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The Growth Trilogy #3
National Avenue
These three novels trace the growth of the United States through the declining fortunes of three generations of the aristocratic Amberson family in a fictional Midwestern town, between the end of the Civil War and the early part of the 20th century, a period of rapid industrialization and socio-economic change in America. The decline of the Ambersons is contrasted with the rising fortunes of industrial tycoons and other new-money families, which did not derive power from family names but by "doing things."
304 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1924
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About the author
Booth Tarkington
493 books181 followersNewton Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction/Novel more than once, along with William Faulkner, John Updike and Colson Whitehead. Although he is little read now, in the 1910s and 1920s he was considered America's greatest living author.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 27, 2016
This is a disappointing finale to Tarkington's best-known work, The Growth Trilogy. The two previous volumes, The Turmoil and The Magnificent Ambersons, earned five stars from me but THE MIDLANDER. ("Growth Trilogy" # 3)(later re-named National Avenue) does not, in my opinion, meet the same standard.
This book is set in the same fictional town in the American Midwest and deals with similar issues but the connection seems to end there. I was surprised to discover that the Minafer and Amberson families of the first two volumes are not even mentioned. I felt little connection or concern for the caricature-like cast of characters (the Oliphant and Shelby families). Their celebrations and accomplishments, tragedies and failures just did not "do it" for me.
This book is set in the same fictional town in the American Midwest and deals with similar issues but the connection seems to end there. I was surprised to discover that the Minafer and Amberson families of the first two volumes are not even mentioned. I felt little connection or concern for the caricature-like cast of characters (the Oliphant and Shelby families). Their celebrations and accomplishments, tragedies and failures just did not "do it" for me.
May 25, 2015
I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of this book for several years so as to finish up Tarkington's "Growth" trilogy (The Magnificent Ambersons and The Turmoil being the first two). National Avenue ends up being my least favorite of the trilogy, though it's certainly worth reading as most of Tarkington's books are, for his perceptive portrayal of a vanished time and changing times. As in Kate Fennigate, though even more so here, it's a little hard to take at times because of the frustrating behavior of the characters. Dan Oliphant's ceaseless, enthusiastic obliviousness is more exasperating even than George Amberson Minafer's snobbery and stubbornness (at least you can understand George's upbringing being the cause of that).
The ending, too, didn't seem quite as strong to me as either of the other two novels; it's touched more with resignation than resolution. There is the satisfaction of some likeable characters at least securing contentment and hope of their own, though their whole world as it existed at the beginning of the novel is gone—the industrial revolution and the growth of the city have been accomplished, but there is still a touch of beauty left in the world for consolation, is all that it seems to say. I don't know, perhaps it just seemed that way to me because some of the characters who are contrasted to Dan by not sharing his faults don't stand as strongly on their own. The exception to that, of course, would be Grandmother Savage, definitely the most opinionated and dynamic character in the book; and I couldn't help liking George McMillan—at least he's honest about his own shortcomings as well as others'.
It's neat to note that Tarkington slipped in some little offhand references to characters and places from the first two "Growth" novels—I did read this in the collected one-volume version of the trilogy, but the references seem organic rather than stuck in afterwards, so I have a feeling he may have done it while writing with a view towards using National Avenue to link and round off the other two.
The ending, too, didn't seem quite as strong to me as either of the other two novels; it's touched more with resignation than resolution. There is the satisfaction of some likeable characters at least securing contentment and hope of their own, though their whole world as it existed at the beginning of the novel is gone—the industrial revolution and the growth of the city have been accomplished, but there is still a touch of beauty left in the world for consolation, is all that it seems to say. I don't know, perhaps it just seemed that way to me because some of the characters who are contrasted to Dan by not sharing his faults don't stand as strongly on their own. The exception to that, of course, would be Grandmother Savage, definitely the most opinionated and dynamic character in the book; and I couldn't help liking George McMillan—at least he's honest about his own shortcomings as well as others'.
It's neat to note that Tarkington slipped in some little offhand references to characters and places from the first two "Growth" novels—I did read this in the collected one-volume version of the trilogy, but the references seem organic rather than stuck in afterwards, so I have a feeling he may have done it while writing with a view towards using National Avenue to link and round off the other two.
June 19, 2023
I tracked this down and read it so that I could finish the trilogy. Overall, I would say that the series did not stand up well through the years. It just felt dated, though perhaps that is is actual value: it provides a glimpse into the attitudes and mindsets of people in the early 20th century.
May 13, 2025
Lena giving Dan a hard time made me laugh. Reminded me of Rossellini’s film, ‘Stromboli.’ Her line, “To me, they’re barbarians with unbearable voices,” is one of my favourites.
Loved it. A great novel by Booth Tarkington.
Loved it. A great novel by Booth Tarkington.
