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A review by elmatera
O Doutor Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
3.0
In an interview recently, Abraham Verghese (a prominent doctor/writer) cited Arrowsmith as one of the books that people often say inspired them to be physicians. (His personal inspiration was the novel "Of Human Bondage.") When I first started Arrowsmith, it was hard to see how its satirical tone and waffling main character could possibly "inspire" anyone. And in fact, Martin Arrowsmith doesn't end up being a physician, per se, at all. His real passion is research science, and the overarching conflict of the character (and one theme of the book) has to do with the struggle of medicine to become a truly scientific endeavor. In 1925, when Arrowsmith was written, I think this struggle was in a hot and heavy period. Though we now have "evidence-based medicine" and a tacit assumption that we only do things that have been scientifically proven based on real data, I think this struggle is still alive and well in reality.
As for the book as literature worth reading, Martin Arrowsmith's personal struggle actually becomes pretty compelling in the end. For all its satire, the book's portrayal of Martin as someone who has a sincere core but can't help being blown around by social and political forces rings fairly true and is somewhat complex. I was probably most interested in Martin in the middle of the book when he was trying to make a difference as a public health official than I was at the end when he was figuring out that he shouldn't have to fulfill his commitment to his wife if it meant at all compromising his obsessive love of research.
The most irritating part of the book is, of course, its female characters: the first wife who Lewis tries to convince us has a strong sense of self but who seems to have zero wants, needs, or ambitions of her own; versus the second wife who is independently wealthy, has her own ideas about what makes life worthwhile, but sadly seems to need/demand her husband's love and attention in a way poor little first wife never would have (and thus was revered, perfect). Most of the others are smart-mouthed or fairly silly airheads, controlling, wealthy harpies, and pretentious pseudo-intellectuals.
In the end, reading Arrowsmith gave me some interesting medicine-relevant issues to think about and overall an engaging story, in spite of its dated attitudes and style.
As for the book as literature worth reading, Martin Arrowsmith's personal struggle actually becomes pretty compelling in the end. For all its satire, the book's portrayal of Martin as someone who has a sincere core but can't help being blown around by social and political forces rings fairly true and is somewhat complex. I was probably most interested in Martin in the middle of the book when he was trying to make a difference as a public health official than I was at the end when he was figuring out that he shouldn't have to fulfill his commitment to his wife if it meant at all compromising his obsessive love of research.
The most irritating part of the book is, of course, its female characters: the first wife who Lewis tries to convince us has a strong sense of self but who seems to have zero wants, needs, or ambitions of her own; versus the second wife who is independently wealthy, has her own ideas about what makes life worthwhile, but sadly seems to need/demand her husband's love and attention in a way poor little first wife never would have (and thus was revered, perfect). Most of the others are smart-mouthed or fairly silly airheads, controlling, wealthy harpies, and pretentious pseudo-intellectuals.
In the end, reading Arrowsmith gave me some interesting medicine-relevant issues to think about and overall an engaging story, in spite of its dated attitudes and style.