A review by erinbro1
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

4.0

My biggest takeaway from Winesburg, Ohio was that I could not believe it was published in 1919. Over 100 years old, and it reads like it could have been written today. It is more of a collection of short stories than a novel, but several common threads and repeating characters make it feel like a novel at times. For much of the book, we are spending time with characters who are incredibly lonely and struggle to reach out for the connection they need or desire. At times it felt incredibly bleak, but there is an underlying tone of hopefulness that I loved. Sherwood Anderson's writing is trim and deceptively simple, and there are a ton of lines that stuck with me like, "As a merchant Ebenezer was not happily placed in life and he had not been happily placed as a farmer. Still he existed."
I like the realistically optimistic stance of the book - that much of life is difficult and lonely, but so much of it is wonderful at the same time. I can see the influence this book has had on modern literature, and for that reason I highly recommend this collection for avid readers.