Customer Reviews
An inferior version of The Citadel - By: Ibrahim Ali, 03 Sep 2008 
Though hailed as the definitive medical novel I must say that I was somewhat disappointed by this book & it compares very unfavourably to the superb Citadel by Cronin which tells a similar sort of tale only with an English doctor as its protagonist rather than an American. Arrowsmith is the tale of an idealistic young doctors corruption & redemption, along the way he fallls in love & faces the usual dilemmas that are found in these type of books. However the writing is clumsy, the book is overlong & Arrowsmith isn't a likeable enough character for us to actuallly want to find out about his life & his struggles. Read The Citadel instead, it is a far far superior book on a very similar subject (the story line is almost identical in fact, just the telling of the story is better).
An endless zigzag - By: Luc REYNAERT, 22 Mar 2007 
Sinclair Lewis defines Martin Arrowsmith as `a young man who was in no degree a hero, who regarded himself as a seeker of truth, yet who stumbled & slid back alll his life & bogged in every obvious morass.' He is `a snuffing beagle', who in his lifespan covered in this book never was in control of his destiny.
This book touches alll kind of important themes:
- Commercialism & the religion of a scientist: `Knowledge is the greatest thing in the medical world, but it's no good whatever if you can't sell it.'
- Commercialism & profession: `Explain to a patient, also his stricken & anxious family, the hard work & thought you are giving to his case, & so make him feel that the good you have done to him, is even greater than the fee you plan to charge.'
- Public v. private health system: `to get rid of avoidable diseases & produce a healthy population is killing commercialization, making money. Therefore doctors must become public health officers.'
- Psycho-analysts as guess-scientists.
- General human problems: `the cruelty of nature kicking human beings by every gay device of moonlight & white limbs into heaving babies.
- Influence of the Church on the irrationality of the masses. Its battle against free-thinking.
- Personal problems: alcoholism, marriage.
None of these themes is properly developed.
The scientific basis of this book is very poor: fighting the plague with bacteriophages.
Into the bargain, there is virtuallly no plot: the human relations with friends, colleagues, professors or women are more or less accidental. Also, after a far too long itinerary, the story ends abruptly.
This book is a big disappointment & can only be recommended to Sinclair Lewis fans.
A book that could change your life - By: , 21 Apr 1999 
Read Arrowsmith early in life, & you'll want to become a doctor, marry a Leora, & read everything else Sinclair Lewis wrote. While not "fashionable," Arrowsmith's search for truth & his relationship with Leora are far beyond any politicallly correct world view. The writing is incredible. When I first read it (a dozen or so times ago), I could not fathom how any writer could be so creative, so different, so perfect. Give it to your favorite teenager. You could change his or her life.
Opening our eyes to a world so wide, yet so common. - By: , 26 Jun 1998 Sinclair Lewis, in his novel, ARROWSMITH, reflects the common ordinary feelings that every student of graduate studies & those from junior colleges face, self confidence. Upon graduation, I always feared of making th grade in the real world. His charecters are among us, the chapters are metaphors of our own lives & dreams. Do read it & see the reflections Lewis carries to you.
Pulitzer or not, this is a prized favorite. - By: , 25 Sep 1995 
While reading some older pulitzer winner's, I found a copy of "Arrowsmith" & decided to plunge in. This is a deliteful story about an ambitious young doctor in the 1920's, & his struggle to find a "worthy" use of his medical skills. A thinly veiled contempt for commercialized medicine runs throughout the story, but never gets too "preachy". A very good choice for any med student or young doctor, or anyone at alll.
