Grand Forks herald., 1922-01-16

nj lin s,
a REVIEW BY DIR. KARL r.. 81
DR.. Karl r. Stolz, of Wesley col-f,
lege, gave an interesting review on.
Sinclair lewis famous novel, Main !
Street, atthe First Methodist Episco- |
pal church Sunday night. DR.. Stolz |
gave a brief resume of the story, and
followed it with a critical analysis.
The address in full follows:
a (By DR.. Karl r.. stoltz.) 1
Mr.. Sinclair Lewis, the author of
Main Street, was born in Sauk Cen.
ter, Mimi, ip 1885. He was gradual
ed from Yale in 1907. He has done
considerable newspaper and editorial
work. He is the author of a number
Of popular novels. among them being
''The Trail of the Hawk and Free
Air" It is tos"Main Street. !" however,
position in the field Of current, fic-
ton. isl .8ttfz@l: ~
1t will be sufficient for present pur-
poses to give the story Of Main Street
in tabloid form. The story ,centers
in the character and doings OF Carol
Kennicott. The book is the story Of
her reaction from the dullness and
stupidity of the small town. Carol
was born in Mankato, MINI. AS a lit
tie girl she, manifested the, traits
which were to trouble and distress the
woman. She became. She loved TO
stand upon the bluffs that oVerhang
the city and let the veil Of her fancy
fall upon the homes and streets and
trees far below. Her romantic and
idealistic disposition she inherited
from her father. a Judge. When
years later her father resigned from
= the bench and moved to Minneapolis.
When Carol was thirteen her father
died. She was then taken in hand by
her sister and sent to a college on the
outskirts of Minneapolis. After grad
uation from college three years Of
servicefin the beautiful public library
of St. Paul follow. -
At the home of mutual friend she
Praire, MINI. Friendship merges into
courtship, and courtship blossoms into
marriage. The bulk Of the book is
occupied with the married life of the
visionary Carol and the matter-of fact
country doctor. Gopher Prairie to
which her husband brings her fills
Carol with nausea. Its unsightly
buildings. its nondescript houses, it's
unkept streets and yards, its 5000
people stepped in scandal, covered
with SANDER and innocent of literary
polish and culture all drive the sensi-
tive Carol in distraction. The dreamer
tries to make her dreams Of an ideal
town concrete, but the dull and sordid
populace responds to her well-inten-
toned If not tactful efforts with the
irritation of those who fail to see the
ns.1xs I, ytHr HAyo
against the town because the people
do not read Shaw, know nothing of
the Kreisler and have heard Of the
chief Russian dancers. She proposes
among many things, that a dramatic
club stage and present a play Her
Suggestion to give a. play is adopted
but her choice Of the play is rejected
She urged that Shaw's "Androcles and
the Lion" be studied and enacted, but
The Girl From Kankakee" is select
ed. It was a poor play and the am
ateurs acted it abominab1y. but part
of Gopher Prairie said that the per-
formance was grand and the res,
said that it was ''just dandy"
She turned upon her husband and
attempted to instill In his THICK bosom
the principles and sappreciati6n of thl
life refined and idealistic. Now DR.
Kennicott has number of hobbie:
which, he loves to ride, among then
being hunting, medicine. his wife, mo
tor cars, and land investments AS {
physician he is brave, competent, anC
devoted to all who appeal to him. He
is outspoken to the point Of rudeness
frank beyond the bounds Of polite
convention. His wife assails him o.
an evening with the works of thu
great English poets and like the pa
tient husband he is he endures the al
Fiction like Stole, chewing an un
lighted cigar for solace. He is of thu
base sort that call Goethe Gertie HI
prefers; to have his friends call of'eve
nings to play poker, fill the hous'
with smoke, slang and stories off key
and the odor of beer and cheese. A
a candidate for culture he is plainl!
impossible.
Gopher Prairie stoned the prophet
ess sent to it. She piped the pipes o
Pan, but the people would not step t
her aesthetic measure. She woult
have gathered, the people under he
dream wings but they persisted ii
scratching in the dirt for fat worms
At last she could endure the town NJ
longer. She resolved to scrape it
mud from her shoes and to depar
to more ccngenial scenes. With tn
consent of her husband she went t,
the nations capital, taking with he
=, their little son. Here she hopes L
achieve the self-reallzation and self
fulfillment denied her in the confined
cribbed and cabineds country town
The war was being waged. She Sc
cured a position in the war risk in
surance bureau conducted by the fed
eral government For two yearR sh
leads her own life in Washington bu
does not seem to work out her saliva
tion. Then her husband, properl
chastened by her long absence from
him, descends upon her. After con
siderable preliminary sparring. dtnt
culties between them are adjusted. J
second honeymoon Is spent. The doc
tor returns to his beloved Gophe
Prairie. OF course Carol follows. No
that she accepts the country. tow
now. She finds It as uncongenial t
her sensitive spirit as ever. She re
news her hostiltties and resumes tn
open state of rebellion,
AS a piece Of current literatur
Main Street has some excellence
which want to commend despite bit
ter opposition to tho thesis Of .th
book.
Although the book is by no mean
uniform in its appeal, it aroused an
sustained my attention. Although
lacks a plot in the ordinary sense q
the word. and it's action il retarde
in places, it held me from beGinnjn
to end. When I had read the boo
I circulated 1t among my friends. TIL
reaction of others was interestint
Less than one-half of the people t
whom loaned 1t were able to read !