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Arrowsmith

by Sinclair Lewis, E.L. Doctorow (Afterword)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 2,601 ratings · 164 reviews

The Pulitzer Prize winning "Arrowsmith" (an award Lewis refused to accept) recounts the story of a doctor who is forced to give up his trade for reasons ranging from public ignorance to the publicity-mindedness of a great foundation, and becomes an isolated seeker of scientific truth.

Hardcover, 428 pages

Published June 1st 1953 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (first published January 1st 1925)

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Aug 04, 2008 Tyler rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: _anyone

Recommended to Tyler by: _Pulitzer Prize award

What a premise for a book: A young man falls in love, not just with a young woman, but with a quest. This is the passion that infuses Arrowsmith. How the author was able to put blood into such an idea explains in part the Pulitzer prize.

The other part that explains the award is that the book is a good read. Covering the nearly 20 years during which a student (and later researcher) learns to embrace his life's calling, the plot never stalls. The constant motion guides us along with Martin Arrowsm...more What a premise for a book: A young man falls in love, not just with a young woman, but with a quest. This is the passion that infuses Arrowsmith. How the author was able to put blood into such an idea explains in part the Pulitzer prize.

The other part that explains the award is that the book is a good read. Covering the nearly 20 years during which a student (and later researcher) learns to embrace his life's calling, the plot never stalls. The constant motion guides us along with Martin Arrowsmith as he follows the thread leading him out of a labyrinth of false promises, and up upon his own personal road less traveled by.

During my reading, I couldn't help comparing the book to The Fountainhead, a book with a similar moral and strikingly similar plot elements. The notion of man as a hero who overcomes constant adversity drives the action in both stories. But Arrowsmith, published some 20 years before, is the better book. One difference is that the later book presents us with a young hero having a fully developed moral sense to start with, and with our book here we see, to better effect, how a man becomes a heroic figure in the first place -- how he learns which choices really matter. Another point of contrast lies in the role of capitalism, which helps the protagonist in The Fountainhead but hampers Martin in his own search for creative freedom. Either way, the effective status of the free market plays a crucial role in both books.

In further contrast, one finds in Martin a callow lad vulnerable to poor judgment, a flaw that elicits an indulgent sympathy. This high-strung fellow with a slightly nerdy disposition, black hair on pale skin and "dreamy" eyes, yaps away with an impossible "awe shucks" Midwestern affectation. His voice sometimes hits an jarringly piercing note; at other points his brusque rudeness abrades. Testy frustration at times pushes him to overwrought tears. And does his own self-discovery, in the end, arrive at the expense of a family member? Proneness to error makes up the bread and butter of the plot.

Rare for a novel, the scientific method is a theme, for Martin's self-actualization depends on it. The necessity of controls in a solid experiment and the need for uninterrupted research factor into the story. The corrupting power of commerce and personal popularity is a danger in which the young doctor finds himself entangled again and again. Like him, we find ourselves even today grappling with the effect that the profit motive exerts on clinical research.

Let's not think that a man turned so inward ends up entirely alone. But again, we find Martin's affections becoming psychological, possibly even at the expense of the sexual and familial. For such as he, the attraction of the mental bond two people can forge is a discovery that sets his psychic makeup apart from the crowd.

To this book, with its distinctive Midwestern tang, I gave a high rating. I recommend it for readers who are looking for an unlikely subject and an unusual hero, a protagonist pushing against a riptide toward unexpected contentment.(less)