June 23, 2024
I absolutely loved Booth Tarkington's "The Growth Trilogy", all three novels are enjoyable and wonderful reads. Romance troubles that come out in all three but in "The Midlander" it is bittersweet. All three books deal with changing growth in the American Midwest town which connects them though the time periods that each novel spans may not be consecutive, the thin line that shows the relationship is the family name Vertress (book 1), Amberson Ave. and Sheridan cars (book 2) are noted in this story. I loved the way that Tarkington describes the city growth, like something human in behavior and the different mind set of the citizens. I was hoping for a different ending in a way but see the perfection in the human condition that made this story more poignant in the choices that Dan Oliphant made with his imaginative mind.
Story in short- Dan and Harlan Oliphant are brothers but very different in many ways especially on the growth of their Midland town. When Dan falls in love with a New York young lady the tall girl next door must see the other changes ahead beside the town.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
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People used to say of the two Oliphant brothers that Harlan Oliphant looked as if he lived in the Oliphants’ house, but Dan didn’t. This was a poor sort of information to anyone who had never seen the house, but of course the supposition was that everybody had seen it and was familiar with its significance. It stood in a great, fine yard, in that row of great, fine yards at the upper end of National Avenue, before the avenue swung off obliquely and changed its name to Amberson Boulevard. The houses in the long row were such houses as are built no more; bricklayers worked for a dollar a day and the workman’s day was ten hours long when National Avenue grew into its glory. Those houses were of a big-walled solidity to withstand time, fire, and tornado, but they found another assailant not to be resisted by anything: this conqueror, called Progress, being the growth of the city.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 1
The stateliness of the Oliphants’ house was precisely the point in that popular discrimination between the two young men who lived there: Harlan Oliphant, like the house, was supposed to partake of this high quality, but stateliness
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 1
was the last thing any one ever thought of in connection with Dan.
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They usually arrived on the same day, though often not by the same train; but this
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was the mark of no disagreement or avoidance of each other yet bore some significance upon the difference between them. It was the fashion to say of them that never were two brothers so alike yet so unlike; and although both were tall, with blue eyes, brown hair, and features of pleasant contour decisively outlined in what is called a family likeness, people who knew them well found it a satisfying and insoluble puzzle that they were the offspring of the same father and mother.
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Page 2
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The contrast appeared in childhood and was manifest to even the casual onlooker when Dan Oliphant was eleven or twelve years old and Harlan ten or eleven. At that age Harlan was already an aristocrat, and, what is more remarkable, kept himself always immaculate.
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The lively Daniel, on the contrary, disported himself about the neighborhood — or about other neighborhoods, for that matter — in whatever society offered him any prospect of gayety.
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At some time in their early childhood the brothers had made the discovery that they were uncongenial. This is not to say that they were unamiable together, but that they had assumed a relation not wholly unknown among brothers. They spoke to each other when it was necessary; but usually, if they happened to find themselves together, they were silent, each apparently
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unconscious of the other’s presence.
Page 3
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Master Kohn, swarthy, bow-legged, and somewhat undersized for his thirteen years, was in fact pleased
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to be associated with the superior Harlan, even so tenuously. He was pleased, also, to be a partner of Dan’s, though this was no great distinction, because Dan, as the boys’ world knew, would willingly be friendly (or even intimate) with anybody, and consequently no social advancement was to be obtained through him.
Page 8
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“No?” said Mrs. Savage, and inquired further, somewhat formidably: “You don’t prefer your sons to choose companions from their own circle, Henry Oliphant?” “Oh, yes, I do, ma’am,” he returned amiably. “As a general thing I believe it’s better for them to be intimate with the children of their mother’s and father’s old family friends; but at the same time I hope Dan and Harlan won’t forget
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that we live in a country founded on democratic principles. The population seems to me to begin to show signs of altering with emigration from Europe; and it’s no harm for the boys to know something of the
2
new elements, though for that matter we’ve always had Jews, and they’re certainly not bad citizens. I don’t see any great harm in Dan’s playing a little with a Jewish boy, if he wants to.” “I wasn’t playin’,” Dan said. “Weren’t you?” his father asked. “What were you doing?”
Page 9
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“We were — we were manufacturing.
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We were manufacturing useful articles.” “What were they?” “Ornamental brackets to nail on walls and put things on. We were goin’ to make good money out of it.” “Well, that was all right,” Mr. Oliphant said genially. “Not a bad idea at all. You’re all right, Dannie.”
Page 11
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while Mrs. Savage shook her gloomy, handsome head and made evident her strong opinion that the episode was anything but closed. There would always henceforth be hatred between the two brothers, she declared to her daughter, whom she succeeded in somewhat depressing.
Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 11
Nevertheless, in considering and comprehending the career of a man like Daniel Oliphant, certain boyhood episodes appear to shed a light, and the conflict over little Sammy Kohn bears some significance.
