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    Arrowsmith
    Arrowsmith
    Arrowsmith
    Audiobook20 hours

    Arrowsmith

    Written by Sinclair Lewis

    Narrated by John McDonough

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The son of a country doctor, Sinclair Lewis turned to writing instead of medicine. He won the Nobel Prize in 1930. Arrowsmith was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. This is the story of a brilliant young man who dedicates his life to science, yet finds that corruption, not disease, is his greatest foe. Martin Arrowsmith is fascinated by science and medicine. As a boy, he immerses himself in Gray's Anatomy. In medical school, he soaks up knowledge from his mentor, a renowned bacteriologist. But soon he is urged to focus on politics and promotions rather than his research. Even as Martin progresses from doctor to public health official and noted pathologist, he still yearns to devote his time to pure science. Published in 1924, this novel had a profound effect on the reading public. As an expose of professional greed and fraud, it was a call to scrutinize flawed medical practices. Now, through John McDonough's vibrant narration, it is a truly notable audiobook.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 27, 2012
    ISBN9781461811169
    Author

    Sinclair Lewis

    Nobel Prize-winning writer Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) is best known for novels like Main Street, Babbitt, Arrowsmith (for which he was awarded but declined the Pulitzer Prize), and Elmer Gantry. A writer from his youth, Lewis wrote for and edited the Yale Literary Magazine while a student, and started his literary career writing popular stories for magazines and selling plots to other writers like Jack London. Lewis’s talent for description and creating unique characters won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930, making him the first American writer to win the prestigious award. Considered to be one of the “greats” of American literature, Lewis was honoured with a Great Americans series postage stamp, and his work has been adapted for both stage and screen.

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    Reviews for Arrowsmith

    3.5/5

    315 ratings17 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Arrowsmith follows the life of Dr. Martin Arrowsmith as he moves from reading Gray's Anatomy in a doctor's office in a small Midwest town to an unhappy doctor and, finally, to one of the world's leading scientist. Arrowsmith move up the ranks as a scientist with the unwavering support of his wife, Leora. He spends most of his life skeptical of most doctors of the time who practiced medicine superficially - convincing people of ailment so that they would have to pay for treatment - and caring very little for finding out exactly why illnesses and diseases occurred.When I finished this book, I breathed a contented sigh of relief and for a moment felt very happy that Martin Arrowsmith was finally able to find the life he had so desired all of his life. He spent his entire life searching for the thing that would make him happiest and actually found it. But then, after I really thought about it, I realized that he had accomplished this at great cost. He was an incredibly selfish man. Along the way his searching cost the death of his faithful and loyal first wife, whom he often neglected, and the abandonment of his second wife and his only child. He hurt many people along the way. So, my question is, is it truly worth it? Our natural inclination as humans is to search for what will make us happy. Lewis leaves us with the assumption that Arrowsmith died happy, no matter how he hurt others along the way. Is that reality? Is it possible to search for our own happiness and find it if we end up virtually alone?Lewis's book, like his others, carries heavy overtones of sarcasm - often resulting in comedic scenarios. He was highly critical of American society and capitalism at the turn of the century. The book was a bit long, though, for all of the criticisms it containing. I got his point long before reaching the 440th page. Interestingly, Lewis declined the Pulitzer because he felt that these kinds of prizes caused authors to write for the prize committee and not for excellence. He also felt that "the appraisal of the novels shall be made not according to their actual literary merit but in obedience to whatever code of Good Form may chance to be popular at the moment."
    • 3/5
      Pretty good novel of struggles of a doctor in a community.
    • 3/5
      The story about the noble pursuit of medicine vs. the modern trappings of wealth, recognition, and power. Lewis thew everything but action into this book; capitalism, ethics, morality, fraud, lust ...

