281. Aaron's Rod

Aaron's Rod
D.H. Lawrence

1922
Around 350 pages

Even as a D.H. Lawrence fan, I think he is overrepresented on this List. This is one of his entries that I would label as expendable. Apparently the Listmakers agreed and removed this one from subsequent editions. But a so-so Lawrence novel is still pretty good.

Aaron Sisson is a union official in the coal mines of the English Midlands. He decides to walk out on his wife and kids to pursue his dream of becoming a celebrated flautist. He eventually ends up in Florence, swimming in circles he certainly wouldn't have been exposed to if he decided to be a good dad. 

It's interesting to see this novel appear right after Babbitt. Babbitt was a man who couldn't bring himself to escape the shackles of his domestic life, to the point where you wonder if he ever had a choice in the matter. Aaron manages to cut ties, but it's difficult to argue that he's much better. So I guess it's all pretty bad. 

It wouldn't be a Lawrence novel without heavy symbolism. Here he is slightly more subtle than he was in The Fox. But only slightly. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Lawrence began writing the novel in 1918, but abandoned it after 11 chapters. He picked it up again in 1921.

UP NEXT: The Last Days of Humanity by Karl Kraus. Technically, this isn't a novel, this is a play. The Listmakers are getting frisky.

280. Babbitt

Babbitt
Sinclair Lewis
1922
Around 400 pages

George F. Babbitt is man's worst fear come true, which is why he makes such great character.  He's on the conveyer belt but he still has a little fight in him. Come to think of it, it's my worst fear too.

What's strange about this novel is there really is no story. George briefly struggles against his marital and family bonds, before giving up the fight. His friend Paul takes a slightly different approach in rebelling against his institutions. 

Sinclair Lewis is shaking his head at America's consumerism and bleak sameness here, without offering much in way of solutions. I don't think it matters, though. Rarely have I seen such a searing indictment on the average man. John Updike does a brilliant job elaborating on these themes in his Rabbit Run series in about 40 years.

Just by describing Babbitt's morning routine, we learned everything we needed to about him. That's talent.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

After the publication of this novel, the word "Babbitt" entered the English language as a term for a person who conforms unthinkably to middle class standards.

Won the Nobel Prize in 1930.

UP NEXT: Aaron's Rod by D.H. Lawrence.

279. Ulysses

Ulysses
James Joyce 
1922
Around 750 pages

It's been awhile since I read Ulysses. Perhaps I would enjoy it more if I read it now, since my tastes have no doubt shifted over time, likely for the better. But I have practicing self love lately, and that includes not making myself reread really long books I hate. 

Over the course of one day in Dublin, Leopold Bloom encounters many characters, including his unfaithful wife Molly and Stephen Dedalus, from A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. Ulysses is loosely based on The Odyssey, with the episodes in the novel corresponding to the books of the epic poem.

I think Ulysses has large lost the ability to shock anymore. I can see why this was considered groundbreaking for its time, but to me it felt like a Rabelaisian retread. I like the traditional novel structure enough to not get pleasure out of upending it in this way. 

So much style that it was hard to get to the substance. One of those books you "should" read, but should also be thrown against a wall. 

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Bloomsday is universally celebrated on June 16, the date of the events in Ulysses.

Virginia Woolf wrote that "Ulysses was a memorable catastrophe—immense in daring, terrific in disaster."

UP NEXT: Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.