*** Dan and Harlan Oliphant are brothers but very different the younger Harlan is aristocratic whereas Dan is free spirited and is not high minded on friends. Harlan and Dan have a verbal fight about Harlan insulting Dan's Jewish friend and business partner... making him unwelcomed. Their family hears of the fight and their grandmother agrees with Harlan... thinking children should be raised with a rough hand.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
I so wanted Martha to have Dan's heart, though there are times he had a glimmer, he only saw a friend but on his deathbed he saw it then, he might have been happier. His son leaving him for his tart mother tells a lot about him but Tarkington seems to give him a chance by his heroics in the war. Harlan treasured Martha and saw through Lena, as his grandmother did from her photograph. I was so glad he became more likeable though he still thinks himself superior. Lena had married to escape and Dan's imagination colored his eyes to the truth about his wife. Totally different personalities made this couple bound for trouble. Young Henry is indeed unlikable dandy but the ending of his heroics makes his future questionable, will he be more like his father or his mother. Dan was a good role model and though he had his faults, he was someone really special. He could not see the bad, I wonder what he thought of his wife who was so different personality wise. She married to get away and truly was never a happy person when things were not to her liking. It did not seem she had affairs while in Midland but when she left it seemed likely. She looked younger whereas her husband looking much older. Martha knew she would not leave Dan but just wanted to be near him as a friend to help him. Harlan changed somewhat though he would always be different than his good hearted brother. Mrs. Savage could not be different in her thoughts on Dan's life though she really loved him.
Story in short- Dan and Harlan Oliphant are brothers but very different in many ways especially on the growth of their Midland town. When Dan falls in love with a New York young lady the tall girl next door must see the other changes ahead beside the town.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 1
People used to say of the two Oliphant brothers that Harlan Oliphant looked as if he lived in the Oliphants’ house, but Dan didn’t. This was a poor sort of information to anyone who had never seen the house, but of course the supposition was that everybody had seen it and was familiar with its significance. It stood in a great, fine yard, in that row of great, fine yards at the upper end of National Avenue, before the avenue swung off obliquely and changed its name to Amberson Boulevard. The houses in the long row were such houses as are built no more; bricklayers worked for a dollar a day and the workman’s day was ten hours long when National Avenue grew into its glory. Those houses were of a big-walled solidity to withstand time, fire, and tornado, but they found another assailant not to be resisted by anything: this conqueror, called Progress, being the growth of the city.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 1
The stateliness of the Oliphants’ house was precisely the point in that popular discrimination between the two young men who lived there: Harlan Oliphant, like the house, was supposed to partake of this high quality, but stateliness
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 1
was the last thing any one ever thought of in connection with Dan.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 1
They usually arrived on the same day, though often not by the same train; but this
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 1
was the mark of no disagreement or avoidance of each other yet bore some significance upon the difference between them. It was the fashion to say of them that never were two brothers so alike yet so unlike; and although both were tall, with blue eyes, brown hair, and features of pleasant contour decisively outlined in what is called a family likeness, people who knew them well found it a satisfying and insoluble puzzle that they were the offspring of the same father and mother.
1
Page 2
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 2
The contrast appeared in childhood and was manifest to even the casual onlooker when Dan Oliphant was eleven or twelve years old and Harlan ten or eleven. At that age Harlan was already an aristocrat, and, what is more remarkable, kept himself always immaculate.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 2
The lively Daniel, on the contrary, disported himself about the neighborhood — or about other neighborhoods, for that matter — in whatever society offered him any prospect of gayety.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 2
At some time in their early childhood the brothers had made the discovery that they were uncongenial. This is not to say that they were unamiable together, but that they had assumed a relation not wholly unknown among brothers. They spoke to each other when it was necessary; but usually, if they happened to find themselves together, they were silent, each apparently
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 2
unconscious of the other’s presence.
Page 3
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 3
Master Kohn, swarthy, bow-legged, and somewhat undersized for his thirteen years, was in fact pleased
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 3
to be associated with the superior Harlan, even so tenuously. He was pleased, also, to be a partner of Dan’s, though this was no great distinction, because Dan, as the boys’ world knew, would willingly be friendly (or even intimate) with anybody, and consequently no social advancement was to be obtained through him.
Page 8
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 8
“No?” said Mrs. Savage, and inquired further, somewhat formidably: “You don’t prefer your sons to choose companions from their own circle, Henry Oliphant?” “Oh, yes, I do, ma’am,” he returned amiably. “As a general thing I believe it’s better for them to be intimate with the children of their mother’s and father’s old family friends; but at the same time I hope Dan and Harlan won’t forget
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 8
that we live in a country founded on democratic principles. The population seems to me to begin to show signs of altering with emigration from Europe; and it’s no harm for the boys to know something of the
2
new elements, though for that matter we’ve always had Jews, and they’re certainly not bad citizens. I don’t see any great harm in Dan’s playing a little with a Jewish boy, if he wants to.” “I wasn’t playin’,” Dan said. “Weren’t you?” his father asked. “What were you doing?”