      If I could, I'd give it 3.75 stars ...
    • 5/5
      One of my top favorite books, I find it especially interesting as it carries themes that apply to day.
    • 5/5
      This brilliant work, published in 1920s America and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, addresses the state of medical research shortly after the Flexner Report famously shone a path for medical research to progress. It sets forth the classical view of a medical researcher – isolated, dedicated to his research, not interested in people, and essentially living in his lab. And yes, that view is traditionally centered around a researcher being a male in a more-or-less patriarchal role. Lewis sets forth this vision, modeled it after the Rockefeller Institute (now, Rockefeller University) in New York City.This fictional story tells about the career of Martin Arrowsmith, MD. It shares about his two marriages, his career in seeing patients, his discovering a cure for the bubonic plague and saving of an island-full of lives on an island in the West Indies, his regrets, and finally his utmost dedication to the ideals of science. This was the way of the new medical doctor. Before the Flexner Report, American medical practice was much more of an art-form than a science. The revolution which Lewis’ Arrowsmith represents sought to ground medical practice in reality-based science. Around the time of its writing, institutes of medical research like Johns Hopkins and Rockefeller were on the rise in the United States, and people were dedicating their lives to science in a seemingly selfless manner.Of course, Arrowsmith eventually proves to be more of an addict to science in the end. His story is one about the excesses of science and the very real human costs of such a lifestyle. Approximately one hundred years later, a generation of women scientists have questioned whether such devotion and imbalance is necessary. These courageous women point to the value of a family life and to having some sort of life outside of scientific work.Perhaps another Arrowsmith needs to be written for our century. Medical research is not the up-and-coming thing anymore (though it is still a fruitful and lucrative endeavor); computer technology is the field more on the ascent. In Lewis’ era, medicine was more of a quasi-priesthood, and medical research was something done well primarily in Germany. Today, medicine and medical research are essentially one of many professions of the educated establishment. In contemporary research, there still exists a radical fanaticism of extreme devotion towards a single goal, but alongside, there exist other ways of approaching a vocation. Perhaps a new writer needs to tell the tale of groundbreaking work done in a healthy, responsible, and mature manner…If that ever comes about, that new writer’s path will go squarely through Lewis’ paradigm-setting work of Arrowsmith. He set the path for generations to come with this tale. Lewis’ words artfully bring the characters to life; his research is impeccable; and his plot is plausible and moving. His character types fit today’s culture even if they need to be updated for alternate modern forms. This book is worth the time to read for those interested in the fields of healthcare and research.
    • 5/5
      An innovative doctor reaps the rewards of a discovery, but suffers along the way and returns to the life he actually had all along. A wonderful read. One of my favorite authors.
    • 3/5
      Martin Arrowsmith is a medical student at the beginning of the 20th century. The Pulitzer-prize-winning novel follows his journal through school, two engagements, marriage, a job as a small town doctor and his pursuit to research cures for different strains of bacteria. Lewis has a distinct skill for writing about the inner workings of a small town life and the inherent pressures that go hand-in-hand with it. He was from a small Midwestern town and so he understood how they worked. The frustration that many students feel when they take a job straight out of school is the same now as it was 100 years ago. They are idealistic and believe they will change the world, and then they are confronted with the unavoidable mundane aspects of the “real world.” They must deal with people they dislike and they have to face the prospect of doing the same thing every single day. Everyone reacts differently to this prospect, but most people have a hard time letting a few of their dreams go in order to make a difference on a smaller scale. There is a lot of humor in the book. The scenes with Pickerbaugh, a local doctor who Martin works with, are particularly hilarious. He has a huge family and is obsessed with spreading information about personal health care. Martin quickly realizes he can’t stand him and he’s terrified he’ll become like him if he stays in that job. As Martin vacillates between the pull of a steady job and income and the desire to pursue his research dream he is tempted by many things. A young woman named Orchid catches his eye, and then the possibility of a higher rank and power at his institution attracts him. Lewis did a great job laying out many of life’s temptations and chronicling Arrowsmith’s battle against them. The book is truly about one man’s journey to find himself and his purpose in the world of medical research, but the heart of the book is Leora. She keeps him grounded, she gives him purpose. I do think she’s a man’s version of a perfect woman rather than a realized ad fleshed out character, but she is still interesting. Her relationship with Martin was the most interesting aspect of the book for me. There are moments when I just want to smack Martin for the way he treats her and takes her for granted. Her endless support is what keeps him going and yet he seldom acknowledges that. Martin’s other grounding force is his old professor, Max Gottlieb. He has always admired him and he aspires to become a researcher like him, but Martin puts Max on a pedestal and doesn’t try to connect with him as a real man. The ending stumbled and faltered for me. It was almost as if Lewis was writing and writing and then realized at some point he would have to wrap things up and end the book. It didn’t mesh with the rest of the story and just felt contrived. BOTTOM LINE: A long-winded look at one man’s struggle between his idealistic goals and the reality of being forced to conform to society’s standards. The plot loses its focused a couple times and that becomes tiresome. The main point is there, but at times it gets lost in the meandering observations of the writer. “As he had never taught them to love him and follow him as a leader, they questioned, they argued long and easily on doorsteps, they cackled that he was drunk.”
