Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

"Sherwood Anderson was the father of all my works — and those of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, etc. We were influenced by him. He showed us the way.” - William Faulkner 

This is a collection of interconnected short stories published in 1919 about people in the fictional small town of Winesburg, Ohio. The stories are loosely based on the author’s memories. Some of the stories aren’t stories so much as sketches. They all connect in some way with the protagonist George Willard as he grows into adulthood. 

After a few stories I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy this very much. Many of the characters are lonely and isolated. They’re either misunderstood or they fail in their struggles to be understood. They get frustrated with themselves when their attempts at connecting with other people fail. But the writing kept me coming back. Mixed in with the sad stories are clear descriptions of characters, locations, and small town life. I started looking forward to discovering the connections between the characters the further I read. I found myself invested even when their attempts to connect were misguided. And there are some very misguided people in these stories. Still, some of the stories made me think of the mistakes and the stupid things I have done in my life.

Yet with all the sadness and misunderstandings, the book ends with a message of hope for the future for at least some characters. I started to think that I should have read this book when I was younger. Then again, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it when I was younger. I think I read this book at the right time in my life. It’s something I’d like to reread in the future. 

“There are endless reasons to read and reread Winesburg. But what has struck me about my most recent time through this book is the in-depth, fearless, summarized description of emotion.” - Angela Pneuman