The Great American Novel

[LitWit20]

Since this group is dedicated solely to the reading of American classics, I was wondering what everyone on here considered the great American novel? It's a phrase that is thrown around so much and it can be something different to each person. I think the major three are Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, and The Old Man and the Sea. What are your picks and what do you think makes the great american novel?

[love2read]

I would agree with one of your selections, Cather in The Rye. I think that it captures, at least for me, the many elements of the American and human experiences. It's the story of the coming of age of a young man, sure, but also on so many levels, the coming of age of a nation. A new nation that has culture and refinement, but not like Old World Paris or Rome. It is a crude nation, rough around the edges, much like our hero in the novel. You wouldn't exactly see the same swears or "common/everyday" language in let's say, 16th Century British Literature. The Great American Novel, in my opinion, breaks the rules of convention and moves ahead into new territory...much like the story of our nation.

[willowy]

I think, like you said, the great American novel and can mean or be something to different to different people. Maybe thats why its so hard to say this or that book is that great American novel. A novel can capture a feeling or specific moment in America's time and then 20 years later something else comes out they may capture the new feeling or specific moment. This was what Wikipedia had to say:



'The "Great American Novel" is the concept of a novel that perfectly represents the spirit of life in the United States at the time of its publication. It is presumed to be written by an American author who is knowledgeable about the state, culture, and perspective of the common American citizen.'


I think its hard to pinpoint and say what it is exactly, but to me The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Moby Dick, and To Kill A Mockingbird. I also agree what the suggestion of Old Man and the Sea, you don't hear that one thrown around so much but it really is a perfect little book.

[fanuzzir]

I'll nominate Toni Morrison's Beloved.

[Laurel]

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.
No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea,
though many there be who have tried it.

- Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 104.

[RobertHennemuth]

I think you really have to divide this question into eras. It's pretty difficult to argue for Moby Dick or An American Tragedy over Fitzgerald /Hemingway or modern day writers like Updike / Irving. But for me, the great American novel is one that captures some essence of the American cultural experience OR American intellectual body of thought. In the 1800's, I would clearly include Melville's Moby Dick, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, Dreiser's American Tragedy. In the 1900's, my picks would include Tender is The Night (though more people might argue for The Great Gadsby), The Sun Also Rises, Catcher In The Rye, and On The Road. And to be controversial, I would have to propose A Prayer For Owen Meaney and Sometimes A Great Notion.

[fanuzzir]

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willowy wrote:
I think, like you said, the great American novel and can mean or be something to different to different people. Maybe thats why its so hard to say this or that book is that great American novel. A novel can capture a feeling or specific moment in America's time and then 20 years later something else comes out they may capture the new feeling or specific moment. This was what Wikipedia had to say:



'The "Great American Novel" is the concept of a novel that perfectly represents the spirit of life in the United States at the time of its publication. It is presumed to be written by an American author who is knowledgeable about the state, culture, and perspective of the common American citizen.'


I think its hard to pinpoint and say what it is exactly, but to me The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Moby Dick, and To Kill A Mockingbird. I also agree what the suggestion of Old Man and the Sea, you don't hear that one thrown around so much but it really is a perfect little book.

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So the great American novel is able to distill something about the "common citizen." I think I agree. Then can something be both common and great?

[LitEditor]

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RobertHennemuth wrote:
I think you really have to divide this question into eras. It's pretty difficult to argue for Moby Dick or An American Tragedy over Fitzgerald /Hemingway or modern day writers like Updike / Irving. But for me, the great American novel is one that captures some essence of the American cultural experience OR American intellectual body of thought. In the 1800's, I would clearly include Melville's Moby Dick, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, Dreiser's American Tragedy. In the 1900's, my picks would include Tender is The Night (though more people might argue for The Great Gadsby), The Sun Also Rises, Catcher In The Rye, and On The Road. And to be controversial, I would have to propose A Prayer For Owen Meaney and Sometimes A Great Notion.

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Robert, would you put Invisible Man on that list? It's one I've always argued for in that context.

[donyskiw]

Lots of things are common and great. Like sex, ice cream, pizza (OK, only if it's good pizza).

Denise

[Danielle7]

I also agree with that in defining the American classic the era needs to be considered, plus reading is so much like art, isn't it? What one might consider a classic may not be to another one and all because of any number of reasons but I would think the individuals own life experiences and exposure to books being a very real aspect. I've started reading The Jungle (Upton Sinclair) and believe this should be considered a classic. Moby Dyck, Last of the Mohicans, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fitsgerald (agree with you one that choice),just about all of Steinbeck - there are so many. And what about Hunter S Thompson? His works haven't been around as long as some, yet he was very bold and outgoing which in some ways I think personifies what America was built on. I don't know - I'm clearly open to any feedback. And by the way, I appreciated the advice on Civil Disobedience - it was an appropriate time with election season going on, definitely gave me pause to go "hmmmm....."

[RobertHennemuth]

Maybe, though I read that when I was young and it just didn't seem to have the staying power that "greatness" suggests. Although the Modern Library's list of the top 100 English language novels has been hotly debated and discounted by many (and is not about great American novels), Invisible Man didn't make that list either. But that list might help others to define what is a great novel but not great American novel, because, for example, Catch 22 is high on the list, but I wouldn't argue for that one.

[fanuzzir]

How could I have forgotten pizza?

[fanuzzir]

I'll vote for Invisible Man, just because it recapitulates so much of black culture and history--Moby Dick does that with other traditions of adventure and religion, as does Huckleberry Finn. Great Gatsby, on the other hand, so defines its times in a way that makes perfect sense for modern America--without originality, style and angst.

[donyskiw]

Yeah, really, what's wrong with you?

After I wrote that post, I called a colleague and told him I wanted to go to lunch that day somewhere that served pizza!

Denise

Message Edited by donyskiw on 11-10-200608:35 AM

[fanuzzir]

Henry James never had pizza, although he spent lots of time in Italy. He was emphatically convinced that the U. S. could never produce a great novel. Of course, we all disagree, I think, though I do think that the Great American Novel has to represent what is common and homely about the United States. There's alot to choose from there . . . But then there's Gatsby, so Robert Redford, clean and pressed. How doe she fit in?

[Sensorymoments]

So the great American novel is able to distill something about the "common citizen." I think I agree. Then can something be both common and great?

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Perhaps than I would suggest that The Great Gatsby is a great american novel, and one of the few american novel classics I have ever read-sadly.

[elf67]

I would agree with "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Great Gatsby," and others chosen here; I'd probably go with "The Sun Also Rises"" over "The Old Man and the Sea" if I had to pick a Hemingway novel.

But I'm not sure how I would define what makes a novel "A Great American Novel." Does it have to comment overtly on the state of America in its time? Does have to be set in America? Does it have to be explicitly socially conscious, like "The Grapes of Wrath"? Or can it be implicitly socially conscious, like "Huckleberry Finn"? Maybe just any masterpiece of a novel writeen by an American is enough; that seems like a high enough hurdle.

[fanuzzir]

Who do you think the common American is there? Nick? Tom? or Jay Gatz?

[fanuzzir]

Now you've thrown the hats of Gertrude Stein, Henry James, James Baldwin, all of whom wrote offshore.

[RobertHennemuth]

And Nabokov, right? Lolita is an astounding piece of writing, but I hadn't thrown that on the pile for the same reason.