What do you think?
Rate this book
Babbitt
In the small midwestern city of Zenith, George Babbitt seems to have it all: a successful real-estate business, a devoted wife, three children, and a house with all the modern conveniences. Yet, dissatisfied and lonely, he’s begun to question the conformity, consumerism, and competitiveness of his conservative, and ultimately cultureless middle-class community. His despairing sense that something, many things are missing from his life leads him into a flirtation with liberal politics and a fling with an attractive and seemingly “bohemian” widow. But he soon finds that his attempts at rebellion may cost more than he is willing to pay.
The title of Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 satire on American materialism added a new word to our vocabulary. “Babbittry” has come to stand for all that’s wrong with a world where the pursuit of happiness means the procurement of things—a world that substitutes “stuff” for “soul.” Some twenty years after Babbitt’s initial success, critics called Lewis dated and his fiction old-fashioned. But these judgments have come to seem like wishful thinking. With Babbitry evident all around us, the novel is more relevant than ever.
Kenneth Krauss teaches drama at the College of Saint Rose, in Albany, New York. His books include Maxwell Anderson and the New York Stage, Private Readings/Public Texts, and The Drama of Fallen France.
The title of Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 satire on American materialism added a new word to our vocabulary. “Babbittry” has come to stand for all that’s wrong with a world where the pursuit of happiness means the procurement of things—a world that substitutes “stuff” for “soul.” Some twenty years after Babbitt’s initial success, critics called Lewis dated and his fiction old-fashioned. But these judgments have come to seem like wishful thinking. With Babbitry evident all around us, the novel is more relevant than ever.
Kenneth Krauss teaches drama at the College of Saint Rose, in Albany, New York. His books include Maxwell Anderson and the New York Stage, Private Readings/Public Texts, and The Drama of Fallen France.
369 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1922
About the author
Sinclair Lewis
383 books1,003 followersNovelist Harry Sinclair Lewis satirized middle-class America in his 22 works, including
Babbitt
(1922) and
Elmer Gantry
(1927) and first received a Nobel Prize for literature in 1930.
Middle-class values and materialism attach unthinking George F. Babbitt, the narrow-minded, self-satisfied main character person in the novel of Sinclair Lewis.
People awarded "his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters."
He knowingly, insightfully, and critically viewed capitalism and materialism between the wars. People respect his strong characterizations of modern women.
Henry Louis Mencken wrote, "[If] there was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade...it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclai...
Middle-class values and materialism attach unthinking George F. Babbitt, the narrow-minded, self-satisfied main character person in the novel of Sinclair Lewis.
People awarded "his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters."
He knowingly, insightfully, and critically viewed capitalism and materialism between the wars. People respect his strong characterizations of modern women.
Henry Louis Mencken wrote, "[If] there was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade...it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclai...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,657 reviews
May 15, 2020
The Success of Failure
Babbitt is perhaps the first comic novel of mid-life crisis. It shows Lewis at his most Dickens-like, creating prototypical American characters that live on in cultural mythology.
The issue is this: How does an imperfect male human being, knowing his flaws only too well, make his way in an equally flawed society - without sacrificing either his own integrity or his ability to participate in that society? Lewis answer: Essentially he can't. Everything is irrational compromise.
Plato's Socrates came to the same conclusion in the Republic. It is also the inevitability posed by Camus in his letters. It was the third century Christian theologian Tertullian who came up with the most precise formulation: Credo quia absurdum est, I believe in it because it is absurd.
Babbitt's middle class American life is an absurdity. That he comes to terms with this absurdity is his, and our, only hope. Highly recommended as literary therapy during the reign of Donald Trump... or to understand where Philip Roth finds much of his inspiration.
Babbitt is perhaps the first comic novel of mid-life crisis. It shows Lewis at his most Dickens-like, creating prototypical American characters that live on in cultural mythology.
The issue is this: How does an imperfect male human being, knowing his flaws only too well, make his way in an equally flawed society - without sacrificing either his own integrity or his ability to participate in that society? Lewis answer: Essentially he can't. Everything is irrational compromise.
Plato's Socrates came to the same conclusion in the Republic. It is also the inevitability posed by Camus in his letters. It was the third century Christian theologian Tertullian who came up with the most precise formulation: Credo quia absurdum est, I believe in it because it is absurd.
Babbitt's middle class American life is an absurdity. That he comes to terms with this absurdity is his, and our, only hope. Highly recommended as literary therapy during the reign of Donald Trump... or to understand where Philip Roth finds much of his inspiration.
December 25, 2021
(Book 722 From 1001 Books) - Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis (1885 - 1951)
In the fall of 1920, Sinclair Lewis began a novel set in a fast-growing city with the heart and mind of a small town. For the center of his cutting satire of American business he created the bustling, shallow, and myopic George F. Babbitt, the epitome of middle-class mediocrity. The novel cemented Lewis's prominence as a social commentator.
Babbitt basks in his pedestrian success and the popularity it has brought him. He demands high moral standards from those around him while flirting with women, and he yearns to have rich friends while shunning those less fortunate than he. But Babbitt's secure complacency is shattered when his best friend is sent to prison, and he struggles to find meaning in his hollow life. He revolts, but finds that his former routine is not so easily thrown over.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «ببیت»؛ «بابیت»؛ نویسنده: سینکلر لوییس (نیلوفر، چشمه) ادبیات؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز بیست و ششم ماه می سال1990میلادی
عنوان: ببیت؛ نویسنده: سینکلر لوئیس؛ مترجم: منوچهر بدیعی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، نیلوفر، چاپ دوم سال1367؛ در491ص؛ چاپ دیگر نیلوفر چشمه، سال1367؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده ی20م
عنوان: بابیت؛ نویسنده: سینکلر لوئیس؛ مترجم: فضل الله نیک آئین؛ تهران، نشر نو، سال1368، در567ص؛ چاپ دیگر نشر بیان آزادی، چاپ دوم، سال1380؛ در567ص؛ شابک9649370242؛
نویسنده، با روایت زندگی «جرج ببیت»، به نقد فرهنگ، و رفتار جامعه ی «آمریکا» میپردازند، و توخالی و پوچ بودن طبقه ی متوسط را، نشانه میروند؛ کتاب نخستین بار در سال1922میلادی منتشر شده است؛ به نظر میرسد، که «جورج بابیت» در شهر کوچکی به نام «زینث»، زندگی ای کامل، شغلی موفق، همسری دلسوز و مهربان، سه فرزند، و خانه ای بسیار مدرن، و راحت دارد؛ اما او، که احساس نارضایتی، و تنهایی میکند، انفعال، مصرف گرایی، و حریص بودن جامعه ی محافظه کار و بی ریشه ی طبقه ی متوسط را، زیر پرسش میبرد؛ این احساس «ببیت»، که انگار زندگی اش، کمبودهای بسیاری دارد، او را به سوی دنیای سیاست، و البته بیوه ای جذاب، و به ظاهر «بوهمیایی» میکشاند؛ اما شخصیت اصلی داستان، خیلی زود درمییابد، که تلاشهایش، برای تغییر وضع موجود، و سرکشی از قوانین، ممکن است، هزینه ای، بسیار سنگینتر از چیزیکه فکرش را میکند، برایش داشته باشد
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 14/11/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 03/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
In the fall of 1920, Sinclair Lewis began a novel set in a fast-growing city with the heart and mind of a small town. For the center of his cutting satire of American business he created the bustling, shallow, and myopic George F. Babbitt, the epitome of middle-class mediocrity. The novel cemented Lewis's prominence as a social commentator.
Babbitt basks in his pedestrian success and the popularity it has brought him. He demands high moral standards from those around him while flirting with women, and he yearns to have rich friends while shunning those less fortunate than he. But Babbitt's secure complacency is shattered when his best friend is sent to prison, and he struggles to find meaning in his hollow life. He revolts, but finds that his former routine is not so easily thrown over.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «ببیت»؛ «بابیت»؛ نویسنده: سینکلر لوییس (نیلوفر، چشمه) ادبیات؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز بیست و ششم ماه می سال1990میلادی
عنوان: ببیت؛ نویسنده: سینکلر لوئیس؛ مترجم: منوچهر بدیعی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، نیلوفر، چاپ دوم سال1367؛ در491ص؛ چاپ دیگر نیلوفر چشمه، سال1367؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده ی20م
عنوان: بابیت؛ نویسنده: سینکلر لوئیس؛ مترجم: فضل الله نیک آئین؛ تهران، نشر نو، سال1368، در567ص؛ چاپ دیگر نشر بیان آزادی، چاپ دوم، سال1380؛ در567ص؛ شابک9649370242؛
نویسنده، با روایت زندگی «جرج ببیت»، به نقد فرهنگ، و رفتار جامعه ی «آمریکا» میپردازند، و توخالی و پوچ بودن طبقه ی متوسط را، نشانه میروند؛ کتاب نخستین بار در سال1922میلادی منتشر شده است؛ به نظر میرسد، که «جورج بابیت» در شهر کوچکی به نام «زینث»، زندگی ای کامل، شغلی موفق، همسری دلسوز و مهربان، سه فرزند، و خانه ای بسیار مدرن، و راحت دارد؛ اما او، که احساس نارضایتی، و تنهایی میکند، انفعال، مصرف گرایی، و حریص بودن جامعه ی محافظه کار و بی ریشه ی طبقه ی متوسط را، زیر پرسش میبرد؛ این احساس «ببیت»، که انگار زندگی اش، کمبودهای بسیاری دارد، او را به سوی دنیای سیاست، و البته بیوه ای جذاب، و به ظاهر «بوهمیایی» میکشاند؛ اما شخصیت اصلی داستان، خیلی زود درمییابد، که تلاشهایش، برای تغییر وضع موجود، و سرکشی از قوانین، ممکن است، هزینه ای، بسیار سنگینتر از چیزیکه فکرش را میکند، برایش داشته باشد
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 14/11/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 03/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
September 18, 2017
It always amazes me how human nature does not change.
This book was written in and about the 1920's but except for some anachronistic language, could have been written today. This was also a fun glimpse at Prohibition era America. Lewis was spot on in many of his characterizations and was an astute observer of human nature.
This should be on a list of books that everyone should read.
This book was written in and about the 1920's but except for some anachronistic language, could have been written today. This was also a fun glimpse at Prohibition era America. Lewis was spot on in many of his characterizations and was an astute observer of human nature.
This should be on a list of books that everyone should read.
March 27, 2022
Babbitt reminds me of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb - we spin a cocoon of "becoming" around ourselves and go about our life...but as time goes by the cocoon is not transformative, but binding. At some point in everyone's life the cocoon of what we wanted to "become" becomes the web that traps who we "are". For most of us 'Comfortably Numb' sneaks up through the decades; only then do we realize our "butterfly summer" passed by us long ago. Babbitt is the 'everyman' who never ponders this: a Socratic warning to examine your life before the living becomes worthless.
January 15, 2022
Book Circle Reads 55
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything. But when a personal crisis forces the middle-aged real estate agent to reexamine his life, Babbitt mounts a rebellion that jeopardizes everything he values. Widely considered Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this satire remains an ever-relevant tale of an individual caught in the machinery of modern life.
An even better sales copy is on the Buns and Nubile edition's jacket: In the small midwestern city of Zenith, George Babbitt seems to have it all: a successful real-estate business, a devoted wife, three children, and a house with all the modern conveniences. Yet, dissatisfied and lonely, he’s begun to question the conformity, consumerism, and competitiveness of his conservative, and ultimately cultureless middle-class community. His despairing sense that something, many things are missing from his life leads him into a flirtation with liberal politics and a fling with an attractive and seemingly "bohemian” widow. But he soon finds that his attempts at rebellion may cost more than he is willing to pay.
The title of Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 satire on American materialism added a new word to our vocabulary. "Babbittry” has come to stand for all that’s wrong with a world where the pursuit of happiness means the procurement of things—a world that substitutes "stuff” for "soul.” Some twenty years after Babbitt’s initial success, critics called Lewis dated and his fiction old-fashioned. But these judgments have come to seem like wishful thinking. With Babbitry evident all around us, the novel is more relevant than ever.
My Review: This was a book circle read from the 1990s. That wasn't my first time reading the book, and it's well worth re-reading even now.
Poor Babbitt, saddled with that horrible word as an epitaph! Even in Auntie Mame, the most effervescent and light-hearted of romps, Mame excoriates Patrick by by calling him a "beastly, Babbitty snob." And yes, George starts out that way, Babbitty and shallow and consumerist and uncultured and jingoistic. He flirts with enlightenment, though, lest we forget! He grows and changes in his inner life throughout the novel! The implication of calling someone Babbitty or referring to cutural Babbittry presupposes they can't or won't change, and that's what the novel is about! My mother, whose copy I read, told me it was about how middle-aged men go crazy and run off the rails.
I wonder....
But in this specific day and time, this horrible moment when CEOs make over 1000 times what the people who do the work earn, this book is a must-read.
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything. But when a personal crisis forces the middle-aged real estate agent to reexamine his life, Babbitt mounts a rebellion that jeopardizes everything he values. Widely considered Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this satire remains an ever-relevant tale of an individual caught in the machinery of modern life.
An even better sales copy is on the Buns and Nubile edition's jacket: In the small midwestern city of Zenith, George Babbitt seems to have it all: a successful real-estate business, a devoted wife, three children, and a house with all the modern conveniences. Yet, dissatisfied and lonely, he’s begun to question the conformity, consumerism, and competitiveness of his conservative, and ultimately cultureless middle-class community. His despairing sense that something, many things are missing from his life leads him into a flirtation with liberal politics and a fling with an attractive and seemingly "bohemian” widow. But he soon finds that his attempts at rebellion may cost more than he is willing to pay.
The title of Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 satire on American materialism added a new word to our vocabulary. "Babbittry” has come to stand for all that’s wrong with a world where the pursuit of happiness means the procurement of things—a world that substitutes "stuff” for "soul.” Some twenty years after Babbitt’s initial success, critics called Lewis dated and his fiction old-fashioned. But these judgments have come to seem like wishful thinking. With Babbitry evident all around us, the novel is more relevant than ever.
My Review: This was a book circle read from the 1990s. That wasn't my first time reading the book, and it's well worth re-reading even now.
Poor Babbitt, saddled with that horrible word as an epitaph! Even in Auntie Mame, the most effervescent and light-hearted of romps, Mame excoriates Patrick by by calling him a "beastly, Babbitty snob." And yes, George starts out that way, Babbitty and shallow and consumerist and uncultured and jingoistic. He flirts with enlightenment, though, lest we forget! He grows and changes in his inner life throughout the novel! The implication of calling someone Babbitty or referring to cutural Babbittry presupposes they can't or won't change, and that's what the novel is about! My mother, whose copy I read, told me it was about how middle-aged men go crazy and run off the rails.
I wonder....
But in this specific day and time, this horrible moment when CEOs make over 1000 times what the people who do the work earn, this book is a must-read.
January 19, 2019
"Well, if that’s what you call being at peace, for heaven’s sake just warn me before you go to war, will you?"
Well, Babbitt is the American idea at peace. And it constitutes a warning that we should be taking seriously! Either my memory is getting more and more nostalgic, or Sinclair Lewis nailed it over and over again, in the same frustrating way Atwood and Orwell did: by seeing the ugliness before it existed to its full extent. Beware of good-natured American ambition. It's a killer! And beware even more of its twin, American morality! It's a sinner!
Let us be warned, for Lewis got it right.
Well, Babbitt is the American idea at peace. And it constitutes a warning that we should be taking seriously! Either my memory is getting more and more nostalgic, or Sinclair Lewis nailed it over and over again, in the same frustrating way Atwood and Orwell did: by seeing the ugliness before it existed to its full extent. Beware of good-natured American ambition. It's a killer! And beware even more of its twin, American morality! It's a sinner!
Let us be warned, for Lewis got it right.
October 24, 2013
Given that Babbitt was published in 1922, I expected to travel back in time and experience life of the 1920s. I expected to be transported to a different era. I expected to be greeted by a foreign world. And, instead, I mostly felt firmly planted in modern day. Yes, it is true that the language and manner of speaking is different. It’s “by golly” this and “by gosh” that. But, the themes and all of the satire still speak to the human experience of modern day. And in that way, I found the novel to be surprisingly contemporary.
Sinclair Lewis takes a critical look at the life of a white middle aged man in small town America, and makes fun of just about everything one could possibly make fun of. The futile one-up-manship. The desire to fit in. The attempts and failures of self-control. The pretentiousness. The hypocrisy. The lack of individual thought. The intense conformity. And through it all, a pervading sense of insecurity, uneasiness, and boredom. Is this all that life has to offer?
