of the Prizes, American Version and Back to the Classics Challenge 2011
Source: Personal copy

Martin Arrowsmith was introduced to medicine at an early age as he worked as an assistant to a small-town doctor. He decides to become a doctor, but while he is in medical school, he falls in love with research. Torn between his need to provide for his family and his love for pure science, Arrowsmith goes through several occupations and circumstances in his life before coming to a place where he can immerse himself in knowledge.

In a previous life I was a neuroscience major, and my hero was Dr. Dawson Hedges, who taught my introductory psychology class and my behavioral neuroscience class. He is hilarious and also happens to know everything. Anyway, he mentioned this book in passing one day in class, I scribbled it down, and when I discovered it won a Pulitzer, I knew it would be a winning choice for me (I've yet to fail with a Pulitzer. I know it will happen sooner or later and my faith in the prize will be dashed to smithereens and I won't know where to turn for a fantastic book. But until then...). I was correct -- Arrowsmith was a perfect read for my medical, science-nerd side, and was written well enough to satisfy my lovely-language-loving side.

I have recently made the acquaintance of the term bildungsroman. I am unsure of the translation (and yes, I know I can google it) but essentially, it is a book about the development of a person. I have also come to realize this is my favorite type of book. Perhaps it is because I am in my twenties and am still trying to figure out my future (sure, I'm married and have gone to college (twice) but there are still many, many uncertain things), but books that slowly unravel a person's mishaps and victories on the path to self-dom tend to reach me more personally than any others. And Arrowsmith definitely goes through many changes. He was so very human and fallible, constantly hurting people accidentally, changing his mind about his occupation (general doctor? public health administrator? lab rat?), and falling in and out of love. I have changed my major extensively and am certainly susceptible to making all variations of dumb mistakes, as I think most people are, so this reverberated with me. At times I would cringe at Arrowsmith's choices, and at times I didn't like him as a character. However, I saw in him myself and others that I know. And while Arrowsmith didn't necessarily follow the path I would have chosen for him, he found what made him happy and fulfilled, despite the many missteps along the way.

I also loved all of the medical references. This book was written nearly 100 years ago, but many of the issues it presents are still relevant to medicine today. Do we overprotect in matters of public health? Are scientific discoveries of any worth if they can't be applied directly to health? Do we wait to prove those discoveries through properly controlled and randomized trials, or is it unethical to withhold a treatment we think might help? These are issues I think about on a daily basis, and although people who aren't involved in medical occupations and studies may not think about them as frequently, they certainly apply to all of us, especially in light of recent changes in litigation.

Another part of the novel that fascinated me was Arrowsmith's relationship with  Leora. Granted, I know that she is a detriment to feminism. Malleable and submissive and at times mistreated by Arrowsmith (generally through idiocy rather than genuine malice on his part), she certainly isn't a good role model or a strong woman. And their relationship wasn't perfect, either -- she supports him too much, while supports her too little. However, there was something about their love for each other, despite the differences and the foolish mistakes and the inequality, that was touching. They are so close to each other that at times they seem to blend together. This isn't a popular concept in our modern day and age -- we are all about asserting ourselves and having our own identities and preserving our sense of self no matter how many children we have or who we are in relationships with -- but to me, there is still something romantic about it. I think I believe that real love means a willingness to give everything to each other -- but hopefully, being with someone who respects you enough to keep you yourself. I am now getting off topic and waxing philosophical.

So, in brief, Arrowsmith is a fantastic and complex book. Whether or not you have a particular interest in the medical world, I think it has a lot of offer. The Pulitzers have yet to let me down.

4 stars

Warnings: I honestly can't remember. It's probably rated PG? I don't remember anything appallingly offensive, but there is probably something in there that would offend someone sensitive.

Paris Trout by Pete Dexter

Title: Paris Trout

Author: Pete Dexter

Genre: Contemporary fiction, crime fiction

Publisher: Penguin, 1988

Source: Library

Read for: Battle of the Prizes (American), Birth Year Challenge

Paris Trout is a relatively well-to-do, respected citizen. Yes, he is prone to his eccentricities. However, his store is a busy hive of business, his wife is beautiful, and his house is large. After calling in a debt goes rather horrendously wrong, Trout is left with a charge of manslaughter and two black women with bullets in their bodies. Over the next several years, dealing with this crime and determining Trout's guilt heightens the tension in their small town and drives Paris Trout to insanity.

