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Title: Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis ISBN: 0-451-52251-6 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 1978 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.39 (23 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A penetrating look at a hypocritical preacher
Comment: In Babbit, Sinclair Lewis turns business into a religion. Whereas, in Elmer Gantry, Lewis turns religion into a business. Elmer Gantry is a very real portrayal of a man who is ecstatic about his religion, but it is all an outward show for profit. We might be tempted to think that the corruption evident in modern televangelists is a new occurence. Lewis proves us wrong. Lewis shows the entire spectrum of christian belief in this novel from hypocrisy, to agnosticism, to an abiding spiritual life. Despite the fact that Lewis is one of my favorite authors and this is a superior novel, there was one disappointment. Near the end of the book, Gantry is confronted by the book's one genuine believer. There was a lot of emotional tension in the scene, and I felt Lewis just let it slip away. It was an unsatisfying resolution after the build up. Beyond that one moment, It's one of the best works of fiction I have ever read.
Rating: 4
Summary: Ageless portrayal of the rise of a hypocrite
Comment: A lot of Sinclair Lewis can be read as social history in our days at the turn of the 21st century. Social mores and the whole tenor of society have changed dramatically since the days of his major works. But ELMER GANTRY still reads like a story of our times. Though it covers a period roughly stretching from 1902 to 1926, and America has been transformed since then, the basic idea of the novel---how a man, selfish, ignorant, bullying, and posing as a 'regular guy', can fool most of the people most of the time---is still very much relevant to us. Business was the heart of America in Lewis' day, and it still is. But a career model drawn from that sphere could be used in many other walks of life. ELMER GANTRY is about a man who uses religion and a Protestant church to rise socially, to get and abuse power for his own ends. From Elmer's evangelical college days with his drinking, womanizing, total lack of ability or interest in studies, and his lying and maneuvering to get what he wants, to the stunning but realistic conclusion to the book, Lewis paints a vibrant portrait of an unprincipled climber ; a man who will change any opinion, betray anybody, and do anything to get ahead. If we consider the sagas of TV evangelists in our days, the difference between their revealed hypocrisies and those written by Lewis is startlingly small. The sole difference was that in the 1920s, there was no television for Elmer Gantry to exploit.
Certain sections of the book read better than others--it is not of uniform quality---and sometimes you wonder why Lewis inserted a chapter here or there. I think particularly of the two chapters on the fate of Frank Shallard, Gantry's alter-ego. They seemed to be an afterthought, and the point was brutally taken, but for what purpose other than shock ? On the other hand, Lewis' use of the colloquial language of the times and inclusion of thousands of minor details of life in that era reveal a whole world which might, in the absence of ELMER GANTRY, have disappeared from our consciousness. On the whole, this is a powerful novel about an unscrupulous, offensive scoundrel which still resonates well in our day. The Gantrys of this world are endless. Unfortunately.
Rating: 5
Summary: Was Elmer Gantry the model for the televangelists?
Comment: The timing of "Elmer Gantry" (1927) is consistent with its being a fictionalization of the careers of Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson. But parallels with real-world history played little part in the book's success. At a time when a large majority of believers were repulsed by the antics of flamboyant "hot gospel" evangelists, "Elmer Gantry" touched a lot of receptive nerves. ...
When the movie, "Elmer Gantry," was released, the suggestion was raised that Gantry was modeled after Billy Graham. Since Graham was still a child when the book was written, the suggestion was nonsense. But it probably sold a lot of tickets.
Ultimately, the identification of Gantry and Falconer as real people is peripheral, even irrelevant, to the book's appeal. Lewis portrayed barnstorming preachers as lying humbugs, and every time a Jimmy Swaggart or a Jim Bakker is exposed as exactly that, persons tempted to write a book on such a subject are reminded that it has already been done - incomparably. While Lewis portrayed all religion as something less than a force for good, he did so in a low-key manner that enabled moderate believers to rationalize that the book's target was only extremist, flamboyant religions, not their own conservative sects. Lewis won a Nobel Prize for his literature, and "Elmer Gantry" leaves little doubt that it was well deserved.
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Title: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, Thomas Mallon ISBN: 0451526821 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: June, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis, E. L. Doctorow ISBN: 0451526910 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: June, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Babbitt by SINCLAIR LEWIS ISBN: 0553214861 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title:Elmer Gantry ASIN: B000056HEE Publisher: MGM/UA Video Pub. Date: 06 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.46 |
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Title: The Confidence Man (Literary Classics (Prometheus Books)) by Herman Melville ISBN: 157392038X Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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