7.05.2005

essential reading

This is not a meme.

In an email conversation with David Cho, I mentioned something about the "top 10 or 20 most important American novels". David said he'd be interested in seeing my list of those. I've been mulling it over, and have come up with said list.

Now for the inevitable disclaimers. This is my own idiosyncratic list, so certain authors aren't on it. For example, there's no Don DeLillo or Thomas Pynchon, two important American writers who I simply cannot read. (Not for lack of trying.)

On the other hand, it's not a "Laura's favorite books" list. It's a list of 20 novels that are important to American literature and to an understanding of the American experience. It's only American, so there's no Dickens, no Joyce, no Orwell, no Dostoevsky. And it's only novels, so all the great American playwrights are left off, as well as my friend Walt Whitman.

So, from a former English major and a voracious reader and appreciator of literature: the Twenty Most Important American Novels. (In no particular order.)

1. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
3. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
4. Beloved - Toni Morrison
5. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
6. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
7. The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
8. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
9. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
10. Charlotte's Web - E.B. White
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
12. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
13. An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
14. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
15. U.S.A. Trilogy - John Dos Passos
16. The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
17. Ironweed - William Kennedy
18. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
19. Native Son - Richard Wright
20. Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth

Honorable Mentions (at David's suggestion, books that I considered but ultimately didn't put on my Top 20):
All The Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
The Good Earth - Pearl Buck
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut

Also-rans from authors already on the list:
Henderson the Rain King - Bellow
Tender Is the Night - Fitzgerald
Absalom Absalom - Faulkner
In Our Time - Hemingway

10 comments:

David Cho said...

I was going to write in my reply that The Grapes of Wrath would top the list. And I guessed it right. Sadly, I still have not read it :( Read Huckleberry Finn in high school. Get the gist of the story, but just didn't "get it."

You know, I read The Good Earth in Korean and in English. Had not run into anyone who has read it or even mentioned it before. Wow, even though it did not make the top 20. You'd classify it as an "American" novel even though the entire story takes place in China? the same with Moby Dick.

laura k said...

I was going to write in my reply that The Grapes of Wrath would top the list. And I guessed it right.

Yes, I am transparent that way. :) The list isn't in any particular order, but that is certainly the first book I would name. To me it is the quintessential American novel.

Re The Good Earth, I struggled with that. Maybe it does belong on the top 20, or even the top 10. But what would it replace? Maybe Ironweed.

Pearl Buck was born in West Virginia. She lived in both China and the US. To me, she's an American author, but perhaps a Chinese person would feel differently.

Buck is considered the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. She was the only one until Toni Morrison won it in 1993.

Try Huck Finn again! It's brilliant.

laura k said...

the same with Moby Dick.

Moby Dick doesn't take place in China.

I know you didn't mean that. Just wondering what you did mean. For many people, it's the Great American Novel.

David Cho said...

Silly of me to think that for a novel to be a great American novel, it must tell an "American story." That is what I meant.

I don't know why The Good Earth isn't talked about very much. Buck was truly ahead of her time in terms of showing sensitivity towards and knowledge of non-western cultures.

Have you seen the movie?

laura k said...

Silly of me to think that for a novel to be a great American novel, it must tell an "American story." That is what I meant.

Not silly, it makes sense. I was thinking an American novel is any novel written by an American. But Moby Dick is a very American story.

You're right, Buck was a visionary in many ways. She wrote tons of books, although she's only known for that one. She also started a foundation.

I've never seen the movie. Is it worthwhile?

David Cho said...

I am showing my ignorance here. Read only the first few chapters of Moby Dick and Ishmael did not sound American to me :).

As to the movie, the special effects are pretty impressive given that it was made in 1932. It was kinda funny to see white actors portraying the major Chinese characters. I kept thinking, 'are they missionaries?' As most adaptations, it fell short.

You mentioned Dostoevsky, I was foolish enough to rent The Brothers The Brothers Karamazov.

The. Worst. Adaptation. Ever.

I got a kick out of seeing a very young William Shatner, but that was about it.

Anyway, you got me to go back and finish up Crime and Punishment. I stopped because the main character's family dynamic hit a little too close to home.

laura k said...

Read only the first few chapters of Moby Dick and Ishmael did not sound American to me :).

Well, it was American a long time ago. Probably not recognizable now. But it's the themes that are most American, if not the characters.

It was kinda funny to see white actors portraying the major Chinese characters. I kept thinking, 'are they missionaries?'

Ha! Yeah, that's always something. Catch Natalie Wood playing Maria in "West Side Story". God forbid anyone would cast an actor of color in those days - as anything but a gypsy or a tap-dancer.

I got a kick out of seeing a very young William Shatner

William Shatner in the Brothers Karamazov? I must see this just for laughs.

I don't know how a book like that could be adapted, really. Too complex.

Anyway, you got me to go back and finish up Crime and Punishment.

Cool! That is a great book. Period.

I stopped because the main character's family dynamic hit a little too close to home.

Ouch.

American Girl said...

Ok ... first comment - I can't believe that The Good Earth even made it near the top 20. I HATED that book! I think part of it was my English teacher in high school.

Next off - I was glad to see a few of my favorites on your list. I loved Charlotte's Web growing up. I have read it so many times that my copy is falling apart. I also loved The Great Gatsby & To Kill A Mockingbird. I have heard that the Sound and the Fury is brilliant, but never had the chance to read it. Might have to put that on my next thing to read list. Thanks for the suggestions.

laura k said...

Hi American Girl, welcome to wmtc.

I didn't love The Good Earth either. But this isn't a list of my favorite books, or even books I would necessarily recommend you read. (Although some are definitely that.)

It's a list of books that, together, create a picture of America and the American experience - and also my picks for the best American novels. But the best won't necessarily be your favorites or the most fun.

The Sound and The Fury is a great boo, but it's very difficult to read. I read it in college - it might be tough without a class to discuss and dissect.

If you haven't read Beloved, you might want to give it a try. It's a modern classic.

Enjoy!

American Girl said...

I guess I should have been more objective, but there is something that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I hear The Good Earth mentioned. I do agree that you choose a great list of books in general though. I think that of the ones I have read they do give a great look at life in America through out time.

I will be sure to put Beloved on my list of books to read.