Babbitt (1922)

For some reason, I have been reading novels about people who are not exactly the salt of the earth. In this case, Mr. Babbitt is a "typical" middle-classed businessman. In spite of having the required accoutrements of the age – a wife, a good job, children, etc. – his is a loveless life and he is very unhappy. This novel follows him as he explores this unhappiness, to the point where he becomes a bit of a...radical. However, life has different plans for him and, when it all comes to a close, Babbitt realizes he cannot change.

Really, Babbitt is not a particularly likable individual. As I say, I seem to be reading about these types a lot lately. (What, exactly, is the cosmos trying to tell me?) And it is very interesting to watch how well authors handle the task. I have seen it mishandled to the point that I rooted against both the protagonist and author, and I have seen it handled so well that, in spite of hoping for ill things to happen to the protagonist, I continued to read about their progress with interest.

In this case, it was very interesting. As Lewis describes Babbitt's life, he is quickly someone with whom I cannot sympathize nor hope good things for. Yet, the early section describing Babbitt's life is fascinating and, in spite of the relative boredom of that life, hard to put down. The ensuring action continues that trend. At certain points you root for Babbitt; at others you grieve for him; and in others you feel it is no less than he deserves.

I think what makes this work (and what makes any of them work) is that relatability of the character. No, I'm not as bad as Babbitt. But I can definitely see the humanity in him. And, because of that, I appreciate the telling of his tale.

(And, after looking more closely, the other situation where I felt the dislikable character was handled so expertly happened to also be by Sinclair Lewis. I guess this guy knows what he is doing.) ( )

I read this book long before I lived in Minnesota, or visited Duluth ("Zenith" in the book). I was glad to see this book on the 1000 Novels list, along with [b:Main Street|11376|Main Street (Modern Library (Paperback))|Sinclair Lewis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166469979s/11376.jpg|2772489] which I was never able to finish (maybe someday!) I think the difference is in the point of view -- in [b:Babbitt|84981|Tuck Everlasting|Natalie Babbitt|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171058527s/84981.jpg|1955922] you see things from Babbitt's point of view and even though he's being judged by the author, there is a certain charm to him. In [b:Main Street|11376|Main Street (Modern Library (Paperback))|Sinclair Lewis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166469979s/11376.jpg|2772489], Carol just seems like a whiner to me. But maybe I should give her another chance. ( )

For the most part, this is a book about an 48 year old grump's midlife crisis. I hated every single minute of this story. George F. Babbitt struck me as wholly offensive and obnoxious from the very first and he only got worse. While I know, on one level, that this is probably to make a point, I cannot accept that he never gets a comeuppance for being an idiotic jerk. He constantly espouses viewpoints as his own, even though he's simply repeating what he has heard or read in the newspaper.

Once again, I listened to an audiobook. It's hard for me to say whether it was a good performance of the novel or not, since I so hated the novel itself. From the first, I really wanted to punch Colacci in the face to make him stop talking. His voice is grating and annoying. This inclines me to say that thus this is not a great audiobook, but, still, such a voice does fit perfectly with the truly awful people in the story. I do imagine that Babbitt sounds exactly like that.

A more fair criticism of the performance than my personally not liking the sound of Colacci's voice is that it was often difficult to tell the characters apart. During conversations, I really could not follow who was speaking, unless there was some sort of note as to who said what. One conversation between Paul Riesling and Babbitt, for example, left me unsure as to whose wife was being annoying and who was praising whom. Surprisingly, though, this gruff-voiced man did a really good job with the female voices, although, again, they all sounded pretty similar. Of course, the women never really have a conversation, so that didn't matter much.

Pretty much the only interesting thing in this novel is the setting (1920s), but I would recommend getting that from An American Tragedy instead, which has some really strange parallels. Babbitt is repetitive (he constantly mentions his desire to quit smoking and then forgets and then announces he'll do it this time and then...) and obnoxious (Babbitt spends the first half of the novel being sanctimonious about things and behavior, then goes and does all those things and is sanctimonious about those that judge him for it). If that's your thing, then go for it.
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E-read on touch. ( )

Not so magnificent as expected. ( )