Welcome to Litsy!

I wasn‘t sure about this book at first, but it slowly got its hooks into me and didn‘t let go. I could literally feel Carol‘s despair as she struggled to avoid a descent into the mind-numbing desolation of the “Village Virus.” I‘ve been where Carol is. I‘ve lived in a Gopher Prairie. I finally escaped after 15 long years. I was rooting for her all the way to the end.

It‘s a gorgeous autumn day to sit outside with a mug of tea and a stack of books for #Turnthepage readathon. I‘m cycling between 3 nonfiction books (the bottom 2 pictured plus “What We Knew” on my iPad) and the tagged fiction book.

My #192025 challenge pick for #1920 We see the small town through Carols eyes ,a woman who marries, leaving city life & a librarian job behind. While Carol thinks she might influence & improve the place , Lewis‘s plot shows the worst qualities of small town life.Judgement, suspicion of new ideas, rumors, etc. EG:Carol thinks if they put on a play, perhaps Shakespeare or modern drama, something aspirational,she is voted down,cheap musical it is!

Parts of this made quite an impression on me as a being clearly about a specific time and place while also being clearly relevant today. Other parts were slow and did not hold my attention as well. Maybe, I also had a bit of a hard time with this because I can more easily see the benefits of small town life over those of city life.

#1001books #audiobook

#bookspin #reading1001 #minnesota #v#classic #may2022

Finished Main Street for not only my August #bookspin but also a #BookspinBingo!

Getting super close of a second once I finish Small Pleasures both good solid picks.
@thearomaofbooks

Very much enjoyed this. Incredibly feminist for a book written by a man in 1920. I have the 1961 edition I found at a book exchange. I like how he pulls apart a small town to see the casual cruelty of the people. Our main character Carol is taken from town to an ugly town filled with ugly people, which is not an outdated concept yet. Man of the things the town complains about I can still hear people saying and I found it humorous.

I have said a few choice words while just reading Main Street. I cannot imagine what I would say to a grocer man who said something like this to me!! He would be less offended by my cleavage then my language I am sure! 😳🙄😬

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, considering I typically don‘t enjoy satires. Even though it is social commentary about the close mindedness of villages, it was very much about a woman‘s struggle for purpose and independence in a small town, coming from city life. The internal arguments were written so realistically. Living in a small town like Gopher Prairie does sound kind of terrifying.

I like these segments where Lewis writes Carol‘s jumbled and contradicting thoughts one after another. That‘s what mulling over things is really like!

The Village Virus

This classic is a subversion of the #returntosmalltown trope. The main character is Carol and it is to her new husband‘s hometown that they return, where Carol‘s ideals are crushed by small town conservatism and small-mindedness.

#tropesinaugust

Dropped off a few books at a nearby Little Free Library and couldn't help but grab a couple more 🤗

I don‘t have the bandwidth to handle the parochial attitudes of the denizens of Gopher Prairie at this time. Went on Wikipedia to see how it ended. This is more of an it‘s-not-you-it‘s-me bail.

Happy Indie Bookstore Day!!! - Main Street Books in Minot, ND

Carol Milford(Kennicotts') role as a "progressive" is hard not to appreciate, in this 1920 story of Americana. This is a novel of social reform versus personal freedom, still relevant today.
Erik Valborg, Vida Sherwin and Carol were my favorite characters.
I loved this book....love Sinclair Lewis....
Recommended!

# 8 of 100
Main Street
By Sinclair Lewis

❤❤...Sinclair Lewis.

"I think perhaps we want a more conscious life. We're tired of drudging and sleeping and dying." #classicreads #sinclairlewis #turquiosebooks

I read this on @SerialReader for my classic lit book club. 63 issues. It's much longer than it needs to be to get Lewis's point across. It's about a city girl who marries a small town doctor and has trouble acclimating to her change in scenery and society. She thinks she is going to change and transform this little town, but it doesn't quite work out that way. MC is whiny and unlikable. Lewis comes across as making fun of small towns.

This was a decent read- which is really a social commentary on small towns in America at a particular time. It's also about accepting people and places for who they are- and our desire to change things. I was equally annoyed by and annoyed for Carol throughout the novel. Although I really appreciated Lewis' ideas- the manner in which they were presented was a bit protracted. Most of the real gems were right at the beginning and right at the end.

Lewis is finally getting back to the point after a lengthy slump in the second half of this novel- but OMG THIS QUOTE

#litsyclassics #litsyclassicsmatches

@KellyK @RebelReader

Truth

Turning point

I cannot say I really enjoy this book much, but I mark it as a pick. It is quite long with “nothing happened” concept. A heroine had a struggle to adapt to a life in a small city on the fist 580 pages and only on the last 10 she accepted the town as it is. The first half was quite funny, the second was dramatic and had risen a lot of moral points of human judgements. I would say if there was only the second part, I would enjoy it much more.

Oh yes now we are getting to the crux of it

Do not question what you are told. To question is to be unpatriotic. Intense dystopian.

This book is not a fast paced one, but it's full of gems like this.

A plus philosophy- that's how I was raised 💯👌🏻

Can already tell I'm going to love this

Next up on @SerialReader this one which has been on my TBR forever

It took a while to finish this one. I found out I am not terribly interested in American small town life, but I did sympathize with Carol, who keeps struggling with life in Gopher Prairie and with life in general. Her character is described very good, as are the characters of other inhabitants of the town. I feel like I know them. #1001books

#riotgrams #day7 Some of my #welllovedreads that I've kept over the years. Gopher Prairie from The novel Main Street is a fictional town based on Sinclair Lewis' boyhood home, Sauk Centre, MN. It's less than an hour from where I live!

#CupidGoesPostal First, I thought shopping for books to send was my favorite part. Then, my package came and I thought this is my favorite part. Then, I watched everyone post their opened packages and that became my favorite part. Seriously, oh what fun this had been. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU @BookishMarginalia

Here is my stack of paper books for #readathon tomorrow - a little nonfiction, a few classics, and more. I also have 10 ebooks and 1 audiobook on standby. Due to family commitments, I have a limited amount of time to read, but I'm hoping to catch up on my GoodReads challenge. @DeweysReadathon