The Great American Novel

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[Fleshmachine]

The US is constantly changing so I can't say that one book can define us as a nation.

But in my opinion it would be...

The Great Gatsby

A uniguely american tale from its feet to its head.

 

[unusuallyconfused]

Perhaps a combination of American Graffiti and The Jetsons? I don't know, it requires so many brain cells.

 

[Weird Harold]

Can you name one work, of even a few works, that might demonstrate your view of which literature truly represents the spirit that is America?

Why do you select these particular works?

At one time, the collected works of Mark Twain were THE definition of America. I don't think anyone has replaced him, but America as grown away from the America Mark Twain depicted.

John Jakes' historical novels come the closest of anything I've read to showing how "America" grew to be what it is, but they don't reach into the present to show what it is now.

(For those who aren't familiar, John Jakes is the author of _The Kent Family Chronicles_ covering the revolution through the civil war; the _North and South_ trilogy, covering the civil war through the turn of the century; and _Calfornia!_, _Homeland_ and one other I don't recall covering the period through the _Roaring Twenties_.)

 

[Expertise]

Although The Great Gatsby is considered THE great American novel and I would have great difficulty in arguing with Mark Twains works I would offer the compendium of three Michener Novels.... Alaska, Texas and Chesapeake.

 

[Fleshmachine]

I also think that Catch-22 is a good book for the running of greatest.

 

[Weird Harold]

I would offer the compendium of three Michener Novels.... Alaska, Texas and Chesapeake.

Michener is very good at depicting the "American Experience" as well.

Another candidate for the author who does that best is Hermann Wouk -- _The Winds of War_ and _War and Remembrance_.

 

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[Weird Harold]

I tend to think of Steinbeck's work when I think of the great American novel.

The problem with Steinbeck, Michener, Wouk, Jakes, and Twain, is that their vision of "the spirit that is America" is of an American spirit that doesn't seem to exist anymore.

I can't recall anything that covers the post-Vietnam period in America that stands out enough to be definitive. I suspect that is because there isn't a singular "American Spirit" since the fractures created by Vietnam. The fractures my even have started as early as the Korean War.

 

[Ask For More]

Exactly WH...the first question I asked myself was "What is the spirit of America?"

I would have opted for Twain and Steinbeck too if it wasn't for the passing of the period. I also feel that "To kill a Mockingbird" captures the racial tensions of the period beautifully.

 

[Pyper]

I also think that Catch-22 is a good book for the running of greatest.

I don't know you, but I think I love you.

 

[christo]

I think our history has been too big and turbulent to pick just one book and say that it exemplifies the American spirit. There are works that certainly belong in the American Canon, works that probably every literate American should read. Of course, Americans today are too busy trying to decide whether to buy the latest CD by the Backstreet Boys or N'Sync, so good luck.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" would probably be the book I would pick if I had to. But there are so many writers, not just books, whose works should be read by literate Americans. Start building a list of books and plays and I bet you'd be over 100 in about an hour. It's good that our nation has created such a body of literary masterpieces. It's sad that so few people read them anymore.

 

[KillerMuffin]

These days... The Uncanny X-Men Graphic Novel. Pick one.

 

[Ask For More]

X-Men

I think the "Age of Apocalypse" saga is one of the greatest stories i've ever read!

 

[Weird Harold]

I think our history has been too big and turbulent to pick just one book and say that it exemplifies the American spirit. There are works that certainly belong in the American Canon, works that probably every literate American should read.
...
Start building a list of books and plays and I bet you'd be over 100 in about an hour. It's good that our nation has created such a body of literary masterpieces. It's sad that so few people read them anymore.

How would Tom Clancy, or Barbara Cartland (and similar auhtors) fit into the running for "Great American Novel?"

Is it possible for a "Techo-Adventure" or "Romance Novel" to qualify as a definitive portrayal of "the American Spirit"?

 

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[CelestialBody]

Anyone who suggests Stienbeck

 

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[dza]

wow, phillip roth would be happy as a clam if he read this

he did afterall write The Great American Novel


it is, however, crap

 

[CelestialBody]

A few words, cause I really shouldn't be here...

 

[Dillinger]

Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pychon - "A screaming comes across the sky..."

Along with:

Jitterbug Perfume - Tom Robbins

and

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole.

and

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me - Richard Farina

and

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson

and

Electric Kool Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe

Along with these ones that were already mentioned:

The collected works of Mark Twain.
The Catcher in The Rye
Catch 22

I'd also include "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein but I'm not sure how "American" it is.

 

[Todd]

Do you believe there is one work deserving to be referred to as the great American novel.

The Satanic Bible by Antoine Lavey

It is the perfect eptiamy{sp?} of the 20th and 21st Century North American society. Its values and principles are those which are revered and regarded as "the" way of life to live.

 

[Barb Dwyer]

So many books, so little space!

In no particular order:

Tropic of Cancer
Great Gatsby
Slaughterhouse Five
On the Road
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Wizard of Oz

Hey, I happen to like Steinbeck too - and Hemingway and Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Wolfe, etc. Nothing wrong with that -just shows we have eclectic tastes and open minds.

 

[*bratcat*]

Ayn Rand

 

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