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In a recent thread it ws opined that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the greatest American novel. I disagreed with that opinion and was challenged to provide one better.
At the time, I said that while Huck was great, it was not the greatest. I have culled my memory and provide herein a list of the 30 novels that I think could be considered at the "greatest" American novel.
Most critics and acamedicians concur that Gatsby is "THE" greatest American novel. Can't change that, but either from your own list or my list, nominate your own "favorite" or favorites for the honor--recognizing that it is all pretty subjective. I do have one prohibition, nothing by Phillip Roth qualifies.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (top of the list critically and academically-The American Novel).
Look Homeward Angel, Thomas Wolfe (and his editor Max Perkins)
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
From Here To Eternity, James Jones and Some Came running as its sequel
A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
The World According To Garp, John Irving—Cider House Rules wasn’t shabby
Kingsblood Royal, Sinclair Lewis
Atlas shrugged, Ayn Rand
The Catcher In The Rye, J. D. Salinger
The Sound and The Fury, William Faulkner
Brill Among The Ruins, Vance Bourjaily
Dandelion Wine, Bradbury, Ray.
Go Tell It On the Mountain, Baldwin, James.
The Big Sleep, Chandler, Raymond.
The Invisible Man, Ellison, Ralph.
One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
Boys and Girls Together & Temple of Gold, William Goldman
I, The Jury, Mickey Spillane
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Samuel Clemons
The Winds of War, Herman Wouk
An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser – a tough read, but worth it.
Hearts In Atlantis, Stephen King—finally, he finds his literate voice.
The Naked and The Dead, Norman Mailer
Young Lonigan, James T. Farrell (in fact the trilogy is worthy)
Penrod, Booth Tarkington
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Lad, A Dog, Albert Payson Terhune (Treve and Bob, son of Lad-rank in there too)
At the time, I said that while Huck was great, it was not the greatest. I have culled my memory and provide herein a list of the 30 novels that I think could be considered at the "greatest" American novel.
Most critics and acamedicians concur that Gatsby is "THE" greatest American novel. Can't change that, but either from your own list or my list, nominate your own "favorite" or favorites for the honor--recognizing that it is all pretty subjective. I do have one prohibition, nothing by Phillip Roth qualifies.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (top of the list critically and academically-The American Novel).
Look Homeward Angel, Thomas Wolfe (and his editor Max Perkins)
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
From Here To Eternity, James Jones and Some Came running as its sequel
A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
The World According To Garp, John Irving—Cider House Rules wasn’t shabby
Kingsblood Royal, Sinclair Lewis
Atlas shrugged, Ayn Rand
The Catcher In The Rye, J. D. Salinger
The Sound and The Fury, William Faulkner
Brill Among The Ruins, Vance Bourjaily
Dandelion Wine, Bradbury, Ray.
Go Tell It On the Mountain, Baldwin, James.
The Big Sleep, Chandler, Raymond.
The Invisible Man, Ellison, Ralph.
One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
Boys and Girls Together & Temple of Gold, William Goldman
I, The Jury, Mickey Spillane
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Samuel Clemons
The Winds of War, Herman Wouk
An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser – a tough read, but worth it.
Hearts In Atlantis, Stephen King—finally, he finds his literate voice.
The Naked and The Dead, Norman Mailer
Young Lonigan, James T. Farrell (in fact the trilogy is worthy)
Penrod, Booth Tarkington
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Lad, A Dog, Albert Payson Terhune (Treve and Bob, son of Lad-rank in there too)
Her self-invented philosophy of "objectivism" was pretty heavy-handed for my taste, plus she projected her own inferiority complex about physical appearance on her characters. A fatal flaw for someone championing fierce self-determination.
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