Page 9
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 9
“We were — we were manufacturing.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 9
We were manufacturing useful articles.” “What were they?” “Ornamental brackets to nail on walls and put things on. We were goin’ to make good money out of it.” “Well, that was all right,” Mr. Oliphant said genially. “Not a bad idea at all. You’re all right, Dannie.”
Page 11
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 11
while Mrs. Savage shook her gloomy, handsome head and made evident her strong opinion that the episode was anything but closed. There would always henceforth be hatred between the two brothers, she declared to her daughter, whom she succeeded in somewhat depressing.
Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 11
Nevertheless, in considering and comprehending the career of a man like Daniel Oliphant, certain boyhood episodes appear to shed a light, and the conflict over little Sammy Kohn bears some significance.
*** Dan and Harlan Oliphant are brothers but very different the younger Harlan is aristocratic whereas Dan is free spirited and is not high minded on friends. Harlan and Dan have a verbal fight about Harlan insulting Dan's Jewish friend and business partner... making him unwelcomed. Their family hears of the fight and their grandmother agrees with Harlan... thinking children should be raised with a rough hand.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
I so wanted Martha to have Dan's heart, though there are times he had a glimmer, he only saw a friend but on his deathbed he saw it then, he might have been happier. His son leaving him for his tart mother tells a lot about him but Tarkington seems to give him a chance by his heroics in the war. Harlan treasured Martha and saw through Lena, as his grandmother did from her photograph. I was so glad he became more likeable though he still thinks himself superior. Lena had married to escape and Dan's imagination colored his eyes to the truth about his wife. Totally different personalities made this couple bound for trouble. Young Henry is indeed unlikable dandy but the ending of his heroics makes his future questionable, will he be more like his father or his mother. Dan was a good role model and though he had his faults, he was someone really special. He could not see the bad, I wonder what he thought of his wife who was so different personality wise. She married to get away and truly was never a happy person when things were not to her liking. It did not seem she had affairs while in Midland but when she left it seemed likely. She looked younger whereas her husband looking much older. Martha knew she would not leave Dan but just wanted to be near him as a friend to help him. Harlan changed somewhat though he would always be different than his good hearted brother. Mrs. Savage could not be different in her thoughts on Dan's life though she really loved him.
July 15, 2017
Booth Tarkington was a great story teller. The Growth Trilogy is a very recommended read. Without being a comic writer, Tarkington takes up America’s literary history where Mark Twain left it and The Growth Trilogy moves it into the 20Th Century. The first of the Trilogy, The Magnificent Ambersons was Tarkington’s first Pulitzer Prize winner and is well known by the 1942 Orson Welles movie The Magnificent Ambersons.The bad news is that there are several choices available if you only want the Ambersons and The Turmoil but Main Street (originally titled The Midlander) can be hard to find. This collection was one of the only books I could find with all 3 titles in one binding. This title is just as hard to find as a standalone. These books are very family friendly appropriate reading for young adults, grade preschoolers may find the topics somewhat dull. There is no sex, no violence and what passes for strong language is not only not curse words but so much of their time and place as to be curiosities rather than offensive.
This edition of The Growth trilogy begins with an introduction that elsewhere appears as the prologue to The Turmoil. We are introduced to what is an unnamed mid-western City. It is a stand in for anywhere USA that was just becoming industrialized. This city presumably would now be part of what we call the Rust Belt. At least two theme are entered here. The image of dirty air will be something almost a character in its own right. It the symbol of progress and power. It is the symbol of growth. Growth is tied to change, changes in how language is spoken, how people see each other and how land is built up, torn down, re-purposed and the occupying population push and out ward.
The Magnificent Ambersons takes us through the lives of a family on the decline from great wealth. The Amberson’s are of the old line in our city. The previous generation had founded what had been a modest town but people like the Ambersons had the vision to make it an important center for a variety of mostly unspecified activity. Ambersons had built wide avenues and huge houses for themselves. They created an exclusive society and concentrated enough wealth that their children could attempt to live a life for no purpose greater than being an example of what it can mean to just be.
Part of what is driving the once proud Ambersons into decline is the topic of The Turmoil. The old money and the les high pressure life is being displaced by new money and more energetic people. Into our city arrive the self-made James Sheridan and his family of hard driving and striding people. It will be their homes that displace already outmoded old line and their factories that generate the smoke and dirt in the air. Never described as the nouveau riche The Sheridans are not cultured and have little time to use art for more than a symbol of wealth. These are not bad people. They are driven; rushing at any sacrifice for the one goal of a better life for their children.
National Avenue, in my opinion the least of the three novels, is a deeper look into the contrast between the visionary booster, builder and the more staid conservative older generation. A simplified statement of the plot is that an overly romantic spoiled visionary marries an even more spoiled, selfish woman while everyone around him awaits his eventual failure. There is a lot more happening. Dan Oliphant is our visionary. He is the man who can see the future and thinks of money as something you spend.