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow added it

Shelves: literature

Arrowsmith[return]Sinclair Lewis[return][return]Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction for 1926.[return][return]Martin Arrowsmith is an idealistic young man born around the turn of the century in the US Midwest who studies medicine but finds that his real love is research, especially into bacteriology. He struggles against the mores and complacency, the veniality of society of his day.[return][return]Unlike the Pulitzer winners of previous years, Arrowsmith is one of the most pretentious, stuffy, hum...more Arrowsmith[return]Sinclair Lewis[return][return]Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction for 1926.[return][return]Martin Arrowsmith is an idealistic young man born around the turn of the century in the US Midwest who studies medicine but finds that his real love is research, especially into bacteriology. He struggles against the mores and complacency, the veniality of society of his day.[return][return]Unlike the Pulitzer winners of previous years, Arrowsmith is one of the most pretentious, stuffy, humorless and overwrought books I have ever read. The characters are at best stereotypes and most often are merely stick figures so that Lewis can write over-the-top speeches glorifying becoming rich through medicine or business, the shallowness of almost all scientists, tub-thumping promotion of medicine and research fro either self-or institutional aggrandizement, or to expose the frivolity and shallowness of the societal elite of the day. It� s been done before and since and it� s been done much, much better.[return][return]The tone of the book is shrill harping, with pages of inane speeches or dialogue that is supposed to illustrate the crassness of whatever caricature Lewis is ranting about at the time, whether it be medical students who want nothing more than rich private practices, clownish public health figures who are nothing more than local boosters and who wind up in Congress, stuffy heads of research institutes--you name it, Lewis has the inane dialogue for such a figure--and for pages and pages and pages.[return][return]From time to time--far too infrequently--there are flashes of humor such as the conversations that take place at dinner in the home of Arrowsmith� s in-laws. They are incredibly funny, but as with all the other stereotypes, Lewis has either contempt or outright hatred for these figures. The humor is achieved through mockery.[return][return]When he isn� t hammering on his figure of his scorn of the moment, he switches to the opposite end of the spectrum to rhapsodize about those terribly Few Pure Men of Science who give up everything for the solitary joys of pure research, absolutely disinterested in any sort of worldly reward. The prototype of the three characters in the book is Gotliebb, a stereotype of a turn-of-the century German Jewish intellectual who cares for nothing or no one but pure research. Gottlieb is a widower who enthralled by his research, never even noticed his wife was dying until she did and then more or less because there was no one to take care of him except his spinster daughter Miriam. He lives in a garret, cares nothing for food or other human beings except for a few European scientists who meet his lofty criteria of Pure Scientific Research.[return][return]Such people never existed--not then and not now. The closest to this impossible stereotype would e the naturalists of the 19th century, who were not research scientists but world travelers in the quest for describing the natural world, aka Wallace and Bates; Darwin had a job.[return][return]The elevation of Science to religion is not a new phenomenon but Lewis is an example of the worst of the breed. His � heroes� are totally unrealistic. Towards the end, Arrowsmith and his great friend Terry go off into the wilderness--literally--and set up a research lab in a forest near a lake, roughing it, making sera that they sell only to physicians with the purest of motives in oder to survive. It is absolutely unbelievable.[return][return]The only decent section of the book is the description, towards the end, of the outbreak and propagation of a bubonic plague epidemic on a fictional West Indies island. Even then, Lewis gets into Good Guys--a few selfless physicians--Bad Guys--99.999% of the official world, but fortunately that doesn� t detract too much from the quite interesting account--until Arrowsmith gets into the act. This section is the only reason I found to rate the book with even a half-star.[return][return]Supposedly Lewis was trying for some spiritual ideal, but if that is the case, like so many others of that type, he descends into what is practically venomous diatribes against the culture he so clearly despises, losing in the process his position of moral superiority (if indeed he ever occupied such a position).[return][return]This shrill, pretentious, preachy and ultimately boring book is one of the worst of any era I have ever read.(less)

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Apr 07, 2012 Ensiform rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

