14 h 25 minAudiobook6 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
Readers who love coming-of-age tales, early aviation, road adventures and gentle satire of small towns will find a warm companion here, along with anyone curious about America just before the First World War.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A backyard general runs away
- Restless at sixteen, Carl wants more
- A college teacher sparks a revolt
- Carl chooses conscience and leaves Plato
- Years on the road teach him nerve
- Flying makes Hawk Ericson a hero
- New York offers him two very different women
- Freedom and belonging pull against each other
- How Lewis tells the tale
Who’s who
- Carl EricsonA Norwegian carpenter's son from Minnesota who wants to see the world, learns to fly, and becomes known as Hawk.
- Gertie CowlesCarl's childhood playmate and first love, a refined, cautious girl who wants him to settle into a respectable life.
- Bone StillmanA lonely freethinking farmer and fisherman who treats Carl as an equal and urges him to chase a dream too big to catch.
- Ben RuskCarl's loyal boyhood friend, the doctor's son, who loves books and chivalry and goes on to study medicine.
- Henry FrazerA young Plato College English teacher whose talk of poetry and socialism opens Carl's mind and costs Frazer his job.
- Forrest HavilandAn army lieutenant and fellow flier, gracious and kind, who becomes Carl's closest friend and shares his plans for exploring.
- Martin DockerillCarl's loyal, irreverent mechanic, a lanky Yankee who stands by his boss through races, crashes and lean years.
- Ruth WinslowA lively, honest New York girl who longs to escape her polite world and finds a playmate in Carl.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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The Trail of the Hawk
by Sinclair Lewis · 1915
Carl Ericson runs from a Minnesota woodshed to the sky, chasing the one thing no job can give him.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Meet an ordinary boy who cannot sit still. Sinclair Lewis published The Trail of the Hawk in 1915.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A backyard general runs away
The story opens in October 1893. Carl is eight, and he is punished with a woodpile. He turns nails into an army led by General Door-Hinge. The narrator calls him the true typical American of his time, the son of a carpenter who crossed the sea in steerage.
Gertie is ten, well dressed and sure of herself. Carl proposes that they run away to San Francisco, and she follows him along the railroad track.
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What is The Trail of the Hawk about?
It follows Carl Ericson, a Minnesota carpenter's son, from boyhood through college, odd jobs, and early aviation to marriage prospects in New York. The novel asks how a restless person can find a life that still leaves room for adventure.
Who is Hawk Ericson?
Hawk is the nickname given to Carl Ericson after a newspaper called him the New Hawk of the Birdmen following his first solo flight at the Bagby flying school. It stays with him through his racing career.
Is The Trail of the Hawk a true story?
No, it is a novel, though Lewis weaves in real events and people from early aviation, such as the Belmont Park meet of 1910 and fliers like Lincoln Beachey, to give Carl's story a convincing setting.
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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