    • 3/5
      On July 9, 1949 I said: "Started Arrowsmith which isn't bad." On July 10 I said: "Read a lot in Arrowsmith today. Its record of the awful deadeningness of dreary American mediocrity is depressingly interesting. How it bites--until you get used to each place deadening and you wonder if there is any social human being who is the invigorating guy Lewis would like. The book is all right, in a way, I guess." On July 14 I said: "'Read a couple of chapters in Arrowsmith tonight. Not as interesting as it was." On July 15 I said: "Tonight read a couple of chapters in Arrowsmith: seems rather pointless and plotless." On July 16 I said: "Tonight finished Arrowsmith, which I found most unsatisfying. Towards the end it all seemed so contrived, false, artificial. Lewis paints everything at variance with his preference as so revolting, so incisively, that I sometimes find it hard to make the differentiation required when he tells of what Arrowsmith in his heroic times does and thinks. You, or I, don't know whether he's fooling or not. What our hero is doing seems to have elements of conformism and you think, all at once, Lewis'll rip the thing to pieces. Well, the book certainly lacked something and I hand it no accolades and I don't find Lewis's style especially admirable-though it's kind of nice--fast, incisive.
    • 4/5
      The fictional life and growth of a doctor. A lot of the details still apply, and I know many doctors with similar anecdotes. A fine portrait of medical live in service to others.
    • 4/5
      Martin Arrowsmith enters medical school in the American midwest in the early nineteen hundreds.We see him become accustomed to the social and educational issues, which clubs to join and the friends he associates with. He goes through med school with the ardor of a man pursuing a lifelong dream. When he takes a class in bacteriology, he forms a lifelong love for that study.Needing a break from studies, he goes to the city of Zenith and meets Madeline Fox, a woman in grad school and searching for a husband. They become engaged and Madeline proceeds to attempt to change him to fit the image of what she wants, criticizing his clothing, habits and manner of speaking.Later in med school he goes to Zenith General Hospital and meets a nursing student Leora Tozer. They find that they have much in common and truly enjoy each other. Martin also becomes engaged to her. Not knowing what to do, with two engagements at the same time, he introduces the women to each other and from the reaction Madeline has for Leora, Martin chooses Leora.We follow Martin through his med school, marriage to Leora and settling down in the town where Leora was from in North Dakota. It is interesting to see him in family practice and attempting to win favor with these farm people who have preconceived ideas of medicine, pharmaceutical drugs, the use of alcohol and Martin's life. After a year, he moves to a city where he will have more freedom.Martin changes jobs a number of times, trying to follow a dream of researching and not having to answer to officials about his research. He joins the military in WWI and later works with trying to find a cure for bubonic plague.Well written, perhaps a bit too wordy but a nice touch of life in the American midwest in the early nineteenth century.
    • 4/5
      Arrowsmith is primarily a novel of social commentary on the state of and prospects for medicine in the United States in the 1920s. The protagonist, Martin Arrowsmith, is something of a rebel, and often challenges the existing state of things when he finds it wanting.However he engages in much agonizing along the way concerning his career and life decisions. While detailing Martin's pursuit of the noble ideals of medical research for the benefit of mankind and of selfless devotion to the care of patients, Lewis throws many less noble temptations and self-deceptions in Martin's path. The attractions of financial security, recognition, even wealth and power distract Arrowsmith from his original plan to follow in the footsteps of his first mentor, Max Gottlieb, a brilliant but abrasive bacteriologist. His derailment from his ideals, while differing in the details, reminds me a bit of Lydgate in Middlemarch.In the course of the novel Lewis describes many aspects of medical training, medical practice, scientific research, scientific fraud, medical ethics, public health, and of both personal and professional conflicts that are still relevant today. Professional jealousy, institutional pressures, greed, stupidity, and negligence are all satirically depicted, and Martin himself is exasperatingly self-involved. But there is also tireless dedication, and respect for the scientific method and intellectual honesty. The result is an engaging novel that deserved the Pulitzer which the author rejected.
    • 1/5