A running theme in this book is the notion that the generation already past was the last of the proper parents and end of good values and the future generations have to go ‘to the dogs’. Proper child rearing has to be arbitrary and harsh and proper values can only be stinginess and it necessary corollary to invest in things safe, already proven. Creating anything new is foolishness.
Tarkington does not blatantly takes sides and leaves his story to provide such answers as are provided
This edition of The Growth trilogy begins with an introduction that elsewhere appears as the prologue to The Turmoil. We are introduced to what is an unnamed mid-western City. It is a stand in for anywhere USA that was just becoming industrialized. This city presumably would now be part of what we call the Rust Belt. At least two theme are entered here. The image of dirty air will be something almost a character in its own right. It the symbol of progress and power. It is the symbol of growth. Growth is tied to change, changes in how language is spoken, how people see each other and how land is built up, torn down, re-purposed and the occupying population push and out ward.
The Magnificent Ambersons takes us through the lives of a family on the decline from great wealth. The Amberson’s are of the old line in our city. The previous generation had founded what had been a modest town but people like the Ambersons had the vision to make it an important center for a variety of mostly unspecified activity. Ambersons had built wide avenues and huge houses for themselves. They created an exclusive society and concentrated enough wealth that their children could attempt to live a life for no purpose greater than being an example of what it can mean to just be.
Part of what is driving the once proud Ambersons into decline is the topic of The Turmoil. The old money and the les high pressure life is being displaced by new money and more energetic people. Into our city arrive the self-made James Sheridan and his family of hard driving and striding people. It will be their homes that displace already outmoded old line and their factories that generate the smoke and dirt in the air. Never described as the nouveau riche The Sheridans are not cultured and have little time to use art for more than a symbol of wealth. These are not bad people. They are driven; rushing at any sacrifice for the one goal of a better life for their children.
National Avenue, in my opinion the least of the three novels, is a deeper look into the contrast between the visionary booster, builder and the more staid conservative older generation. A simplified statement of the plot is that an overly romantic spoiled visionary marries an even more spoiled, selfish woman while everyone around him awaits his eventual failure. There is a lot more happening. Dan Oliphant is our visionary. He is the man who can see the future and thinks of money as something you spend.
A running theme in this book is the notion that the generation already past was the last of the proper parents and end of good values and the future generations have to go ‘to the dogs’. Proper child rearing has to be arbitrary and harsh and proper values can only be stinginess and it necessary corollary to invest in things safe, already proven. Creating anything new is foolishness.
Tarkington does not blatantly takes sides and leaves his story to provide such answers as are provided
May 12, 2016
Loved this book as well as the two previous books in the "Growth" trilogy. I read "Ambersons", "Turmoil", and this one in succession and I think that they are equally good. Why this book is so hard to find when "Ambersons" is so readily available is difficult to understand. It is the tale of two brothers with radically different philosophies of life. For most of the story, the reader is meant to sympathize and admire the enterprising Dan Oliphant, but as one gets to the climax, one understands that this is not a simple success story of an idealistic entrepreneur. We see a likeable young man who plunges everything he has into his business only to lose virtually everything--his wife, son, business, and even his life-- by the end. The surviving characters at the end are reasonably happy, but the happiness is bittersweet. The family has been broken and there has not been a complete reconciliation. The town has prospered and grown substantially, but has become a dirty, noisy, industrialized city that has forgotten the quiet elegance of its recent past. I see this story as Tarkington's way of coming to terms with the change that he witnessed during his lifetime. Some of it was good and, perhaps, necessary, but he cannot help longing for days and a way of life that are gone forever.
February 24, 2016
This third novel of the Growth trilogy is somewhat less successful than The Magnificent Ambersons and Turmoil, but it's still awfully good. My only criticism is that it follows too closely the style and theme of the earlier books.
The earlier books inspired me to write glowing reviews on Goodreads. I just took a look at them, and they'll do as well for this fine novel. No need to repeat them; if I did, I'd be falling into Tarkington's trap.
One reading tip from a confirmed Tarkington fan: read the trilogy in order, and prepare for a wonderful experience.
The earlier books inspired me to write glowing reviews on Goodreads. I just took a look at them, and they'll do as well for this fine novel. No need to repeat them; if I did, I'd be falling into Tarkington's trap.
One reading tip from a confirmed Tarkington fan: read the trilogy in order, and prepare for a wonderful experience.
May 18, 2020
My copy is called "The Midlander" which is an alternate title. I liked the book, although not as much as "The Turmoil" or "The Magnificent Ambersons," the other two books in the Growth Trilogy.
September 20, 2023
"The Midlander," the concluding installment of Booth Tarkington's Growth Trilogy, brings readers into the world of Dan Oliphant, a recent Yale graduate with a vision and a modest inheritance. As he ventures into the world of land speculation in the Midwest, he wagers his $25,000 legacy on a seemingly unpromising endeavor. To further his ambitions, he takes on substantial debt and marries a young New York woman of social standing, despite having no income of his own.
