Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

[2007-01-25]
Well I’ll be honest, this book started off fairly slowly in my opinion. I discovered it because it was a “Friends of the Library” recommended book. I actually thought that I was getting an author that I knew but it turns out not to be. I must have jumbled Upton Sinclair and C.S. Lewis up in my head or something. I read this everyday at work pretty much during my lunch break so it’s a bit slow when you only get to read 30 min at a time. Nonetheless I’m beginning to feel a kinship and connection with the main character even though we are obviously extremely different. But the important things that stand out thus far are that she is amongst all of these people who are different, and what little that she does to try to change things seems to get lost in society that has already been established.

[2007-02-11]
The feelings that I was starting to acquire about the book previously have proven correct. I am starting to enjoy it more and more as I see how Carol Kennicott struggles against those around her. She sees opportunities to truly change things, and she acts on those opportunities. Unfortunately everyone else in the town of Gopher Prairie do not share the same enthusiasm for change. She sees each opportunity, though well intentioned, fail miserably in its goal of creating an utter change to the dull bleakness of a railroad town. I’m still only a little more than halfway through the book, and I look forward to what will happen. We’ll see what happens!

[2007-02-28]
Okay I finally finished the book. It was a whirlwind of a last week reading it because it was DUE on the 28th, so I had to finish it. The ending was mildly anti-climatic because basically Carol goes off to explore the world on her own, makes it in a sense, and the book ends just as she’s back at Gopher Prairie. The book definitely was a good read, though, after the initial adjustment to the style and ideas. You will enjoy this book if you’ve ever felt misunderstood or alone in a world of seeming sameness. In fact, this book might make you see that you’ve felt these things and not even know it.
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