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Choosing the Great American NovelJuly 5, 2007 Here's a wonderful question, posed by Julia Keller at The Chicago Tribune: What's the best novel written by an American that most clearly reflects the spirit, character and destiny of America, both its good and bad sides, its mistakes and its triumphs? (She asked it in time for July Fourth; hey, it's only the day after!) Keller writes:"Before settling on Steinbeck or Ellis, I also considered F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925), because of its lovely theme of perpetual self-invention. It's such an American ideal, this notion of creating yourself anew -- as Gatsby, nee James Gatz, does -- and it is indestructible. Before the tragedy kicks in, America is the land toward which a man can look and see "something commensurate to his capacity for wonder." But the tragedy must be present, too, and not just the private tragedy of a lovesick guy. That's why I put aside Gatsby and moved on to Grapes of Wrath, in which Steinbeck gives his homeland a sock in the jaw. It's written with ravishing biblical cadences and an epic sweep, and it's angry and bitter and unforgettable. But the country has outgrown Steinbeck, I think. His world was the world of the 1930s and '40s, and the novel, for all of its majesty, feels as dusty as Tom Joad's trousers." This critic finally chooses American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. (If you want to send her an indignant email, her address is published in her article.) Hmmm, reinvention and tragedy... my pick? It's rather different. I'd choose The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Lily Bart's attempts at reinvention and her ultimate tragedy seem quintessentially American to me -- especially the tension between individual responsibility and group dynamics. Your choices? I think we might be able to start a new list to send to Julia Keller...  Posted by Bethanne Patrick on July 5, 2007 | Comments (43)
July 5, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel gpb commented: Sometimes a Great Notion, by Ken Kesey
July 5, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Gina Frangello commented: I adore House of Mirth, but it seems, to me, as outdated as Gatsby when it comes to this kind of issue. What about Beloved? I mean, American Psycho is a great pick if all of America were white and wealthy and vacuous. While no novel can "represent" everyone in a nation as diverse as the United States, it seems to me that the emotions and situations in Beloved are something more people (not just African Americans) can relate to than the sociopathic irony of American Psycho, even though I like the novel. In the end, Beloved is not just a novel about slavery, but about family history, maternal love and responsibility, desire, and (again, that quintessential American theme) reinvention. And, of course, it's also about race, which continues to be one of the core, defining issues in this country, even more so, I would venture to say, than our label consciousness and status seeking ala Ellis.
July 5, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Bethanne commented: Both of these are really interesting choices... Gina, Beloved is a great pick, and it actually makes sense to me in THIS context -- I don't think Beloved is the Great American novel when it comes to writing (that's because it has always struck me as more of a prose poem), but when it comes to the grestest novel representing American perspective, it's a strong contender.
July 5, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel lulu commented: i would have to say light in august by faulkner
July 5, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel njd commented: On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
July 5, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Martin commented: Paula Deen Celebrates!: Best Dishes and Best Wishes for the Best Times of Your Life
July 5, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Canadian Sarah commented: Thanks for selecting Edith Wharton. My problem with most American fiction by men is that it is always about how the son measures up to Dad. We do the same thing but worry about mom.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel LAUREN BARATZ-LOGSTED commented: Gatsby is still getting my vote. It's not just the tragedy of a lovesick guy. It's the tragedy of a country with a propensity for building people up before tearing them down again and - please don't hit me! - it's the tragedy of the lonely human condition.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel ERV BOBO commented: Sorry, but you're all wrong. The Great American Novel is still Huckleberry Finn - closely followed by Gone With the Wind and To Kill A Mockingbird.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Allen Butler commented: My vote: Of Time and the River by Thomas Wolfe. It is an epic narrative of America's quest for righteouness and perfection.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Roni G. commented: I would have to vote for To Kill a Mockingbird. The struggles of prejudice and human growth, against a system mired in the status quo, gets me every time. The bravery of Atticus and the innocent nature of childhood wonder are central themes to Haper Lee's moving tale. It also shows us, with childlike clarity,our greatest fear...the unknown. I feel it exhibits the best and worst at America's core.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Richard Newton Meyer commented: Often overlooked (and badly made into a film) John Fante's Ask the Dust possesses all the elements of the "Great American Novel" and reaches across and to all generations.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Sandra commented: "the best novel written by an American that most clearly reflects the spirit, character and destiny of America, both its good and bad sides, its mistakes and its triumphs"--
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Donna commented: Hemingway is the greatest American novelist. Pick one.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Alana Abbott commented: I'll err a bit on the side of a more modern choice and say that I feel like reinvention, tragedy, and the eventual making-good and reaching for your dreams describes The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay quite well.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Canadian Sarah commented: If Richard Ford's Independence Day is the best reflection of American spirit, then I'll change my vote to American Psycho.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel MICHAEL O CAMPBELL commented: Sometimes you have to change to angle of vision to get the whole picture in. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. Isabel Archer is meant to represent "the spirit, character and destiny of America, both its good and bad sides, its mistakes and its triumphs". Her quintessential American innocence leads to her tragedy.
