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bethanye92's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mrbanana's review against another edition
3.0
very well written but dragged on at times. I found myself getting lost towards the end, but I enjoyed the recurring nature and themes amongst the characters
wjhogan235's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
A true American classic.
stephenleary's review against another edition
3.0
Winesburg, Ohio is a series of stories with the unifying elements of the town, the character of George Willard, and the theme of Willard growing into a man. Such is the "plot." Anderson's method is to see beneath the surface of lives and their psychological underpinnings.
Nothing much happens and the chapters offer little more than character sketches--characters of a neurotic variety. Anderson paints his characters as lonely failures. Grotesques outside the ordinary. Reality and real people were not Anderson's strong points.
The characters are eager to go elsewhere and make something of themselves if they can. This reflected Anderson's own sojourns from his town of Clyde, Ohio to Chicago and Cleveland.
So much seems to be missing in Winesburg. The namesake town itself, for example. Winesburg is almost invisible, with most of the "action" taking place either indoors or at night. Anderson is sparing in details of the nerve points of the city, other than sidewalks or the creek environs where the characters walk.
Winesburg was part of a trend toward "interior action" without much in the way of a traditional plot, and alienation themes that impacted writers such as Ernest Hemingway. The influence of Winesburg on later writers seems much greater than its own internal quality outside all other considerations.
Nothing much happens and the chapters offer little more than character sketches--characters of a neurotic variety. Anderson paints his characters as lonely failures. Grotesques outside the ordinary. Reality and real people were not Anderson's strong points.
The characters are eager to go elsewhere and make something of themselves if they can. This reflected Anderson's own sojourns from his town of Clyde, Ohio to Chicago and Cleveland.
So much seems to be missing in Winesburg. The namesake town itself, for example. Winesburg is almost invisible, with most of the "action" taking place either indoors or at night. Anderson is sparing in details of the nerve points of the city, other than sidewalks or the creek environs where the characters walk.
Winesburg was part of a trend toward "interior action" without much in the way of a traditional plot, and alienation themes that impacted writers such as Ernest Hemingway. The influence of Winesburg on later writers seems much greater than its own internal quality outside all other considerations.
sandmountain's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.5
zeltzamer's review against another edition
I read about forty pages of this one almost exactly a year ago, but stopped for whatever reason. Rectified it I have. In fact, I serendipitously finished reading it just one day after the date I started it on last year. I guess that’s why they call them books.
Interesting with a (county) fair consistency, although I do wonder about one thing in particular; what’s with all the trembling? I got the “adventure” repetition of the town residents, but less explicable to me is it being Tremblecity. Shoulders tremble, voices, hands, possibly even ears at one point. Sometimes it’ll happen within the same paragraph. I know the Moderns did some odd things, but this is weird even by those standards. Did Sherwood write this in a sub-room temperature room? (Now that’s what I call repetition.)
Interesting with a (county) fair consistency, although I do wonder about one thing in particular; what’s with all the trembling? I got the “adventure” repetition of the town residents, but less explicable to me is it being Tremblecity. Shoulders tremble, voices, hands, possibly even ears at one point. Sometimes it’ll happen within the same paragraph. I know the Moderns did some odd things, but this is weird even by those standards. Did Sherwood write this in a sub-room temperature room? (Now that’s what I call repetition.)
phersace's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
2.5
paroof's review against another edition
5.0
Vignettes of the townspeople of fictional Winesburg, Ohio, tied together around George Willard. The stories are mostly character sketches, but they're strange and poignant. The writing is straight forward and plain which seems fitting. I'm glad I picked this book up.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
surrattb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
onuryeats's review against another edition
5.0
You guys probably don’t know that I’m a SHORT STORY WHORE. First of all, the reason why I wanted to read this book is that the author heavily impressed such authors as Faulkner, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Saroyan, Henry Miller etc. Personally speaking, I was so overwhelmed by the book’s magnificence. There is nothing bad to say about this book. The structure of the book is quite intriguing. It frames the stories of melancholic “weirdos” belonged to the same fictional town, Winesburg. The first part of the book, The Book of the Grotesque, was the greatest. “Grotesque” could have never been explained better than that. (The grotesque described in the book also reminded me of McCullers’s essence of grotesque.) Hands is the one that I liked the most. Besides, the link between the stories the Strength of God and the Teacher is praiseworthy. Overall, the book itself has an unique story structure that you cannot find in any book.