Tarkington skillfully navigates the complexities of Dan's life, juxtaposing his dreams of real estate success with the stark realities of marriage and societal expectations. Dan's decision to bring his bride to the Midwestern city and into his family's home sets the stage for a narrative rich in contrasts and dilemmas.
One of the key failures of "The Midlander" is its portrayal of the central characters. Unlike the detestable protagonist of "The Magnificent Ambersons," readers encounter a more sympathetic lead in Dan Oliphant, albeit one with significant flaws. His marriage to a discontented wife and his financial struggles are portrayed with a poignant realism that invites disgust. His eternal optimism is grating.
This third installment of the trilogy does not quite reach the heights of its predecessors. "The Turmoil" stood out as the most engaging entry, while "The Magnificent Ambersons" claimed the Pulitzer Prize but was less enjoyable. "The Midlander," regrettably, falls short of both. The protagonists, Dan and his wife, may not be entirely relatable to readers, and his experiences are occasionally saccharine and unconvincing.
The narrative, while not without its merits, can at times feel like a trudge toward a resolution that, while interesting, takes its time in coming. The story's subtle references to the previous two books in the trilogy are the welcome burst of enjoyment. "The Midlander" can easily stand alone without the need to read its predecessors.
One aspect that cannot be ignored is the use of racist language in the novel, which was likely accepted in the context of its time but has not aged well. Such language serves as a reminder of the attitudes of the era in which the book was written.
"The Midlander" serves as the final chapter in Tarkington's Growth Trilogy, offering readers a glimpse into the trials and tribulations of Dan Oliphant as he navigates the complexities of marriage, ambition, and societal expectations. While it may not reach the heights of its predecessors, the novel still provides insights into the moral dilemmas faced by its characters and the challenges of the American Midwest during this period in history.
Tarkington skillfully navigates the complexities of Dan's life, juxtaposing his dreams of real estate success with the stark realities of marriage and societal expectations. Dan's decision to bring his bride to the Midwestern city and into his family's home sets the stage for a narrative rich in contrasts and dilemmas.
One of the key failures of "The Midlander" is its portrayal of the central characters. Unlike the detestable protagonist of "The Magnificent Ambersons," readers encounter a more sympathetic lead in Dan Oliphant, albeit one with significant flaws. His marriage to a discontented wife and his financial struggles are portrayed with a poignant realism that invites disgust. His eternal optimism is grating.
This third installment of the trilogy does not quite reach the heights of its predecessors. "The Turmoil" stood out as the most engaging entry, while "The Magnificent Ambersons" claimed the Pulitzer Prize but was less enjoyable. "The Midlander," regrettably, falls short of both. The protagonists, Dan and his wife, may not be entirely relatable to readers, and his experiences are occasionally saccharine and unconvincing.
The narrative, while not without its merits, can at times feel like a trudge toward a resolution that, while interesting, takes its time in coming. The story's subtle references to the previous two books in the trilogy are the welcome burst of enjoyment. "The Midlander" can easily stand alone without the need to read its predecessors.
One aspect that cannot be ignored is the use of racist language in the novel, which was likely accepted in the context of its time but has not aged well. Such language serves as a reminder of the attitudes of the era in which the book was written.
"The Midlander" serves as the final chapter in Tarkington's Growth Trilogy, offering readers a glimpse into the trials and tribulations of Dan Oliphant as he navigates the complexities of marriage, ambition, and societal expectations. While it may not reach the heights of its predecessors, the novel still provides insights into the moral dilemmas faced by its characters and the challenges of the American Midwest during this period in history.
December 26, 2020
A fine read, and part of the GROWTH trilogy.
I couldn't put this book down, it tells of a family, and in particular, of two brothers and their often uneasy relationship in the late years of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century America.
One brother is a popular, go ahead, can do man with ambition, the other a more reserved type who goes on to achieve less throughout life though getting what he wants most of all in the end.
Tarkington portrays a town - and its National Avenue, a handsome wide street with stately homes, about to change for ever, due to the name of ''progress'' and ''prosperity''.
The dynamic bother, Dan, has plenty of ambition - to develop land and see his city grow, seemingly without limits, whilst his reserved brother sees only the destruction of the landscape and a once pleasant city grow bigger, dirtier, uglier than ever before.
Tarkington sees the growth and progress with some criticism - witnessing old stately homes on National Avenue getting demolished, and replaced with gas stations, tower blocks, repair shops, countryside/woodlands being replaced with ''bungalows'' etc, but he doesn't seem overly critical, he also seems to view the progress and change as something inevitable, and one should in the end simple accept it, that nothing stays the same for ever. Maybe he's optimistic, and feels there is a possibility that beauty ( of some kind, to some extent) can come out of ''prosperity''.
The character Dan, sees no ugliness in the changes taking place over his home town, but beauty instead. His confidence in himself and what he does, has no bounds.