The titular main character, Martin Arrowsmith, attends medical school and becomes a doctor, then struggles to plot the correct course for his career: dedication to slow pure scientific research in the name of progress, or the quest for the money and rewards that hasty mock trials and early publication bring? The life of the dedicated scientist, or the society man? Arrowsmith’s heroes are Gottlieb, a scientist who disdains the “Men of Measured Merriment,” as he calls those who pursue knowledge fo...more The titular main character, Martin Arrowsmith, attends medical school and becomes a doctor, then struggles to plot the correct course for his career: dedication to slow pure scientific research in the name of progress, or the quest for the money and rewards that hasty mock trials and early publication bring? The life of the dedicated scientist, or the society man? Arrowsmith’s heroes are Gottlieb, a scientist who disdains the “Men of Measured Merriment,” as he calls those who pursue knowledge for practical purposes, and Sondelius, a hygienist who travels the globe fighting plague. But after he marries, Martin is torn between providing the life he wants for his steadfast, loving wife and burying himself in crucial but unglamorous research.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize (though Lewis declined it due to the wording of the prize, which states it goes to the novel which “shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life,” which he said meant nothing whatsoever), this is an exciting and readable novel. Populated with characters who represent the various directions a med student can go: the joker turned dropout, the supercilious ascetic surgeon, the patronizing missionary, the pharmaceutical agent, the dedicated pathologist, the PR-perfect Head of the Department who understands nothing of the nature of the work does in his department, and so on. Though they do seem to represent distinct types, they are fully drawn characters who help shape Martin’s own fate as he moves from small-town neophyte to cog in a hospital machine to something of a celebrity. In addition, Lewis lampoons high and low society of the time, from Martin’s close-minded in-laws to the clueless Smart Set he later finds himself allied with. Through the drama of Martin’s growth as a free man and a doctor, Lewis provides plenty of satire and wit, with sharp phrases such as “he had learned plenty of new things about which to be dull” and “fatly, behind cigars, they accepted their kinghood.” It’s a witty, compelling story of a man gaining the strength to find himself among all the external pressures of the world.(less)

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Oct 29, 2011 Mmars rated it 4 of 5 stars

An interesting portrait of American medicine, medical research and public health at the turn of the century. Society is much better presented in other books of the time(the Great Gatsby was also published in 1925) but medicine was a world that Lewis knew well and it never hurts to write what you know. I enjoyed Arrowsmith's student years, life in North Dakota and the tropical portion of the story. For the most part I believed Leora could be just what she was, this was not to my knowledge that un...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-into-film, family-relationships, historical, literary-prize-winner, new-york-times-best-seller, own-it, pulitzer-prize-winner, read-in-2011, reviewed

Martin Arrowsmith enters med school in the early nineteen hundreds in the American midwest.

The reader sees the difficulty in dealing with medical and social issues. Martin goes through school with the ardor of a man pursuing his lifelong dream. When he takes a class in bacteriology, he can't imagine anything better than becoming a researcher.

Working hard, he needed a change of pace and goes to a city called Zenith where he meets Madeline Fox who is working on her grad school courses and seems to...more

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Apr 20, 2011 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

I just finished this novel earlier today. I was blown away. In her book, The Art of Fiction, Ayn Rand refers to this work by Sinclair Lewis often. She compares it to The Fountainhead a number of times, and rightly so. Martin Arrowsmith is much like Howard Roark in many ways, though Roark had more integrity. Martin seemed so much more human than Roark though. There are times that all idealists fall short from their way of life. Martin sells out a few time in this story, but it makes his character...more I just finished this novel earlier today. I was blown away. In her book, The Art of Fiction, Ayn Rand refers to this work by Sinclair Lewis often. She compares it to The Fountainhead a number of times, and rightly so. Martin Arrowsmith is much like Howard Roark in many ways, though Roark had more integrity. Martin seemed so much more human than Roark though. There are times that all idealists fall short from their way of life. Martin sells out a few time in this story, but it makes his character more interesting. The conflict is more "real life" than in the Fountainhead. Do not get me wrong, I also gave The Fountainhead a five star rating. I love the book. I love both of these books.

My favorite aspect of this book is the relationship between Martin and Max. I know what it is like to have such high respect for an individual; to the point where when you violate their values, you are convicted yourself. Max would be a great mentor to those who pursue individualism and idealism.

The novel is written so well and there was not a single spot that had me confused. There was a literary flow to the story. The events lined up perfectly and rendered Martin's development without flaw. I would highly recommend this book to anybody who believes in individualism and understands the fight one must engage in to achieve their personal goals.