      ArrowsmithSinclair LewisPulitzer Prize winner for fiction for 1926.Martin Arrowsmith is an idealistic young man born around the turn of the century in the US Midwest who studies medicine but finds that his real love is research, especially into bacteriology. He struggles against the mores and complacency, the veniality of society of his day.Unlike the Pulitzer winners of previous years, Arrowsmith is one of the most pretentious, stuffy, humorless and overwrought books I have ever read. The characters are at best stereotypes and most often are merely stick figures so that Lewis can write over-the-top speeches glorifying becoming rich through medicine or business, the shallowness of almost all scientists, tub-thumping promotion of medicine and research fro either self-or institutional aggrandizement, or to expose the frivolity and shallowness of the societal elite of the day. It’s been done before and since and it’s been done much, much better.The tone of the book is shrill harping, with pages of inane speeches or dialogue that is supposed to illustrate the crassness of whatever caricature Lewis is ranting about at the time, whether it be medical students who want nothing more than rich private practices, clownish public health figures who are nothing more than local boosters and who wind up in Congress, stuffy heads of research institutes--you name it, Lewis has the inane dialogue for such a figure--and for pages and pages and pages.From time to time--far too infrequently--there are flashes of humor such as the conversations that take place at dinner in the home of Arrowsmith’s in-laws. They are incredibly funny, but as with all the other stereotypes, Lewis has either contempt or outright hatred for these figures. The humor is achieved through mockery.When he isn’t hammering on his figure of his scorn of the moment, he switches to the opposite end of the spectrum to rhapsodize about those terribly Few Pure Men of Science who give up everything for the solitary joys of pure research, absolutely disinterested in any sort of worldly reward. The prototype of the three characters in the book is Gotliebb, a stereotype of a turn-of-the century German Jewish intellectual who cares for nothing or no one but pure research. Gottlieb is a widower who enthralled by his research, never even noticed his wife was dying until she did and then more or less because there was no one to take care of him except his spinster daughter Miriam. He lives in a garret, cares nothing for food or other human beings except for a few European scientists who meet his lofty criteria of Pure Scientific Research.Such people never existed--not then and not now. The closest to this impossible stereotype would e the naturalists of the 19th century, who were not research scientists but world travelers in the quest for describing the natural world, aka Wallace and Bates; Darwin had a job.The elevation of Science to religion is not a new phenomenon but Lewis is an example of the worst of the breed. His “heroes” are totally unrealistic. Towards the end, Arrowsmith and his great friend Terry go off into the wilderness--literally--and set up a research lab in a forest near a lake, roughing it, making sera that they sell only to physicians with the purest of motives in oder to survive. It is absolutely unbelievable.The only decent section of the book is the description, towards the end, of the outbreak and propagation of a bubonic plague epidemic on a fictional West Indies island. Even then, Lewis gets into Good Guys--a few selfless physicians--Bad Guys--99.999% of the official world, but fortunately that doesn’t detract too much from the quite interesting account--until Arrowsmith gets into the act. This section is the only reason I found to rate the book with even a half-star.Supposedly Lewis was trying for some spiritual ideal, but if that is the case, like so many others of that type, he descends into what is practically venomous diatribes against the culture he so clearly despises, losing in the process his position of moral superiority (if indeed he ever occupied such a position).This shrill, pretentious, preachy and ultimately boring book is one of the worst of any era I have ever read.
    • 3/5
      Read this classic in school
    • 3/5
      This books is one of the classic and most generative focal points for the mythos of the modern scientist, and it is thus not surprising that it is steeped in a romantic view of science. Indeed, the ethos of true science is pretty much the only thing that is spared Lewis’s vitriolic lampooning.(One of the problems with the book is that Lewis’s satire of small-minded country bumpkins, the small-town "booboisie," and the callow pretensions of urban sophisticates is that it is all too easy. He’s spot on for what’s laughably and disturbingly empty about these types, but mostly misses the possibility that there is much redeeming about them.)But his portrayal of the true scientist’s calling is suffused with a suffocating masculine romanticism that I found nauseating. By the end of the book, we learn that not only does the true scientists need to eschew the lure of money and fame, cling to a steely detachment from normal human feeling, avoid distracting entanglements with women if possible or shamelessly ignore and exploit your wife’s devotion if you must marry, but you need to do all this while embracing the rigors of a manly passion for roughing it. At novel's end, our hero is pursuing his cutting edge science in a rough-hewn log cabin laboratory in the Vermont woods. (I wish I were kidding.) So for all of its brutally comic (and admit sometimes brilliant and hilarious) satire, the book boils down to a syrupy masculinity that’s pretty hard to swallow. Or to keep down. Read it if you must -- for historically interest in the 20th century glorification of the scientist. But keep a bag handy.
    • 4/5
      This book reminded me of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead insofar as Martin Arrowsmith is an idealist and individualist. Despite having been written over 80 years ago, its themes still run true today. A great novel.
    • 4/5
      Classic novel by one of the great American authors of the 20th Century.
    • 3/5
      Sinclair Lewis evokes full-blown cynicsim at all aspects of society - health care, marriage, business, military.