Reader discussion: Babbitt

Public reader discussion about Babbitt in the WeRead Catalog by Sinclair Lewis.

Reading Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt in 2022

By sunnyBrush10

A couple random thoughts I can’t really shake: - Babbitt’s whole life feels totally out of reach to me, and I’m guessing most people under 30 feel that way too - Zenith still hits pretty hard as a takedown of the middle class that capitalism builds, especially all that pushing everything toward the same template - I don’t know if “conformity” lands as strongly now, since we’re a lot more okay with different lifestyles in 2022, and the whole “house, kids, done” thing isn’t treated like the default anymore - Also, Lewis really comes across like he thinks America is packed with self-important hypocrites—you can practically feel the contempt in the writing And yeah, that “I hate your city…” line is wild, like he’s saying it’s all the same track for everyone, just dressed up nicely.

Sinclair Lewis: Why so forgotten?

By annotation_wolf8

Sinclair Lewis is probably my favorite author. Every time I bring up books, people end up talking like they know a ton about American lit, but if I ask whether they’ve read any Lewis, I usually get stuff like, “Wait, isn’t it Lewis Sinclair?” or “Did he write The Jungle?” I honestly feel like he’s really under-read now, especially since he was crazy popular back in his day. I think a big part of it is that his stuff kind of went downhill later on—besides Kingsblood Royal, which I still think is one of his best—once he got hit hard with extreme alcoholism. But his novels from 1920 to 1933 are wild good and they still feel relevant, and sometimes even like they called what was coming next in the way society would change. He clearly saw those shifts and could explain them really well. So, what’s your favorite Sinclair Lewis novel? And why doesn’t Babbitt get read next to The Great Gatsby (or even swapped in) in high school?

Thoughts on John Ohara as a great American author?

By SilverFocus1993

Is anyone else here really into John O’Hara? I haven’t read a ton of him, but Appointment in Samara ended up being my favorite after Pride and Prejudice. Also, I can’t get enough of those classic American suburban books from the 20s-50s—if anyone has recs, I’d love to hear them, especially if they’re set in that kind of world.

The Athletic Club from Sinclair Lewis’ Babbitt

By novelRose

I’m not sure where this is going, but I’m pretty curious.

Visiting Main Street with Sinclair Lewis

By lunar-trail12

I didn’t really know Lewis much beyond hearing he wrote *It Can’t Happen Here*. The Nobel Prize is what made me actually go look for him, and I ended up starting with *Main Street* because it sounded like it might match what I like. So Carol Milford is kind of the main thing here—left-wing feminist-ish, living without much direction, and then her life suddenly changes when she marries Doctor Will Kennicott. He brings her to this town (Gopher Prairie), which feels like it’s meant to be basically every small American town, not just where Lewis came from. Over about eight years you see her hit a wall with the town’s low expectations, the very right-wing vibe, and the constant gossip and watching-everyone scrutiny. And it doesn’t do that usual “backwoods makes the city girl admit she was wrong” thing. Instead it kind of lingers in the mess. What surprised me early on was how much the same political/cultural conflicts still feel familiar. People talk like the parties were more mixed up back then, but it still seems like Republicans were mostly the party of property—big money and small-town guys too. Also, the way Lewis describes small-town boredom feels weirdly similar to stuff people write today about MAGA towns and suburbs and all that. I figured Lewis would be super cynical about it all, but he’s not as nasty as I expected. Carol’s not exactly a saint either—there’s a lot of foibles and elitism on her end. And honestly the most decent person turns out to be Kennicott, even though he’s “quiet” and kind of dull. He points out what’s wrong with Gopher Prairie, but he still lets in the idea that people can have real comfort and maybe even improve things. There are also these random little moments where you realize these aren’t just stereotypes—like people could genuinely believe divorce isn’t always immoral, that illegitimate kids aren’t automatically cursed, that there are ethical authorities beyond the Hebrew Bible, that evolution has a place, and so on. It’s like the book keeps showing how much variety there actually is, even inside a pretty narrow-looking world. A lot of it is about analyzing rural America politically, and how the townsfolk basically act like they’re in a class struggle. At the same time, I was honestly a little thrown that it didn’t feel like everyone was constantly boiling over about Democrats running the federal government, or at least not in the way I would’ve expected. With Prohibition, it’s hard to tell what most people even felt. Also—this really reads as feminist in a deliberate way. Carol feels drawn as a real person, and you notice how being a housewife shapes her whole position in town. It even gets at how hobbies get gendered, with women pushed toward “arts and talk” stuff and men getting the shiny tools—cars, guns, practical things. Chekhov comparison kinda makes sense to me too, because the book gets frustrated with how dull rural life can be. I’ve heard he’s good at that kind of thing, so I’m probably going to check out *Three Sisters* later. One thing I didn’t expect was how much I ended up enjoying the marriage side of it. The fights are rough, but the emotional bond underneath still holds on. I’m also now curious to see if *Revolutionary Road* is actually as good as people say. Overall, after being stuck for a while without reading any long novels, this felt like a really satisfying read. Lewis’s voice feels genuinely humane, and now I want to dig into more of his books.

Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here—A Chillingly Relevant Read for Today

By EnvelopeTide35

Just re-read *It Can’t Happen Here* by Sinclair Lewis, and I’m kind of blown away by how well it lines up with what’s going on right now. If you read it years ago, or you somehow haven’t gotten to it yet, I’d say this is the time to go back. The whole story (it’s from 1935) is basically about this populist guy, Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, who works up support by leaning hard on fear, nationalism, and this anti-elite vibe. He gets elected, then once he’s in, he starts tearing down democratic stuff, shutting up the press, and building up a paramilitary force to go after anyone who disagrees—like it’s all just about “putting America back on track.” Does it feel familiar? What I can’t stop thinking about is that it’s not like he does some sudden violent takeover. It’s more of a slow slide where it almost seems inevitable. He’s feeding people economic worries, using misinformation, and stirring up fake outrage to keep the crowd fired up. And the people calling it out get treated like they’re overreacting… until it’s too late. Scary how real that feels. Lately, with politics being so split and demagogues on different sides doing the “us vs. them” routine, plus the way the press, voting rules, and general democratic norms are getting attacked and normalized, Lewis’ whole warning just hits harder. So—has anyone read it recently? Do you think it matches today’s situation, or is it different in some key way?

Just finished Babbitt

By greencat

This was genuinely a fun read. I kept thinking, how is this from like a hundred years ago, but it still feels super relevant? The political parts still hit, except the labour stuff—those guys (Babbitt and his whole reactionary crew) seem to go after labour unions more than anything, like that’s their main thing. And yeah, you’d expect conservatives to act like that, but it’s kind of wild how the “small-town reactionary” type today seems way more obsessed with immigration and other culture wars, instead. So it’s interesting to see how the whole left vs right fight shifts over time. The back-and-forth between George and his wife also felt way too real. There’s a part where he says this nasty thing and doesn’t even bother apologizing, and I was like… yeah, I know that vibe. I think anyone who’s been stuck in a toxic relationship would recognize it. And I find it funny (in a messed up way) that he’s always judging people “below” him trying to climb, while he’s basically done the same thing by just networking and schmoozing his way up.

Non-fiction books that teach valuable, useful and ideally applicable information

By bookworm_string

Check out a local book group near you here—there are already like fifteen cities and it keeps growing. Also, a few rules: no AI-posting (instant permaban), images only during the last week of the month, and keep posts on topic. Don’t ask for paywall links, and if you want to promote anything yourself, you gotta message the mods first. Basically, writing/writing groups only belong here—low-effort posts get pulled. Next chats: - Russian Spring / Introduction - June 5: Pushkin — *Eugene Onegin* - June 12: *The Way of the Pilgrim* - June 19: Limonov — *It’s Me, Eddie* And if you’re wondering how they choose books, I guess they stick to stuff the podcast talks about, watch what people recommend, and they also do classics. If you want to host a discussion, you can DM /u/rarely_beagle with the book + dates, or just start a thread with an intro and questions.

What was your favorite book you read as a child growing up?

By juniper-kettle

Hey everyone! I’m pretty sure we all had a book we loved growing up. For me it’s definitely the one about Ebenezer Scrooge (“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens). I know it’s been years, but I still end up rereading it right before the winter holidays. It just brings back those early, unforgettable vibes—everything feels really cozy and warm. What about you? Is there a book like that for you? If yes, I’d love to hear which one.

Why do I almost never see Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt listed as one of the great American novels?