The only problem that I had with this book was the ending. I mean, I like how the story ends, but I do not like the "summary" feel to the last few chapters. All of the events occurred so fast and it was difficult to appreciate each event. This person dies, this person marries, this person is born, this person quits his job, this person moves, etc. It just seemed that the last few chapters could have been extended a bit since Lewis was so detailed when he spoke of Martins' school experience, his time in North Dakota, and his career development. To "wrap things up" at the end almost felt like a rip-off.

Regardless of my thoughts, this book is solid, plain and simple. Read it. (less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Kane Faucher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Arrowsmith poses the perennial problem (perhaps that reaches back as far as the Greeks in terms of the sophists): do we follow the noble path of our profession and engage it purely without chasing after fame and comfort, or do we compromise and embrace the commercialist perspective? For love or money? Unlike Lewis' other books, with the exception of 'It Can't Happen Here', we have a heroic (albeit stumbling, oscillating) character. Not endowed with the wisdom and certainty of position like Dorem...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: pulitizer

Arrowsmith is the 1926 Pulitzer winner by Sinclair Lewis and has the distinction of being the only declined prize in the Pulitzer prize for fiction since it's inception. Lewis declined on the grounds that a "prize" for literature would cause writers to write for that prize alone and not for the joy of writing and also for the terms of the prize itself. In a letter to the committee Lewis wrote: "Those terms are that the prize shall be given "for the American novel published during the year which...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

well written, enjoyed it, was a bit long and drawn out, but good book. Loved the revolutionary aspects. Too bad the main character was so obsessed with his passion to save the world through science that he couldn't be in his heart, abandoned his son, after basically all but abandoning his first wife, after abandoning his girlfriend. He was a self-professed failure. I think he an example of the selfish, self-centered, self-obsessed non-hero, who ultimately prefers his freedom to pursue his passio...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Cdrueallen rated it 3 of 5 stars

In ARROWSMITH, Sinclair Lewis tells the story of idealistic Martin Arrowsmith, born poor, who rises through hard work, a passionate dedication to "the truth", and two advantageous marriages to become one of the world's leading medical scientists. Writing in 1961, Lewis's main biographer Mark Schorer said that ARROWSMITH remained the most widely read of Lewis's novels, and that in its day of 1925 it was "another instant success.... (it) stilled those carping voices that had complained that in MAI...more In ARROWSMITH, Sinclair Lewis tells the story of idealistic Martin Arrowsmith, born poor, who rises through hard work, a passionate dedication to "the truth", and two advantageous marriages to become one of the world's leading medical scientists. Writing in 1961, Lewis's main biographer Mark Schorer said that ARROWSMITH remained the most widely read of Lewis's novels, and that in its day of 1925 it was "another instant success.... (it) stilled those carping voices that had complained that in MAIN STREET and BABBITT Lewis... lacked 'spiritual gifts'." Stung by these criticisms, and determined to write a "heroic" novel that would silence his critics and give him a shot at the big prizes (his calculations were spot on, as ARROWSMITH did win him a Pulitzer), Lewis concocted a thrilling plot which includes elopement, angry parents, tempting young women, professional intrigue, a bubonic plague epidemic, and an oddly modern finale in which adequately heroic Martin quits his post at a major research institute and retreats to a startup in the backwoods of Vermont.

The sentimental seriousness with which Lewis chronicles Martin's career and marriage to one of the most unrealistically ideal wives in literature marks a sad departure from the sardonic wit with which Lewis observed George Babbitt go about his daily American life. When Babbitt meets his wife after an absence during which he's been trying hard to stray from the confines of marriage, "he was dreading the moment when he would be alone with his wife and she would patiently expect him to be ardent." How amusing and deadly that picture of Myrna's patient endurance of Babbitt's dreaded ardor compared to Martin's reaction when he's separated by the epidemic from his long-suffering and thus insufferable (to me, not Martin) wife Leora and tempted by lovely Joyce: "Did he really want Leora here, with Joyce... in the house? (Dear Leora, who was the source of life! Was she now... missing him, lying awake for him?) Suddenly he was out of bed, kneeling, praying to Leora." Dear Leora, sticking to her usual policy of self-sacrifice for Martin's sake, conveniently dies, allowing Martin to marry the lovely and very rich Joyce with a clear conscience.