Even though Sinclair Lewis clearly uses Babbitt as his primary vehicle for satire throughout the entire novel, he simultaneously made Babbitt a complete and full-fledged character. A believable human character, and not an absurd caricature, which is what tends to happen in satires. I found Babbitt to be a likeable character, an endearing one, for despite all of his flaws and all of his unhappiness with middle class, suburban life, Babbitt always seemed to have an optimism about him, a certain childlike innocence. He never despaired. He had his moments of pure joy. And I loved that about him.
The satire in this novel was perfect. I couldn’t count the number of times I laughed while reading this book. And when I say that the satire was perfect, I mean, it was funny, real, and relatable in a way that you could laugh at yourself if you saw yourself in Babbitt. The satire was not biting or caustic, because when satire is overly harsh, it doesn’t work as a vehicle for social change. When it is overly harsh, you are just laughing at other people. That’s just mean, and they aren't necessarily going to change just because you are laughing at them. If you see any bit of yourself in whatever is being satirized and the satire is too harsh, you end up staunchly defending yourself rather than laughing and being open-minded to change. If the point of satire is to nudge us to change ourselves, to allow us to see how ridiculous we are, then it can’t be overly harsh. And from that point, I thought Babbitt as a satire was perfect in allowing us to laugh at ourselves.
Sinclair Lewis takes a critical look at the life of a white middle aged man in small town America, and makes fun of just about everything one could possibly make fun of. The futile one-up-manship. The desire to fit in. The attempts and failures of self-control. The pretentiousness. The hypocrisy. The lack of individual thought. The intense conformity. And through it all, a pervading sense of insecurity, uneasiness, and boredom. Is this all that life has to offer?
Even though Sinclair Lewis clearly uses Babbitt as his primary vehicle for satire throughout the entire novel, he simultaneously made Babbitt a complete and full-fledged character. A believable human character, and not an absurd caricature, which is what tends to happen in satires. I found Babbitt to be a likeable character, an endearing one, for despite all of his flaws and all of his unhappiness with middle class, suburban life, Babbitt always seemed to have an optimism about him, a certain childlike innocence. He never despaired. He had his moments of pure joy. And I loved that about him.
The satire in this novel was perfect. I couldn’t count the number of times I laughed while reading this book. And when I say that the satire was perfect, I mean, it was funny, real, and relatable in a way that you could laugh at yourself if you saw yourself in Babbitt. The satire was not biting or caustic, because when satire is overly harsh, it doesn’t work as a vehicle for social change. When it is overly harsh, you are just laughing at other people. That’s just mean, and they aren't necessarily going to change just because you are laughing at them. If you see any bit of yourself in whatever is being satirized and the satire is too harsh, you end up staunchly defending yourself rather than laughing and being open-minded to change. If the point of satire is to nudge us to change ourselves, to allow us to see how ridiculous we are, then it can’t be overly harsh. And from that point, I thought Babbitt as a satire was perfect in allowing us to laugh at ourselves.
April 11, 2019
This is a love/hate thing. In Sinclair Lewis’s previous novel Main Street there is more love than hate and in Babbitt it’s the other way round. He does hate George Babbitt for all his boorishness, his complacency, his wretched kneejerk reactionary rightwing politics, his pallid marriage, his blaring friends, his ridiculous slang, his stupid stupidity, but by the end, by the time George has been pulled through a couple of hedges backwards, you can see he loves him a bit too.
This novel is about two things – the horribleness of American material acquisitive claustrophobic class-ridden unfettered capitalist life and George Babbitt’s miserable crisis at age 46 and how he goes off the rails and gets back on them.
A REGULAR GUY
Of a decent man in Zenith it was required that he should belong to one, preferably two or three, of the innumerable “lodges” and prosperity-boosting lunch-clubs : to the Rotarians, the Kiwanis, or the Boosters; to the odd Fellows, Moose, Masons, Red Men, Woodmen, Owls, Eagles, Maccabees, Knights of Pythias… It was the thing to do.
This novel features several frankly overdetailed satirical descriptions of these hearty braying get-togethers. As we wend our way to the middle of the novel we have still not detected much of a plot, just a whole lot of fun being made of old George. Eventually it dawns on him : he isn’t happy.
We are not short of tales of drab regular guys trying to bust out of their straightjacketed lives :
Pennies from Heaven by Dennis Potter
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
The movie American Beauty
And Updike, Ford, Roth, on and on. Guys love this stuff! Babbitt is Mr Midlife Crisis 1921.
Sinclair Lewis loves to tell us just how sad George’s life has been, in spite of all his hectic capering jolly boosterism :
In twenty-three years of married life he had peered uneasily at every graceful ankle, every soft shoulder; in thought he had treasured them; but not once had he hazarded respectability by adventuring.
The grim realities are summed up in this devastating sentence about his wife :
For years she had been bored by anything more affectionate than a farewell kiss, and yet she was hurt by any slackening in his irritable periodic interest
Now that’s a gut punch for you. “Irritable”… brilliant!
HOW GEORGE GOT MARRIED
It happened by accident. He palled around with this fellow student.
Of love there was no talk between them…. And Myra was distinctly a Nice Girl – one didn’t kiss her, one didn’t “think about her that way at all” unless one was going to marry her. But she was a dependable companion…
And he find out to his horror that she assumes they are engaged! And he doesn’t have the heart to say they aren’t or that he doesn’t love her. How horrible!
WHAT FUN
Sinclair Lewis can zing some devastating lines when you aren’t expecting it :
He accepted Overbrook’s next plaintive invitation, for an evening two weeks off. A dinner two weeks off, even a family dinner, never seems so appalling, till the two weeks have astoundingly disappeared and one comes dismayed to the ambushed hour.
He wandered home and found his wife radiant with the horrified interest we have in the tragedies of our friends.
TWO THINGS ABOUT THE 1920S
They thought drunk driving was not a problem.
With his other faculties blurred he yet had the motorist’s gift of being able to drive when he could scarcely walk
And…. They had young female manicurists working in men’s barber parlors. I thought that was strange. So guys had their nails done after they had a shave & haircut. I don’t think guys do that anymore.
TWO THINGS SINCLAIR LEWIS DID NOT TELL ME
When old George Babbitt does find himself a lady friend, I could not figure if we were supposed to assume the relationship was merely platonic (a lot of drinking and dancing, a little bit of kissing) or something more. I was frustrated! Tell me, Sinclair!
And – all these white middle class types loved jazz and cocked a snook at “longhaired” music (classical!). But were they listening to Fletcher Henderson or Paul Whiteman – the black originals or the white ripoff merchants? The musicologist in me wanted to know.
GEORGE’S EPIPHANY
It was coming to him that perhaps all life as he knew it and vigorously practiced it was futile; that heaven…was neither probable nor very interesting; that he hadn’t much pleasure out of making money; that it was of doubtful worth to rear children merely that they might rear children who would rear children.
THE WRAP UP
Sinclair Lewis wrote four Big Ones – Main Street (it exhausted me but I finally did love it), Babbitt, Elmer Gantry (I saw the movie – what a brilliant performance by Burt Lancaster) and It Can’t Happen Here (about a fascist takeover of the USA – sounds interesting). Well, that’s four more big ones than a lot of novelists I could think of. In the end, although Babbitt was a pain in the neck a lot of the time, and there was way too much laughing-at-the-zoo-animals about it, I ended up finding just enough compassion in it for a final four stars. But I’m not sure I’m recommending it to you goodreaders. I don’t think you’d come back and thank me.
This novel is about two things – the horribleness of American material acquisitive claustrophobic class-ridden unfettered capitalist life and George Babbitt’s miserable crisis at age 46 and how he goes off the rails and gets back on them.
A REGULAR GUY
Of a decent man in Zenith it was required that he should belong to one, preferably two or three, of the innumerable “lodges” and prosperity-boosting lunch-clubs : to the Rotarians, the Kiwanis, or the Boosters; to the odd Fellows, Moose, Masons, Red Men, Woodmen, Owls, Eagles, Maccabees, Knights of Pythias… It was the thing to do.
This novel features several frankly overdetailed satirical descriptions of these hearty braying get-togethers. As we wend our way to the middle of the novel we have still not detected much of a plot, just a whole lot of fun being made of old George. Eventually it dawns on him : he isn’t happy.
We are not short of tales of drab regular guys trying to bust out of their straightjacketed lives :
Pennies from Heaven by Dennis Potter
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
The movie American Beauty
And Updike, Ford, Roth, on and on. Guys love this stuff! Babbitt is Mr Midlife Crisis 1921.
Sinclair Lewis loves to tell us just how sad George’s life has been, in spite of all his hectic capering jolly boosterism :
In twenty-three years of married life he had peered uneasily at every graceful ankle, every soft shoulder; in thought he had treasured them; but not once had he hazarded respectability by adventuring.
The grim realities are summed up in this devastating sentence about his wife :
For years she had been bored by anything more affectionate than a farewell kiss, and yet she was hurt by any slackening in his irritable periodic interest
Now that’s a gut punch for you. “Irritable”… brilliant!
HOW GEORGE GOT MARRIED
It happened by accident. He palled around with this fellow student.
Of love there was no talk between them…. And Myra was distinctly a Nice Girl – one didn’t kiss her, one didn’t “think about her that way at all” unless one was going to marry her. But she was a dependable companion…
And he find out to his horror that she assumes they are engaged! And he doesn’t have the heart to say they aren’t or that he doesn’t love her. How horrible!
WHAT FUN
Sinclair Lewis can zing some devastating lines when you aren’t expecting it :
He accepted Overbrook’s next plaintive invitation, for an evening two weeks off. A dinner two weeks off, even a family dinner, never seems so appalling, till the two weeks have astoundingly disappeared and one comes dismayed to the ambushed hour.
He wandered home and found his wife radiant with the horrified interest we have in the tragedies of our friends.
TWO THINGS ABOUT THE 1920S
They thought drunk driving was not a problem.
With his other faculties blurred he yet had the motorist’s gift of being able to drive when he could scarcely walk
And…. They had young female manicurists working in men’s barber parlors. I thought that was strange. So guys had their nails done after they had a shave & haircut. I don’t think guys do that anymore.
TWO THINGS SINCLAIR LEWIS DID NOT TELL ME
When old George Babbitt does find himself a lady friend, I could not figure if we were supposed to assume the relationship was merely platonic (a lot of drinking and dancing, a little bit of kissing) or something more. I was frustrated! Tell me, Sinclair!
And – all these white middle class types loved jazz and cocked a snook at “longhaired” music (classical!). But were they listening to Fletcher Henderson or Paul Whiteman – the black originals or the white ripoff merchants? The musicologist in me wanted to know.
GEORGE’S EPIPHANY
It was coming to him that perhaps all life as he knew it and vigorously practiced it was futile; that heaven…was neither probable nor very interesting; that he hadn’t much pleasure out of making money; that it was of doubtful worth to rear children merely that they might rear children who would rear children.
THE WRAP UP
Sinclair Lewis wrote four Big Ones – Main Street (it exhausted me but I finally did love it), Babbitt, Elmer Gantry (I saw the movie – what a brilliant performance by Burt Lancaster) and It Can’t Happen Here (about a fascist takeover of the USA – sounds interesting). Well, that’s four more big ones than a lot of novelists I could think of. In the end, although Babbitt was a pain in the neck a lot of the time, and there was way too much laughing-at-the-zoo-animals about it, I ended up finding just enough compassion in it for a final four stars. But I’m not sure I’m recommending it to you goodreaders. I don’t think you’d come back and thank me.
April 15, 2024
" لقد استطعت الاحتمال حتى النهاية، لكنني ظننت بعض الوقت أنني لن أصمد."
الاقتباس المناسب والمعبر عن حالتي مع الرواية.واللى كان احد الاسباب اني اكمل الرواية ، عشان اضيفه واقول اني تحملت للنهاية رغم اني كنت شاكة اني هصمد 💪💪😂 .
هذه المراجعة شخصية جدا وغير موضوعية وواقعية وتعبر عن راى وإحساسي الشخصي السلبي جدا جدا تجاه الرواية.
hosting image
مراجعة عشان اطلع جزء من الغضب والإحباط والتعب اللى جوايا تجاهها .
عمرو دياب بيقول " عارف أنت الحظ "
هرد عليه بصوت هنيدي " عارفه ، ده انا حافظه صم "
upload photo album
حظ منيل 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
وعن الرواية دي هقول : "عارف أنت الملل "، "عارف أنت العقاب " .. ضيفوا اي وصف سئ وهيمشي .
الرواية عن بابت وحياته . عن شخص شايف حياته عادية وروتينيه ، وثلاث ارباع الرواية عايشيين معاه ملل ، مش عشان حياته ممله ، لا عشان الاسلوب نفسه والتفاصيل مملة . وفي الجزء الاخير من الرواية قرر انه يثور .
ايه هي الثورة بالنسباله ؟
انه يقيم علاقات نسائية ويخون مراته ، كده هو حقق الرضا عن نفسه .
لا ويكمل بجاحة ويتعصب علي مراته ويتهمها انها هي السبب في كل حاجة وفي ملل حياته وفي الشخصيات اللى موجودة في حياته ، اللى همه اصلا اصدقاءه والشخصيات اللى بيتعامل معاها 🙃.
واستكمالا للتغير بأه يشرب خمرة وسجاير ك��ير ويصاحب ناس تافهة ، كده هو كسر الملل مثلا .
برافو يابابت .
متعملوش زيه 😂😂
كتير بقرأ روايات عن حياة شخصيات عادية جدا وممكن حياتها مملة ومفيهاش حاجة بس بتكون متقدمة بأسلوب يجذبني ، بطريقة تخليني أندمج مع الشخصية او اهتم بيها .انما هنا مفيش اي حاجة خالص لا اسلوب ولا تفاصيل ،رغي وتفاصيل كتير بلا معنى وبلاهدف وبلا أي تأثير سوى إختبار صبري . مقربتش من الشخصية ولا لمستني ولا اهتميت بيها بأي شكل ممكن .
ولولا ان الرواية معايا ورقي ومبقدرش اسيب رواية ورقي بدون قرائتها كنت مكملتهاش اكيد.
عادة اما بتكون رواية مملة بجري فيها عشان اخلصها بسرعة ، الرواية دي كنت حاسة اني بزحف عشان اخلصها، زحف شخص مصاب بعيار ناري في ضهره وايده ورجله ودماغه وجاتله جلطه .
كان ممكن اكمل ٢٠ صفحة بالعافية وفي وقت كبير جدا وأوقات بتجاوز فقرات بدون قرائتها ، وبحس بضيق تنفس في الآخر. كنت حرفيا بعذب نفسي 😭😭😭 ، اعتقد دي المازوخية في ابهى صورها 😂.كان هاين عليا اولع فيها بجد .
upload photo album
من الروايات الورقية اللى عايزة أرميها او احرقها او اديها هدية لحد بيكرهني مثلا أوحد أذاني يقراها إجباري 😈
upload photo album
- داليا انتى مبتفهميش ده الكاتب فاز بجائزة نوبل 😮
- أنا مش وش روايات واخدة جوائز اصلا .
-
بس هديها جائزة كمان من عندي : جائزة اكتر رواية مملة قرأتها في ٢٠٢٣ ويمكن في حياتي كلها 🤕
استاذ سنكلير لويس مش عايزة اشوف اسمك تاني قدامي ولو صدفة 😂
٣٠ / ٨ / ٢٠٢٣
الاقتباس المناسب والمعبر عن حالتي مع الرواية.واللى كان احد الاسباب اني اكمل الرواية ، عشان اضيفه واقول اني تحملت للنهاية رغم اني كنت شاكة اني هصمد 💪💪😂 .
هذه المراجعة شخصية جدا وغير موضوعية وواقعية وتعبر عن راى وإحساسي الشخصي السلبي جدا جدا تجاه الرواية.
hosting image
مراجعة عشان اطلع جزء من الغضب والإحباط والتعب اللى جوايا تجاهها .
عمرو دياب بيقول " عارف أنت الحظ "
هرد عليه بصوت هنيدي " عارفه ، ده انا حافظه صم "
upload photo album
حظ منيل 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
وعن الرواية دي هقول : "عارف أنت الملل "، "عارف أنت العقاب " .. ضيفوا اي وصف سئ وهيمشي .
