Great Books & the Great American novels (1 Viewer)

[Charles Bober]

Admitedly, I'm not as well read as I should be. There are many awesome books that I have not read. So I've been on this kick to catch up and read all of them so I can be clued in on why these books are so highly acclaimed. I went to the library today and checked out The Grapes Of Wrath by Steinbeck.
So my question is, is there a website like the AFI that lists all the classic books and sub-categorizes the great American novels? If not, can you guys give me a list of what I should be reading? I've only read Great Expectations, Dante's Divine Comedy, & Hamlet (well I've finished 3/4 of the the King James Bible as well). Pathetic I know.
Help a brotha out. Thanks in advance.

 

[David Lawson]

This was a good thread that just sort of vanished...
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=65282

 

[Charles Bober]

Thanks for that thread. Any other suggestions that aren't the Great American Novel? Classic litrature that I need to read?

 

[MikeF]

Something tells me that Hamlet does not likely qualify as a Great American Novel.

 

[Ben Motley]

Something tells me that Hamlet does not likely qualify as a Great American Novel.

Uhhh... no comment.
I'm still reading Moby Dick. Damn thing is weighty.
I love Edgar Allen Poe and Ambrose Bierce, but they're primarily short story writers. There'e always Mark Twin, but he is so politically incorrect these days, so maybe we should just sweep him under the rug for now, no matter his literary merit. Let's see, dang, I'm runnin' a blank now. I guess I pretty much have always been more of a short story reader, and a genre hound at that, so I' not much help here. But if you're looking for good horror/supernatural short fiction, as well as great short stories on the Civil War, Poe and Bierce are your guys.

 

[Pamela]

There Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neal Hurston.
A "great American novel" that seems to get buried among the more traditional offerings. Just a beautifully written book. She has such as way with words. One of the lines from her book, Dust Tracks on the Road, always stays with me—his hair was closer to his head than 99 is to 100. Very descriptive writer, with beautiful narrative.
Geek Love-Katherine Dunn
I couldn't even begin to describe this book. The book covers calls it a Fellini movie in ink. Also described as what a collaboration between John Irving and David Lynch would be like. By turns, comic, shocking, disturbing, and thought provoking, it offers a wonderful subtext on the cult of personality. Of course, I also find divine inspiration in the photos of Diane Arbus and Weegee.
The Tin Drum-Günther Grass
A "great German novel," this book is a postwar masterpiece. The plot is difficult to describe, but not unlike Geek Love, including the comedic and the perverse (ok, and a midget). The subtext of this one is deals with the human condition and the evils of Nazi Germany. It is an incredible book. His description of the horse head will stay with you for an eternity. I have read this book several times, and always find something new and compelling.
One Hundred Years of Solitude-Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Garcia Marquez is a modern day master, and One Hundred years of Solitude is among his best know and most read. A magical, mystical Latin-American journey about 100 years of a fictional town, through the eyes of one family. His writing is lyrical and his storytelling is inventive. Another book that begs to be read over again. Actually, you can'g go wrong with any of his books, especially Love in the Time of Cholera and The Autumn of the Patriarch.

 

[Malcolm R]

The MLA's 100 Best Novels:
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlib...st/novels.html
The Board's list seems a bit more objective than the Readers' list for reasons that should be obvious, but likely best not discussed here.

 

[Jack Briggs]

• Light in August, Faulkner
• As I Lay Dying, Faulkner
• Wuthering Heights, Bronte
• For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway
• Madame Bovary, Flaubert
• The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner
• Bleak House, Dickens
• Crime and Punishment, Dostoevski
• Don Quixote, Cervantes
• The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway
• Pamela, Johnson (to understand how the novel developed as a literary form)
• Shamela, Fielding (to marvel over a superb literary retort by a contemporary--"must" reading!)

You eventually need to read short stories, poetry, biography, essays, and other nonfiction. But start on the above (and start thinking about planning ahead: Shakespeare and Milton--seriously).

Let me know if you would like further suggestions.

JB

 

[ScottR]

Gone With the Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Grapes of Wrath are all considered Great American Novels (and films. )

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

More Suggestions:
E.L Doctorow: Ragtime
Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451
William Gibson: Neuromancer

 

[Bill Slack]

And remember, a lot of these great novels can be downloaded for free from Project Guttenberg. I've read a few novels donwloaded and converted on my palm pilot. Makes for great reading in bed with the backlight(ish) on.