This is the first National Book Award book I've read, I think ever (goes to check... nope, untrue. I've read Cold Mountain). I'm a big fan of the Pulitzer Prize, but for some reason the National Book Award winners don't have the same pull for me (although I did purchase a copy of Let the Great World Spin yesterday). While this book was fantastically well written, the story did not engage me and I closed the book with a nasty taste in my mouth.

I can't deny that Pete Dexter writes with panache. He has a knack of rendering situations with shattering starkness and clarity. I could visualize the scenes as if I'd been handed a photograph, and I felt that I knew the characters well. Their eccentricities, habits, and little daily gestures were articulately realized in creative language. I also thought Dexter dealt with racial issues in an interesting way, especially as he used Rosie, the young black girl Trout shoots, as the main voice for the inequalities experienced in the small town.

The story was very ugly. This makes sense - it is about an ugly crime committed by a deranged man. However, immersing myself in that ugliness is not how I usually choose to spend my time. It was disturbingly impressive, the way Trout slowly grows in paranoia and bizarreness until he is driven to commit crimes with increasing atrocity. At the beginning of the book, it was difficult to put down because I wasn't sure how people would react and what would be done about Trout's actions. However, as the story continued, it just became a downward spiral of Trout growing more and more corrupt.

The characters were also ugly (figuratively, not literally). While Paris Trout is the true criminal, they all commit ugly acts and are changed in a negative way by Trout's trial and ensuing madness. The only two characters I could at least partially like were Hanna Trout and Carl Bonner - Hanna for her kindness to Rosie at the beginning of the book and Bonner for his birds (an element of the story I found bizarre and fascinating). While Trout is the main agent in his escalating insanity, I think all the characters help to push him to the brink.

It is difficult for me to rate this story because my enjoyment of the book and the skill with which it was executed are completely disparate. I guess I should give it a 2.5, to be right in the middle. I didn't care for it, but it does paint a stark picture in an interesting way.

2.5

Warnings: language, sexuality, violence, sexual abuse

The Age of Innocence: Book 2 and Review

This is going to be spoiler-tastic, but I'll put a brief review at the end of the write-up in case you haven't read the book and want to know my thoughts on it. If you haven't read this book you are definitely not going to want to read the next sentence, so close your eyes, okay?


I was BLOWN AWAY when I started reading Book 2 of The Age of Innocence. I hadn't read the book in a few days after finishing Book 1, and I was expecting Newland to waffle around and have some introspection before his wedding. My foolish, naive little heart thought that perhaps he would have another real heart-to-heart with May and tell her that she had been right, there was someone else, and that he was going to throw society out the window and be a bohemian and live in a shabby house for the rest of his life.

Okay, I didn't really think he would do that. This is Edith Wharton, here - has she ever let one of her characters off easy? But I hoped that he would. So I was very shocked when the first page of the second half had Newland fidgeting with the ring and waiting for his blushing bride to glide down the aisle. I think that is one of the more poignant moments in the book - that realization that even though he has changed his mind, he already made his choice. He loved himself and that immaterial concept of a good name far more than he loved Ellen Olenska. I don't think May had anything to do with his decision by that point.

Of course, he couldn't just let Ellen go at first. He has a few fleeting moments of perceived marital bliss during the honeymoon, but soon he realizes that his fears about May didn't go away with time - they magnified in their reality. She is sweet, she is accommodating, she is beautiful, and she will spend his life trying to please him. She is white bread, nourishing and good, but Ellen is like chocolate cake, bad for you but irresistible. (I'm eating right now, hence the cheesy food analogies).

Newland and Ellen begin to explore their relationship in a passionate but unphysical way. "A stolen kiss isn't what I want," he pleads with her. "He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds them; but this passion that was closer than his bones was not to be superficially satisfied." I think that is the real tragedy of the story. So many stories of unfaithfulness result from boredom, or lust, or stupidity. But Newland has found a spirit that is the same as his, and he can't have her. I almost burst into tears at this line - "Suddenly he felt something stiff and cold on his lashes, and perceived that he had been crying, and that the wind had frozen his tears." For some reason, the image of this somewhat reserved and self-possessed, albeit susceptible to forbidden emotions, vulnerable and crying just breaks my heart.