الرواية عن بابت وحياته . عن شخص شايف حياته عادية وروتينيه ، وثلاث ارباع الرواية عايشيين معاه ملل ، مش عشان حياته ممله ، لا عشان الاسلوب نفسه والتفاصيل مملة . وفي الجزء الاخير من الرواية قرر انه يثور .
ايه هي الثورة بالنسباله ؟
انه يقيم علاقات نسائية ويخون مراته ، كده هو حقق الرضا عن نفسه .
لا ويكمل بجاحة ويتعصب علي مراته ويتهمها انها هي السبب في كل حاجة وفي ملل حياته وفي الشخصيات اللى موجودة في حياته ، اللى همه اصلا اصدقاءه والشخصيات اللى بيتعامل معاها 🙃.
واستكمالا للتغير بأه يشرب خمرة وسجاير ك��ير ويصاحب ناس تافهة ، كده هو كسر الملل مثلا .
برافو يابابت .
متعملوش زيه 😂😂
كتير بقرأ روايات عن حياة شخصيات عادية جدا وممكن حياتها مملة ومفيهاش حاجة بس بتكون متقدمة بأسلوب يجذبني ، بطريقة تخليني أندمج مع الشخصية او اهتم بيها .انما هنا مفيش اي حاجة خالص لا اسلوب ولا تفاصيل ،رغي وتفاصيل كتير بلا معنى وبلاهدف وبلا أي تأثير سوى إختبار صبري . مقربتش من الشخصية ولا لمستني ولا اهتميت بيها بأي شكل ممكن .
ولولا ان الرواية معايا ورقي ومبقدرش اسيب رواية ورقي بدون قرائتها كنت مكملتهاش اكيد.
عادة اما بتكون رواية مملة بجري فيها عشان اخلصها بسرعة ، الرواية دي كنت حاسة اني بزحف عشان اخلصها، زحف شخص مصاب بعيار ناري في ضهره وايده ورجله ودماغه وجاتله جلطه .
كان ممكن اكمل ٢٠ صفحة بالعافية وفي وقت كبير جدا وأوقات بتجاوز فقرات بدون قرائتها ، وبحس بضيق تنفس في الآخر. كنت حرفيا بعذب نفسي 😭😭😭 ، اعتقد دي المازوخية في ابهى صورها 😂.كان هاين عليا اولع فيها بجد .
upload photo album
من الروايات الورقية اللى عايزة أرميها او احرقها او اديها هدية لحد بيكرهني مثلا أوحد أذاني يقراها إجباري 😈
upload photo album
- داليا انتى مبتفهميش ده الكاتب فاز بجائزة نوبل 😮
- أنا مش وش روايات واخدة جوائز اصلا .
-
بس هديها جائزة كمان من عندي : جائزة اكتر رواية مملة قرأتها في ٢٠٢٣ ويمكن في حياتي كلها 🤕
استاذ سنكلير لويس مش عايزة اشوف اسمك تاني قدامي ولو صدفة 😂
٣٠ / ٨ / ٢٠٢٣
April 27, 2016
بابت
عندما قطعت جائزة نوبل للأدب 1930 م المحيط للمرة الأولى لتذهب لكاتب من العالم الجديد - الأمريكي (سنكلير لويس) – بررت الأكاديمية السويدية هذا الاختيار لسنكلير لويس بأنه لـ"وصفه القوي والتصويري، وقدرته على خلق نوع جديد من الشخصيات بكل طرافة وخفة ظل".
كان هذا الوصف دقيقاً جداً فسنكلير لويس خلق بحلول ذلك الوقت وبكل اقتدار شخصياته التي لا تنسى من (مارتن آروسميث) في رواية (آروسميث) – قدمها المركز القومي للترجمة في 2009 بترجمة محمود عزت موسى -، إلى شخصية (إيلمر جانتري) في رواية تحمل الاسم ذاته ولم تترجم للأسف، فشخصية (كارول ميلفورد) في رواية (الشارع الرئيسي) – قدمتها مكتبة النهضة المصرية في 1967 بترجمة أمينة السعي – وأخيراً شخصية (جورج بابت) في رواية (بابت) – قدمتها دار التنوير في 2015 بترجمة رائعة للحارث النبهان -، كل هذه الشخصيات التقطها وقدمها سنكلير لويس بسخرية لاذعة مرة من الطبقة الوسطى وأخرى من الوسط العلمي وثالثة من المتدينين الغوغائيين، كان سنكلير لويس في كل هذا يسير على تقليد أمريكي عريق في اكتشاف وإظهار شخصيات إنسانية لا تنسى، فكلنا نعرف جيداً (جاي جاتسبي) العاشق المسكين، و(هولدن كوليفيلد) المراهق المشمئز، و(همبرت همبرت) العجوز الماجن، و(أتيكوس فينش) المحامي الأخلاقي، و(سانتياغو) الصياد العجوز، و(ويليام ستونر) الأكاديمي الممل، وغيرهم كثير من الشخصيات التي أبدعها بدأب الروائيون الأمريكان.
في (بابت) نتعرف على جورج بابت، رجل في أواسط عمره، متزوج وذو ولد وابنتين، يعمل مسوقاً عقارياً في مدينة زينيث في عشرينات القرن الماضي، يستخدم لويس شخصية بابت وأفكاره وتصرفاته ليسخر وبقسوة من الطبقة الوسطى الأمريكية، لهذا جاء حصوله على نوبل صادماً للأمريكان، لأنهم اعتبروه تكريساً أوروبياً للصورة الكاريكاتورية عنهم التي أظهرتها شخصيات سنكلير لويس، ولكن لويس لا يبالي بكل هذا، حتى أنه يرفض قبل نوبل بسنوات جائزة البوليتزر التي قدمت له عن روايته (آروسميث).
ولكن بابت ليس صورة متخيلة بالكامل، إنه موجود بيننا، هو أشبه ما يكون برمز للطبقة الوسطى ليس فقط في الفترة الزمنية التي كتبت فيها الرواية وإنما حتى في زماننا هذا بعد قرن تقريباً من كتابة الرواية، لهذا يمكننا ببساطة وانطلاقاً من الرواية سك مصطلح (البابتية) لوصف كل هؤلاء الأشخاص الاجتماعيين والذين يتصرفون في حياتهم العملية والأسرية والاجتماعية متكئين على أنصاف حقائق وجبال من الافتراضات، فالبابتي إنسان توهمي في أساسه، سطحي، مهووس بالخطابة، لديه فكرة مبالغ فيها عن نفسه وعن قيمته المجتمعية، البابتي عاشق للكلمات الكبيرة، ومتحمس للأفكار الجديدة وإن لم يفهمها، يمكننا تلخيص البابتي بأنه يظن فيتوهم فيعيش أوهامه ليصطدم بالحقائق لاحقاً.
من أجمل أحداث الرواية التي تظهر هذه النزعة البابتية تبدأ ��ندما يذهب جورج بابت في رحلة جبلية لوحده، ليقتفي آثار صديقه الميت، يقرر بابت وهو في الطريق فكرة أن الجبال للرجال، وأنه هو رجل خشن مثله مثل الدليل، فلذا يقرر القيام برحلة طويلة على الأقدام مع دليله، إنها رحلة رجولية يتم فيها اختراق الغابة مشياً، يتخيل بابت كم الثرثرة الرجولية التي ستجلبها المسافة والمشي والشعور الرجولي، يحاول الدليل إقناعه بأخذ القارب في رحلة نهرية تختصر الكثير من المسافة إلى الكوخ كما يفعل الكثيرين – من غير البابتيين -، ولكن بابت يرفض، فهذا ينافي الرجولة المتخيلة قطعاً، ويهدم تخيلاته التي رسمها بعناية، يستسلم الدليل فينتهي الأمر بهما منه��ين وسط الغابة، تؤلمهما أقدامهما وبلا أحاديث رجولية، هكذا يتصرف البابتي ويمضي حياته، هكذا يكون صداقاته ومعتقداته وآرائه السياسية.
يحاول لويس في فصول ممتعة استكشاف ما الذي سيحدث لو حاول البابتي الانعتاق من حالته البابتية، فنرى جورج بابت وقد تأثر بآراء دكتور جامعي حول العمال وحقوقهم، فبدأ محاولة فهم ما يدور من حوله بدلاً من الارتهان لآرائه وأفكاره المتوهمة، كما بدأ يفر من ملل حياته الزوجية، وثقل المجتمع ومناسباته الاجتماعية المملة، ولكن المجتمع يتكفل وبقسوة في إعادته إلى الحظيرة، فالمجتمع يبني نفسه دائماً على آلاف البابتيين ولا مكان فيه للخارجين على البابتية، هكذا حرص المجتمع على أن يشعر بابت بالاغتراب والنبذ وعدم القيمة، وهذا يذكرنا بشكل ما بالحالة التي لامسها ألبير كامو في روايته (الغريب) عندما يتم الحكم على ميرسو ليس بسبب ما فعله وإنما بسبب اختلافه وغرابته، ولكن على خلاف ميرسو يترك المجتمع لبابت باباً موارباً ليعود من خلاله، وهو ما يفعله مسروراً، هكذا يعود بابت ليكون بابتياً أشد وأنكى.
عندما قطعت جائزة نوبل للأدب 1930 م المحيط للمرة الأولى لتذهب لكاتب من العالم الجديد - الأمريكي (سنكلير لويس) – بررت الأكاديمية السويدية هذا الاختيار لسنكلير لويس بأنه لـ"وصفه القوي والتصويري، وقدرته على خلق نوع جديد من الشخصيات بكل طرافة وخفة ظل".
كان هذا الوصف دقيقاً جداً فسنكلير لويس خلق بحلول ذلك الوقت وبكل اقتدار شخصياته التي لا تنسى من (مارتن آروسميث) في رواية (آروسميث) – قدمها المركز القومي للترجمة في 2009 بترجمة محمود عزت موسى -، إلى شخصية (إيلمر جانتري) في رواية تحمل الاسم ذاته ولم تترجم للأسف، فشخصية (كارول ميلفورد) في رواية (الشارع الرئيسي) – قدمتها مكتبة النهضة المصرية في 1967 بترجمة أمينة السعي – وأخيراً شخصية (جورج بابت) في رواية (بابت) – قدمتها دار التنوير في 2015 بترجمة رائعة للحارث النبهان -، كل هذه الشخصيات التقطها وقدمها سنكلير لويس بسخرية لاذعة مرة من الطبقة الوسطى وأخرى من الوسط العلمي وثالثة من المتدينين الغوغائيين، كان سنكلير لويس في كل هذا يسير على تقليد أمريكي عريق في اكتشاف وإظهار شخصيات إنسانية لا تنسى، فكلنا نعرف جيداً (جاي جاتسبي) العاشق المسكين، و(هولدن كوليفيلد) المراهق المشمئز، و(همبرت همبرت) العجوز الماجن، و(أتيكوس فينش) المحامي الأخلاقي، و(سانتياغو) الصياد العجوز، و(ويليام ستونر) الأكاديمي الممل، وغيرهم كثير من الشخصيات التي أبدعها بدأب الروائيون الأمريكان.
في (بابت) نتعرف على جورج بابت، رجل في أواسط عمره، متزوج وذو ولد وابنتين، يعمل مسوقاً عقارياً في مدينة زينيث في عشرينات القرن الماضي، يستخدم لويس شخصية بابت وأفكاره وتصرفاته ليسخر وبقسوة من الطبقة الوسطى الأمريكية، لهذا جاء حصوله على نوبل صادماً للأمريكان، لأنهم اعتبروه تكريساً أوروبياً للصورة الكاريكاتورية عنهم التي أظهرتها شخصيات سنكلير لويس، ولكن لويس لا يبالي بكل هذا، حتى أنه يرفض قبل نوبل بسنوات جائزة البوليتزر التي قدمت له عن روايته (آروسميث).
ولكن بابت ليس صورة متخيلة بالكامل، إنه موجود بيننا، هو أشبه ما يكون برمز للطبقة الوسطى ليس فقط في الفترة الزمنية التي كتبت فيها الرواية وإنما حتى في زماننا هذا بعد قرن تقريباً من كتابة الرواية، لهذا يمكننا ببساطة وانطلاقاً من الرواية سك مصطلح (البابتية) لوصف كل هؤلاء الأشخاص الاجتماعيين والذين يتصرفون في حياتهم العملية والأسرية والاجتماعية متكئين على أنصاف حقائق وجبال من الافتراضات، فالبابتي إنسان توهمي في أساسه، سطحي، مهووس بالخطابة، لديه فكرة مبالغ فيها عن نفسه وعن قيمته المجتمعية، البابتي عاشق للكلمات الكبيرة، ومتحمس للأفكار الجديدة وإن لم يفهمها، يمكننا تلخيص البابتي بأنه يظن فيتوهم فيعيش أوهامه ليصطدم بالحقائق لاحقاً.
من أجمل أحداث الرواية التي تظهر هذه النزعة البابتية تبدأ ��ندما يذهب جورج بابت في رحلة جبلية لوحده، ليقتفي آثار صديقه الميت، يقرر بابت وهو في الطريق فكرة أن الجبال للرجال، وأنه هو رجل خشن مثله مثل الدليل، فلذا يقرر القيام برحلة طويلة على الأقدام مع دليله، إنها رحلة رجولية يتم فيها اختراق الغابة مشياً، يتخيل بابت كم الثرثرة الرجولية التي ستجلبها المسافة والمشي والشعور الرجولي، يحاول الدليل إقناعه بأخذ القارب في رحلة نهرية تختصر الكثير من المسافة إلى الكوخ كما يفعل الكثيرين – من غير البابتيين -، ولكن بابت يرفض، فهذا ينافي الرجولة المتخيلة قطعاً، ويهدم تخيلاته التي رسمها بعناية، يستسلم الدليل فينتهي الأمر بهما منه��ين وسط الغابة، تؤلمهما أقدامهما وبلا أحاديث رجولية، هكذا يتصرف البابتي ويمضي حياته، هكذا يكون صداقاته ومعتقداته وآرائه السياسية.
يحاول لويس في فصول ممتعة استكشاف ما الذي سيحدث لو حاول البابتي الانعتاق من حالته البابتية، فنرى جورج بابت وقد تأثر بآراء دكتور جامعي حول العمال وحقوقهم، فبدأ محاولة فهم ما يدور من حوله بدلاً من الارتهان لآرائه وأفكاره المتوهمة، كما بدأ يفر من ملل حياته الزوجية، وثقل المجتمع ومناسباته الاجتماعية المملة، ولكن المجتمع يتكفل وبقسوة في إعادته إلى الحظيرة، فالمجتمع يبني نفسه دائماً على آلاف البابتيين ولا مكان فيه للخارجين على البابتية، هكذا حرص المجتمع على أن يشعر بابت بالاغتراب والنبذ وعدم القيمة، وهذا يذكرنا بشكل ما بالحالة التي لامسها ألبير كامو في روايته (الغريب) عندما يتم الحكم على ميرسو ليس بسبب ما فعله وإنما بسبب اختلافه وغرابته، ولكن على خلاف ميرسو يترك المجتمع لبابت باباً موارباً ليعود من خلاله، وهو ما يفعله مسروراً، هكذا يعود بابت ليكون بابتياً أشد وأنكى.
August 24, 2024
I loved Sinclair's Main Street and am very happy to say Babbitt was just as enjoyable. This novel is timeless despite the fact much has changed - both socially and politically - since its first publication in 1922. The core messages remain as poignant today as they were then. Sinclair Lewis is a phenomenal satirist and wordsmith.
Narrator Grover Gardner is a personal favorite of mine and (imho) was the perfect choice as the voice of Babbitt. Tremendous job.
Narrator Grover Gardner is a personal favorite of mine and (imho) was the perfect choice as the voice of Babbitt. Tremendous job.
December 1, 2015
من الروايات الكلاسيكية العظيمة جداً بترجمة رصينة وقديرة وروح ساخرة. لا أتذكر رواية انتقدت الرأسمالية الأمريكية وعرتها كهذه الرواية. توصية
July 26, 2024
من منا ليس"بابت"؟
يخرج الى هذه الحياة وسط مجتمع ما، يُخرج له ادوات القياس والمسطرة، ويملى عليه حدود حياته ومقاييسها المثالية.
ادرس اعمل تزوج، اعمل انجب اطفالا، اعمل اشترى بيتا، اعمل انضم الى حزب او مؤسسة ما، اعمل اشترى سيارة، اعمل اشترى بيتا اخر ،اعمل نافق هذا، اعمل تجنب ذاك، اعمل زوج ابناءك، اعمل امرض مت.