ARROWSMITH marks not just a transition in Lewis's work from satire to heroic seriousness but is also the point at which Lewis turns away from seeing marriage from the female as well as the male point of view, and fixes his sympathies firmly with the men. Lewis is sympathetic enough towards Martin's first wife Leora, but how could he be otherwise, since she obliterates herself when her presence isn't required by Martin or the plot. She has the trick of napping "inoffensively" while Martin works, and remaining "unannoyingly silent." But once Leora has been finally obliterated by bubonic plague, the silences of wives in Lewis's novels will invariably be annoying and their napping, offensive. This more limited patriarchal perspective, plus its deadly seriousness and mawkish sentimentality, are good enough reasons for ARROWSMITH to be almost completely forgotten today. Yet there are still reasons for reading it, chief among them the way Lewis, writing in 1925, manages to reveal so much about contemporary American life. Our obsession with the tricks and toys of science while we at the same time venerate a simpler more "natural" way of life. Our belief that intelligence and sporadic bursts of overwork will more than compensate for periods of drug-soaked dissolution and mediocrity (as they did in Lewis's own case). The tensions and power struggles in a marriage where the wife has money of her own. The vilification of socialism and organized labor by the comfortably middle-class. Reading even the most mediocre of Lewis's novels (which might be ARROWSMITH) lets us see how much of what we think of as modern about modern life has been part of American culture for at least four generations.
(less)

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Apr 11, 2009 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An old friend that I haven't read since high school.

Perhaps a more engaging book than Lewis's better-known works. The appalling satirical figures of Winnemac--Chum Frink, George Babbitt--make cameo appearances. But in this book we really do want the protagonist, Dr. Martin Arrowsmith, to succeed, and to a great extent he does.

Thomas Häusler in a recent reappraisal of the book in Nature, along with letter-writer John Pastor, points out how the book so effectively dramatizes problems of medical et...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Summer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic-literature, pulitzer-prize-finalists-winners

Overall, I found it pretty boring. I did have a moment where my interest was peaked when I realized that the moral of the story was that scientific ethics are not always black and white, but this book did not leave a lasting impression on me, which is what I look for in a good book.

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Dec 29, 2007 Hepsmom rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those interested in social commentary/science

When I read this book, it started my love for Sinclair Lewis. He is, as far as I'm concerned, the Charles Dickens of the US. This book is about a young man who experiences disappointments and disillusionment in his life on his way to a career that he believes he wants.

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Feb 08, 2012 itpdx rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is Sinclair Lewis' classic novel about the conflict between "pure" scientific research and practical or commercial research. I read it in high school and had forgotten nearly all of it. And I wonder if my 16/17 year self got any of the satire. I got a couple of good chuckles from it. This was published in 1925 and I am fascinated by the depiction of the US in the early 20th century--the slang, prohibition, cultural divides, the "home front" during the Great War, travel by train, ship and au...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Terrol Williams rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks

Martin Arrowsmith is a great character, fully created and realized. Lewis injects enough science to bring the reader into the novel's world, but not so much that it distracts or bores. Lewis is a fine writer.

That said, this novel somehow, though I genuinely liked Martin Arrowsmith, didn't make me want to be more than an interested acquaintance of Arrowsmiths. I was disappointed that Leora, his first wife, starts so promisingly but then Lewis didn't seem to know what to do with her, and her edgy...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

Lewis' novels are timeless. The subjects of his satire when he was actively writing apply even today! Lewis skillfully brought his main and supporting characters alive with humor and drama. Yes, sometimes melodramatic, but you gotta love it!! Specific to Arrowsmith, I'd say that Lewis has created a character that is after all very human, just like you and me. I truly sympathized with Arrowsmith and all his reactions to the events in his life. Not always stellar reactions... but so believable to...more

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Jul 02, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