But does he ever get the reap the benefits of his grand plans? One has to read to find out.
I couldn't put this book down, it tells of a family, and in particular, of two brothers and their often uneasy relationship in the late years of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century America.
One brother is a popular, go ahead, can do man with ambition, the other a more reserved type who goes on to achieve less throughout life though getting what he wants most of all in the end.
Tarkington portrays a town - and its National Avenue, a handsome wide street with stately homes, about to change for ever, due to the name of ''progress'' and ''prosperity''.
The dynamic bother, Dan, has plenty of ambition - to develop land and see his city grow, seemingly without limits, whilst his reserved brother sees only the destruction of the landscape and a once pleasant city grow bigger, dirtier, uglier than ever before.
Tarkington sees the growth and progress with some criticism - witnessing old stately homes on National Avenue getting demolished, and replaced with gas stations, tower blocks, repair shops, countryside/woodlands being replaced with ''bungalows'' etc, but he doesn't seem overly critical, he also seems to view the progress and change as something inevitable, and one should in the end simple accept it, that nothing stays the same for ever. Maybe he's optimistic, and feels there is a possibility that beauty ( of some kind, to some extent) can come out of ''prosperity''.
The character Dan, sees no ugliness in the changes taking place over his home town, but beauty instead. His confidence in himself and what he does, has no bounds.
But does he ever get the reap the benefits of his grand plans? One has to read to find out.
May 13, 2024
Booth Tarkington should not be forgotten by the literate public. Streets, neighborhoods, and buildings bear his name in Indianapolis as does a residence hall on the Purdue campus, but even in Indiana he is no longer well known. Yet, according to Wikipedia, " In the 1910s and 1920s he was considered the United States' greatest living author." He won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction twice, in 1919 and 1922, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in 1933. The Growth Trilogy is a lovingly, critical fictional description of the evolution of Indianapolis from a sleepy Midwestern farm town into a booming manufacturing center. Tarkington was one of the earliest environmentalists to warn of the polluting harm of fossil-fuel-driven vehicles and their related industries. And yet, he viewed commercial development, its benefits and the harm it causes, as inevitable, because of the human drive for "bigger", which capitalism facilitates.
The individual characters and families in all three books are well drawn, and the family dynamics are both fraught and funny. But the biggest character of all is the Midland City, which was Tarkington's Indianapolis.
The individual characters and families in all three books are well drawn, and the family dynamics are both fraught and funny. But the biggest character of all is the Midland City, which was Tarkington's Indianapolis.
January 13, 2022
The last of Tarkington's so-called "Growth Trilogy," this one told mainly from the view-point of one of those industrious individuals who made the once-beautiful city into something depressing and ugly. It's not quite as compelling as THE TURMOIL or THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Eugene Morgan is referred to on several instances in this book, but does not actually appear), but it is still prime Tarkington, which can never be bad. One weakness in my estimation is that, from a certain point in the story we have to follow the exploits the main character though other people's eyes, as we rarely get a first hand account. The message in AMBERSONS about industrialization ruining America's cities seemed to be pretty clear, but THE MIDLANDER muddles it a but.
October 7, 2019
A mildly disappointing end to Tarkington's "Growth" trilogy, primarily because the trilogy's theme of the impact of progress on a midwestern town at the turn of the century isn't really addressed until Chapter XXV. Up until then, it's all about nice guy Dan Oliphant trying to keep his sub-division on the outskirts of town out of foreclosure while dealing with hit bitch wife, while Martha, the girl next door he should have married pines for him and his stick-up-his ass brother pines for her. It's OK stuff, but things only get really interesting when the town (and its smoke) engulf Dan's subdivision. But it may not be worth the wait.
May 3, 2020
Overall, I really enjoyed this. At first I was just there for the super Indiana descriptions, but then I got sucked into the story too. It definitely ended more on a note of "resignation rather than resolution," but basically I enjoyed the read and the Hoosierness of it was major points in my book. I didn't know it was the third (and apparently least-liked) of Tarkington's trilogy (I thought it was standalone), so I look forward to reading the others.
TW: Because this was published in 1924, it does contain openly racist references, comments, and attitudes towards Black people and Jews. Expected, due to the age of the book, but still not okay.
TW: Because this was published in 1924, it does contain openly racist references, comments, and attitudes towards Black people and Jews. Expected, due to the age of the book, but still not okay.
February 23, 2023
A slight step down in quality from the two previous books in the trilogy, The Turmoil and The Magnificent Ambersons as it mostly trod the same ground.
November 5, 2020
This is the 3rd in the Growth Trilogy about Indianapolis in the early 1900s. It was an enjoyable read but not as good as "The Magnificent Ambersons." Although all 3 novels deal with the same theme, time period and location, they each stand alone, do not overlap and do not deal with the same characters.