بابت كان نموذجا للمواطن الامريكى المثالى فى أوائل العشرينات من القرن الماضى. الذى يؤمن بأن المرء يجب ان يعمل مثل الطور فى الساقية. وأن الانسان لا قيمة له اذا لم يحقق ثروة فى ظرف عشر سنوات على الاكثر، وان مواطنى الطبقة الفقيرة والمتوسطة هم مجرد كسالى عالة على المجتمع المجتهد الدؤوب. اذا ارادوا ان يعيشوا بسلام، فيجب ان يرضوا بما يلقى اليهم من فتات من اسيادهم الرأسماليين دون اعتراض.
حرص بابت منذ تخرجه من الجامعة على القاء احلامه فى سلة المهملات، فأحلامه لا معنى لها فى وسط هذا المجتمع المسعور بجمع المال. وطوال عشرون عاما التزم بأن يكون طوراً نموذجيا فى ساقية تلك المجتمع. تزوج وذهب الى الكنيسة بانتظام وانجب اطفالا واسس شركة وبنى بيتا واشترى سيارة وانضم الى دستة من المنظمات والاحزاب التى تضمن له ان ينظر اليه مجتمعه بعين الرضى.
فى منتصف الرواية تنمو بذور تمرد داخل "بابت" على تلك المجتمع ونظمه القاسية. وهذا ليس بالأمر السهل.
كتب هذا العمل بمهارة وحرفية فائقة، كانت هناك العديد من الاقتباسات الحوارية الرائعة. كشف "سنكلير لويس" حقيقة النفس بصراحة ونزاهة.
ما جعلني اعطيه ثلاث نجوم فقط هى الاطالة الشديدة. ولكني فى هذه الرواية كنت فى حيرة لاول مرة أمام نصا بهذا الاسهاب. هل كان المؤلف محقا فى هذا التطويل ام لا. وقلت لنفسى ربما شعرت بهذا الملل لانه يحكي عن مجتمع وزمن لا اعرف عنه الكثير.
مجتمع "بابت" موجود في كل مكان وفى كل زمن. ويجب على المرء قبل أن يتحلى بالشجاعة لكي يتمرد على هذا المجتمع ان يعرف من هو وما الذى يمثل له قيمة حقيقية فى تلك الحياة. حتى تكن له القوة الكافية للمقاومة
يخرج الى هذه الحياة وسط مجتمع ما، يُخرج له ادوات القياس والمسطرة، ويملى عليه حدود حياته ومقاييسها المثالية.
ادرس اعمل تزوج، اعمل انجب اطفالا، اعمل اشترى بيتا، اعمل انضم الى حزب او مؤسسة ما، اعمل اشترى سيارة، اعمل اشترى بيتا اخر ،اعمل نافق هذا، اعمل تجنب ذاك، اعمل زوج ابناءك، اعمل امرض مت.
بابت كان نموذجا للمواطن الامريكى المثالى فى أوائل العشرينات من القرن الماضى. الذى يؤمن بأن المرء يجب ان يعمل مثل الطور فى الساقية. وأن الانسان لا قيمة له اذا لم يحقق ثروة فى ظرف عشر سنوات على الاكثر، وان مواطنى الطبقة الفقيرة والمتوسطة هم مجرد كسالى عالة على المجتمع المجتهد الدؤوب. اذا ارادوا ان يعيشوا بسلام، فيجب ان يرضوا بما يلقى اليهم من فتات من اسيادهم الرأسماليين دون اعتراض.
حرص بابت منذ تخرجه من الجامعة على القاء احلامه فى سلة المهملات، فأحلامه لا معنى لها فى وسط هذا المجتمع المسعور بجمع المال. وطوال عشرون عاما التزم بأن يكون طوراً نموذجيا فى ساقية تلك المجتمع. تزوج وذهب الى الكنيسة بانتظام وانجب اطفالا واسس شركة وبنى بيتا واشترى سيارة وانضم الى دستة من المنظمات والاحزاب التى تضمن له ان ينظر اليه مجتمعه بعين الرضى.
فى منتصف الرواية تنمو بذور تمرد داخل "بابت" على تلك المجتمع ونظمه القاسية. وهذا ليس بالأمر السهل.
كتب هذا العمل بمهارة وحرفية فائقة، كانت هناك العديد من الاقتباسات الحوارية الرائعة. كشف "سنكلير لويس" حقيقة النفس بصراحة ونزاهة.
ما جعلني اعطيه ثلاث نجوم فقط هى الاطالة الشديدة. ولكني فى هذه الرواية كنت فى حيرة لاول مرة أمام نصا بهذا الاسهاب. هل كان المؤلف محقا فى هذا التطويل ام لا. وقلت لنفسى ربما شعرت بهذا الملل لانه يحكي عن مجتمع وزمن لا اعرف عنه الكثير.
مجتمع "بابت" موجود في كل مكان وفى كل زمن. ويجب على المرء قبل أن يتحلى بالشجاعة لكي يتمرد على هذا المجتمع ان يعرف من هو وما الذى يمثل له قيمة حقيقية فى تلك الحياة. حتى تكن له القوة الكافية للمقاومة
September 15, 2023
Довольно простой и по сюжету, и по построению роман о средней руки американском предпринимателе, представителе того самого среднего класса, который составлял и составляет опору современной Америки.
Джордж Бэббит - среден и стандартен во всем, ибо силой которая делает его таковым является желание "соответствовать", быть не хуже других. Это неписанные стандарты, обладающие центростремительной силой, благодаря которой люди теряют свою индивидуальность и становятся массой. Автор детально описывает привычки и быт этого слоя населения, их образ мыслей - ничем не примечательный: они ценят деньги, готовы на обман ради прибыли, считая ее чуть ли не священной, но право на неснижение заработной платы своих работников (даже не повышение) - это чуть ли не коммунистическая угроза. Сатиры тут немного, больше бытописание, которое предполагалось быть обличительным, но уже стало обыденным, что сатирой не кажется - большинство людей таковы. Главная ценность Бэббита - благополучие, и его смело можно отнести к категории мещан. Он заискивает перед теми, кто преуспел больше него - Маккелви, и в зеркально подобной ситуации, он пренебрежителен с менее удачливым Овербруком. Он пытался что-то менять в своей жи��ни и взглядах, попытка протестовать - если этот загул можно назвать протестом, но при первой же негативной реакции общества, тотчас же отказался. Благополучие важнее. Ну и болезнь жены показала, что он ее любил или хотя бы ценил всё-таки.
Джордж Бэббит - среден и стандартен во всем, ибо силой которая делает его таковым является желание "соответствовать", быть не хуже других. Это неписанные стандарты, обладающие центростремительной силой, благодаря которой люди теряют свою индивидуальность и становятся массой. Автор детально описывает привычки и быт этого слоя населения, их образ мыслей - ничем не примечательный: они ценят деньги, готовы на обман ради прибыли, считая ее чуть ли не священной, но право на неснижение заработной платы своих работников (даже не повышение) - это чуть ли не коммунистическая угроза. Сатиры тут немного, больше бытописание, которое предполагалось быть обличительным, но уже стало обыденным, что сатирой не кажется - большинство людей таковы. Главная ценность Бэббита - благополучие, и его смело можно отнести к категории мещан. Он заискивает перед теми, кто преуспел больше него - Маккелви, и в зеркально подобной ситуации, он пренебрежителен с менее удачливым Овербруком. Он пытался что-то менять в своей жи��ни и взглядах, попытка протестовать - если этот загул можно назвать протестом, но при первой же негативной реакции общества, тотчас же отказался. Благополучие важнее. Ну и болезнь жены показала, что он ее любил или хотя бы ценил всё-таки.
Read
August 12, 2021Well, folks, I tried to read Babbitt for about two weeks now and today, I threw in the towel.
It is set in the Prohibition era in the 1920s. George Babbitt is a real estate dealer who is very proud of his middle class life and his automobile. He has a lack-lustre marriage but derives consolation from a solid friendship with Paul Riesling, his old college chum, and the satisfaction of making money. At the point when I quit this story, Babbitt has risen to become a Prominent Citizen in Zenith, supposedly a stereotypical city in the US.
I think I get the drift of this novel acting as a commentary on the emptiness of materialism. It is intended to be a satire of American suburban middle class life. Often times, Babbitt feels ‘triumphantly wealthy but perilously poor.’ The story is very slow moving and I find it well nigh impossible to share Babbitt's excitement in real estate and his showy fondness for oration. Neither can I connect with him or any of the other characters. Babbit read like the valley of dry bones.
At 10%, I wanted to quit. At 49%, I still wanted to quit. So I shall. Sorry, Mr. Lewis.
It is set in the Prohibition era in the 1920s. George Babbitt is a real estate dealer who is very proud of his middle class life and his automobile. He has a lack-lustre marriage but derives consolation from a solid friendship with Paul Riesling, his old college chum, and the satisfaction of making money. At the point when I quit this story, Babbitt has risen to become a Prominent Citizen in Zenith, supposedly a stereotypical city in the US.
I think I get the drift of this novel acting as a commentary on the emptiness of materialism. It is intended to be a satire of American suburban middle class life. Often times, Babbitt feels ‘triumphantly wealthy but perilously poor.’ The story is very slow moving and I find it well nigh impossible to share Babbitt's excitement in real estate and his showy fondness for oration. Neither can I connect with him or any of the other characters. Babbit read like the valley of dry bones.
At 10%, I wanted to quit. At 49%, I still wanted to quit. So I shall. Sorry, Mr. Lewis.
June 22, 2012
I don't think there was anyone in the 1920s who would have believed that this book would be completely forgotten. By all accounts, it was destined to be a classic critical novel of the American experience. You can't read anything about the '20s and '30s that doesn't comment on Babbitt (sold 130,000 copies its first year, HL Mecken loved it, it won Lewis a Nobel Prize). Calling someone a "Babbitt" was considered an insult and the phrase became a constant topic of conversation in the media and literature.
Yet, here we are 80 years later, and you've probably never heard of the term or the book. Even English and history teachers pretend it doesn't exist. I don't know why, it's insightful and funny. Perhaps it's because the biting satire of American suburban middle class life cuts deeper now than it did then. We prefer the glamour of Fitzgerald's jazz age to the notion that "the American Dream" is more often pursued and achieved with painful earnestness by unaware buffoons than anyone else.
The book is a little tough to get into at first because of the '20s style newspaper-speak, but get through it--it's worth it. It doesn't matter if the book is old or out of style, at its core it's about the fight against conformity and a critique of what Thoreau called the "life of quiet desperation."
It's as timely as ever, as far I'm concerned.
Yet, here we are 80 years later, and you've probably never heard of the term or the book. Even English and history teachers pretend it doesn't exist. I don't know why, it's insightful and funny. Perhaps it's because the biting satire of American suburban middle class life cuts deeper now than it did then. We prefer the glamour of Fitzgerald's jazz age to the notion that "the American Dream" is more often pursued and achieved with painful earnestness by unaware buffoons than anyone else.
The book is a little tough to get into at first because of the '20s style newspaper-speak, but get through it--it's worth it. It doesn't matter if the book is old or out of style, at its core it's about the fight against conformity and a critique of what Thoreau called the "life of quiet desperation."
It's as timely as ever, as far I'm concerned.
January 20, 2020
Clearly, Babbitt should be viewed as a criticism of conformity, consumerism and materialism. Tell me, today, is there anyone who would not support such criticism?! I have no complaint whatsoever with the message, although it is today no big news. To get the message across, readers must, however, spend time with George F. Babbitt, and time spent with him is
not
pleasant.
This book led to the creation of a new word—babbitt. A babbitt is defined as a materialistic, complacent, and conformist businessman.
In this book we follow George F. Babbitt for two years. He lives in the fictious midwestern town of Zenith. At the start he is forty-six, married and has three children, ages twenty-two, seventeen and ten.
One might easily classify this book as simply being about a man’s midlife crisis, which I find rather a bore. It has been done before.
One might also say it is a critique of the American Dream. Published in 1922 the time was ripe for such disillusionment.
The book is filled with details, tedious details about the most unessential of things. Remember, the book is a critique of materialism. I simply am not enthralled by a description of office water fountains, even if they are the newest of the new, gleaming and efficient, or a modern high-tech alarm clock beside Babbitt’s bed or the expensive cigar lighter he splurges on for his car. He tells us and himself, over and over, that he is not going to smoke anymore! Much is repeated, and conversations are empty. They are in fact supposed to be empty; that is the point. The book is a critique of the middle class life Babbitt and all those around him were living. You could say the book does what is sets out to do too well. Listening to the empty drivel is nauseating. On top of the excessive detail and the empty talk, one must also deal with George Babbitt, and he is so very full of himself, I personally wanted to wring his neck.
Now, I hope you understand why I so dislike the book, despite that it relays a message that is valid.
There is not one character to admire. They all made me sick. Women are as empty headed as the men. At one point, Babbitt has misgivings about the life he is living. This made me happy—I was happy because he was unhappy. Isn’t that crazy?!
The only thing that haunts me is that since the book manages to annoy me as much as it does, obviously, it has gotten its message across.
The audiobook is narrated by Grover Gardener. He gets across the book’s message extremely well. His narration fits the book perfectly. Five stars I have given his narration.
***********************
*Main Street 3 stars
*Arrowsmith 2 stars
*Babbitt 1 star
*Elmer Gantry not-for-me
*It Can't Happen Here not-for-me
This book led to the creation of a new word—babbitt. A babbitt is defined as a materialistic, complacent, and conformist businessman.
In this book we follow George F. Babbitt for two years. He lives in the fictious midwestern town of Zenith. At the start he is forty-six, married and has three children, ages twenty-two, seventeen and ten.
One might easily classify this book as simply being about a man’s midlife crisis, which I find rather a bore. It has been done before.
One might also say it is a critique of the American Dream. Published in 1922 the time was ripe for such disillusionment.
The book is filled with details, tedious details about the most unessential of things. Remember, the book is a critique of materialism. I simply am not enthralled by a description of office water fountains, even if they are the newest of the new, gleaming and efficient, or a modern high-tech alarm clock beside Babbitt’s bed or the expensive cigar lighter he splurges on for his car. He tells us and himself, over and over, that he is not going to smoke anymore! Much is repeated, and conversations are empty. They are in fact supposed to be empty; that is the point. The book is a critique of the middle class life Babbitt and all those around him were living. You could say the book does what is sets out to do too well. Listening to the empty drivel is nauseating. On top of the excessive detail and the empty talk, one must also deal with George Babbitt, and he is so very full of himself, I personally wanted to wring his neck.
Now, I hope you understand why I so dislike the book, despite that it relays a message that is valid.
There is not one character to admire. They all made me sick. Women are as empty headed as the men. At one point, Babbitt has misgivings about the life he is living. This made me happy—I was happy because he was unhappy. Isn’t that crazy?!
The only thing that haunts me is that since the book manages to annoy me as much as it does, obviously, it has gotten its message across.
The audiobook is narrated by Grover Gardener. He gets across the book’s message extremely well. His narration fits the book perfectly. Five stars I have given his narration.
***********************
*Main Street 3 stars
*Arrowsmith 2 stars
*Babbitt 1 star
*Elmer Gantry not-for-me
*It Can't Happen Here not-for-me
March 9, 2017
||-
جورج ف. بابت رجل أمريكي في منتصف العُمر، وكيل عقاري ناجح، يعيش في بلدة صغيرة تُدعى "زينيث"، في منزل مزّود بأحدث التقنيات، متزوج وله ولد وابنتان، ينتمي لعدد من المؤسسات والنوادي الاجتماعية -عادة ما تحدد آرائه وأفكاره-، يزور الكنيسة، يلعب الغُولف، ببساطة يعيش حياة الأمريكي المثالية المنتمي للطبقة الوسطى ولكن بالرغم من كل شيء وراء هذه الحياة هُنالك الشعُور بعدم الرضا، وعدم الأمان .. وتساؤل هل الحياة من المفترض أن تقدم شيئاً آخر؟
الرواية تُركز على أسلوب حياة بابت بتفاصيلها، وعلى شخصية بابت التي تسخر من كل شيء ممكن للمرء أن يسخر منه، تصور الرغبة في الانتماء والرغبة بـالشعور بالتفوق الاجتماعي والمالي، تصور الشعور بالرضا الزائف والنفاق والتبجح، تُلقي نظرة مطولة على النجاح والقوة التي يُظهرها المرء وفي ذات الوقت عن شعوره السائد بالفشل والاستياء والملل من حياته، تُظهر مشكلة تبني أفكار الآخرين وانعدام التفكير الفردي، وتقاتل الطبقيّة بكل شراسة .