In an interview recently, Abraham Verghese (a prominent doctor/writer) cited Arrowsmith as one of the books that people often say inspired them to be physicians. (His personal inspiration was the novel "Of Human Bondage.") When I first started Arrowsmith, it was hard to see how its satirical tone and waffling main character could possibly "inspire" anyone. And in fact, Martin Arrowsmith doesn't end up being a physician, per se, at all. His real passion is research science, and the overarching co...more In an interview recently, Abraham Verghese (a prominent doctor/writer) cited Arrowsmith as one of the books that people often say inspired them to be physicians. (His personal inspiration was the novel "Of Human Bondage.") When I first started Arrowsmith, it was hard to see how its satirical tone and waffling main character could possibly "inspire" anyone. And in fact, Martin Arrowsmith doesn't end up being a physician, per se, at all. His real passion is research science, and the overarching conflict of the character (and one theme of the book) has to do with the struggle of medicine to become a truly scientific endeavor. In 1925, when Arrowsmith was written, I think this struggle was in a hot and heavy period. Though we now have "evidence-based medicine" and a tacit assumption that we only do things that have been scientifically proven based on real data, I think this struggle is still alive and well in reality.

As for the book as literature worth reading, Martin Arrowsmith's personal struggle actually becomes pretty compelling in the end. For all its satire, the book's portrayal of Martin as someone who has a sincere core but can't help being blown around by social and political forces rings fairly true and is somewhat complex. I was probably most interested in Martin in the middle of the book when he was trying to make a difference as a public health official than I was at the end when he was figuring out that he shouldn't have to fulfill his commitment to his wife if it meant at all compromising his obsessive love of research.

The most irritating part of the book is, of course, its female characters: the first wife who Lewis tries to convince us has a strong sense of self but who seems to have zero wants, needs, or ambitions of her own; versus the second wife who is independently wealthy, has her own ideas about what makes life worthwhile, but sadly seems to need/demand her husband's love and attention in a way poor little first wife never would have (and thus was revered, perfect). Most of the others are smart-mouthed or fairly silly airheads, controlling, wealthy harpies, and pretentious pseudo-intellectuals.

In the end, reading Arrowsmith gave me some interesting medicine-relevant issues to think about and overall an engaging story, in spite of its dated attitudes and style.(less)

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Jun 28, 2008 WK rated it 5 of 5 stars

No wonder this is considered "Great Literature". Truly moving, well worth the time it takes to read.

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Jan 20, 2013 Roxanne Russell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: pulitzer-fiction, all-time-favs, science

In high school I was assigned Elmer Gantry in Ms. Overstreet's class, and I wrote a paper on it, but I did not read it. Now I am glad to have read a Lewis novel. This story covers a rarely fictionalized topic- a scientist's struggle to maintain purity of focus. Along the way he encounters several fascinating characters. His wife is impossibly long suffering, but they have a believable devotion to each other. The author refers to two socialite ladies who are involved in charities as "The Great Re...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book won the Pulitzer in 1926. I enjoyed it very much and appreciated the message of creativity, hard work, freedom and the individual. It felt very much like 'Atlas Shrugged' in its message. My only criticism (and the same one I have for Atlas Shrugged) is why does this message have to take precedence over relationships--particularly children? The hero, Arrowsmith, has to leave his marriage and child in order to 'fulfill his destiny' (wow, that sounds corny). Why??? And if one's 'destiny'...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Chuck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sinclair Lewis novel written in 1925 earned him the Pulitzer Prize. For his many social leaning novels he was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature. This work is as relevant today as it was back then. Martin Arrowsmith gives up a life of wealth as a physician to pursue a life of scietific discovery. Lewis is very critical of the practice of medicine and its associated organizations/businesses which focus on financial reward as opposed to humanitarian endeavors. Having practice...more

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May 09, 2013 Marty rated it 4 of 5 stars