April 1, 2025
Typical of Tarkington in the teens and twenties. Romance mixed with social commentary on the growth of the period, bad and good, maybe more bad. I probably would have just rated in a 3 but it ends up going where I didn't expect so I gave him credit for that twist. In that regard it is probably the most negative of the loosely labeled Growth Trilogy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2020
Personally, this book touched me more than the 1st two and was very philosophical. I like that it presents multiple person's perceptions about the same changes and events that are occurring. Don't miss out on this one.
February 10, 2017
The Midlander, or more recently known as National Avenue, is the third in Tarkington's "Growth" trilogy highlighting the immense change in industry and culture that America experienced in the times between the Civil War and the Great War (WWI). I was somewhat ambivalent or even apathetic towards Turmoil and The Magnificent Ambersons but The Midlander had my attention from the start. This may have been my favorite Tarkington thus far and that's fresh off finishing the delightful Pulitzer-winning Alice Adams.
As in all societies, people will split themselves into old or traditional way of thinking versus the new or modern way. In his final book, Tarkington takes this into the change and growth of a city and its impact on a generation. In so doing, he quite successfully draws that this experience is not unique to any one generation but is a continual evolution. I may be wrong, but I should guess that Tarkington disliked what he saw in his country; that he was a tradtionalist.
The Oliphant brothers, Harlan and Dan, exhibited the two extremes quite well. Harlan sees beauty in the past and in its maintenance; Dan sees beauty in the future and in building it and moreover blindly destroying the past. Dan lives and dies at the edge of debt. He suffered a kind of privileged poverty for years and yet eventually became the head of business and even mayor during his latter years. Harlan remaining unceasingly prudent using money only as a means to accrue more of it. Dan would never settle but kept improving and diversifying and mortgaging all he had for the unrealized "better" yet to come. Harlan stayed in the past so long, that he moved into his late grandmother's house.....and did not alter it (save for a library). They were so different in almost any comparison, except they had one counterbalance to each which they both clung and that was the ever-balanced beauty in Martha Shelby.
Martha is the arguably the real hero to Tarkington. She was raised to respect the traditions but also was open-minded and embraced the new. It's foolish to dwell in the past and its reckless to race forward to the unknown. But Martha found a way, though unconventionally, to have the best run of it keeping her traditional values intact.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Of course, I found Lena's character detestable. But I could unfortunately, relate to some of her manipulations. I found myself rooting for Dan knowing full well how her game was played and how it was often won. But it made the book all the better to me. If I could I'd probably give this a 4.5 but seeing as I can't, I feel compelled to give one of my unusual 5-stars. Unlike his previous two in the trilogy where I just didn't like it, I just DID like this one.
This is the first physical book I've borrowed from a library in decades. A surprisingly difficult book to find...it's also one of the oldest books I've read perhaps ever with a printed date of 1924. A 97-year old book!
As in all societies, people will split themselves into old or traditional way of thinking versus the new or modern way. In his final book, Tarkington takes this into the change and growth of a city and its impact on a generation. In so doing, he quite successfully draws that this experience is not unique to any one generation but is a continual evolution. I may be wrong, but I should guess that Tarkington disliked what he saw in his country; that he was a tradtionalist.
The Oliphant brothers, Harlan and Dan, exhibited the two extremes quite well. Harlan sees beauty in the past and in its maintenance; Dan sees beauty in the future and in building it and moreover blindly destroying the past. Dan lives and dies at the edge of debt. He suffered a kind of privileged poverty for years and yet eventually became the head of business and even mayor during his latter years. Harlan remaining unceasingly prudent using money only as a means to accrue more of it. Dan would never settle but kept improving and diversifying and mortgaging all he had for the unrealized "better" yet to come. Harlan stayed in the past so long, that he moved into his late grandmother's house.....and did not alter it (save for a library). They were so different in almost any comparison, except they had one counterbalance to each which they both clung and that was the ever-balanced beauty in Martha Shelby.
Martha is the arguably the real hero to Tarkington. She was raised to respect the traditions but also was open-minded and embraced the new. It's foolish to dwell in the past and its reckless to race forward to the unknown. But Martha found a way, though unconventionally, to have the best run of it keeping her traditional values intact.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Of course, I found Lena's character detestable. But I could unfortunately, relate to some of her manipulations. I found myself rooting for Dan knowing full well how her game was played and how it was often won. But it made the book all the better to me. If I could I'd probably give this a 4.5 but seeing as I can't, I feel compelled to give one of my unusual 5-stars. Unlike his previous two in the trilogy where I just didn't like it, I just DID like this one.
This is the first physical book I've borrowed from a library in decades. A surprisingly difficult book to find...it's also one of the oldest books I've read perhaps ever with a printed date of 1924. A 97-year old book!
January 14, 2014
Written in 1923 this was the last in a trilogy by Booth Tarkington. While not as engaging as the Magnificent Ambersons, I enjoyed reading about the development of the suburbs and the decline of the old central city.
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