If you were to pick best American novels, what would you pick?

(I actually haven't been reading many novels written by Americans lately (with the exception of John Grisham), but I'm keen on reading a couple of them this year. This is why I'm asking this question ...)

The Great American Novel would be American Gods, but Neil Gaiman is British. Sigh.

I'd include Jack Kerouac's On The Road in my list.

I have to admit that I include Salem's Lot and a few of the EARLY great Stephen King books. Just amazing writing.

Hmmm ...

What do you all think about writers like ...

Hemingway
Mark Twain
John Steinbeck
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tennessee Williams?

well of course they are great, but to me, I am more interested in more modern great writers.

Some great American novels I've read.

The Great Gatsby (that should cover your question about Fitzgerald)
The Scarlet Letter
Last of the Mohicans

Both of the last two are quite heavy going but deserve the praise they've received.

On the Road is pretty good too.

The Dark Tower series, by Stehpen King is a great series, but it wont go down in history.

Also, I'm pretty sure that the phantom Tollbooth is an AMerican creation.

Richard Farinha's "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me" would probably be a notable.

In Cold Blood - Thruman Capote

Such an amazing read!

Catcher in the Rye - the best american novel

Hmmm ...

What do you all think about writers like ...

Hemingway

Tennessee Williams?

Hemingway seems over rated from what I have read. if you like his style I'd recommend Joseph Conrad - much better

I love Tennessee Williams! :)

My english teacher told me that Huck Finn by Mark Twain was considered "The Best American Novel Ever Written." I'm not so sure about that, but it's pretty beast. Umm ... The Awakening is pretty good. Can't remember who wrote it. e.e. cummings wrote "The Enormous Room." No one reads it because it's by e.e. cummings and it's like ... "OH NO! I won't understand it!" And, well ... if you take that attitude you probably won't understand, [even though there's not much to understand, it's a pretty beast story.]

Langhston Hugues. He didn't write much notable novles [I really can't think of any he wrote at the moment, but my gut tells me he wrote one or more.] He did write some really beast poetry, though.

Is Lord of the Flies American? No, wait ... That's English. Still a good book, though.

Battlefield Earth. Beast story, if not a little overwhelming.

And that's it for right now. I'll post another volume later if I think of any more.

what is a "Beast story?"

i never know who is American or not, i very rarely even know who has wrote the book unless i have reas like 100 of theres, lol.

... A cool story. :rolleyes:

My english teacher told me that Huck Finn by Mark Twain was considered "The Best American Novel Ever Written." I'm not so sure about that, but it's pretty beast. Umm ... The Awakening is pretty good. Can't remember who wrote it.

Huck Finn is an amazing novel and until college I had no idea about the underlying messages and symbolism in the book. Huck is a racist though, so I don't think it is fair that this book should be "The Best" even though it was probably the most influential.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is another great book, but I don't think it would rank as "The Best".

My vote would go to Fitzgerald or Hemingway, but Fitz has more of his novels set in the United States than Hemingway who is infatuated with the rest of the world.

If I had to pick what I thought were some of the best books to come out of the United States...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I've heard people say Moby-Dick is one of the best, but I've never read it so I can't say.

I'm tired, and I can't really think of any others right now.

I've heard that Faulkner's greatest work was Absolom, Absolom but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I've heard that it was better than The Sound and the Fury, but that would be hard to beat.

I've heard that Faulkner's greatest work was Absolom, Absolom but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I've heard that it was better than The Sound and the Fury, but that would be hard to beat.

I haven't read that one either. I didn't like As I Lay Dying as much as The Sound and the Fury. I'm planning on reading Light In August next.

I'd have to say Catch-22 would be my favorite American 'classic.'

I actually picked Catch-22 up from Waldenbooks a month ago. For some reason it was on sale for $3 which was a pretty good reason to buy it. I should get around to reading it, but due to how long it is and the amount of reading I have for my 4 literature class, it might have to wait until summer.

Catch-22 is excellent. It's been one of my favorite books for a long, long time.

Johnny got his Gun - Dalton Trumbo
V. - Tommas Pynchon
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
John Steinbeck

All my favoutes

It seems to be a very common agreement that Gatsby ranks high in this thread

F Scott Fitzgerald is one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century I feel. I've read each of his books except for Tender is the Night, as well as several of his short stories, and there really don't seem to be very many people who can write on the level that he did.

Hmm...I'll definiately have to think more about it, but for starters, if I had control over what it was and everyone had to listen, I would pick a crappy book. That way, when everyone looked at it, they'd be like, "What?" Discombublating. :)

I have an idea. Since so many of us have so many ideas about what the essential novels of American literature are, let's make a list of what books we all feel are essential to read for the best holistic understanding of American literature. Once this list is made, we could use a poll to weed out the books that we most disagree upon. We could set the goal at a total of 30 books as a final result. One rule should be related to the maximum amount of books on the list per author. I would suggest 2 by each author as the maximum. All in favor?

I say let's go for it.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov (Yeah, he's Russian, but he wrote this in America.)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (I haven't actually read all of this one, but I really liked what I've read, and I've been made to believe that this is one of the greatest novels ever written by quite a few people.)



I can't really think of anything else that I've read which I would call canonical.

Most I agree with.
A few others...
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

That's all I can think of for now...have to go to class.

Best American novels, in my opinion i would think that The Red Badge of Courage would be way up there in terms of the anti-war approach to novels.