الرواية غنيّة بالصور، بالرغم من أن الأحداث الرئيسية ليست كثيرة بالإمكان تلخيصها بـ حياة بابت الواقعية البائسة، تمرد بابت، عودة بابت لحياته الواقعية البائسة، لكن كل موقف من الحياة اليوميّة يُظهر صورة عظيمة، حياة بابت تجعلك تستاء، تضحك معه، وتضحك عليه وحتما تجعلك تتسائل إن كان من الممكن أن يقضي إنسان حياة كاملة بكل هذا البؤس وأن يفعل كل ما لا يرغب به ويأمل فقط يأمل بأن يتغير هذا الحال يوماً من الأيام، ولكن المُخيف أن تجد نفسك بابتي ولو بنسبة بسيطة، هنا عليك أن تضحك على نفسك أولاً، وتعلم أن الحياة مليئة بالتوافه التي تمتص حلاوة الحياة من داخلك، وبعدها عليك أن تفكر بتغيير نفسك .
أسلوب الكتابة نوعاً ما مختلف، ليس بالشكل المتعود عليه والسبب يعود بأن الرواية كُتبت في عشرينات القرن الماضي، وبالرغم من ذلك الرواية كأنها تُعالج مجتمعات اليوم، أمر غريب كيف يمكن للطبائع البشرية أن لا تتغير، قد تشعر بالملل إذا قرأت الرواية في مقياس زمني سريع، ولكن لو أخذت وقتك في القراءة ستستمتع بها كثيراً، من الكتب التي أود حقاً أن أنصح بقراءتها .
تمّت
جورج ف. بابت رجل أمريكي في منتصف العُمر، وكيل عقاري ناجح، يعيش في بلدة صغيرة تُدعى "زينيث"، في منزل مزّود بأحدث التقنيات، متزوج وله ولد وابنتان، ينتمي لعدد من المؤسسات والنوادي الاجتماعية -عادة ما تحدد آرائه وأفكاره-، يزور الكنيسة، يلعب الغُولف، ببساطة يعيش حياة الأمريكي المثالية المنتمي للطبقة الوسطى ولكن بالرغم من كل شيء وراء هذه الحياة هُنالك الشعُور بعدم الرضا، وعدم الأمان .. وتساؤل هل الحياة من المفترض أن تقدم شيئاً آخر؟
الرواية تُركز على أسلوب حياة بابت بتفاصيلها، وعلى شخصية بابت التي تسخر من كل شيء ممكن للمرء أن يسخر منه، تصور الرغبة في الانتماء والرغبة بـالشعور بالتفوق الاجتماعي والمالي، تصور الشعور بالرضا الزائف والنفاق والتبجح، تُلقي نظرة مطولة على النجاح والقوة التي يُظهرها المرء وفي ذات الوقت عن شعوره السائد بالفشل والاستياء والملل من حياته، تُظهر مشكلة تبني أفكار الآخرين وانعدام التفكير الفردي، وتقاتل الطبقيّة بكل شراسة .
الرواية غنيّة بالصور، بالرغم من أن الأحداث الرئيسية ليست كثيرة بالإمكان تلخيصها بـ حياة بابت الواقعية البائسة، تمرد بابت، عودة بابت لحياته الواقعية البائسة، لكن كل موقف من الحياة اليوميّة يُظهر صورة عظيمة، حياة بابت تجعلك تستاء، تضحك معه، وتضحك عليه وحتما تجعلك تتسائل إن كان من الممكن أن يقضي إنسان حياة كاملة بكل هذا البؤس وأن يفعل كل ما لا يرغب به ويأمل فقط يأمل بأن يتغير هذا الحال يوماً من الأيام، ولكن المُخيف أن تجد نفسك بابتي ولو بنسبة بسيطة، هنا عليك أن تضحك على نفسك أولاً، وتعلم أن الحياة مليئة بالتوافه التي تمتص حلاوة الحياة من داخلك، وبعدها عليك أن تفكر بتغيير نفسك .
أسلوب الكتابة نوعاً ما مختلف، ليس بالشكل المتعود عليه والسبب يعود بأن الرواية كُتبت في عشرينات القرن الماضي، وبالرغم من ذلك الرواية كأنها تُعالج مجتمعات اليوم، أمر غريب كيف يمكن للطبائع البشرية أن لا تتغير، قد تشعر بالملل إذا قرأت الرواية في مقياس زمني سريع، ولكن لو أخذت وقتك في القراءة ستستمتع بها كثيراً، من الكتب التي أود حقاً أن أنصح بقراءتها .
تمّت
November 18, 2019
George F. Babbitt is the perfect encapsulation of the myth of the self-made American man. As we all know, the American Dream only really applies to bullish, rule-breaking, money-obsessed, morally loose, emotionally shrunken borderline psychotics, and Babbitt meets these criteria and then some. This quintessential novel of the Roaring Twenties is a rollicking powerhouse that exquisitely nails down the natty nuances of speech, the strange, affected cadences of the pep-powered peoples in a decade that set the blueprint for the rampage of cutthroat capitalism that followed. There are no shortage of satirical, excoriating novels exposing the hypocrisy of republican values and the essentially autocratic “democracy” of the States, but this rootin’-tootin’ firebrand has to be among the funniest, most quotable, and most blistering.
February 7, 2017
سنكلير لويس مسرحي و روائي أمريكي يستحق أن توطّد صداقتك كقارئ به، بما إني شاهدت فيلم " إيلمر غانتري" و هو مقتبس عن رواية ل سنكلير لويس، من بطولة عمالقة هوليوود بيرت لانكستر و جيين سايمونز وهو فيلم أبدع فيه سنكلير لويس متناولاً الجدلية الدينية و الصحوة الإيمانية التي تفشت في ذلك العصر، حينها اتذكر اني قرات مقال نقدي يسخر ممن يقول أن لويس يفضح ويعري مجتمعه و لكن هذا ما استنتجته من تمامًا من هذه الرواية و ذلك الفيلم، الأجواء الحوارية الدينية في الفيلم من قبيل ( الرب يتحرك بطريقة غامضة)أو ( أفعل أفضل ما يمكنك و أترك البقية للرب) و كأنها أجواء متناقضة مع هذه الرواية يكتبها قلم آخر حيث التركيز على وصف الماديات و كأن بصر الإنسان محصور على يملك، و ولد ليملك! في هذه الرواية نجد سطوة السلطة الاقتصادية تسيّر بلاد ك أمريكا و تحكمها فعليا حتى كأنها السلطة الوحيدة و لا سلطة سواها، كما كانت تفعل السلطة الدينية في الفيلم وكلاهما تغيب عنهما سلطة العقل .. هذا الاختلاف قطعا يدلّ على براعة لويس و يدلّ بالأكثر على استحقاقه ل جائزة نوبل للآداب لابتكاره أنواع جديدة من الشخصيات تتميز بحسّ فكاهي ساخر. يكفيه فخرًا أن تكون شخصيات ك شخصية إيلمر غانتري و جورج ف بابِيت من رصيد خياله الأدبي.
المهم هنا أن المفاجأة أن ذِكر سنكلير لويس مرّ في تلك الحوارات الدينية في الفيلم على لسان إيلمر غانتري بوصفه كاتب ملحد و مجدف و هذا فاق الفيلم أهمية عندي، و الشخصية الرئيسية هنا جورج ف بابيت مرت هناك كشخصية ثانوية بمنصب سكرتير لغرفة التجارة في زينيث العاصمة الأمريكية للغرب الاوسط كما وصفها و ذلك ليعظم مكانتها الاقتصادية، وهو هناك كان رجل أعمال ناجح يطلب مساعدة مجموعة الصحوة ( إيلمر غانتري و الراهبة شارون فالكونر) للقدوم لمدينة زينيث التي باتت كنائسها خالية من المؤمنين رغم ازدهارها مما ينذر بالخطر، طبعا هذا الرجل يمتلك اكثر من وجه الناجح و الوصولي و المقامر. يبقى السؤال الذي يؤرقني كقارئة - بل و يقتلني من الفضول- هل هناك جسور كهذه ستتقاطع بين أعماله لم أدرك أبعادها بعد؟
فهنالك الكثير من الآراء التي ربطت رأي سنكلير لويس في هذه الرواية حول رئيس من عالم الأعمال شخص إداري و اقتصادي بوصول ترامب للسلطة و قد خُصصت مقالات عن هذه النبوءة التي سبقت عهدها ب 80 عام، و هذا الرأي يأتي بالتفصيل في رواية ل لويس ( it can't happen here) أثارت ذعر العامة حول رئيس من رجال الأعمال له سلوكيات غريبة و آراء أغرب ولم تترجم للعربية بعد على ما اعتقد ولكنها ذائعة الصيت و لاقت المزيد من الرواج أيام حملات ترامب الانتخابية ، عموما ليس بغريب عن الأدب تقديم هكذا نبوءات سابقة لزمانها هذا دليل ان الكاتب لا يكتب من برج عاجي بل يدرس مجتمعه و يجيد التخمين إلى أين سيصل و تحط به الرحال، أي سلامة فكرية هذه التي يتحلى بها لويس ليبحر في هذه البحور الصعبة و ليثير تساؤلات سابقة لعهدها و كله قناعة أن شعبه قادر على التصدي لهكذا صعوبات و هو هيأهم بدروه لذلك. هيأهم بنقل الصورة الحية من زاوية مختلفة في كل مرة دون تطفل على الصورة فلن تجد رأي واحد ل لويس يفرض وجهة نظ�� مغايرة لمستنقع تفكير الشخصيات في الرواية. كلهم كانوا بابِيت حتى لم يعد لويس مهتما بإصلاحهم.. إن كنت تبحث عن رواية صوت كاتبها غائب تمامًا فهي هذه. فالحالة وحدها من تتكلم و عبثا تستدر شفقة الكاتب ليوجهها كيف تسير .. و أعتقد أن هذا سبب الضجة التي حركتها في المجتمع الأمريكي حينها.
الوصف المادي و تركيبة تفكير الشخصية - بابِيت- قريب من شخصية غاتسبي العظيم و هذا ملحوظ بشكل كبير و طبيعي لأن الرواية كتبت عن " عصر الجاز " كما أطلق فيتزجيرالد هذا المسمى بنفسه على رواية غاتسبي العظيم، عصر الجاز لا يشمل نوع الموسيقى التي انشرت حينها فقط بل هو عصر المخترعات السيارة و التلفون والراديو و عصر الطفرة الاقتصادية المفاجأة و الرخاء * الفخفخه* في أعقاب الركود الذي خلفته الحرب العالمية الاولى .
ما المميز في شخصية جورج ف بابِيت؟ ربما كونه بشري جدًا و يضع الرجولة في نصابها فلا مكان للمثالية في تفكيره و تصرفاته، ما دام يتنفس فلن يحسم أمره حول أمر ما نهائيا، يثير جنون نفسه قبل جنوننا.. هو رجل حقيقي مهما قال الرجال عنه هذا لا يمثلنا ف بابِيت يعطي هموم الرجال عالمًا أبعد من الغرائز حتى الغرائز الأكثر دناءة التي تنفر المرء تتقبلها كقارئ و تعطيه أعذار و تدور معه في دوائر همومه و هموم من يهمه أمرهم.
الترجمة رزينة وتستحق الإشادة .
" كيف استطاع أن يتحمل حياته هذه السنين كلها... "
" كان المبنى كبيراً- و كان بابِت يحترم الكبر في كل شيء "
" إذا كان الناس لا يحبون السجن، فليتصرفوا تصرفاً حسناً حتى يظلوا خارجه "
" إن أخلاق معظم الناس معوجّة قليلاٍ، بحيث يتوقعون سلفاً أن يكذب المرء عليهم"
" كل ما نفعله هو أن يقصّ أحدنا رقبة الآخر ثم يجعل الجمهور يدفع مقابل ذلك !"
" ماذا تتوقع؟ أتظن أننا أتينا لهذا العالم لكي نمضي فيه أوقاتًا هينة طيبة- ما هذا؟.. أتظن أننا جئنا لننام على فراش من الزهور؟ أتظن أن الإنسان خُلِقَ ليكون سعيدًا فقط؟"
" طيلة دقائق كثيرة، طيلة ساعات كثيرة، طيلة زمن أبدي فارغ كئيب، ظل بابِت راقدًا، مستيقظًا، مرتجفًا، مرتدًا لذعره البدائي، مدركًا أنّه فاز بالحرية، متسائلاً عما يمكن أن يفعله بشيء يجهله لهذا الحد.. بحرية تُحرجه لهذه الدرجة. "
" تضطر لتجميل الأمور أحيانًا حتى تستطيع التأثير على بعض الأشخاص"
November 14, 2016
How I loved reading this book! The humoresque style in which it is told. It' a twenties story but actually very actual about a middleclass estate agent who is confronted with midlife crisis and something as a burnout. He wants to be popular, wants to do everything for it. His social staus is very important for him and his wife. But he climbs high and falls low and then understands that only self-relevation is the answer to life. The book never becomes dull. You have to laugh with Babbitt's trying to please everyone and his aching for a high social status. It's often hilarious but also you sometimes feel sorry for him. It's a great book! One of my favourites.
March 9, 2021
I really enjoyed Babbitt about a character who starts out as a middle-class real estate agent who has his brief moment of glory before being humbled by life, and passing through a phase of empathy with the working class, regains his position in the hierarchy. It is well-written and interesting as a portrayal of the midwestern American bourgeois at the turn of the century and just after WWI. It was more or less this book that won him the Nobel Prize for Literature, well-deserved I believe. Very readable, it proposes an archetype that, although somewhat forgotten today, described the average salesman personality of passive machismo and alcoholism.
January 20, 2013
Actually, I read this as part of a self-oriented challenge to read a few of the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list; like the ones I've chosen so far it turned out to be a fine novel, one with more than a lot of relevance to our modern world considering it was written in the 1920s.
George F. Babbitt is a real estate agent in Zenith, a Midwestern city of of "towers of steel and cement and limestone" where the population has grown to "practically 362,000." While anyone visiting its business center would be hard pressed to distinguish it from other major cities, George finds every inch of it "individual and stirring." He is married, has two children, and is above all wrapped up in his community standing. He belongs to a number of civic organizations, most prominently, the Zenith Boosters’ Club, where his like-minded, middle-class associates bow to the gods of business, money and progress and work to keep out any elements that they believe might possibly upset their collective and lucrative apple carts.
George lives in a modern house with the latest technologies, belongs to a church, plays golf, and his opinions are shaped by the institutions and people with whom he associates and his political party. Underneath his public persona, however, he's starting to think that perhaps there's something missing, that he's not "entirely satisfied." George has an ongoing and secret dream fantasy of a "fairy child" who will help him to escape to places “more romantic than scarlet pagodas by a silver sea,” but the dreams are short lived; when daybreak comes it's back to more practical things. One of his old college buds and best friend, Paul Riesling, dreamed of becoming a concert violinist, but he too has jettisoned his dreams and has become a member of Zenith's middle-class business community. Unlike Babbitt, however, he is not afraid to confide his personal dissatisfaction: he's bored, his wife Zilla is a constant nag who makes him unhappy enough to have affairs, and he has come to the realization that in the business world, "all we do is cut each other's throats and make the public pay for it." Paul is the only one of Babbitt's associates that recognizes the need for responsibility -- something that Babbitt and his other cronies don't get. When Paul's problems with Zilla come to a head and he literally can no longer take it, he snaps -- and his actions and their consequences send Babbitt into introspective mode where he comes to realize that his way of life has been "incredibly mechanical:"
"Mechanical business -- a brisk selling of badly built houses. Mechanical religion -- a dry, hard church, shut off from the real life of the streets, inhumanly respectable as a top-hat. Mechanical golf and dinner-parties and bridge and conversation. Save with Paul Riesling, mechanical friendships -- back-slapping and jocular, never daring to essay the test of quietness."
prodding George into full-on rebellion.
I won't say any more -- the novel is an excellent piece of satire on conformity and middle-class culture, business or otherwise. It is set in a time when unions, Socialism and any other form of organization among workers constituted a perceived threat to the American way of life; a time when the "American way of settling labor-troubles was for workmen to trust and love their employers." As Lewis remarks on an organization called the Good Citizens' League, the members of this group believed that
"the working-classes must be kept in their place ... that American Democracy did not imply any equality of wealth, but did demand a wholesome sameness of thought, dress, painting, morals and vocabulary."
