# The Most American Novel of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809 "2015-10-07T14:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/21 "2015-10-07T20:02:35Z")
I vote for _The Great Gatsby_, although \*Moby Dick \*and \*Huckleberry Finn \*are worthy contenders. Each represents something essential about the American character, but the latter two are more rooted in the country’s past, while Gatsby encompasses the 20th century (maybe not the 21st). ---
**Author:** ![Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eugene_of_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/22 "2015-10-07T20:11:46Z")
Another vote for East of Eden. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/23 "2015-10-07T21:21:35Z")
“Huckleberry Finn” lovers might find some joy (or might hate like poison) a sequel, “Finn,” written in 2008 by Jon Clinch. Part of the book gives a closer look at Huck’s paw, and his life and death. Another part of the book examines modern life along the Mississippi. It’s fairly clever. “Last of the Mohicans” lovers might take a look at “The Hidden Children” (Amazon has a free Kindle download) by R.W. Chambers. It’s set in the same time-period as LOTM, and, in fact, quietly sneaks in a couple of Cooper’s characters. But it’s infinitely better written, and also morally more complicated. (Much of the story involves the destruction of the croplands that support native American villages, to force them to leave the area: ethnic cleansing.) If one of Fenimore Cooper’s “Deerslayer” novels is to be nominated, I’d say “The Pioneers” rather than “Last of the Mohicans.” The themes it explores are, I think, more quintessentially “American.” Also, LOTM takes place under British rule, but TP is set in 1793, when the United States of America is in existence, although under the Articles of Confederation, before the Constitution. I think this makes it a little more “American” in some ways. Government is now self-government, but limited, so that the local Judge can exercise inordinate power. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/24 "2015-10-07T21:27:11Z")
The Virginian ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/25 "2015-10-07T21:31:44Z")
**Gone With The Wind** gets my vote. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/26 "2015-10-07T23:10:22Z")
Atlas Shrugged (no, I’m NOT serious) ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/27 "2015-10-07T23:32:54Z")
I agree with _Huck Finn._ Where does _The Catcher in the Rye_ stand against the contenders? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/28 "2015-10-08T00:00:00Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Also, LOTM takes place under British rule, but TP is set in 1793, when the United States of America is in existence, although under the Articles of Confederation, before the Constitution… The Constitution was ratified and took effect in 1788. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/29 "2015-10-08T01:17:37Z")
Yeah, Huckleberry Finn. No contest, even though I’m a major Moby-Dickhead. “All right, then, I’ll go to hell.” – greatest line in American literature. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/30 "2015-10-08T03:46:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The Constitution was ratified and took effect in 1788. My derf! I misread the date, even as I typed it! Never mind! (Gotta get me a new set of specs…or neurons!) ETA: that makes some of the Judge’s actions, in The Pioneers, pretty blatantly unconstitutional! But, then, it was before the 14th Amendment and incorporation. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/31 "2015-10-08T04:07:38Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Atlas Shrugged > (no, I’m NOT serious) Hey, the question was “ **most** American novel”, not “ **best** American novel”. _Atlas Shrugged_ isn’t that crazy an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/32 "2015-10-08T05:31:20Z")
Atlas Shrugged is about an “alternate history” U.S. It’s like “The Man in the High Castle.” It’s not about America, but “America-what-if.” “The Great Gatsby” is better…but it’s about such a limited segment of the American people. Rich New York upper-crusters. (Well, then again, “Huckleberry Finn” is about the down-and-out…) ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/33 "2015-10-08T08:57:34Z")
Glad to see _Huckleberry Finn_ mentioned so much: it’s on my to read pile. _Manhattan Transfer_ felt very American to me but it’s perhaps a bit too tied to the place and times it decribes (I’m Belgian for the record). **Thoreau** ’s _Walden_ is not a novel but, like _Huckleberry Finn_, I’m not sure it could have been written anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/34 "2015-10-08T10:24:36Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Huckleberry Finn. > > Thread over. When I saw thread title, _Huckleberry Finn_ immediately popped into my mind as a clearcut answer. Glad to see that for once I’m in sync with many fellow Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/35 "2015-10-08T10:42:40Z")
I see most of the works named are from the 1960s and earlier. In terms of modern writers, I have always loved Stephen King’s mastery of Americana. Some of his shorter works are especially excellent, like The Body (aka Stand By Me) and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (what is more American than prison?). And for a more recent full novel, I would recommend Joyland, set in a small town America amusement park. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/36 "2015-10-08T11:55:26Z")
Upton Sinclair’s _The Jungle_ Steinbeck’s _Grapes Of Wrath_ Kerouac’s\* On The Road \* ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/37 "2015-10-08T18:01:21Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > …“The Great Gatsby” is better…but it’s about such a limited segment of the American people. Rich New York upper-crusters… But it’s about the American Dream, yearning, aspirations and self-invention. It’s not just about rich folk. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/38 "2015-10-08T18:14:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Most American movie will prompt a discussion. Most American Novel will be a runaway: **Huckleberry Finn**. This book should still be required reading in US high schools, bad words and all. I don’t care who get the vapors about the N-word. How can young people of today learn about the post-war experiences of a black man in America without? Attitudes that still carry into today. I hate the term ‘white privilege’, but the poor white son of an absent drunkard father had it, compared to Jim. And it was written close enough to the time to capture the general attitudes of that time. They are both common prisoners of their place in proper society. And not to be forgotten is what a marvelous story teller Mark Twain was. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/39 "2015-10-08T19:49:35Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > “The Great Gatsby” is better…but it’s about such a limited segment of the American people. Rich New York upper-crusters. (Well, then again, “Huckleberry Finn” is about the down-and-out…) Gatsby is about a dirt poor Midwesterner who reinvents himself as a rich New York upper-cruster. It’s the quintessential American story. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/40 "2015-10-08T20:25:21Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I vote for _The Great Gatsby_, although \*Moby Dick \*and \*Huckleberry Finn \*are worthy contenders. Each represents something essential about the American character, but the latter two are more rooted in the country’s past, while Gatsby encompasses the 20th century (maybe not the 21st). > [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > I see most of the works named are from the 1960s and earlier. _Huckleberry Finn_ is indeed the most American novel of all time. In my mind, there’s no doubt about that. But **SpoilerVirgin** and **Orville mogul** make a good point about capturing an era. Along those lines, allow me to nominate Tom Wolfe’s _The Bonfire of the Vanities_. It’s actually not all that good a novel, but it captured perfectlhy a moment (the early and mid-80s) in the life of this country. Maybe Wolfe’s background as a journalist helped him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809.md?page=3)