Community Reviews
This is an absorbing -- if overlong -- novel that is both an examination of a failing marriage as well as an exploration of the differences between consumerist American society and European society, where history, gentility and art are still revered.
Sam Dodsworth, a pioneer in the automobile industry, finds himself at 50 having sold his share of his company to a larger corporate entity, and persuaded by his restless wife, Fran, to go to Europe for many months. Ten years younger than her husband, Fran is elegant, snobbish, selfish and bored by the Rotary-club, typical Midwestern town of Zenith where the Dodsworths have raised their 2 children. Once abroad, Fran becomes increasingly pretentious about her own knowledge of all things European, and increasingly flirtatious with men they meet. Sam, meanwhile, broods, "As far as I can see, travel consists in perpetually finding new things that you have to do if you're going to be respectable."
Fran loves the first-class travel, though always manages to find things to complain about even in first-class hotel suites, while deriding her husband's career manufacturing motorcars as something almost vulgar, even though it was precisely this work which makes her luxurious lifestyle possible. Even as she picks away at his self-esteem, he remains in love with her, asking himself: "Oh Fran, my darling, are you going to drift away from me? Every day you get snootier about my poor old provincial Americanism! You're just waiting for some really slick European to come along -- and by God, there's one thing I won't stand -- telling me how inferior i am to some gigolo. . . . "
Dodsworth includes many long speeches, from both Americans and Europeans, about the character of culture and society on both sides of the Atlantic. And much of the book reads like a travelogue, following the Dodsworths through London, Berlin, Paris, and from nightclub to castle to dinner theater.
Sinclair Lewis' own socialist views, and own feeling of superiority to most people, comes across in the book. While Sam Dodsworth is a far more sympathetic character than his wife, Lewis still paints him in much the same way Fran sees him: not particularly articulate, struggling to appreciate European culture. Still, I found the story very compelling, as I rooted for Sam to free himself of his socially grasping, selfish wife, while trying to understand who he wants to be and how he wants to live the rest of his life at midlife.
His use of language and imagery is also superb.
Sam Dodsworth, a pioneer in the automobile industry, finds himself at 50 having sold his share of his company to a larger corporate entity, and persuaded by his restless wife, Fran, to go to Europe for many months. Ten years younger than her husband, Fran is elegant, snobbish, selfish and bored by the Rotary-club, typical Midwestern town of Zenith where the Dodsworths have raised their 2 children. Once abroad, Fran becomes increasingly pretentious about her own knowledge of all things European, and increasingly flirtatious with men they meet. Sam, meanwhile, broods, "As far as I can see, travel consists in perpetually finding new things that you have to do if you're going to be respectable."
Fran loves the first-class travel, though always manages to find things to complain about even in first-class hotel suites, while deriding her husband's career manufacturing motorcars as something almost vulgar, even though it was precisely this work which makes her luxurious lifestyle possible. Even as she picks away at his self-esteem, he remains in love with her, asking himself: "Oh Fran, my darling, are you going to drift away from me? Every day you get snootier about my poor old provincial Americanism! You're just waiting for some really slick European to come along -- and by God, there's one thing I won't stand -- telling me how inferior i am to some gigolo. . . . "
Dodsworth includes many long speeches, from both Americans and Europeans, about the character of culture and society on both sides of the Atlantic. And much of the book reads like a travelogue, following the Dodsworths through London, Berlin, Paris, and from nightclub to castle to dinner theater.
Sinclair Lewis' own socialist views, and own feeling of superiority to most people, comes across in the book. While Sam Dodsworth is a far more sympathetic character than his wife, Lewis still paints him in much the same way Fran sees him: not particularly articulate, struggling to appreciate European culture. Still, I found the story very compelling, as I rooted for Sam to free himself of his socially grasping, selfish wife, while trying to understand who he wants to be and how he wants to live the rest of his life at midlife.
His use of language and imagery is also superb.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.