Winesburg, Ohio (novel)
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| Author | Sherwood Anderson. |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | |
| Released | 1919 (1st edition) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
Winesburg, Ohio is a 1919 novel by the American author Sherwood Anderson.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
A critically acclaimed work of fiction by the American author Sherwood Anderson, the book, published in 1919, is a collection of related short stories, which could be loosely defined as a novel. The stories are centered on the protagonist George Willard and the fictional inhabitants of the town of Winesburg, Ohio.
[edit] Plot summary
The work explores the theme of loneliness and frustration in small-town America. Anderson's writing often seems disjointed and tentative, a style that lends itself to the half-conscious thoughts and raw emotions of Winesburg's residents and their inability to express their deepest hopes and fears. The townspeople are grotesques, stunted morally, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, and they are inarticulate. They seem to gravitate toward George, telling him their strange, often sad, stories in the hope that, in writing the stories of their lives, he will be able to impart dignity and meaning to their personal struggles and experiences.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
The critical reception to Winesburg, Ohio upon its publication was positive, but it did not receive a wide readership. Among the literati, it was very highly regarded, but its sales were modest. It is now regarded as one of the finest American novels of the 20th century.
[edit] Allusions/references from other works
The characterization foreshadowed the outlook of Sinclair Lewis toward American Midwest in his novel Main Street, published the following year, although it seems as though it is a parody of the citizens of Winesburg. In both works, the townspeople are presented as being simple-minded, but are miserable in Anderson's work while they are obliviously happy in all their narrow mindedness with the heroine, struggling to reform their mindset as the only miserable one in Main Street.
Ray Bradbury has credited Winesburg, Ohio as an inspiration for his book The Martian Chronicles.[1] H. P. Lovecraft said that he wrote the short story "Arthur Jermyn" after he "had nearly fallen asleep over the tame backstairs gossip of Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio."[2]
[edit] Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
Anderson grew up in Clyde, Ohio, and this town served as the model for his fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio. (There is some confusion on which town served as the model for this fictional work, because there is a real town with the name Winesburg, Ohio.)
[edit] Theatrical production
A musical of the same name won the Barrymore Award for "Outstanding musical" in 2006. [1]
[edit] Sources, references, external links, quotations
- Winesburg, Ohio, available at Project Gutenberg.
- Winesburg, Ohio at American Literature
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Run Fast, Stand Still, or, The Thing at the Top of the Stairs, or, New Ghosts from Old Minds," How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction, edited by J.A. Williamson, Writers Digest Books, 1986; collected in Zen in the Art of Writing.
- ^ H. P. Lovecraft, letter to Edwin Baird, c. October 1923; cited in S. T. Joshi and David Schultz, An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia, p. 90.
