Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis

This was on my son's summer reading list last year.  He wasn't enamored of it, and I'm not sure he even finished it.  I feel compelled to finish reading books, even if I don't like them.  Perhaps I felt sorry for poor Babbitt, with it's bookmark stuck 73 pages from the end, and that's why I picked it up.  Whatever the reason, I'm glad I did.  It was written in 1922 but still feels relevant today.  Businessman George Babbitt wants to get ahead, and he's willing to bend the rules a bit -- that's just how business runs, he justifies -- to succeed.  As Lewis states, "He serenely believed that the one purpose of the real-estate business was to make money for George F. Babbitt."  Style is preferred to substance, and success is measured in money and social capital.  George is no deep thinker, but he does notice the emptiness that lurks about him and his life.  Babbitt has a poor understanding of the reasons for his unease but an all too keen perception of its effects. Stepping even just an inch outside the norm is a societal taboo.  In Zenith, "they all had the same ideas and expressed them always with the same ponderous and brassy assurance."  To be conventional is to be accepted.  To think or act differently is to invite suspicion and, heaven forbid, ostracism.  Babbitt is ridiculous but pitiable, but Lewis allows the reader to sympathize with George and root for him, turning the farce of George's life into a touching story.

Babbitt snuck up on me, and I was surprised to find how much I was enjoying it.  I understood George, the emptiness he felt, and also the fear of stepping outside the established bounds.  I understood, also, why he made the choices he did.  Lewis captures his time but also manages to capture our own as well.

On a side note, I highly recommend the film adaptations of two of his works:  Dodsworth, one of my favorite movies and showcasing a fantastic performance by Walter Huston, and Elmer Gantry, which has great performances by Burt Lancaster.