Shortly after that, the story skips years ahead to Newland in his old age. May has passed away - he has made no attempt to find Ellen. His son is marrying Fanny Beaufort, the daughter of a union that was a huge scandal in Newland's day, but which no one thinks twice about now. His son, Dallas, seems to understand instinctively everything about his parents' marriage and how Newland feels about Ellen, and he takes it all in stride. He reveals to Newland that his mother knew how he felt about Ellen the whole time. In some ways it makes me like her a little better - she has her one nasty moment, throwing a send-off party for Ellen and throwing the whole situation in both Ellen and Newland's faces with grace and a sweet smile. He also says that they are to meet with Ellen that afternoon.

And this part is the worst, because Newland has that opportunity to see her again. They are both free, and not so horribly old, and his feelings for her haven't changed. But he sits and starts thinking about the way she has lived and met people and done what she wanted in her freedom, and the way he has followed convention and lived the perfect life he always dreamed of, and how it was always flavorless, and he can't face her. So he turns and walks away.

Part of me wanted to scream, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? It seems like Newland kicks every fleeting chance he has at happiness out the door with a vengeance. But really, I think it was the only way the story could have ended. I do think that if he had gone through the door, he would have been surprised. I think she would have welcomed him and that maybe their relationship would have a chance at redemption. But I think that the way Newland lived his life had planted him in a different direction, and he could never grow toward Ellen. While he thought he stayed back because of how much she must have changed, really he had just cemented himself in following Society, and even though he knew things were different, he couldn't take that final step. He aligned his life with May's and was used to accepting life with wide, innocent eyes - he didn't want the bloom of life that Ellen would have brought him. And so he died, alone. (He didn't actually die).

END SPOILERISH SECTION --------> ENTER REVIEW SECTION

I loved this book. It was heart-breaking, but stunningly beautiful. I was correct in thinking that even though it moved slowly at the beginning, it would blossom into something that touched my heart. The book evokes some serious thoughts of what is worth sacrificing. Is a life without "the flower" a life worth living? Probably. But I'd rather not experiment to find out. I strongly recommend it to anyone, regardless of whether or not you usually read classics. It will start slowly, but I think you will love it.

Readability: A bit slow at first, with a few unfamiliar words. However, I think in general anyone could understand it.
Plot: 5 Captivating and heart-breaking.
Characters: 5 Well developed.
Aesthetics/literary merit: 5 I have a writer-crush on Edith Wharton. She is a stunning writer.
Personal response: 5 This is officially in my top five favorite books.
Overall: 5

Oh and also, the end of this book talks about Paris, which makes me nostalgic and even in more in love with it.

While we're on the subject of heart-break, I love this song (like everyone else on the planet right now). I'm actually pretty happy with my life right now, but I love these two heart-breaking things and I think they go well together. You should probably put it on repeat and read the end of this book and cry.

I think I have a problem.

I am officially addicted to read-alongs and challenges. But it's better than being addicted to hard drugs, right? At least my addiction improves my mind. :) I am participating in two read-alongs for the month of February, and I am also joining the Battle of the Prizes, a challenge that I thought sounded intriguing last year and have therefore decided to join in this year.

First of all, the Oliver Twist Read-along, hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey. Originally, I planned to read Great Expectations for my 19th century classic in the Back to the Classics Challenge, but I had been dreading the Dickens and so I decided a read-along would be a better way to jump in. Here is the schedule:
February 8 - Book 1 (22 chapters)
February 17 - Book 2 (14 chapters)
February 28 - Book 3 (15 chapters)
I will say that I have already gotten started with this one and am absolutely loving it. Maybe I was too immature to enjoy Dickens the first time I tried to read him.

Secondly, I am participating in the Age of Innocence Read-along hosted by Beth at Bookworm Meets Bookworm. I am also reading this one for the Back to the Classics challenge (20th century classic) and it will fit in nicely with the Battle of the Prizes challenge as well. The post for Book 1 is on February 16 and Book 2 is on March 2. The House of Mirth is one of my most loved books so I am excited to read another novel by Edith Wharton.

Finally, I am joining in Rose City Reader's American version of Battle of the Prizes. There are two Pulitzer Prize winners on my TBR this year, as well as one National Book Award winner. I just need to find one more National Book Award and the challenge will be complete.
Pulitzers:
* The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
* Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
National Book Award:
* Paris Trout by Pete Dexter
And potentially, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, or Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

Hooray! I have no self control!