There is also a very purposeful delineation of class in this novel, and Lewis has a way of juxtaposing one against the other in well-crafted scenes. The above-mentioned tedious minutiae which I wanted to end while my head was pounding with the flu also has a purpose that is not readily apparent, but which gains in importance over the course of the novel. Obviously there's much more to it, and there are some hefty critiques and reviews to be found where perhaps more can be gleaned.
It is rather difficult to read, I suspect, under the best of conditions, so if you are contemplating it as a choice from the 1001 books you must read, my advice is not to give up. The book is constructed as a series of events and vignettes that eventually all come together in an ending which was not so predictable yet powerful, at least for me. Recommended -- but take your time with it.
George F. Babbitt is a real estate agent in Zenith, a Midwestern city of of "towers of steel and cement and limestone" where the population has grown to "practically 362,000." While anyone visiting its business center would be hard pressed to distinguish it from other major cities, George finds every inch of it "individual and stirring." He is married, has two children, and is above all wrapped up in his community standing. He belongs to a number of civic organizations, most prominently, the Zenith Boosters’ Club, where his like-minded, middle-class associates bow to the gods of business, money and progress and work to keep out any elements that they believe might possibly upset their collective and lucrative apple carts.
George lives in a modern house with the latest technologies, belongs to a church, plays golf, and his opinions are shaped by the institutions and people with whom he associates and his political party. Underneath his public persona, however, he's starting to think that perhaps there's something missing, that he's not "entirely satisfied." George has an ongoing and secret dream fantasy of a "fairy child" who will help him to escape to places “more romantic than scarlet pagodas by a silver sea,” but the dreams are short lived; when daybreak comes it's back to more practical things. One of his old college buds and best friend, Paul Riesling, dreamed of becoming a concert violinist, but he too has jettisoned his dreams and has become a member of Zenith's middle-class business community. Unlike Babbitt, however, he is not afraid to confide his personal dissatisfaction: he's bored, his wife Zilla is a constant nag who makes him unhappy enough to have affairs, and he has come to the realization that in the business world, "all we do is cut each other's throats and make the public pay for it." Paul is the only one of Babbitt's associates that recognizes the need for responsibility -- something that Babbitt and his other cronies don't get. When Paul's problems with Zilla come to a head and he literally can no longer take it, he snaps -- and his actions and their consequences send Babbitt into introspective mode where he comes to realize that his way of life has been "incredibly mechanical:"
"Mechanical business -- a brisk selling of badly built houses. Mechanical religion -- a dry, hard church, shut off from the real life of the streets, inhumanly respectable as a top-hat. Mechanical golf and dinner-parties and bridge and conversation. Save with Paul Riesling, mechanical friendships -- back-slapping and jocular, never daring to essay the test of quietness."
prodding George into full-on rebellion.
I won't say any more -- the novel is an excellent piece of satire on conformity and middle-class culture, business or otherwise. It is set in a time when unions, Socialism and any other form of organization among workers constituted a perceived threat to the American way of life; a time when the "American way of settling labor-troubles was for workmen to trust and love their employers." As Lewis remarks on an organization called the Good Citizens' League, the members of this group believed that
"the working-classes must be kept in their place ... that American Democracy did not imply any equality of wealth, but did demand a wholesome sameness of thought, dress, painting, morals and vocabulary."
There is also a very purposeful delineation of class in this novel, and Lewis has a way of juxtaposing one against the other in well-crafted scenes. The above-mentioned tedious minutiae which I wanted to end while my head was pounding with the flu also has a purpose that is not readily apparent, but which gains in importance over the course of the novel. Obviously there's much more to it, and there are some hefty critiques and reviews to be found where perhaps more can be gleaned.
It is rather difficult to read, I suspect, under the best of conditions, so if you are contemplating it as a choice from the 1001 books you must read, my advice is not to give up. The book is constructed as a series of events and vignettes that eventually all come together in an ending which was not so predictable yet powerful, at least for me. Recommended -- but take your time with it.
April 24, 2020
'Babbitt' by Sinclair Lewis has dated vocabulary which was common to Babbitt's class of Midwestern businessmen of the 1920's, but there is nothing dated about the book's themes! Frankly, it is shocking that I can see almost no change of attitudes in the social class Lewis is focusing on in the novel even though this book was written in 1922.
From the Barnes and Noble edition's book cover:
"In the small midwestern city of Zenith, George Babbitt seems to have it all: a successful real-estate business, a devoted wife, three children, and a house with all the modern conveniences. Yet, dissatisfied and lonely, he’s begun to question the conformity, consumerism, and competitiveness of his conservative, and ultimately cultureless middle-class community. His despairing sense that something, many things are missing from his life leads him into a flirtation with liberal politics and a fling with an attractive and seemingly "bohemian” widow. But he soon finds that his attempts at rebellion may cost more than he is willing to pay. "
Readers should note Lewis writes from the viewpoint of his characters, slyly exposing their ugly social-class prejudices and the casual cruelties of their tunnel vision. Of course, these people see nothing wrong in how they live or what they believe. Everyone they associate themselves with enforces their beliefs. The main characters live inside an echo chamber of parroted slogans.They trod a narrow path of judgemental righteousness dependent on a lockstepped white middle-class conservative conventionality. There is obvious racism, anti-Jewish rhetoric, and a scorn of the working-class and their efforts to form unions. Women are dull-eyed married matrons or "fast" in their eyes. Elite-university educations are suspicious since those possessing such an education might mean a lack of support in the self-serving sensibilities of these American Chamber of Commerce/Protestant church members. People who come back from trips to Europe are seen as possibly infected with European-style male 'effeminacy' - an interest in abnormal Art or Music. However, there is complete obliviousness of their own class's prejudices and faults.
The shallow conformity and social group-think is enforced by a threat of shunning and loss of financial opportunities. Successful integration into business group norms is rewarded with respect and inclusion, with invites to mens' clubs.
Will Babbitt climb out of the deep valley of narrow perspectives?
The novel covers the same territory as Appointment in Samarra. Jude the Obscure goes there as well. Being around square cog trying to fit into a square round hole can work - or maybe not. It depends on if one is able to file down those edges of who you really are, gentle reader, and what you are willing to give up to fit. Rewards can be great, or miniscule. Of course, moving from a social class to another social class has often been made impossibly ruinous by involved people. Not to mention the raw evil of using prejudices or power to unjustly destroy people who have the temerity of wanting to leave a group because of the implied criticism that entails.
From the Barnes and Noble edition's book cover:
"In the small midwestern city of Zenith, George Babbitt seems to have it all: a successful real-estate business, a devoted wife, three children, and a house with all the modern conveniences. Yet, dissatisfied and lonely, he’s begun to question the conformity, consumerism, and competitiveness of his conservative, and ultimately cultureless middle-class community. His despairing sense that something, many things are missing from his life leads him into a flirtation with liberal politics and a fling with an attractive and seemingly "bohemian” widow. But he soon finds that his attempts at rebellion may cost more than he is willing to pay. "
Readers should note Lewis writes from the viewpoint of his characters, slyly exposing their ugly social-class prejudices and the casual cruelties of their tunnel vision. Of course, these people see nothing wrong in how they live or what they believe. Everyone they associate themselves with enforces their beliefs. The main characters live inside an echo chamber of parroted slogans.They trod a narrow path of judgemental righteousness dependent on a lockstepped white middle-class conservative conventionality. There is obvious racism, anti-Jewish rhetoric, and a scorn of the working-class and their efforts to form unions. Women are dull-eyed married matrons or "fast" in their eyes. Elite-university educations are suspicious since those possessing such an education might mean a lack of support in the self-serving sensibilities of these American Chamber of Commerce/Protestant church members. People who come back from trips to Europe are seen as possibly infected with European-style male 'effeminacy' - an interest in abnormal Art or Music. However, there is complete obliviousness of their own class's prejudices and faults.
The shallow conformity and social group-think is enforced by a threat of shunning and loss of financial opportunities. Successful integration into business group norms is rewarded with respect and inclusion, with invites to mens' clubs.
Will Babbitt climb out of the deep valley of narrow perspectives?
The novel covers the same territory as Appointment in Samarra. Jude the Obscure goes there as well. Being a
May 3, 2019
Domanda d’iscrizione
George F. Babbitt chiede di essere iscritto nella lista dei protagonisti improbabili (ed indimenticabili), di fianco a Morris Bober e William Stoner.
Con una traduzione magnificamente âgée Liliana Scalero restituisce il ritratto di un uomo che come i personaggi di Williams e Malamud non ha nessun talento da regalare ai propri lettori. Sinclair Lewis non intende barare sulla questione e lo presenta così:
Il suo nome era George F. Babbitt. Aveva compiuto quarantasei anni ora, nell'aprile del 1920, e non fabbricava nulla di speciale: né burro, né scarpe, né poesia, ma era abile nella professione di vender case ad un prezzo superiore a quello che la gente poteva pagare.
Chi ha spernacchiato Stoner è meglio che scappi a gambe levate, il buon George è privo anche dell’amore per la letteratura che nutriva il professore. Per numerose pagine cercherà di mostrarsi l’uomo di successo che vorrebbe essere frequentando club esclusivi, campi da golf e contornandosi di persone che incarnano il modo tipicamente americano di vedere il mondo, cioè un posto con delle regole che una lobby di uomini scaltri e predestinati, prima dettano e poi aggirano. Questi uomini sono coloro che si sentono in grado di creare una ricchezza che a loro avviso la maggior parte degli altri uomini non sarebbero in grado di creare, mescolano fede religiosa e sentimenti patriottici per occultare la loro avidità. Se non siete fra coloro che spernacchiarono Stoner, se avete continuato a leggere, se avete più di quarant’ anni, ecco che cosa ha in serbo George F. Babbitt per voi
Perché un uomo si annoia con sua moglie, credi tu davvero che abbia il diritto di darle un calcio e squagliarsela, o ammazzarsi? Dio buono, non so quali «diritti» abbia l'uomo! E nemmeno so come ci si liberi dalla noia. Se lo sapessi, sarei l'unico filosofo che possiede la medicina per quella malattia che si chiama vita. Ma so che c'è forse dieci volte più gente di ciò che si crede, che trova la vita pesante, inutilmente pesante, e non vuole ammetterlo: e credo che se qualche volta ci sfogassimo e lo confessassimo, invece di essere buoni, pazienti e fedeli per sessant'anni e poi buoni, pazienti e morti per il resto dell'eternità, forse la vita sarebbe un po' più divertente.
Babbitt è scontento, vive il conflitto fra ciò che la sua posizione sociale gli impone e la libertà che agognerebbe, oscilla fra considerare la propria famiglia una benedizione e un fardello. Il rapporto con la moglie si è inevitabilmente usurato con il passare degli anni
Pensò a sua moglie. - Se soltanto, se soltanto non fosse così maledettamente rassegnata a diventare vecchia e posata. No! Non voglio! Non voglio tornare! Fra tre anni avrò cinquant'anni. Fra tredici anni, sessanta. Voglio godermi un po' la vita, prima che sia troppo tardi. Non me ne importa niente! Lo voglio!
Metto Babbit nella lista di cui aveva chiesto di far parte, a fianco però non c’è posto, devo metterlo un rigo più in basso.
George F. Babbitt chiede di essere iscritto nella lista dei protagonisti improbabili (ed indimenticabili), di fianco a Morris Bober e William Stoner.
Con una traduzione magnificamente âgée Liliana Scalero restituisce il ritratto di un uomo che come i personaggi di Williams e Malamud non ha nessun talento da regalare ai propri lettori. Sinclair Lewis non intende barare sulla questione e lo presenta così:
Il suo nome era George F. Babbitt. Aveva compiuto quarantasei anni ora, nell'aprile del 1920, e non fabbricava nulla di speciale: né burro, né scarpe, né poesia, ma era abile nella professione di vender case ad un prezzo superiore a quello che la gente poteva pagare.
Chi ha spernacchiato Stoner è meglio che scappi a gambe levate, il buon George è privo anche dell’amore per la letteratura che nutriva il professore. Per numerose pagine cercherà di mostrarsi l’uomo di successo che vorrebbe essere frequentando club esclusivi, campi da golf e contornandosi di persone che incarnano il modo tipicamente americano di vedere il mondo, cioè un posto con delle regole che una lobby di uomini scaltri e predestinati, prima dettano e poi aggirano. Questi uomini sono coloro che si sentono in grado di creare una ricchezza che a loro avviso la maggior parte degli altri uomini non sarebbero in grado di creare, mescolano fede religiosa e sentimenti patriottici per occultare la loro avidità. Se non siete fra coloro che spernacchiarono Stoner, se avete continuato a leggere, se avete più di quarant’ anni, ecco che cosa ha in serbo George F. Babbitt per voi
Perché un uomo si annoia con sua moglie, credi tu davvero che abbia il diritto di darle un calcio e squagliarsela, o ammazzarsi? Dio buono, non so quali «diritti» abbia l'uomo! E nemmeno so come ci si liberi dalla noia. Se lo sapessi, sarei l'unico filosofo che possiede la medicina per quella malattia che si chiama vita. Ma so che c'è forse dieci volte più gente di ciò che si crede, che trova la vita pesante, inutilmente pesante, e non vuole ammetterlo: e credo che se qualche volta ci sfogassimo e lo confessassimo, invece di essere buoni, pazienti e fedeli per sessant'anni e poi buoni, pazienti e morti per il resto dell'eternità, forse la vita sarebbe un po' più divertente.
Babbitt è scontento, vive il conflitto fra ciò che la sua posizione sociale gli impone e la libertà che agognerebbe, oscilla fra considerare la propria famiglia una benedizione e un fardello. Il rapporto con la moglie si è inevitabilmente usurato con il passare degli anni
Pensò a sua moglie. - Se soltanto, se soltanto non fosse così maledettamente rassegnata a diventare vecchia e posata. No! Non voglio! Non voglio tornare! Fra tre anni avrò cinquant'anni. Fra tredici anni, sessanta. Voglio godermi un po' la vita, prima che sia troppo tardi. Non me ne importa niente! Lo voglio!
Metto Babbit nella lista di cui aveva chiesto di far parte, a fianco però non c’è posto, devo metterlo un rigo più in basso.
May 7, 2017
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - formerly the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel - has long been one of the most respectable and important accolades in American literature. It is, as we all know, awarded to the greatest literature (in the eyes of the jury) produced by an American author in the preceding year. Always has been. But the definition of great literature has changed a little over time, not just when it comes to vague perceptions, but even as regards explicit definitions. For example, in the 1920s, the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel was defined specifically, and uncontroversially, as being for:
the American novel published during the year which shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life, and the highest standard of American manners and manhood..
That definition is why Lewis' seventh novel, Main Street, despite being selected by the Pulitzer jury, was refused the prize (which went instead to the the less controversial The Age of Innocence). It's why Lewis, when his ninth novel, Arrowsmith, was finally offered the award, refused it in protest. And it's a pithy summation of everything that compelled Lewis to write his eight, and best-selling, novel, Babbitt.
[EDIT: turns out it's also why Babbitt in turn was selected by the jury but disqualified for unwholesomeness by the board. That time the prize went to Cather's One of Ours instead]
It's why it was controversial. And it's why it was a publishing phenomenon. It's why he won the Nobel Prize, and perhaps it's part of why he's steadily being forgotten. Sinclair Lewis was an insurgent in a war that ended long ago. It's not entirely clear whether he won.
For context, by the way: Lewis created a new genre and style of literature, he won the Nobel, and he sold a shitload of copies: two of his novels were the #1 best-selling novels of their year, a third was #2, and Babbitt itself haunted the top ten for two years in a row (getting its own dictionary entry in the process). Sinclair Lewis was to the 1920s what Gabriel García Márquez and Tom Clancy would have been to the 1980s... if they had been the same person. This was a generation's One Hundred Years of Solitude and its Clear and Present Danger all rolled into one.
And you can read my meandering review of it over on my blog.
For those who don't have the time or energy to wade through that, here are some pros and cons...
