Winesburg, Ohio

Winesburg, Ohio
Overall Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (3/5) or 6.42/10 overall

Characters - 6
A variety of interesting characters, however I didn't feel very invested in them

Atmosphere - 7
An interesting atmosphere, the town generally felt cohesive tho

Writing - 7
Not a style I particularly enjoyed, but it was still decent.

Plot - 6
Uh, there was a plot in this? News to me! /j
The stories seemed to connect through George Willard, but otherwise it was very haphazard and hard to follow imo

Intrigue - 8
I was surprisingly intrigued because I legit had no clue where the stories were leading. I couldn't really guess where anything was going because it was so jumbled and such.

Logic - 6
Some logic, but I can't say much of the book made a whole lot of sense in a realistic world.

Enjoyment - 5
I'm ambivalent about this book. I had to read it for school and while it wasn't something that I would rave about, I didn't hate it either. I didn't like how much the stories seemed to sidetrack but otherwise I don't really have any gripes with this book other than it being old-timey but that makes sense.

The book does not feel out of date. Yes, there are many things about it that place it firmly in the early 1900s, but the characters' behaviors are simultaneously recognizable and surprising for their time. What really jumps out at you is the willingness to engage in casual sex for characters who exist in the late 1800s as written by an author who grew up in that place and time.

You will recognize yourself in one of the characters in this collection of short stories—or is it a novel?

I've been on a quest in the past couple of years to understand America.

Some of the books I've read have been recent nonfiction:

Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse by Timothy P. Carney
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam
Our Towns: A 100,000 Journey Into the Heart of America by James M. and Deborah Fallows
Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks
The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It by Robert B. Reich
The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? by Michael J. Sandel

I've shared my thoughts on my blog here and here.

These nonfiction books have been helpful. But I've also learned a lot about the way America is and the way America was from fiction. I read and reviewed Main Street earlier this year. And now I've just finished an amazing book, Winesburg, Ohio.

Winesburg, Ohio is a series of linked short stories about the people of the small-town Midwest. It was first published in 1919.

What is the common theme of these stories? The characters are all filled with a sense of isolation and loneliness. They are unable to communicate with each other, even within families, even those who are married to each other. Some of the characters try to escape their isolation and loneliness in various ways, but nothing seems to help.

Winesburg, Ohio reminds me a lot of Main Street. Characters in both books are unable to satisfy their deepest needs and settle for living shallow and unfulfilling lives.

It's startling to see America almost exactly a hundred years ago was much as it is today.