Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing

 


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MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis

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  With Commentary by E. M. Forster, Dorothy Parker, H. L. Mencken, Lewis Mumford, Rebecca West, Sherwood Anderson, Malcolm Cowley, Alfred Kazin, Constance Rourke, and Mark Schorer. Main Street , the story of an idealistic young woman's attempts to reform her small town, brought Lewis immediate acclaim when it was published in 1920. It remains one of the essential texts of the American scene. Lewis Mumford observed: "In  Main Street  an American had at last written of our life with something of the intellectual rigor and critical detachment that had seemed so cruel and unjustified [in Charles Dickens and Matthew Arnold]. Young people had grown up in this environment, suffocated, stultified, helpless, but unable to find any reason for their spiritual discomfort. Mr. Lewis released them." Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota and graduated from Yale in 1907. In 1930 he became the first American recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.  Main S...
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The Alchemist

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Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery,  The Alchemist  has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations. Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.  
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THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durrell

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  Lawrence Durrell's series of four novels set in Alexandria, Egypt during the 1940s. The lush and sensuous series consists of  Justine (1957)  Balthazar (1958)  Mountolive (1958)  Clea (1960). Justine ,  Balthazar  and  Mountolive  use varied viewpoints to relate a series of events in Alexandria before World War II. In  Clea , the story continues into the years during the war. One L.G. Darley is the primary observer of the events, which include events in the lives of those he loves, and those he knows. In  Justine , Darley attempts to recover from and put into perspective his recently ended affair with a woman.  Balthazar  reinterprets the romantic perspective he placed on the affair and its aftermath in  Justine , in more philosophical and intellectual terms. Mountolive  tells a story minus interpretation, and  Clea  reveals Darley's healing, and coming to love another woman.
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