By Reader-Spectrum23

I just reread it for the second time—the last one was almost ten years ago when I was 25. After this run, I actually told myself I’ll pick it up again in another ten years, because I’m realizing how much stuff connected to my adult life that I had zero idea about the first time. I also think it’s a really sharp look at middle America, and it still hits just as hard now, especially with everything going on socially and politically. What I don’t get is why, even though Sinclair Lewis is usually treated like such a big deal, people mostly talk about his other books like *It Can’t Happen Here* or *Arrowsmith*. In my head, this one feels just as good as something like *The Great Gatsby*—the kind of book that belongs on the “best of the era” lists. So why does it get less attention? Maybe because the criticism is a little too on-the-nose?

Has anybody read The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt?

By mist_deviant74745

I read this ages ago and it still means a lot to me. It’s a pretty short fantasy book. Basically it’s about an orphan who gets taken in by the king’s scribe. The scribe puts together a dictionary and gives it to the king. The king likes it a lot except for the definition of delicious, since that’s the scribe’s favorite food. The king says delicious is roast beef, the queen says apple pie, the sergeant says beer, and the queen’s brother says walnuts. That starts a fight and the queen’s brother storms off, mad because he’s jealous of the king’s power. Then they send the orphan around to all the towns in the kingdom to find out what everyone thinks delicious means. I read it when I was really young, probably because it was my mom’s, and I’ve always had a soft spot for it even though it’s a kids’ book. Does anyone else know this one?

How to read Babbitt

By blankit

I’m bringing this up because I tried it a year ago and didn’t finish it. I got to about page 100 and ended up pretty bummed, because it wasn’t even close to what I expected. I really like stuff like Appointment in Samarra, Revolutionary Road, and Sister Carrie—also those early/mid-1900s suburban American novels. This one just felt off somehow. Now I’m not sure if it’s that Sinclair Lewis writes in a totally different way than I’m used to, or if I just came into it wrong. I’ve got Main Street and Babbitt sitting on my shelf—have you guys read either of those? And what do you think about Lewis in general? How should I approach him so it clicks?

What classic books were mandatory reading in your school when you were a teenager?

By oldOwl1998

Just to be clear, I mean the “classic” stuff you had to read for a compulsory literature class when you were a teenager (like high school/secondary school). Not anything from a uni course, and definitely not children’s books you read when you were little and still learning to read. I’m asking because I’m really curious what different countries’ education systems pick as their kind of “canon” classics. I’ll start: I’m from the UK, and for GCSE English Lit I had to do Macbeth, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and An Inspector Calls. In the UK it’s basically one Shakespeare play, one 19th-century book, and one post-1900 book for everyone.

Sinclair Lewis books?

By horsepatient

Anyone got good recs? I really enjoyed Main Street and Babbitt—his writing style is so good. Thanks!

Dramatised, multi cast audio book recommendations?

By bluewindow

Just finished 1984 with Andrew Garfield and Cynthia Erivo and I’m still like… WOW. I seriously loved it. Any other books like it that you’d recommend? 😊 Also totally down for newer stuff too, and even something a little less intense/serious haha.

It Can't Happen Here.

By CoastPlanet18

So, I got left alone in a bookshop by my girlfriend (which is definitely not something she’s supposed to do), and I ended up grabbing Sinclair Lewis’ *It Can’t Happen Here* just because it was on offer and a bunch of people kept saying it was weirdly accurate. And wow… I’m only about 150 pages in, but it’s set in 1936 and basically in the “almost next” future, where a fascist government takes over the US. The whole thing is run by Buzz Windrip, this so-called “man of the people” who’s promising the disenfranchised a ton of money and prosperity. He comes off as a total fraud—like vulgar, not very smart, and just lying in a way that should be easy to spot—while there’s this bigger ultra-right mastermind behind him. What’s freaking me out is how on-point it feels and how relevant it still is. It’s already gotten to the part where the new government gathers the press and tells them they need to check with the White House to get the real story. Has anyone else read it? Curious what you all thought.

