Winesburg, Ohio

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.

The book does not feel out of date.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 waited too long to write my thoughts on this one and now I remember so little. But that in itself is a critique. Any book which doesn't stay with you was probably ho-hum at best.

So which parts do I remember? Actually, I remember the four-part story “Godliness” best–the one about the grandfather who feels he has been chosen by God. I found it to be thought-provoking and suspenseful. Also memorable was the story about the minister who catches a glimpse of the neighbor woman and lusts after her.

Ironically, many of the stories which focus on George Willard, the main character, escape me. The most memorable scenes from him were perhaps his final ones, as he walks around Winesburg by himself and also through the fair grounds with Helen.

I thought I'd either love Winesburg or hate it; most people I know who have read it do. Instead, I fall in the middle. There were some great stories here, but overall, it just didn't capture me.