Reader discussion: The Great American Novel

Public reader discussion about The Great American Novel in the WeRead Catalog by William Carlos Williams.

The Great American Novel: what are some examples outside of the classics?

By skyValley

I was reading the Wikipedia thing about “The Great American Novel,” and it basically says it’s a novel with some real literary weight that captures U.S. culture in a certain time period. Most of the examples I see are the usual famous ones—Gatsby, Grapes of Wrath, Tom Sawyer, etc. But I keep wondering about the ones that aren’t talked about as much. Like, would something like *Ham on Rye* by Bukowski count? It’s set around the depression-era LA vibe and you can tell a lot of what he went through growing up in that period. So what other great books kinda fit that Great American Novel idea, but people don’t really bring up?

There's always a great deal of debate over what book is truly "The Great American Novel", but what about of countries? What is "The Great X Novel"?

By Early_Plate5379

So, would “The Great French Novel” basically be Les Misérables? And “The Great Chinese Novel” maybe A Journey to the West? Then for “The Great American Novel,” I can’t tell—Huckleberry Finn, the Great Gatsby, or Catcher in the Rye? It made me think it’d be kind of fun to try to put together a list of books that feel like they capture the core of a country.

Suggest me what you consider to be THE great American novel

By Duck

Not sure—what do you think?

What 3 books represent American Literature?

By frozenCrown6

I kind of messed up the wording of the question, but I’m hoping the idea came across. Someone asked me this the other day and their answer was basically the obvious ones: - The Great Gatsby - Huckleberry Finn - Moby Dick But… can you actually push back against those three? Maybe. At first I was thinking more about American authors showing what they can do (like, talent from outside the US shouldn’t count the same way), not just books that happen to have American plots. If I’m looking at it like that, I don’t think those three are the slam-dunk choices. Like, to me, Huckleberry Finn is on the list for reasons that are a little different from why Moby Dick would be there.

Why are we Obsessed with the Great American Novel? - The New York Times

By Rapid-Bookworm

Does any other country get this obsessed with having a “great” novel like that? “The great american novel” feels like a meme now.

Recommend me your favorite modern American Novel and make me want to read it.

By BadgerBinary2002

I just read The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. It’s about this guy who gets hooked on making every choice in his life based on a dice roll, and it doesn’t take long before regular outcomes stop doing anything for him. Then the only way he can feel satisfied is by pushing things toward the really extreme possibilities—at least that’s how it seems.

Which book do you consider to be the most quintessential "Great American Novel," and why?

By letterRainy

Off the top of my head, a few 20th-century writers jump right out for me—Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Hemingway, Ralph Ellison—mostly because of how much they’ve shaped the whole “American” vibe and because they’re so important historically. I also think of older names like Melville and Hawthorne. I’m curious what people would pick though—like, which specific books you’d recommend, and whether there are any authors or titles I’m not thinking of right away, but other folks might be.

The Great American Novel

By BadgerBookworm

I feel like every time you talk books, people are arguing about what the Great American Novel even is—like “is it Moby-Dick?” “is it Gatsby?” “is it To Kill a Mockingbird?” etc. But does anyone else think John Steinbeck kind of already nailed it with East of Eden? I’m reading it for the first time (and it’s my first Steinbeck), and I just keep getting the feeling this might be the best book I’ve ever read. It also feels super “American,” like as American as it gets. And I keep seeing that critics were pretty harsh on Steinbeck compared to writers like Faulkner and Hemingway. I even saw something saying Harold Bloom didn’t think Steinbeck was on their level. I don’t know… I’m sitting here reading it after work every night and thinking, what are they talking about? This guy is a brilliant writer. Any real Steinbeck / East of Eden fans out there? 😀

PBS: Have you read the top 200 American novels?

By SleepyShelf2

Definitely check the numbers. The most read is *To Kill a Mockingbird* at 3.14%. And out of 433,000 people, only 23 picked *Daniel Fuchs: Summer in Williamsburg*. It doesn’t seem to have a Wikipedia page either, and there are basically just a few votes on Goodreads, so I’m not super surprised it’s low, but still.

Authors from the last 50 years that nobody talks about anymore.

By sageShelf2006

Lately it feels like social media just turns into the same few authors and books getting passed around nonstop—like everyone ends up in the same headspace and recommends the same stuff. Anyway, I’d love to start a thread and trade recs for authors/books since 1975 (mostly because my 50th birthday is coming up). I’m especially curious about writers who put out multiple books in that span, maybe got some real recognition, but now seem kind of forgotten—either not talked about much anymore or hard to actually find in bookstores, or out of print. I’ll kick it off: - **Thom Jones (1945–2016)**: active 1991–1999. Wrote award-winning short stories that showed up a lot in *The New Yorker*, *Esquire*, and *Playboy*. His stuff is usually pretty dark, dealing with inner demons like mental illness, addiction, and loneliness. His debut **_The Pugilist at Rest_** was a National Book Award finalist and the title story won the O’Henry award. **Recommend: _The Pugilist at Rest_** - **Tim Gautreaux (born 1947)**: active 1996?–present. Louisiana settings, and his novels focus on everyday people down south—their struggles and hopes. I’ve seen his writing in places like *The New Yorker*, *The Atlantic Monthly*, *Harper’s*, and *GQ*. **Recommend: _The Clearing_** - **Denis Johnson (1949–2017)**: active 1983–2011. A lot of his books are about outcasts and drifters, and his writing somehow makes them feel seen. **_Tree of Smoke_** won the National Book Award (2007), and **_Train Dreams_** (2011 novella) was a Pulitzer finalist. **Recommend: _Jesus’ Son_** (brutal, short story collection about an addict)

What's Your Definition of the Great American Novel?

