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vegantrav's review against another edition
4.0
No murders or other crimes, no intrigue, no beautiful romances, no falls from grace, and no plot, yet this novel is nonetheless a fascinating character study of the eponymous Arrowsmith. Martin Arrowsmith himself is a fairly unexceptional physician and scientist—neither a genius nor a dullard but quite average apart from his ambition to make some type of important contribution to science—but in the hands of a talented writer like Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith springs to vivid life from the pages, and we readers come to care very much for him.
ivanafool's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Dense reading, the conversations between characters don't always make sense, but they are endearing in their own ways. Ending is uprubt and left open to interpretation as to what our dear Martin Arrowsmith does with the rest of his life. I wouldn't read it again.
waynediane's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent writing and information. Actually, what is interesting is the fact that he is not a Physician ( his father was) about the details of medicine and what was know back in the 1920's. Arrowsmith a Narcissist- great character development in most and interactions back in that era. It is a slow read.
_hollie064_'s review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Les Miserable of medical fiction
vsgayatri's review against another edition
5.0
Sinclair Lewis is a master of descriptions. He boils all manner of people down to the essentials, then boils them some more. Out of the viscous sludge of stereotype he drags out fully formed pictures, so vivid that within seconds you feel like you have known these people and places forever. And perhaps you have. This is a tale of very ordinary people, the ones we are and meet. In anyone else's hands such a story would almost certainly have been drab and uninteresting (aside from Mark Twain, perhaps). But Sinclair revels in the mundane and mediocre. While his gaze is sardonic and cynical, it has a heartfelt understanding of the trappings of human society and science.
A beautiful piece of writing.
A beautiful piece of writing.
elmatera's review against another edition
3.0
In an interview recently, Abraham Verghese (a prominent doctor/writer) cited Arrowsmith as one of the books that people often say inspired them to be physicians. (His personal inspiration was the novel "Of Human Bondage.") When I first started Arrowsmith, it was hard to see how its satirical tone and waffling main character could possibly "inspire" anyone. And in fact, Martin Arrowsmith doesn't end up being a physician, per se, at all. His real passion is research science, and the overarching conflict of the character (and one theme of the book) has to do with the struggle of medicine to become a truly scientific endeavor. In 1925, when Arrowsmith was written, I think this struggle was in a hot and heavy period. Though we now have "evidence-based medicine" and a tacit assumption that we only do things that have been scientifically proven based on real data, I think this struggle is still alive and well in reality.
As for the book as literature worth reading, Martin Arrowsmith's personal struggle actually becomes pretty compelling in the end. For all its satire, the book's portrayal of Martin as someone who has a sincere core but can't help being blown around by social and political forces rings fairly true and is somewhat complex. I was probably most interested in Martin in the middle of the book when he was trying to make a difference as a public health official than I was at the end when he was figuring out that he shouldn't have to fulfill his commitment to his wife if it meant at all compromising his obsessive love of research.
The most irritating part of the book is, of course, its female characters: the first wife who Lewis tries to convince us has a strong sense of self but who seems to have zero wants, needs, or ambitions of her own; versus the second wife who is independently wealthy, has her own ideas about what makes life worthwhile, but sadly seems to need/demand her husband's love and attention in a way poor little first wife never would have (and thus was revered, perfect). Most of the others are smart-mouthed or fairly silly airheads, controlling, wealthy harpies, and pretentious pseudo-intellectuals.
In the end, reading Arrowsmith gave me some interesting medicine-relevant issues to think about and overall an engaging story, in spite of its dated attitudes and style.
As for the book as literature worth reading, Martin Arrowsmith's personal struggle actually becomes pretty compelling in the end. For all its satire, the book's portrayal of Martin as someone who has a sincere core but can't help being blown around by social and political forces rings fairly true and is somewhat complex. I was probably most interested in Martin in the middle of the book when he was trying to make a difference as a public health official than I was at the end when he was figuring out that he shouldn't have to fulfill his commitment to his wife if it meant at all compromising his obsessive love of research.
The most irritating part of the book is, of course, its female characters: the first wife who Lewis tries to convince us has a strong sense of self but who seems to have zero wants, needs, or ambitions of her own; versus the second wife who is independently wealthy, has her own ideas about what makes life worthwhile, but sadly seems to need/demand her husband's love and attention in a way poor little first wife never would have (and thus was revered, perfect). Most of the others are smart-mouthed or fairly silly airheads, controlling, wealthy harpies, and pretentious pseudo-intellectuals.
In the end, reading Arrowsmith gave me some interesting medicine-relevant issues to think about and overall an engaging story, in spite of its dated attitudes and style.
soniapage's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting account of a young man's checquered career in medicine. This is a long book and Arrowsmith goes the long way around to end up where he thinks he wants to be. But does he? The ending leaves you wondering.
jarthur's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0