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colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
4.0
But the event unchronicled, undiscussed, and supremely controlling, was her slow admission of longing to find her own people.
There are two insults which no human being will endure: the assertion that he hasn’t a sense of humor, and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has never known trouble.
There are two insults which no human being will endure: the assertion that he hasn’t a sense of humor, and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has never known trouble.
nwilliams96's review
challenging
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? Yes
2.0
smtvash's review
4.0
Minor Arcana - The 9 of Pentacles
People of THE TOWN
History doesn't repeat itself, it just doesn't change.
Consent, feminism, warnings about capitalism, equal rights in 1920 USA.
People of THE TOWN
History doesn't repeat itself, it just doesn't change.
Consent, feminism, warnings about capitalism, equal rights in 1920 USA.
mondovertigo's review
emotional
reflective
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, and War
soniapage's review against another edition
3.0
There are a lot of "small towns" in our lives with the same characteristics - narrow-mindedness, cliques, back-stabbing gossip, unacceptance of new people and ideas, and pride. I've lived in small towns like this and have encountered it in every office I've worked in. Carol, the main character, finds this out when she leaves Gopher Prairie and escapes to Washington, DC for a "breather" and where she hopes to feel free and liberated again. She returns to Gopher Prairie.
You can't feel too sorry for Carol. I couldn't understand why she married the good doctor in the first place. He wasn't really her ideal and shouldn't the name of the town, Gopher Prairie, have been a red flag as to what she was getting herself into. She thought she would go there and enlighten and change the doctor and the town. She forgot that some people don't want to change and resent those trying to "enlighten" them. These close-minded people like to play "keep out" when they encounter someone unwilling to become just like them.
One resident warns her of "village virus" and she ultimately succumbs.
You can't feel too sorry for Carol. I couldn't understand why she married the good doctor in the first place. He wasn't really her ideal and shouldn't the name of the town, Gopher Prairie, have been a red flag as to what she was getting herself into. She thought she would go there and enlighten and change the doctor and the town. She forgot that some people don't want to change and resent those trying to "enlighten" them. These close-minded people like to play "keep out" when they encounter someone unwilling to become just like them.
One resident warns her of "village virus" and she ultimately succumbs.
ifyouhappentoremember's review against another edition
3.0
Well this was an exercise in endurance.
I got the impression that Sinclair Lewis really wanted us to suffer along with his heroine, Carol. I understood what he was doing but it does not make for an enthralling read.
In my opinion, The Age of Innocence rightly won the Pulitzer Prize over Main Street. No disrespect to Sinclair Lewis (I’m sure his ghost is going to haunt me over this).
I got the impression that Sinclair Lewis really wanted us to suffer along with his heroine, Carol. I understood what he was doing but it does not make for an enthralling read.
In my opinion, The Age of Innocence rightly won the Pulitzer Prize over Main Street. No disrespect to Sinclair Lewis (I’m sure his ghost is going to haunt me over this).
lwvalentine55's review against another edition
5.0
This was another book in my quest to read all of the bestsellers of the last 100 years, and it was a delight. As a person who loves historical fiction, I find it rather fun to read "current" fiction that has become historical. I don't give a lot of five star reviews, but I feel like this one deserves it. The writing was fluid and compelling, and although Lewis quite obviously used his heroine, Carol Kennicott, as a vehicle to criticize small-town living and small-minded communities, he made lots of interesting points and I found myself underling passages quite frequently. A lot of what he wrote about still jibes with American society today. I live in what qualifies as a small town, 100 years later, and I know that there are still people who think exactly as the people of Gopher Prairie do - along with people who think exactly as Carol Kennicott does. They wanted to hang on to the old ways, and she wanted to move forward. Though the fundamentals of this struggle remain the same, I believe we have made significant progress in the years since Sinclair Lewis wrote this, and I think Carol Kennicott would have been much happier today than she was in the novel. She was very, very stuck in Gopher Prairie, held captive by a small group of deeply judgmental friends and neighbors and cut off from the rhythm and the flow of the rest of the world. Radio, television and the Internet have changed things substantially, making it easer for people to live the way they want and pursue the passions that they want from anywhere in the country.