14 h 25 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the life everyone expects of you is the one life you cannot bear to live?
In a small Minnesota town, Carl Ericson grows up in a Scandinavian immigrant family. His neighbors expect him to learn a trade, marry and stay close to home. But Carl wants movement and purpose. He dreams of going somewhere new and doing something no one has done before.
The Trail of the Hawk follows Carl into the wider world, where wandering teaches him many trades. Sinclair Lewis brings humor to this restless coming-of-age story, poking fun at people who mistake being settled for being wise. Against a world where flying machines are still new and strange, Carl searches for room to shape his own life.
What you’ll discover
- A boy looking outward Meet Carl, whose hunger for movement pushes against the narrow life his neighbors imagine.
- Lessons along the road Follow a wandering life as new places and different trades broaden Carl's world.
- The hawk's promise Explore an image of freedom: a creature that goes where it likes and sees from above.
- Humor with affection Enjoy Lewis's fondness for his restless hero, even when Carl acts foolishly.
- An early Lewis novel Discover his eye for small towns, restless young men and the pull of the open road.
Who will love it
For readers who love American stories of ambition and restlessness, and anyone curious about Lewis before his famous satires. Tales of flight, freedom and the pull of home add to its appeal.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy who cannot stay put
- Wandering teaches him many trades
- The hawk gives his dream a shape
- Comedy, freedom and the pull of home
Who’s who
- Carl EricsonA restless young man from a small Minnesota town who wants a life of movement and purpose beyond the one his neighbors expect.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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La traccia del falco
by Sinclair Lewis · 1915
Carl Ericson dreams of flight and a life beyond the expectations of his small Minnesota town.
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In short
The Trail of the Hawk is a novel by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1915. It follows Carl Ericson, a boy from a Scandinavian immigrant family in a small Minnesota town, who cannot settle into the life expected of him.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy who cannot stay put
The story begins in a small Minnesota town of the American Midwest. Carl Ericson grows up there in a family with roots in Scandinavia, in a place where most people expect a boy to learn a trade, marry and stay close to home.
Carl is not built for that. He is quick, curious and impatient with talk that goes in circles. Lewis shows the town with a humorous, sharp eye, its habits and its small pride, and he lets us feel why a lively boy would find it too small.
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What is The Trail of the Hawk about?
It is a novel about Carl Ericson, a restless young man from a small Minnesota town who tries many paths and is drawn to the new world of flying. It deals with ambition, freedom and belonging.
When was The Trail of the Hawk written?
Sinclair Lewis published it in 1915. That was before Main Street, and during the early years of aviation, which form the background to the hero's dream.
What does the hawk mean in the title?
The hawk stands for freedom and the wish to rise above ordinary life. It points toward Carl's longing to fly and to live by his own course.
The author
Sinclair Lewis
1885–1951 · American novelist
Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist and the first writer from the United States to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Babbitt, his satire of small-city boosterism and middle-class conformity, added a new word to the American vocabulary.
More by Sinclair Lewis
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