July 6, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel jmrolls commented: Confederacy of Dunces approaches perfection.
July 9, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Meredith commented: Winter's Tale, by Mark Helprin
July 9, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel B. Anderson commented: Sister Carrie reflects the hardness of our economic and social system.
July 12, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel belle commented: I'm thinking "The Lords of Discipline" by Pat Conroy. It deals with the inner struggle for identity and ethics at the same time. The main character is saddled with a responsibility that brings him into direct confrontation with who he is and what he believes about justice on several levels. As a student he is in a state of re-invention anyway, some of his dearest dreams are horribly dashed. And all of leads back to the treachery of his closest friend.
October 30, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel MEL WAGGONER commented: Pick 'em - Great Gatsby, Old Man and the Sea and To Kill a Mockingbird.
November 23, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Tony Rabig commented: I'm not sure any book can be declared THE Great American Novel. And if Miller thinks we've outgrown Steinbeck, then presumably we'd eventually outgrow all the other GAN candidates too. Sorry Melville, James, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Wharton ... we're so beyond all you folks now. Too bad.
December 30, 2007
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Sundown Harvard commented:
January 2, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Atar commented: Kavalier and Clay and The Sportswriter sound good to me as contemporary bets - Huck Finn and Jay Gatsby duke it out for the great dead.
March 14, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Natasha commented: I love so many. The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, To Kill A Mockingbird...
March 24, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel wrtrgrl commented: Lots of good picks. I just re-read Sinclair Lewis' "Elmer Gantry." I love his acerbic observations of the American mentality. Love Dreiser, although many consider him second-rate. "Grapes of Wrath" gotta be on the list. More contemporary guys: Philip Roth, Russell Banks, Joyce Carol Oates. I'm ambivalent about Joan Didion (I like her non-fiction better than her fiction.) For sheer entertainment - Tom Wolfe. (The RIght Stuff still holds up.) I just tried to read Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but I found it tedious after the first hundred pages.
April 16, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Rob commented: I'll second Sometimes a Great Notion and also recommend Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
April 22, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Barbie commented: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
April 29, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Fountain McClure commented: Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer.
August 24, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel writeroffthelake commented: I love GRAPES OF WRATH, I love MAIN STREET, I love HUCK FINN, I love TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, but for me the great American novel is - sit down before you read this - THE JUNGLE by Upton Sinclair. Not relevant today? Oh, yeah? Think of the ecoli and samonella scares. Think of current health care lack-of-options. I LOVE this book...and I HATE it, too. I hate it because it scares me, and I love it because it scares me. It's more than 100 years old, and, IMHO, still as relevant as the day it was published. A second choice would be OUT OF THE FURNACE by Thomas Bell, maybe because it's set near Pittsburgh where I grew up and the characters make me think of my Slovak heritage. If you haven't read OUT OF THE FURNACE, you're missing a wonderful novel.