The rise, fall, and rise of Sinclair Lewis' reputation

By library_looks53

Sinclair Lewis has always been one of the more interesting authors to me, mostly because his whole career/reputation took such a weird turn. He was huge in the 1920s—like, one of the most popular writers then—and he even became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930. But then after that, things pretty much slid downhill for him, both professionally and personally for years. Even though he kept writing and tackling social issues pretty boldly as late as 1947 (Kingsblood Royal), he never really got back to that earlier level of success. And he died in Rome in January 1951, pretty lonely and it sounds like the alcohol didn’t help. After he died, he also got pushed down in literary circles as people like Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, and the others slowly started overshadowing him. Main Street and Babbitt stayed decent and well-known, but a lot of his other stuff basically fell out of the public eye. Then suddenly in 2016 and 2017, It Can’t Happen Here (his 1935 book about a fascist takeover in America) started going crazy in sales. It even climbed to the top 5 on Amazon’s bestseller list. It probably isn’t his best writing-wise, but it feels way more relevant now than it used to, and it’s aged really well. Reading it, I couldn’t help thinking about what Lewis would think about “that orange someone.” It’s just kind of wild how author reputations can swing around over time. So many people we treat like “history’s greatest” were ignored during their own lives. And Fitzgerald died in 1940 from a similar kind of situation as Lewis, convinced he’d be forgotten. It’s funny (in a way that makes you think) how Fitzgerald is now the poster child for the Roaring Twenties, while Lewis only really got a bump recently because of a book that was way past his peak.

Arizonasaurus babbitti, a Ctenosauriscidae Archosaur reconstructed by DefinetilyNotPedro on Deviant art.

By skyValley

The Triassic feels like it was right between two big mass extinctions, and life was just kind of throwing stuff at the wall to see what survived—like “I don’t know, why not?”

Review: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

By followsClock40

Okay but… if you could live forever in a world that’s kind of falling apart, would you actually want that? That’s the whole vibe of *Tuck Everlasting*. I know Natalie Babbitt did other stuff too, but this one feels like her real win. It’s been around forever, lots of teachers seem to like it, it’s won awards, and somehow it’s been turned into movies and even a Broadway thing. The story starts in 1880 and it moves pretty straight from there: Winnie, who’s 10, finds a spring in the woods and before she even drinks it, the Tucks show up—Mrs. Tuck, plus Miles and Jesse. They take her home and basically tell her the water makes you immortal. They drank it like 87 years ago and they haven’t aged since. And the thing is, they don’t want more people to go through it. Immortality sounds cool, but for them it’s turned into a mess. Then there’s this creepy guy in a yellow suit who hears about it and wants to get the spring for himself so he can sell it to rich people. I liked the friendship side with the Tucks a lot—it’s kind of sweet—but things get tense near the end because Winnie has to decide what she thinks is right. Like, is it actually a good thing to never grow up? I looked at some reader Q&A stuff from the edition I read, and the author kind of says it’s not really a “here’s the moral” story. It’s more about dilemmas and hard choices. And that’s the part I can’t stop thinking about. In Winnie's place, what would you do? Would you drink? Would you warn everyone? Are you helping people or just making everything worse? Also, the Tucks each feel like they represent different arguments for why immortality might be a curse or not. One of them is all about change being part of life, and how not aging goes against the natural order. Another is basically the opposite and wants Winnie to stay right where she is. I kept going back and forth in my head, like I’m sure there’s got to be something seriously wrong with “forever,” even if it sounds tempting at first. I won’t say what Winnie chooses, but the ending is the kind of thing that sparks arguments after you finish it. It’s a fun story either way, but the extra weight makes it way better. I really loved it.

It Can't Happen Here By Sinclair Lewis: Still Relevant Today As It Was Back In 1935

By faintLynx

I just reread *It Can’t Happen Here* by Sinclair Lewis, and I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of it. I’m not one of those super political people, but if you’ve read it, you’ll know how wild the parallels are with the US right now. It talks about stuff like messing with the media, suppressing people, and how militias start popping up all over the place, and it honestly feels like it could be lifted from today. People always say America’s more split than it’s ever been, and the book basically runs with that too—but it gets way worse. What really blows my mind is that this was published in 1935, when everyone was already watching what was going on in places like Germany, Italy, Spain, and Japan, yet it still feels like it has a lot of bite now. I’d recommend it if you want a kind of alternate “what if” where America ends up even uglier than Nazi Germany. The similarities are honestly scary. In the book, things basically tip into a full-on fascist state, and compared to that it feels like we’re only barely dodging that path. I’m curious what others think, but I’m really not trying to pick fights—I just want to talk about what this book brings up about American society today. Also, thanks for all the responses and the good conversations—there’s a ton for me to dig into now. I didn’t expect this thread to take off like it did, so thanks again for all the upvotes. I’ll come back after I’ve had a chance to read and check out what everyone suggested.