PRO:
- it's a highy informative, exhaustively researched, all-encompassing and painstakingly of-the-second survey of life in America in 1920
- the extent to which it mirrors and foreshadows modern life, not only in general outline but in many details, is genuinely unsettling and depressing
- its an aggressive satire that is reliably amusing and occasionally hilarious
- both intentionally and unintentionally, its use of 1920 slang and idiom is itself amusing, as well as fascinating, and perfectly fits its portrait of a swell and zippy he-America* manic with pep, zing, zest and zow
- it may be the Ur-Text of the modern Literary Novel genre
- it is at times, particularly in the second half, an affecting presentation of bourgeois anomie, anxiety, and captivity, as well as of existential dread
CON:
- it may be the Ur-Text of the modern Literary Novel genre. It takes nothing-happening to an artform. Little exciting occurs, and most of that is in the second half
- if it were a fantasy novel, you'd say the author was obsessed with worldbuilding and that the plot was hijacked by self-indulgent travelogue; 80% of the novel could be removed without greatly damaging the whole
- since it is so of-its-second, between the slang and the fine nuances of social expectations in 1920, much of the impact of the novel has long since been lost
- Lewis, Nobel aside, is not a particularly fine writer, in technical terms. He attempts a wry irony in the style of a Wodehouse or a Cabell, but isn't as good at it as they were, and he errs too often on the side of prolixity (I recently read Cabell's Jurgen, which covers much of the same ground with a similar style but in a fantasy setting, and which I suspect Lewis took as a model for Babbitt in some ways - but the older novel is both funnier and better than its social realist nephew)
- he has, in particular, the grace and refinement of a jackhammer, and his approach to satirical irony is much like the approach to fine dining taken by a contestant in a no-holds-barred hotdog-eating contest. Obvious jokes/barbs are machine-gunned at the reader at an unyielding pace, and then repeated, and then explained, just to make sure you can't possibly fail to understand the meaning. Occasionally one hits the target; more often, the reader can appreciate the simple yet filling meat-by-product; and yet the sheer onslaught of it - while grimly, freakishly, impressive in its way - rather detracts from the reader's enjoyment of any particular bite
The result was something I enjoyed much more than I was expecting to (because it is funny and it does get more interesting as you go on), but less than I wanted to (because Lewis' intent in this book could have been executed much more succesfully). It is, however, a book that will stay with me: by the end, the genteel, all-swallowing fury of its satire has swelled to such a proportion that it is perhaps the perfect representation of vacuous modernity (how is a book able to be so exactly of its own particular moment and at the same time so continually applicable?) - now if only it had been able to present itself in the form of a compelling novel...
In the end, Babbitt is a novel that deserves its place in history, and deserves, and will reward, more readers with an interest in its era. On the other hand, to continue to put this on lists of the greatest novels of all time, as some do, is surely to betray a lack of knowledge of the breadth and heights of literature.
To put it briefly: if you want to only read good books that aren't a waste of time to read, you can certainly defend putting Babbitt on your list, particularly if you are interested either in its era or its themes, or if you are interested in the history of literature. But you could also certainly defend not having it on such a list, because (other than as part of a history project) it's not exactly a must-read.
*In the early 1920s, Americans added the prefix "he-" to words to indicate admiration and general awesomeness. Great literature, for instance, was real he-literature, a nice cup of coffee might be a real he-coffee. An advertising spiel telling people to learn martial arts (with one simple trick discovered by a Zenith housewife!) if they want to be he-men would be a real he-advertisement. This might seem absurd, ridiculous, laughable... until you go back and read the terms of the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel...
the American novel published during the year which shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life, and the highest standard of American manners and manhood..
That definition is why Lewis' seventh novel, Main Street, despite being selected by the Pulitzer jury, was refused the prize (which went instead to the the less controversial The Age of Innocence). It's why Lewis, when his ninth novel, Arrowsmith, was finally offered the award, refused it in protest. And it's a pithy summation of everything that compelled Lewis to write his eight, and best-selling, novel, Babbitt.
[EDIT: turns out it's also why Babbitt in turn was selected by the jury but disqualified for unwholesomeness by the board. That time the prize went to Cather's One of Ours instead]
It's why it was controversial. And it's why it was a publishing phenomenon. It's why he won the Nobel Prize, and perhaps it's part of why he's steadily being forgotten. Sinclair Lewis was an insurgent in a war that ended long ago. It's not entirely clear whether he won.
For context, by the way: Lewis created a new genre and style of literature, he won the Nobel, and he sold a shitload of copies: two of his novels were the #1 best-selling novels of their year, a third was #2, and Babbitt itself haunted the top ten for two years in a row (getting its own dictionary entry in the process). Sinclair Lewis was to the 1920s what Gabriel García Márquez and Tom Clancy would have been to the 1980s... if they had been the same person. This was a generation's One Hundred Years of Solitude and its Clear and Present Danger all rolled into one.
And you can read my meandering review of it over on my blog.
For those who don't have the time or energy to wade through that, here are some pros and cons...
PRO:
- it's a highy informative, exhaustively researched, all-encompassing and painstakingly of-the-second survey of life in America in 1920
- the extent to which it mirrors and foreshadows modern life, not only in general outline but in many details, is genuinely unsettling and depressing
- its an aggressive satire that is reliably amusing and occasionally hilarious
- both intentionally and unintentionally, its use of 1920 slang and idiom is itself amusing, as well as fascinating, and perfectly fits its portrait of a swell and zippy he-America* manic with pep, zing, zest and zow
- it may be the Ur-Text of the modern Literary Novel genre
- it is at times, particularly in the second half, an affecting presentation of bourgeois anomie, anxiety, and captivity, as well as of existential dread
CON:
- it may be the Ur-Text of the modern Literary Novel genre. It takes nothing-happening to an artform. Little exciting occurs, and most of that is in the second half
- if it were a fantasy novel, you'd say the author was obsessed with worldbuilding and that the plot was hijacked by self-indulgent travelogue; 80% of the novel could be removed without greatly damaging the whole
- since it is so of-its-second, between the slang and the fine nuances of social expectations in 1920, much of the impact of the novel has long since been lost
- Lewis, Nobel aside, is not a particularly fine writer, in technical terms. He attempts a wry irony in the style of a Wodehouse or a Cabell, but isn't as good at it as they were, and he errs too often on the side of prolixity (I recently read Cabell's Jurgen, which covers much of the same ground with a similar style but in a fantasy setting, and which I suspect Lewis took as a model for Babbitt in some ways - but the older novel is both funnier and better than its social realist nephew)
- he has, in particular, the grace and refinement of a jackhammer, and his approach to satirical irony is much like the approach to fine dining taken by a contestant in a no-holds-barred hotdog-eating contest. Obvious jokes/barbs are machine-gunned at the reader at an unyielding pace, and then repeated, and then explained, just to make sure you can't possibly fail to understand the meaning. Occasionally one hits the target; more often, the reader can appreciate the simple yet filling meat-by-product; and yet the sheer onslaught of it - while grimly, freakishly, impressive in its way - rather detracts from the reader's enjoyment of any particular bite
The result was something I enjoyed much more than I was expecting to (because it is funny and it does get more interesting as you go on), but less than I wanted to (because Lewis' intent in this book could have been executed much more succesfully). It is, however, a book that will stay with me: by the end, the genteel, all-swallowing fury of its satire has swelled to such a proportion that it is perhaps the perfect representation of vacuous modernity (how is a book able to be so exactly of its own particular moment and at the same time so continually applicable?) - now if only it had been able to present itself in the form of a compelling novel...
In the end, Babbitt is a novel that deserves its place in history, and deserves, and will reward, more readers with an interest in its era. On the other hand, to continue to put this on lists of the greatest novels of all time, as some do, is surely to betray a lack of knowledge of the breadth and heights of literature.
To put it briefly: if you want to only read good books that aren't a waste of time to read, you can certainly defend putting Babbitt on your list, particularly if you are interested either in its era or its themes, or if you are interested in the history of literature. But you could also certainly defend not having it on such a list, because (other than as part of a history project) it's not exactly a must-read.
*In the early 1920s, Americans added the prefix "he-" to words to indicate admiration and general awesomeness. Great literature, for instance, was real he-literature, a nice cup of coffee might be a real he-coffee. An advertising spiel telling people to learn martial arts (with one simple trick discovered by a Zenith housewife!) if they want to be he-men would be a real he-advertisement. This might seem absurd, ridiculous, laughable... until you go back and read the terms of the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel...
November 23, 2021
جورج بابت ،، فخر انتاج مدننا ،جيد في كسب المال و جيد ايضا في انفاقه ، يعرف كيف يكون رجل المدينة العصري ، ليس له راي او قناعة اصلية ، يقتنع فقط بما تمليه الصحف والحكومات والذوق العام ، يستطيع أن يتحدث عن اي شيء اذا كان فقط على السطح ، يقدر المظاهر جيدا وكل شيء سطحي قد يواجه مشكلة في منتصف العمر ، قد يضجر بعض
الوقت ويشعر باللامعنى، لكننا نضمن لكم انه سيعود للحظيرة
لا تسمح للأسرة بأن تخيفك ، ولا تسمح لزينيث كلها بأن تخيفك ، لا تسمح لنفسك بأن تخيفك أيضا
الوقت ويشعر باللامعنى، لكننا نضمن لكم انه سيعود للحظيرة
لا تسمح للأسرة بأن تخيفك ، ولا تسمح لزينيث كلها بأن تخيفك ، لا تسمح لنفسك بأن تخيفك أيضا
May 22, 2022
"كان هذا الرجل في ما مضى صبيًا ساذجًا مستعدًا لتصديق وعود الحياة كلها، لكنه ما عاد الآن مهتمًا كثيرًا بمغامرات محتملة، لكنها مستبعدة، مع كل يوم جديد."
"جورج بابيت" رجل في أواسط عمره، يمتلك كل ما يحتاجه كي تكون حياته مستقرة وهادئة، يعمل سمسارًا عقاريًا، محاطًا بالرفقة والأهل والأصدقاء، إلا أنه أصبح منزعجًا من حياة الهدوء والرتابة، وضاق بالتزامه بالقواعد والقوانين والمعايير التقنية التي تحياها الطبقة الوسطى -في مدينة زينيث الأمريكية في عشرينات القرن الماضي- أصبح يتساءل: ماذا يريد؟ الثروة؟ الموقع الاجتماعي؟ السفر؟ الخدم؟ لكن هذه الرغبات كلها جاءت مصادفةً؛ فما غاية هذا كله؟ وماذا يريد هو نفسه؟ كان يشعر بأن الحياة التي عرفها ومارسها بجدية ونشاط، لم تكن سوى شيئًا عقيمًا باطلًا "لم أفعل إلا ما كان ضروريًا لاستمرار حركة التقدم"، "لم أفعل شيئًا واحدًا مما أردت أن أفعله حقًا... في حياتي كلها! لا أعرف... حققت أشياء كثيرة في حياتي... ما عدا أمنيتي في أن أمضي كما أشتهي."
قرر "بابت" أن يعيش المغامرة، والثورة على المجتمع الذي يعيش فيه معرضًا سمعته هو وأسرته للخطر! ومثلما يحدث مع كل مهتدِ إلى دين جديد، أو حب جديد، أخذت الهوايات الجديدة تملأ عالمه، وهكذا، اندفع بابِت منغمسًا في ملذاته وراح يكتشف فرصاً للملذات في كل مكان. لكنه سرعان ما شعر بالاغتراب والنبذ والتجاهل وعدم القيمة، ليس فقط في عمله وبين أصدقائه؛ بل حتى داخل أسرته! شعر "بابت" بالانزعاج ولم يستطيع الابتعاد عن التفكير في الناس. وهكذا، بدا له أن الهرب بعيدًا ما كان إلا حماقة لأنه لا يستطيع أن يهرب من نفسه. لكنه أحس بشيءٍ مات في نفسه: الإيمان المخلص الشديد في طيبة العالم، والخوف من ازدراء الناس، والزهو بالنجاح. "كان مصممًا على المضي في طريق الضلال، لكنه لم يستمتع بذلك أبدًا! لماذا؟ سأل نفسه... لماذا يتمرَّد أصلًا؟ ما الغاية من هذا؟ «لماذا لا أكون عاقلًا؛ لماذا لا أكفّ عن هذا الجَري الغبي هنا وهناك فأستمتع بحياتي في أسرتي وعملي ومع أصدقائي في النادي؟»... ما الذي يجنيه من هذا التمرد؟ البؤس، والعار!" حاول "بابت" اتباع نمط حياة جديدة، وثار على المجتمع الذي يعيش فيه، لكنه لم يفلح فى التغيير، وفى النهاية عاد كمان كان سابقًا!
كان "بابت" يفتقر إلى الحرية، ليس فقط الحرية في العيش وكيفية قضاء وقت ما، بل أيضًا حرية التفكير و إتخاذ المواقف والقرارات في شتى القضايا الاجتماعية والسياسية والدينية! "كانوا متفقين جميعًا على أن الديمقراطية الأمريكية لا تعني مساواة في الثروة، لكنها تعني (بالضرورة) وحدة شاملة في الأفكار والملابس وفن الرسم والأخلاق ومفردات اللغة" وفي مجتمع كهذا؛ صارت الثقافة زينة ضرورية وشكلًا إعلانيًا ضروريًا للحداثة مثلها مثل الأرصفة والحسابات المصرفية. وأصبحت هناك مواصفات للمواطن الأمريكي القياسي! فما عاد البطل الرومانتيكي في نظرهم ذلك الفارس، ولا الشاعر الجوال، ولا راعي البقر، ولا الطيار، ولا محامي الأرياف الجريء الشاب؛ الذي كان في الزمن الماضي، بل مدير المبيعات الناجح العظيم الذي يكرس نفسه وفتوته من أجل غاية البيع الكَونيّة. "ها هو الجيل الجديد من الأمريكيين: رجال لهم شعر على صدورهم وابتسامات في عيونهم، رجال يُدخِلون الآلات إلى مكاتبهم، إننا لا نفاخر هنا ولا نتشدق بالكلام؛ لكننا نحب أنفسنا قبل كل شيء. أما إذا كنت لا تحبنا، فعليك أن تنتبه وأن تختبئ قبل أن يصيبك الإعصار!" وهذا الإعصار هو ما أصاب "بابت" حين فكر في التمرد والخروج عن أعراف وقوانين الرأسمالية!
"سينكلير لويس" روائي مدهش، بسخرية لاذعة وبأسلوب غاية في الجمال والسلاسة، قدم عملًا فنيًا رائعًا، "بابت" قصيدة هجائية فريدة؛ تسخر من ثقافة المجتمع الأمريكي بشتى تنوعاته الثقافية، كما تنتقد حياة الطبقة المتوسطة والضغط الاجتماعي عليهم، الذي يؤدي إلى تفريغ الإنسان من جوهره وتحويله إلى مجرد ترس في آلة عملاقة! ومن يحاول الخروج عنها ينبذ ويهمش! ولكن المجتمع يتكفل وبقسوة في إعادته إلى مكانه مرة أخرى! وفي النهاية نتساءل: من منا ليس "بابت"؟
الرواية جميلة جدًا، وترجمة: الحارس النبهان غاية في الأناقة.#تمت😍
"جورج بابيت" رجل في أواسط عمره، يمتلك كل ما يحتاجه كي تكون حياته مستقرة وهادئة، يعمل سمسارًا عقاريًا، محاطًا بالرفقة والأهل والأصدقاء، إلا أنه أصبح منزعجًا من حياة الهدوء والرتابة، وضاق بالتزامه بالقواعد والقوانين والمعايير التقنية التي تحياها الطبقة الوسطى -في مدينة زينيث الأمريكية في عشرينات القرن الماضي- أصبح يتساءل: ماذا يريد؟ الثروة؟ الموقع الاجتماعي؟ السفر؟ الخدم؟ لكن هذه الرغبات كلها جاءت مصادفةً؛ فما غاية هذا كله؟ وماذا يريد هو نفسه؟ كان يشعر بأن الحياة التي عرفها ومارسها بجدية ونشاط، لم تكن سوى شيئًا عقيمًا باطلًا "لم أفعل إلا ما كان ضروريًا لاستمرار حركة التقدم"، "لم أفعل شيئًا واحدًا مما أردت أن أفعله حقًا... في حياتي كلها! لا أعرف... حققت أشياء كثيرة في حياتي... ما عدا أمنيتي في أن أمضي كما أشتهي."