By eclipse-carbon

Wikipedia says the “Great American Novel” is some canonical thing that’s supposed to capture the vibe of American life. Cool, but what does “canonical” even mean here? My own take is basically: it’s any big, well-known novel set in places in the U.S. the author actually lived in, and during years that fall within the author’s lifetime. Otherwise it just doesn’t feel like it has enough credibility. So what’s the GAN to you?

William Kennedy once declared ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE the first book since Genesis that should be required reading for the human race. What one book do YOU think should be required reading for everyone, everywhere?

By redNeedle181

And yeah, but why? I’m honestly really curious about how people are thinking about this. I tried posting it elsewhere but it got rejected, so I’m just here now.

Milk and honey is absolute trash

By Stone_Brown1977

Milk and Honey is honestly the absolute worst thing I’ve ever read. Am I missing some huge point here? Am I just not smart enough to get it? Do I not understand poetry at all? It’s basically just chopped-up sentences. “I was tired.” “I went to the kitchen.” “There was nothing there.” “I am brave.” And yeah, I should say I’m not really a big poetry person to begin with. I haven’t read much of it, mostly because a lot of the time I find it hard to tell what the writer is even trying to say. But Milk and Honey feels like it does the exact opposite and just strings together words that technically make sense, and then people are out here saying “this is the greatest thing I’ve ever read” or “this book changed my life.” Can somebody put my feelings into better words than I can? Am I really the only one who feels this way? My own guess is people like Milk and Honey for kind of the same reason they — and this might be controversial — like The Alchemist. Basically, they’re both super easy to read and easy to understand, so people who don’t read much can suddenly say they read and understood something. Honestly, I’d even say if you love Milk and Honey, that’s pretty immoral. Kidding. Sort of. So what do you all think? Am I being way too harsh? Should I just let people like what they like? Also, one last thing: why does Rupi Kaur read her poems like that?

Trying to get into American Literature

By john_chicago8904

I just signed up for this American library that’s set up under the U.S. consulate here, and basically every book is by American authors. I’m used to British lit, so I honestly don’t know what to pick first. I do want to make good use of my year-long membership though… I’m into novels and poetry—any recommendations?

What book do you think is the most American?

By cloud-drifts9935

A bunch of books people call “great” feel really universal in a human way, like you can relate to them no matter where you’re from (assuming it gets translated right). But then there are others that feel super tied to the specific place and culture they come out of. So I keep wondering—what’s the “great American novel” to you? Like, which one actually captures what America is, whether you mean historically or more today? And I’ve got my own loose rules: it should be a pretty well-known piece of fiction, written by an American, or at least clearly about America from an outsider’s viewpoint (like an immigrant family story would fit).

Once again heard The Great Gatsby described as "The Great American Novel", what are some other contenders?

By Hidden_Hawk3110

I was listening to the radio this morning and caught a promo for an upcoming talk on NPR. In the little clip they played, the person seemed to be saying *The Great Gatsby* is the greatest American novel. I get that it’s super well-known and it’s on a ton of high school reading lists, but I’m not totally sold on the “greatest” label. What else really captures American culture or history or the whole idea of America? Is there another book you’d put above it—and why?

Give me your Great American novel

By GentleReed9

I’m kind of on the lookout for what I’d call the “Great American Novel,” and I’m wondering what everyone else thinks counts. I’ve already read a few candidates, and I feel pretty sure about my pick, but I still think I should dig around a bit more.

The Best Book of All Time?

By BookmarkBookish65

What’s the best book ever? Feels like that question will never stop being asked, honestly. I don’t think there’s a real, fixed answer though. Everyone kind of has to decide that for themselves. After reading a bunch of stuff and rereading even more, I finally settled on mine. Honorable mentions: - *Anatomy of Melancholy* by Robert Burton (I’m putting this as my best non-fiction pick) - *Exercises in Style* by Raymond Queneau My actual best book of all time: *The Dream of the Red Chamber* / *The Story of the Stone* by Cao Xueqin It’s a Chinese novel, and I’ve seen it described as the top Chinese literary work. Translations can be kind of hit-or-miss, but I got lucky with the Penguin edition (David Hawkes/John Minford) and it’s really good. Overall it’s just excellent—there’s this tragic love story, but it also goes into some deeper, philosophical stuff. The only thing that might turn people off is the sheer size. It’s around 2500 pages, which… yeah. That’s a commitment. What’s your pick?

What's the quintessential American novel of today?

By WanderingOwl2003

When I say “quintessential,” I kind of mean like: if you translated a novel into another language, which one would make people in that language really get what it’s like to be American right now—like they didn’t already know, lol. And yeah, ignoring all the translation headaches. I’m also not totally sure all languages can even “match” English well enough for that. My instinct pick is **Lush Life** by Richard Price. I don’t think Americans are actually as sharp, selfish, or straight-up brutal as the book sometimes makes them seem, but it still feels like it captures the modern stuck-in-your-own-head dilemma pretty well. As Americans see it. Also, I don’t know, but I keep feeling like people are more like ghosts of stories than anything else. Literature feels more real than people do. People might not be. Anyway—someone else can totally nominate a novel that nails some other country just as well if they want. I only got stuck on the question because **Orhan Pamuk’s Snow** hit me so hard. After I finished it I was like, “so that’s what Turks are like,” which is probably not even true, but that was the vibe. I’d love it if someone could name a really good candidate for what it’s like to be French these days… or German.

In your opinion, what is The Great American Novel?

By Crimson_Saddle3913

I’m English, but I studied American lit at uni and even worked with some contemporary American authors before. I’m still pretty obsessed with Americana, even though I’ve got a couple favorites. That said, I’m curious—what would you say is your Great American Novel?