14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Landmark of American Literature, December 23, 2006
This review is from: Winesburg, Ohio (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)
WINESBURG, OHIO is a book I'd heard of since I became aware of literature. I wondered whether it was passe' or dated, or might somehow hold my interest. Rather than turn its pages, I heard it 'performed', this past week, on audiocassette in my car as I drove to and form work and other places.
I found it to be strangely 'relevant'. Anderson wrote intimately of the people in a small midwesten town, as the industrial/railroad age was in full swing in America and the age of the automobile had not really arrived yet. But the people he writes of shared, for me, much of the modern sensibility of isolation and alienation that became the basis for much later writing. The gallery of mostly 'grotesques', as Anderson calls them in his introductory piece, bears resemblance in many ways to the denizens of a rooming house in a large city. Each has his/her scars that have caused the bloom of the person's youth to congeal in an isolated, armored middle or old age. There are, fortunately, a few exceptions to this model, a few souls who yet have a chance, and indeed, the protagonist figure, who is most likely a stand-in for the author, leaves town at book's end for a new life in an unspecified city.
Most of the interesting characters, though, whether farmers or inhabitants of the town, are stuck, living on a thin gruel of memory or delusion, as a result of some earlier circumstance or trauma.
The most memorable tale, entitled 'Godliness', follows the life of a young man who went off to Cleveland to study for the ministry, and is called back to run the family farm when all his brothers are killed in the Civil War (whose ghosts haunt this book) . He sees himself as a biblical Abraham, and the rest of the farmers in the valley appear to him as the Phillistines, whose land he feels destined to own. The man, named Jesse, like the father of King David, is a fascinating admixture of strong character and dangerous delusion. Of course he feels positively destined to have a male heir, whom he will name David, and when his only child is a girl, he feels cheated, and denies her love. She finally has a son, whom of course they name David, but the story STILL eludes Jesse's control in powerful, ironic ways.
I'm glad I've finally experienced WINESBURG, OHIO. There's too much literature in the world, it seems to me, for any one person to be well-versed. But I like it when I can fill in some of the obvious potholes in my background.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stories that interrelate in surprising, often brilliant ways, January 16, 2003
This review is from: Winesburg, Ohio (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)
When I discovered this book, I was already writing a story cycle of my own, The Acorn Stories. Winesburg, Ohio became a strong influence on that book, and also led me to write New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. In Sherwood Anderson's acclaimed story cycle, a small town finds itself entering the twentieth century with loneliness and confusion. The same industrialism that Anderson would explore so well in his novel Poor White also asserts itself constantly here, turning a beautiful landscape into a sometimes desecrated one.
The young reporter George Willard appears in most of the stories, providing a connection for people who feel they lack connection and a voice for people who feel they lack a voice. Though many readers consider this book a bleak and disjointed novel, I consider it a collection of stories that interrelate in surprising, often brilliant ways. As for the bleak part, please also look at the many moments of comfort, the many sparks of inspiration.
I eventually lost track of how many times I read Winesburg, Ohio. I just know I'll read it again.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good, February 17, 2011
This review is from: Winesburg, Ohio (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)
A very nice collection of short stories by Anderson. He is a great realist writer and this book shines. It shatters the stereotype of the small town, and the grotesques are very interesting people. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in realist literature.
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