1926 Arrowsmith
1926
Arrowsmith
Sinclair Lewis
456 pages
Summary
This winner is famous--and infamous--for many reasons. First, the book occupies a special place in Pulitzer history because Sinclair Lewis was the first author to decline the Pulitzer. He wrote a lengthy letter to the committee explaining his reservations. After not receiving the prize for his previous novels, Main Street and Babbit, Lewis objected to the idea of literary awards that single out one work over others. He is not alone in thinking that his earlier novels were the real basis for the 1926 award. Second, Lewis both accurately describes the state of 1920s medicine, and predicts the future fault lines of the industry. Public Health Reports (2001) said this novel predicted, among other things, that research goals would diverge from clinicians' aims, and that pharmaceutical companies would begin to stress profits over scientific research. Lewis worked so closely with science writer Paul de Kruif that he gave de Kruif 25 percent of the book's royalties.
The story follows Martin Arrowsmith from his childhood in Elk Mills, Winnemac (Arrowsmith's fictional state) to the top of the scientific community. His journey conveniently takes Arrowsmith through many arenas of the medical business (private practice, regional health care official, high-paying hospital jobs), which gives Lewis an opportunity to add his commentary. Arrowsmith finds a mentor in a doctor named Max Gottlieb, and is offered a post at a prestigious research institute. He eventually travels to the Caribbean to fight bubonic plague, and pays a steep personal price.
The
most important thing to know about this novel is that it inspired
generations of men and women to become dedicated doctors and
accomplished scientists. The book was probably the first major novel to
deal with the culture of science. Lewis convincingly portrayed the man
of science as a hero with a mission, creating a mystique that fueled
dozens of similarly-themed books, as well as noble-minded doctors on radio, movie,
and TV shows.
Adaptations
The 1931 movie was directed by John Ford and starred Ronald Coleman and Helen Hayes. Although it has a 89% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has an only 40 % rating among audiences. Nevertheless, in its day it was a financial and critical success, garnering four Oscar nominations.
Activities
Visit an odd little gem of a museum, The International Museum of Surgical Science, located at 1516
N. Lake Shore Drive. This fascinating collection includes over 7000
medical artifacts from different centuries, including an iron lung,
amputation saws, a death mask of Napoleon, and 12 murals depicting the
history of surgery. Housed in a renowned 1916 lakeside mansion, this is
the only museum in North American devoted to the history of surgery.
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