October 29, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel mark h commented: My vote goes to Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. True encapsulation of modern generation.
November 20, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel rowr commented: Whoever said Harry Potter needs to evaluate their geography before they decide what an American novel is.
November 28, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel J.S.S. commented: How could everyone fail to even mention The Scarlet Letter or The Red Badge of Courage, as well as Ethan Frome? Mind you, this page is devoted to speaking of the GREATEST American Classics, not contemporary books, or novels that I have never heard of before. And yes, Rowling is British, so don't embarress yourself by including works from half the world away. Also, the Invisible Man, Moby-Dick, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Catcher in the Rye.
November 28, 2008
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel J.S.S. commented: How could everyone fail to even mention The Scarlet Letter or The Red Badge of Courage, as well as Ethan Frome? Mind you, this page is devoted to speaking of the GREATEST American Classics, not contemporary books, or novels that I have never heard of before. And yes, Rowling is British, so don't embarress yourself by including works from half the world away. Also, the Invisible Man, Moby-Dick, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Catcher in the Rye.
January 28, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel hgc commented: Lolita is The Great American Novel. Nabakov was a late-comer to our shores, but he set out to write a quintessentially American story. He produced one of the most beautifully told and compelling stories ever.
January 28, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel hgc commented: Oh, and I forgot Willa Cather's My Ántonia. That's also The Great American Novel.
April 10, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel BJF commented: Lolita? Fight Club? HARRY POTTER? Self-indulgence, ignorance of geography-not sure which is worse. The question is what is the American novel that most reflects the American spirit, etc. That means ever, not just recently. Nobody gave the obvious and still most correct answer: Moby Dick. Do we need to look any farther than 2007-09 America to see the destructive force that can be brought about by talented, forceful persons seeking their White Whale while talented, rational, but ultimately weak enablers (Starbuck) stand by and watch the carnage? In addition to being beautifully written the book beomes more relevant with the passage of time.
April 10, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel BJF commented: Lolita? Fight Club? HARRY POTTER? Self-indulgence, ignorance of geography-not sure which is worse. The question is what is the American novel that most reflects the American spirit, etc. That means ever, not just recently. Nobody gave the obvious and still most correct answer: Moby Dick. Do we need to look any farther than 2007-09 America to see the destructive force that can be brought about by talented, forceful persons seeking their White Whale while talented, rational, but ultimately weak enablers (Starbuck) stand by and watch the carnage? In addition to being beautifully written the book beomes more relevant with the passage of time.
May 9, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel teatser commented: sometimes a great notion hands down
May 30, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Robert Tilden commented: I am re-reading Moby Dick and must say it is a wonderful book but does not represent any America I know. America is not an iconoclast society. We do battle windmills (to barrow from Don Quijote) but battling God is not an American theam. Melvile makes it clear he has hostility towards Christianity. America was settled by religious people and still today is a religious society
July 30, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Brian Dear commented: The Sun Also Rises. Not an American setting, but about Americans facing the battle between post-war nihilism and success.. the struggle between sexuality and love.. Thematically, it really encapsulates the American emotional experience. Of course, Huck Finn is STILL the masterpiece. It's issues of race and everything else still resonates today. Perhaps, especially today. Of course with politics these days, one could honorably mention 1984 and Animal Farm (despite the British origins..)
July 30, 2009
In response to: Choosing the Great American Novel Brian Dear commented: I would have to agree with the Fight Club choice. That book captures the search for self, the idea of becoming someone better than yourself and also the obsession with "things" that our country seems to have. On the surface, it's laughable, but if you look at the deeper themes of that work, it's a great representation of the 21st century American psyche: (trapped in a job you hate, becoming a catalog addict, nice house, nice this, etc, etc.. yet not feeling alive unless doing something out of the box. Yes, fight club would be my 21st century nomination.
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