Babbitt
Hey, I decided to mix things up and read something old! One hundred years old to be precise, as Sinclair Lewis’ Babbitt was published in 1922.
But it didn’t *feel* old with its fearful talk of socialism and “liberals…radicals…intelligentsia”, the personal angst over the choices of one's offspring, what “morality” might look like in a modern society, and a fascination with cutting-edge conveniences: “These standard advertised wares—toothpastes, socks, ties, cameras, instantaneous hot-water heaters—were [George Babbitt’s] symbols and proofs of excellence; at first the signs, then the substitutes, for joy and passion and wisdom.”
I’ve always been fascinated with Sinclair Lewis, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930. Lewis had a particular interest in the genesis and development of American cities, and I have fond memories of reading his novel Main Street on the M72 crosstown bus. (That said, Main Street is about a fictitious small town, not a major metropolis!) Babbitt is dedicated to Edith Wharton, a chronicler of a different sort of America, from an entirely different vantage point. (The quick internet search I did regarding this odd dedication probably deserves its whole post…)
But: If you’ve read Babbitt, do you hate him or have sympathy for him? He’s just a “Standard American Citizen” of the early 20th-century after all…
originally published on instagram