Great post. Impressive the way you covered the whole expanse. It is blasphemous the way great books like Huckleberry Finn have been edited or cancelled outright. Not great American, but two favorites if mine are J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, contemporaries and good friends. Tolkien got Lewis back to Christianity and Lewis convinced Tolkien to finish "Lord of the Rings"
Interesting post. It is tragic that ideology has overtaken truth in the minds of the publishing gatekeepers. It seems that with all the great novels over the past 200 years, it would be a real achievement to write something that could honestly stand up with them. The greatest American novel I’ve read is To Kill a Mockingbird (but admittedly there are many very great ones I’ve not read). Greatest overall novel I’ve read is Brothers Karamazov. The books that most deeply affected me were Gulag Archipelago and A Tale of Two Cities.
All great picks of novels. Dostoevsky and Dickens are two of my absolute favorites, Crime and Punishment had a big impact on me as a young reader. All of these are classics with timeless ideas. Thank you for sharing this with me.
Haha. It was intentionally not that obvious. I’ve had a couple people figure it out though. Just finished reading The Idiot. Fun read. Kind of like a high-minded soap opera!
Great post, Jenna. It reminded me of a conversation I had on the topic with a French business associate, beck in the early 2000s. His pick for the great American novel was THE POWER OF THE DOG, which I hadn’t read at the time. I read it shortly afterward and had a good chuckle at his little joke.
On the topic of the great American novel, I could nominate HUCKLEBERRY FINN or CATCHER IN THE RYE or any number of novels that capture the character of the era, but I’d prefer to nominate two short stories by Mark Helprin, “Perfection” and “Monday,” both from the collection THE PACIFIC AND OTHER STORIES.
I haven’t read either of these Helprin stories, so I’m glad to take this recommendation — now I have homework! So interesting to hear a foreigner’s take on this question, even if an out of the ordinary (?!) western tale was his choice, albeit a humorous one. Your Finn & Catcher are two icons of American literature, and both have been on banned book lists from time time. Thank you so much for your suggestions and feedback.
It’s possible I push Helprin’s writing too hard; he is my favorite living author and a joy to read (although reading his novels almost always breaks one’s heart).
I suspect there may be a bias against Helprin in the literary world due to his politics (conservative) and religion (Jewish) as well as his affinity for Israel.
He is also a strong believer in an author’s right to copyright protection, which is why I have no issue posting this link to “Perfection” from Commentary magazine. I assume, if he had an issue with it being available, he would have done something about it already.
I hope, if you read it, it moves you and you enjoy it.
This is really a great place to start. I read the Commentary piece and now I’m down the rabbit hole. Thank you, James! And never apologize for encouraging opening people up to new ideas and voices.
Great post. Impressive the way you covered the whole expanse. It is blasphemous the way great books like Huckleberry Finn have been edited or cancelled outright. Not great American, but two favorites if mine are J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, contemporaries and good friends. Tolkien got Lewis back to Christianity and Lewis convinced Tolkien to finish "Lord of the Rings"
Those are two classics, and such great authors for boys, especially. I can't wait until my son is old enough to enjoy them. Great picks!
Interesting post. It is tragic that ideology has overtaken truth in the minds of the publishing gatekeepers. It seems that with all the great novels over the past 200 years, it would be a real achievement to write something that could honestly stand up with them. The greatest American novel I’ve read is To Kill a Mockingbird (but admittedly there are many very great ones I’ve not read). Greatest overall novel I’ve read is Brothers Karamazov. The books that most deeply affected me were Gulag Archipelago and A Tale of Two Cities.
All great picks of novels. Dostoevsky and Dickens are two of my absolute favorites, Crime and Punishment had a big impact on me as a young reader. All of these are classics with timeless ideas. Thank you for sharing this with me.
I love C&P too. You might have guessed by my handle and picture…
I don’t necessarily have a keen sense of the obvious, but you made it easy for me!
Haha. It was intentionally not that obvious. I’ve had a couple people figure it out though. Just finished reading The Idiot. Fun read. Kind of like a high-minded soap opera!
That's a perfect description!
Great post, Jenna. It reminded me of a conversation I had on the topic with a French business associate, beck in the early 2000s. His pick for the great American novel was THE POWER OF THE DOG, which I hadn’t read at the time. I read it shortly afterward and had a good chuckle at his little joke.
On the topic of the great American novel, I could nominate HUCKLEBERRY FINN or CATCHER IN THE RYE or any number of novels that capture the character of the era, but I’d prefer to nominate two short stories by Mark Helprin, “Perfection” and “Monday,” both from the collection THE PACIFIC AND OTHER STORIES.
I haven’t read either of these Helprin stories, so I’m glad to take this recommendation — now I have homework! So interesting to hear a foreigner’s take on this question, even if an out of the ordinary (?!) western tale was his choice, albeit a humorous one. Your Finn & Catcher are two icons of American literature, and both have been on banned book lists from time time. Thank you so much for your suggestions and feedback.
It’s possible I push Helprin’s writing too hard; he is my favorite living author and a joy to read (although reading his novels almost always breaks one’s heart).
I suspect there may be a bias against Helprin in the literary world due to his politics (conservative) and religion (Jewish) as well as his affinity for Israel.
He is also a strong believer in an author’s right to copyright protection, which is why I have no issue posting this link to “Perfection” from Commentary magazine. I assume, if he had an issue with it being available, he would have done something about it already.
I hope, if you read it, it moves you and you enjoy it.
https://www.commentary.org/articles/mark-helprin-2/perfection-a-story/
This is really a great place to start. I read the Commentary piece and now I’m down the rabbit hole. Thank you, James! And never apologize for encouraging opening people up to new ideas and voices.