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Winesburg, Ohio (Penguin Classics) Review

The best part about these sketches of citizens of the mythical village of Winesburg is the simple but often lovely prose. The best told parts of the story and the parts with the best prose, deal with the Bentley family, the pastor who is unable to repress his sexual voyeuristic tendencies, the young gal who on a whim runs outside naked into the rain hoping it would relieve her mental strain, and some other parts.

The book is full of gloomy individuals dealing with dashed hopes, unfullfilled emotional needs, sexual repression, etc. Some of the characters suffer to some degree from psychological imbalance. Anderson focuses a great deal on the inner psychology of these characters. His presentation is reasonably realistic and effective though he loses his effectiveness somewhat toward the end. It may be difficult for a 21st century reader to recognize behavior and ways of thinking from late 19th century rural Ohio, but I think they are recognizable enough. Jesse Bentley is an interesting character. It is understandable, I think, how a man like him, facing the harsh conditions of rural Ohio in the 19th century, might develop a religious fanatacism that crosses the border into insanity.

One thing that struck me about the book is the meager insight the reader gets into George Willard's thoughts about the sometimes mentally unstable people who make rambling speeches to him about their philosophies of life, dashed hopes, etc. Perhaps George is too naive and has not seen much of the world in his 18 years of life, all of it spent in a rural village, and so he thinks the people he talks to are merely interesting folks and very ood people. Anderson does provide psychological insight into George's striving to find love and his struggles to reach adulthood, though I don't think this insight is always well presented toward the end of the book.

Anderson clearly shows the dashed hopes of some of the female characters in the book who are looking for real love but have husbands who don't share their particular conception of love.

Winesburg, Ohio (Penguin Classics) Overview

A timeless collection of short stories about an imaginary small town, unified by the presence of Winesburg Eagle reporter George Willard, Winesburg, Ohio is, as H.L. Mencken said upon it's publication in 1919, "...vivid, so full of insight, so shiningly life-like and glowing, that the book is lifted into a category all its own."

Presented here by the leading lights of modern American letters, Winesburg, Ohio reverberates with the passion of both Sherwood Anderson and the many writers whom he has influenced.

Winesburg, Ohio (Penguin Classics) Specifications

Library Journal praised this edition of Sherwood Anderson's famed short stories as "the finest edition of this seminal work available." Reconstructed to be as close to the original text as possible, Winesburg, Ohio depicts the strange, secret lives of the inhabitants of a small town. In "Hands," Wing Biddlebaum tries to hide the tale of his banishment from a Pennsylvania town, a tale represented by his hands. In "Adventure," lonely Alice Hindman impulsively walks naked into the night rain. Threaded through the stories is the viewpoint of George Willard, the young newspaper reporter who, like his creator, stands witness to the dark and despairing dealings of a community of isolated people.

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Customer Reviews

Winesburg, Ohio - Kathi N. Mcgaha - Columbia, MD
I tried and tried, but I could not get into this book. Finally gave up about half-way through. Couldn't see wasting any more time when I have tons of books that I want to read.

Strange editing - Marcus Scherer - Boston, MA
This edition of "Winesburg, Ohio" was edited in a very bizzare manner. It seemed as though the text from another edition was brought over and simply pasted to this edition, which caused words to be hyphenated in the middle of paragraphs. In other words, what seemed to happen was where a word that might have been at the end of a line in one previous edition was now positioned in the middle of a line, but it was still hyphenated as it had been. This was very distracting and after the second page I had to stop reading, because the hyphen-ation was break-ing words that should not have been bro-ken and, in effect, alter-ing the em-phasis and meaning of the text. Very shoddy editing.

Falls short of expectations - fra7299 - California, United States
It isn't often I get frustrated with any classics, but Winesburg, Ohio was different. It has some moments where it just seems to get lost in the prose (the only problem is that I mean this literally). While, there are some interesting moments about George Willard, his family and those who live in the same town, the story just didn't take off like some books do.

I enjoy symbolism and other literary elements in books, and try to read between the lines in books, but I just couldn't figure out where Anderson was going with the stories. Each story paints a picture of a resident of Winesburg, their struggles, their family history, etc, but the tales just seem to lack much coherence with the previous story. I was waiting for the "aha" moment, the epiphany of what was trying to be the point, but it never seemed to come. Moments and events about George Willard, and the local townspeople, and all their dreams and failures, seem to be understated to the point where their significance becomes a mute point. I felt myself going over passages again, feeling as though I missed something significant.

I can see how Anderson could have inspired authors such as Hemingway and Steinbeck in his style, as he has a simple approach in his prose, and he is able to carry a story. However, Anderson doesn't seem to have the ability to deliver the punch that Hemingway or Steinbeck did. Winesburg, Ohio is about as good as an early, unpolished Steinbeck novel. It has some moments where you really feel like something significant is about to happen, but then it kind of fades. While there is a basis for each character's story, there wasn't enough build up to care enough about the characters or their actions.

Some have found this book quite satisfying, which is great, but I feel as though the novel is average in its delivery.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jul 18, 2010 13:25:05

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Sunday, July 18, 2010