قرر "بابت" أن يعيش المغامرة، والثورة على المجتمع الذي يعيش فيه معرضًا سمعته هو وأسرته للخطر! ومثلما يحدث مع كل مهتدِ إلى دين جديد، أو حب جديد، أخذت الهوايات الجديدة تملأ عالمه، وهكذا، اندفع بابِت منغمسًا في ملذاته وراح يكتشف فرصاً للملذات في كل مكان. لكنه سرعان ما شعر بالاغتراب والنبذ والتجاهل وعدم القيمة، ليس فقط في عمله وبين أصدقائه؛ بل حتى داخل أسرته! شعر "بابت" بالانزعاج ولم يستطيع الابتعاد عن التفكير في الناس. وهكذا، بدا له أن الهرب بعيدًا ما كان إلا حماقة لأنه لا يستطيع أن يهرب من نفسه. لكنه أحس بشيءٍ مات في نفسه: الإيمان المخلص الشديد في طيبة العالم، والخوف من ازدراء الناس، والزهو بالنجاح. "كان مصممًا على المضي في طريق الضلال، لكنه لم يستمتع بذلك أبدًا! لماذا؟ سأل نفسه... لماذا يتمرَّد أصلًا؟ ما الغاية من هذا؟ «لماذا لا أكون عاقلًا؛ لماذا لا أكفّ عن هذا الجَري الغبي هنا وهناك فأستمتع بحياتي في أسرتي وعملي ومع أصدقائي في النادي؟»... ما الذي يجنيه من هذا التمرد؟ البؤس، والعار!" حاول "بابت" اتباع نمط حياة جديدة، وثار على المجتمع الذي يعيش فيه، لكنه لم يفلح فى التغيير، وفى النهاية عاد كمان كان سابقًا!
كان "بابت" يفتقر إلى الحرية، ليس فقط الحرية في العيش وكيفية قضاء وقت ما، بل أيضًا حرية التفكير و إتخاذ المواقف والقرارات في شتى القضايا الاجتماعية والسياسية والدينية! "كانوا متفقين جميعًا على أن الديمقراطية الأمريكية لا تعني مساواة في الثروة، لكنها تعني (بالضرورة) وحدة شاملة في الأفكار والملابس وفن الرسم والأخلاق ومفردات اللغة" وفي مجتمع كهذا؛ صارت الثقافة زينة ضرورية وشكلًا إعلانيًا ضروريًا للحداثة مثلها مثل الأرصفة والحسابات المصرفية. وأصبحت هناك مواصفات للمواطن الأمريكي القياسي! فما عاد البطل الرومانتيكي في نظرهم ذلك الفارس، ولا الشاعر الجوال، ولا راعي البقر، ولا الطيار، ولا محامي الأرياف الجريء الشاب؛ الذي كان في الزمن الماضي، بل مدير المبيعات الناجح العظيم الذي يكرس نفسه وفتوته من أجل غاية البيع الكَونيّة. "ها هو الجيل الجديد من الأمريكيين: رجال لهم شعر على صدورهم وابتسامات في عيونهم، رجال يُدخِلون الآلات إلى مكاتبهم، إننا لا نفاخر هنا ولا نتشدق بالكلام؛ لكننا نحب أنفسنا قبل كل شيء. أما إذا كنت لا تحبنا، فعليك أن تنتبه وأن تختبئ قبل أن يصيبك الإعصار!" وهذا الإعصار هو ما أصاب "بابت" حين فكر في التمرد والخروج عن أعراف وقوانين الرأسمالية!
"سينكلير لويس" روائي مدهش، بسخرية لاذعة وبأسلوب غاية في الجمال والسلاسة، قدم عملًا فنيًا رائعًا، "بابت" قصيدة هجائية فريدة؛ تسخر من ثقافة المجتمع الأمريكي بشتى تنوعاته الثقافية، كما تنتقد حياة الطبقة المتوسطة والضغط الاجتماعي عليهم، الذي يؤدي إلى تفريغ الإنسان من جوهره وتحويله إلى مجرد ترس في آلة عملاقة! ومن يحاول الخروج عنها ينبذ ويهمش! ولكن المجتمع يتكفل وبقسوة في إعادته إلى مكانه مرة أخرى! وفي النهاية نتساءل: من منا ليس "بابت"؟
الرواية جميلة جدًا، وترجمة: الحارس النبهان غاية في الأناقة.#تمت😍
November 22, 2020
”... si verificò un fenomeno rarissimo nella sua vita: dubitò della propria perfezione.”
Dopo circa trent’anni dalla sua istituzione, nel 1930, il Nobel per la Letteratura fu assegnato per la prima volta ad uno scrittore statunitense: Sinclair Lewis.
Nel discorso che tenne alla cerimonia disse:
"in America la maggior parte di noi — non solo i lettori, ma anche gli scrittori — ha ancora paura della letteratura che non è glorificazione di tutto ciò che è Statunitense, un'esaltazione dei nostri difetti così come delle nostre virtù", e che gli Stati Uniti sono "il più contraddittorio, deprimente, emozionante Paese al mondo oggigiorno".
Questo fu un po’ il senso della sua opera.
“Babbit” (1922), in particolare, è un romanzo satirico che ironizza sulla standardizzazione dello stile di vita americano.
La storia si svolge nell’immaginaria citta di Zenith, nome che ci dà l’evidenza di essere un luogo emblematico attraverso il quale osservare lo stile di vita ed il pensiero di molte altre citta statunitensi.
George Babbit dirige un’agenzia immobiliare, conduce una vita morigerata secondo gli standard accettati dalla sua comunità:
una moglie, due figli, una casa arredata secondo il modello di molte altre, apparecchi elettronici di ultima generazione.
Una vita vigilata e costretta dentro a rigidi paletti dietro cui nascondere le proprie insicurezze:
il Dio del Progresso, l’Uniforme del Buon Borghese, l’imperativo del Produrre, l’Amore per l’Automobile (noto prolungamento della virilità), insomma un Buon Cittadino Americano ed una Buona Persona che, ovviamente, ha cieca fede nel Partito repubblicano con tutto ciò che ne consegue.
A quarantasette anni è totalmente immerso dalla consuetudine che basta poco a farlo dubitare.
Una piccola inquietudine che, giorno dopo giorno, cresce finchè reclama di essere ascoltata e fa nascere il sospetto di non essere poi un Uomo così Riuscito.
Strutturato in trentaquattro brevi capitoli (come adoro i capitoli brevi!) pecca di qualche ripetizione ma sostanzialmente un ottimo romanzo che ci racconta la mediocrità degli arrivisti rimasta tale e quale dopo cento anni.
Sarebbe bello se Lewis fosse un rispolverato magari con una traduzioni più moderna...
"E allora successe la cosa incredibile; Babbitt brontolò: - Come vorrei potergli dare un calcio e buttarlo in mezzo alla strada! E stare tutto il giorno a pancia all'aria! E stasera andare di nuovo da Gunch e bestemmiare come un turco e bere centonovantanove bottiglie di birra!"
Dopo circa trent’anni dalla sua istituzione, nel 1930, il Nobel per la Letteratura fu assegnato per la prima volta ad uno scrittore statunitense: Sinclair Lewis.
Nel discorso che tenne alla cerimonia disse:
"in America la maggior parte di noi — non solo i lettori, ma anche gli scrittori — ha ancora paura della letteratura che non è glorificazione di tutto ciò che è Statunitense, un'esaltazione dei nostri difetti così come delle nostre virtù", e che gli Stati Uniti sono "il più contraddittorio, deprimente, emozionante Paese al mondo oggigiorno".
Questo fu un po’ il senso della sua opera.
“Babbit” (1922), in particolare, è un romanzo satirico che ironizza sulla standardizzazione dello stile di vita americano.
La storia si svolge nell’immaginaria citta di Zenith, nome che ci dà l’evidenza di essere un luogo emblematico attraverso il quale osservare lo stile di vita ed il pensiero di molte altre citta statunitensi.
George Babbit dirige un’agenzia immobiliare, conduce una vita morigerata secondo gli standard accettati dalla sua comunità:
una moglie, due figli, una casa arredata secondo il modello di molte altre, apparecchi elettronici di ultima generazione.
Una vita vigilata e costretta dentro a rigidi paletti dietro cui nascondere le proprie insicurezze:
il Dio del Progresso, l’Uniforme del Buon Borghese, l’imperativo del Produrre, l’Amore per l’Automobile (noto prolungamento della virilità), insomma un Buon Cittadino Americano ed una Buona Persona che, ovviamente, ha cieca fede nel Partito repubblicano con tutto ciò che ne consegue.
A quarantasette anni è totalmente immerso dalla consuetudine che basta poco a farlo dubitare.
Una piccola inquietudine che, giorno dopo giorno, cresce finchè reclama di essere ascoltata e fa nascere il sospetto di non essere poi un Uomo così Riuscito.
Strutturato in trentaquattro brevi capitoli (come adoro i capitoli brevi!) pecca di qualche ripetizione ma sostanzialmente un ottimo romanzo che ci racconta la mediocrità degli arrivisti rimasta tale e quale dopo cento anni.
Sarebbe bello se Lewis fosse un rispolverato magari con una traduzioni più moderna...
"E allora successe la cosa incredibile; Babbitt brontolò: - Come vorrei potergli dare un calcio e buttarlo in mezzo alla strada! E stare tutto il giorno a pancia all'aria! E stasera andare di nuovo da Gunch e bestemmiare come un turco e bere centonovantanove bottiglie di birra!"
May 6, 2019
Storia di un rivoluzionario domestico e della lunga strada per diventare nessuno.
Il suo è un girare in tondo, un po' come il giro che ho fatto io per andare alla mia prima lezione di yoga quando non mi ero resa conto che la strada che avevo imboccato era circolare; ero convinta di essere arrivata chissà dove, di aver percorso chilometri - cosa che in effetti avevo fatto! - senza però rendermi conto di essere praticamente tornata al punto di partenza.
"Georgie" Babbitt parte per una "lunga e tortuosa strada", cammina, si guarda intorno, gira, si perde, si ribella, si allontana, ma poi riconosce il paesaggio, si tranquillizza e parcheggia - definitivamente? - l'automobile.
Sinclair Lewis attraverso la descrizione dell'apparentemente banale vita di Babbitt trova il passo per criticare ferocemente la borghesia statunitense degli anni Venti, quella che si insedia in una società fondata sul benessere e sull'apparenza, in cui l'omologazione e la moralità esteriore sono le parole d'ordine per una perfetta integrazione e assimilazione. Il Babbitt che incontriamo all'inizio del romanzo ne è l'esemplare più riuscito: pingue quarantaseienne, mediatore immobiliare, marito esemplare, padre di tre figli, perfettamente integrato nella comunità della città di Zenith, città modello simbolo degli Stati Uniti di quegli anni, gira a bordo della sua automobile, quando in città sono ancora in pochi ad averla, con l'unico scopo di essere ben visto e di concludere affari ben remunerati. In fondo, come molti, come la maggior parte dei frequentatori dell'esclusivo circolo dei Booster di cui fa parte, a lui interessa solo il proprio orticello e salvare le apparenze.
Eppure, ad un certo punto, qualcosa si incrina, e lui, il nostro Babbitt, comincia ad annaspare, a boccheggiare come un pesce rosso tirato fuori dalla boccia.
Lewis tocca tutte le corde mutando via via che la storia si dipana i sentimenti di Babbitt e quelli del lettore: se all'inizio l'incedere è spedito - raccontavo nel GdL che a me veniva da leggerlo con lo stesso tono di voce degli storici Cinegiornale dell'Istituto Luce - satirico, umoristico e anche leggermente irritante - Babbitt è il ritratto della mediocrità, un uomo in fondo piccolo piccolo - man mano che si va avanti nella lettura si comincia ad insinuare il dubbio che la storia non possa proseguire con lo stesso registro, ed infatti subentrano lentamente piccoli lampi di comprensione, piccoli gesti che avvicinano Babbitt a noi fino a rendercelo più simile e a spingerci a fare il tifo per lui.
È talmente umano da sentire una grande tenerezza di fronte ai suoi tentativi di ribellarsi e di dare una svolta alla propria vita, talmente umano che forse nei suoi fallimenti e nel suo conformismo ciascuno di noi non deve fare alcuno sforzo per trovare qualcosa di sé e dei sogni ai quali ha dovuto, voluto o creduto di rinunciare; forse, proprio per questo, alla fine associare a delusione e compassione un sorriso di circostanza, con il quale passare idealmente il testimone alla nuova generazione, è la conclusione più naturale.
Bella scoperta Lewis, così come una bella scoperta è stato sapere che si tratta del Premio Nobel per la Letteratura del 1930! Insomma, lo sapevo già di ignorare tante cose, ma alle volte sono veramente spossata: meno male che c'è Americana Contemporanea!
«Allora Babbitt, quasi in lacrime per la gioia di essere adulato invece che forzato, di avere la possibilità di abbandonare la lotta, di essere messo in grado di disertare senza ferire l'opinione che aveva di se stesso, rinunciò definitivamente a essere un rivoluzionario domestico.»
Bello aver scoperto, un po' di tempo dopo, che Sinclair Lewis era stato l'autore preferito di John Steinbeck, che gli dedica alcune pagine di In viaggio con Charley e che il protagonista di L'inverno del nostro scontento è in qualche modo ispirato a Babbitt.
Il suo è un girare in tondo, un po' come il giro che ho fatto io per andare alla mia prima lezione di yoga quando non mi ero resa conto che la strada che avevo imboccato era circolare; ero convinta di essere arrivata chissà dove, di aver percorso chilometri - cosa che in effetti avevo fatto! - senza però rendermi conto di essere praticamente tornata al punto di partenza.
"Georgie" Babbitt parte per una "lunga e tortuosa strada", cammina, si guarda intorno, gira, si perde, si ribella, si allontana, ma poi riconosce il paesaggio, si tranquillizza e parcheggia - definitivamente? - l'automobile.
Sinclair Lewis attraverso la descrizione dell'apparentemente banale vita di Babbitt trova il passo per criticare ferocemente la borghesia statunitense degli anni Venti, quella che si insedia in una società fondata sul benessere e sull'apparenza, in cui l'omologazione e la moralità esteriore sono le parole d'ordine per una perfetta integrazione e assimilazione. Il Babbitt che incontriamo all'inizio del romanzo ne è l'esemplare più riuscito: pingue quarantaseienne, mediatore immobiliare, marito esemplare, padre di tre figli, perfettamente integrato nella comunità della città di Zenith, città modello simbolo degli Stati Uniti di quegli anni, gira a bordo della sua automobile, quando in città sono ancora in pochi ad averla, con l'unico scopo di essere ben visto e di concludere affari ben remunerati. In fondo, come molti, come la maggior parte dei frequentatori dell'esclusivo circolo dei Booster di cui fa parte, a lui interessa solo il proprio orticello e salvare le apparenze.
Eppure, ad un certo punto, qualcosa si incrina, e lui, il nostro Babbitt, comincia ad annaspare, a boccheggiare come un pesce rosso tirato fuori dalla boccia.
Lewis tocca tutte le corde mutando via via che la storia si dipana i sentimenti di Babbitt e quelli del lettore: se all'inizio l'incedere è spedito - raccontavo nel GdL che a me veniva da leggerlo con lo stesso tono di voce degli storici Cinegiornale dell'Istituto Luce - satirico, umoristico e anche leggermente irritante - Babbitt è il ritratto della mediocrità, un uomo in fondo piccolo piccolo - man mano che si va avanti nella lettura si comincia ad insinuare il dubbio che la storia non possa proseguire con lo stesso registro, ed infatti subentrano lentamente piccoli lampi di comprensione, piccoli gesti che avvicinano Babbitt a noi fino a rendercelo più simile e a spingerci a fare il tifo per lui.
È talmente umano da sentire una grande tenerezza di fronte ai suoi tentativi di ribellarsi e di dare una svolta alla propria vita, talmente umano che forse nei suoi fallimenti e nel suo conformismo ciascuno di noi non deve fare alcuno sforzo per trovare qualcosa di sé e dei sogni ai quali ha dovuto, voluto o creduto di rinunciare; forse, proprio per questo, alla fine associare a delusione e compassione un sorriso di circostanza, con il quale passare idealmente il testimone alla nuova generazione, è la conclusione più naturale.
Bella scoperta Lewis, così come una bella scoperta è stato sapere che si tratta del Premio Nobel per la Letteratura del 1930! Insomma, lo sapevo già di ignorare tante cose, ma alle volte sono veramente spossata: meno male che c'è Americana Contemporanea!
«Allora Babbitt, quasi in lacrime per la gioia di essere adulato invece che forzato, di avere la possibilità di abbandonare la lotta, di essere messo in grado di disertare senza ferire l'opinione che aveva di se stesso, rinunciò definitivamente a essere un rivoluzionario domestico.»
Bello aver scoperto, un po' di tempo dopo, che Sinclair Lewis era stato l'autore preferito di John Steinbeck, che gli dedica alcune pagine di In viaggio con Charley e che il protagonista di L'inverno del nostro scontento è in qualche modo ispirato a Babbitt.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,657 reviews