 

[Justin Doring]

Here's an updated version of what I posted in the earlier thread:

First, I would avoid Moby Dick until you've read A LOT of literature. Last semester I took a course entirely on Moby Dick, and it was one of the best classes I've had. We read everything from Homer to Poe, and barely scratched the surface! My professor's professor has spent a lifetime studying Moby Dick and reading 1000+ books that influenced Melville, so that will give you an idea as to the complexity of the novel. Melville's Benito Cereno is probably the best introduction to the author, as Moby Dick is, indeed, America's greatest contribution to literature; it's our Ulysses, if you will.

Second, for an introduction to "The Great American Novel," I'd begin with Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. It's simultaneously accessible and appealing to the novice reader and inexhaustible to the scholar. Of course supplementary readings (e.g. Petronius' The Satyricon, Malory's Morte D'Arthur, Stoddard's The Rising Tide of Color, Anderson's Winesburg Ohio, Joyce's Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Eliot's The Wasteland, Cather's A Lost Lady, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, etc.) would help one's understanding of the novel, but each one of these requires further supplemental reading, so it's an ongoing circle. Still, the perceptive reader will find that most Modern works have the same basic themes running throughout them. Good luck on your journey.

 

[Darren H]

I included my list of "Great American Novels" on the other thread, but if you're looking for more suggestions, along with a thorough list of essential British texts, check out the link below. It's the recommended reading list for students preparing for the University of Tennessee's Ph.D. Qualifying Exam in English (which, by the way, I passed with honors three years ago ).
http://web.utk.edu/~englgsc/exam.htm
Essential writers outside of America and England:
- Tolstoy
- Dostoevsky
- Flaubert
- Zola
- Balzac
- Ibsen
- Chekhov
- Mann
- Nabokov
- Proust
- Borgia
- Garcia Marquez
- Dumas
- Camus
- Sartre
- Voltaire
- Pushkin
- Brecht
- Hugo
- Doblin
I haven't read them all, but I'm working on it.

 

[John Spencer]

Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" contains some truly powerful anti-racist setiments. It's a severe tragedy that the general public poorly misconstrued the messages contained within.
My favorite novels:
The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela
both The House of the Spirits and Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian (not really a novel, but amazing how timeless it is considering when it was written)
The Lord of the Rings entire trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (not for the non-diligent, took me four years on and off)
Gulliver's Travels by Johnathan Swift
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Time Machine or War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski
The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
The Jungle by Aldous Huxley
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Outsider by Albert Camus
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Billy Budd, Foretopman by Herman Melville
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
It by Stephen King
The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
The Cleric Quintet and The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

 

[Darren H]

The Board's list seems a bit more objective than the Readers' list for reasons that should be obvious, but likely best not discussed here.

Oh my. The readers' top ten includes four Ayn Rand novels and three by L. Ron Hubbard. I'm not sure which of those facts is more frightening.

 

[Charles Bober]

Thanks guys, keep 'em coming. At this pace, I'll be reading for another 60 years straight. I'm very impressed with the amount of replies and even more intrigued by the diversity of literature.

Love it. Just love it!!!!!

 

[Mary M S]

This does not make the lists very often. But I recommend it.
Of course I am on an endless search into the Mysterious and Unfathomable workings of the thought process of the creature: Male Homo Sapiens

Could be a timely read as it has become rather urgent for America to understand the philosophy and historical culture of the middle east.

A flamboyant megalomaniacal British citizen wrote this after his sojourn ‘going native’. By many accounts he was well respected/ received in the Desert and he was never at peace once he left it. I loved the glimpse into the mind of this fascinating creature.

Better know as Lawrence of Arabia
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
TE Lawrence.

 

[Daniel Swartz]

Tai Pan by James Clavell. His sequel, Noble House, is also excellent. I was never a big fan of Shogun though.

 

[Charles J P]

Catcher in the Rye

 

[Craig]

Delcorso's Gallery - Philip Caputo
Early From The Dance - David Payne
Fields Of Fire - James Webb
Sometimes A Great Notion - Ken Kesey
The Love Hunter - Jon Hassler