The next in our quest to read all the Pulitzer Prize winning novels. It took us a long time to read this one - a reflection of the lack of time available, not of the quality of the book. My husband rated it 5 stars and I gave it 4. Intersting characters, creative blend of medicine and scientific/laboratory information woven throughout. Would have liked to have finished it more quickly - we are reading them aloud to one another, so our best reading time is when we are traveling in the summer. Too...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

A very good novel of a young man who wants to go places -- comes from a small town in wheat country, winds up in med school where he worships the local professor of bacteriology. The prof, an exacting man of of German extraction, is also followed in his roundabout career where he eventually winds up directing the research lab that young Dr Arrowsmith later joins.
Rather a romantic vision of science saving the world from horrible deaths from disease, but in that era it was really true. In the lat...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Men of measured merriment! Men of measured merriment! Damn the great executives, the men of measured merriment, damn the men with careful smiles, damn the men that run the shops, oh, damn their measured merriment with measured merriment, and DAMN their careful smiles!"

Dr. Martin Arrowsmith sings this little ditty about two-thirds of the way through the novel, and it's perhaps the most concise summary of his personality. While he's an arguably brilliant scientist (who inexplicably struggles with...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction

The great geneticist Seymour Benzer cites this novel as his first inspiration for becoming a scientist, and I was curious to find out why, so I read it too. Martin Arrowsmith is a typically heroic 1920s American figure driven by a single ideal: a belief in the scientific method and its potential to benefit humankind. With almost religious zeal he pursues his ideal, and the novel follows his pursuit, sometimes tediously, through his university studies, the challenges of establishing his medical p...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Gail rated it 3 of 5 stars

Took awhile to gain traction with this book. But, enjoyed it after when it finally picked up near the end (Chapter 30). The initial chapters were necessary to develop the character of Arrowsmith as one searching for meaning in their work. Working to please oneself and not for recognition from others. Given this, it is interesting to note that Lewis did not accept the Pulitzer Prize given for his work. Autobiography, of sorts, perhaps?

It was also interesting to read, even through fiction, the es...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Chris Gager rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just began last night(7/18). Haven't read SL since prep school so I hope he holds up. First American winner of the Nobel Literature Prize. Mostly for this book. Very sarcastic in tone. Kind of like J. Franzen. It's now 7/22 and I'm almost done. I'm not that impressed but I suppose it's hard to judge "older" books and writers fairly. The tone continues to be a kind of bemused dismay at the crassness of American Culture. Hey, I pretty much agree but that doesn't necessarily make for great literatu...more

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Jan 08, 2011 Gary rated it 4 of 5 stars

The most important thing in Martin Arrowsmith's life is his love of pure research. Unfortunately, he must sometimes compromise this love to earn a living, face political imperatives, remember his wife, or negotiate other aspects of reality. I hadn't read Sinclair Lewis since high school or college, some 40 years ago. In a poem I wrote, I mention that the classics of an age should never be laid to waste, so I'm trying to live up to my pithy pronouncement, and feel all the more enriched for readin...more

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Sep 10, 2010 Max rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although this book drags for the first three quarters, it snaps into gear for the home stretch. For a while, Lewis floats around off-topic, telling a rather dull tale of a mediocre tyro doctor struggling with wholesale failure.

When the lead character finally follows his heart into a laboratory carreer, it becomes a hard-charging suspense story.

I know Lewis won acclaim for this novel, but I think it was largely an unfocused effort. If I read it again, I'd start on page 200, missing nothing of co...more

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Nov 20, 2009 Sarah Sammis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, read-in-2009, challenge

It's been a decade or more since the last Sinclair Lewis book I read. I went through a spate in school reading everyone I could get my hands on. Arrowsmith wasn't one of them but my local library had a copy and feeling nostalgic for an old favorite author, I snatched it up.

Martin Arrowsmith, the title character, is a high spirited medical student, and later doctor. He's in constant fear of selling out while the women in his life wish for him to be a rich and famous doctor. Or at least successful...more

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“I was feeling rational and restless, which is horrible for watching movies” — 3 people liked it

“It is one of the major tragedies that nothing is more discomforting than the hearty affection of the Old Friends who never were friends.” — 2 people liked it

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