Customer Reviews

The Gentleman from Indiana

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This was the first novel of a great master of American literature - now, unfortunately, practically forgotten - Booth Tarkington.

While nearly all of his books that I've read have been this good, none has been better. It captures to perfection (I think :) country life of the later 1800s, and politics as it fit into it. The descriptions are beatiful but not overdone, and the plot is gripping.

Highly recommended.

This is Booth Tarkington's first novel, which set the stage for many of his future novels set in Indiana involving strong, ambitious characters. John Harkless comes to the small Hoosier town of Plattville to edit the failed weekly newspaper he's bought. Finding much to be desired about the dealings within his adopted town, especially the near terrorizing of the place by a band of thugs known as the "White Caps," he wages was against them in his newspaper. They attack him physically and when Harless disappears, everyone assumes he's been killed. Helen, a woman he's come to love, takes over the newspaper, which grows in strength and popularity. Harkless, of course, was not murdered, only recovering from his wounds, and when he returns he runs for Congress and purges his town of it's evil forces.

Tarkington walks a fine line between realism (the intrigue with the White Caps) and romanticism (the love interest between Harkless and Helen), but his vivid writing style is what impresses most. Questionable is Tarkington's portrayal of Plattville's citizens as backwoods hicks, though he always defended the accuracy of his depictions. The book was a huge success when first published.

I had moderately high expectations for this novel and it did deliver.

Considering the time it was written (1899) "The Gentleman From Indiana" is filled with forward thinking -- diversity, condemnation of prejudice, equal rights for women. As a native Hoosier, Tarkington is clearly projecting himself through the main character, offering insight into his own passage into middle age (at the ripe old age of 30!) and uneasiness facing mortality. More subtle and slower-paced than some of his more well-know works, such as "The Magnificent Ambersons," it's definitely worth forging through. Tarkington's eloquence shines.

A prolix novel about a small town in Indiana called Plattsville. A stranger from out of town arrives and buys the failing (and laughable ) newspaper and turns it into something worth reading. In the process, the strange, Harkless, expels political scoundrels and angers the "white-caps" (ala, KKK ) in the suburb outside of town.

This is also a characteristic and somewhat predictable love story that Tarkington delivers so easily, with a bit of a surprise ending for the reader. The book is wordy and contains mellifluous descriptions that drone on. However, despite it being slow, it picks up about 50% of the way through and delivers a solid story.

Booth Tarkington's first novel was "The Gentleman from Indiana", which was first published in 1899. He was born in Indianapolis, and attended Princeton University, so it isn't surprising that this novel is about a gentleman (John Harkness) from Indiana who then went to the East Coast and studied at Princeton who then returns to Indiana. John Harkness returns to Indiana to take over the local newspaper in the town of Platville. The newspaper is in much worse shape than he was led to believe. He rejuvenates the dying paper and takes on political corruption as well as the White Caps from the neighboring community.

The first chapter is about John Harkness entering town and his initial dismay at the state of the paper which he bought, sight unseen. It also details how he turned it around quickly and turned it into a source of pride for Platville. The second chapter jumps the story ahead to a point past which John Harkness has earned the enmity of the White Caps by sending many of them to jail. Unbeknownst to Harkness, Platville has rallied behind him to keep him protected. In fact, that seems to be one of the main character traits of Harkness, who thinks he has not lived up to people's expectations and is incredibly unobservant of the effect which he has had on those around him. One would think a good newspaperman, which is what Harkness is supposed to be, would be more observant.

John Harkness' romantic interest comes in the form of Helen Sherwood, a cultured lady from the east who captures his interest with her voice. They have also met in the past, but Harkness struggles to remember where that was. It was to become a common theme in Tarkington's works to have a woman, usually one who comes from elsewhere, who attracts at least the hero of the story, if not several others as well. Harkness continues to take on corruption, exposing a couple of con artists, and he does occasionally come under attack by the White Caps, though he remains unaware of just how much danger he is in. That danger is suddenly realized on a stormy night when Harkness' protectors lose track of him and he ends up alone and disappears. The community is up in arms, first angry at the White Caps, then at the con artists and then back and forth again as more facts come to light.

Eventually they learn the truth, and it is none too good. John Harkness lies in the hospital struggling to stay alive, while the White Caps are mostly in jail, though happier there then coming under attack by the people of Platville. Once again, the people of the town rally behind Mr. Harkness, as James Fisbee, Ross Schofield, and Caleb Parker take on the responsibility of putting out the paper, but they know they are doing a bad job, but Fisbee's note to Helen Sherwood (his daughter who is being raised by his departed wife's sister) brings her back to take charge of the paper, under the condition that Mr. Harkness is not told. She works hard to fill the paper with useful information again, building on what Mr. Harkness had done and taking it even further. She does this all under the name of H. Fisbee, for Harkness does not know that her real father is James Fisbee.

Helen and the others conspire to elect Harkness to congress without his being aware. Harkness becomes concerned that the former corrupt congressman McCune is going to retake his seat, and is frustrated by H. Fisbee not running the story which exposes the crimes from McCune's past. This is all part of Helen's plan though, and she and other friends of Harkness manage to keep him in the dark regarding their plans.

This is a decent first novel, but it does seem to lose focus at times. The events which make Harkness a man to be admired by all is skipped over and only referenced by side-characters at a few points in the story, while for much of the actual book he is either missing or in recovery. Sometimes he is sulking about wasting his life, sometimes sulking because he can't work at the paper. Overall the plot is rather simple, and the reader would be better served to read more about Harkness earning the town and county's respect than to have so much of it mentioned in passing.

It is also important to discuss race with regards to this book. Tarkington hints at the subject of race through the use of the White Caps who are clearly meant to be the KKK, and also in the appearance of the song "John Brown's Body" which the good people of Platville use when taking on the denizens of the Crossroads. However, for the most part race is not an issue in this book. Tarkington does not take on racism at all, and the few black characters are more likely to offend people today than anything else, though they wouldn't have offended most people when this book was written. Some of the terms he uses are definitely not politically correct, and can be very insulting. It is important to remember that at the time these would have gone by unnoticed and the author is not deliberately trying to be insulting.

Booth Tarkington would be better known for his two Pulitzer Prize winning novels, "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1919 Pulitzer Prize) and Alice Adams (1922 Pulitzer Prize), especially the former which was put on film by Orson Wells in 1941. However, one would do well to read this work which introduces some of the themes and settings which would appear in his later works. This book introduces the fictional "Carlow County" where "The Two Van Revels" would take place. One also gets a feel for his writing style and signs of what would become a great American writer, though he is often forgotten today when great writers are discussed.