# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/41 "2015-10-09T06:00:01Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > But it’s about the American Dream, yearning, aspirations and self-invention. It’s not just about rich folk. I agree. Gatsby gets my vote. And did, as soon as I saw the thread title. ---
**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 9, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/42 "2015-10-09T07:25:20Z")
_Huckleberry Finn_’s a nice piece of _Americana_, sure enough, but something stops me from considering it the most American novel. Probably the antebellum Southerness of it all, which I consider non-representative of America as a whole. As an outsider, that is. “America” to me is cities and cars. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/43 "2015-10-09T12:53:24Z")
I’ve heard _ **The Godfather** _ described as the quintessential story of the immigrant experience: poor nobody flees the old country, makes good in America. That he makes good in organized crime is secondary. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/44 "2015-10-09T13:17:28Z")
It’s difficult since a lot depends on what century of America you are talking about. I don’t know about the 21st century, but for the 20th century, I would vote for either **To Kill a Mockingbird** or **Catch 22**. For the 19th century, certainly **Huckleberry Finn** is a strong candidate. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/45 "2015-10-09T13:36:51Z")
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Great Gatsby Catch-22 From the sublime to the ridiculous, with a stop along the way for mythologizing. The Arc of America? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/46 "2015-10-09T15:56:04Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Gatsby is about a dirt poor Midwesterner who reinvents himself as a rich New York upper-cruster. It’s the quintessential American story. Catch-22 is about an American who fulfills his patriotic duty twice over (by which I of course mean _blowing up stuff real good in a foreign land_) before ultimately deciding he’s up against a crazy system that’s rigged against him, and so it’d be crazy not to win like another American who realized it too – even while seeing _another_ American decide to work _within_ the system, and reinvent himself as a rich businessman, because, hey, the whole point of America is that it’s a place where all sorts of stories play out. ---
**Author:** ![barath\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/90ced4/32.png) [@barath\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barath_s)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/47 "2015-10-11T18:46:23Z")
Some pretty good nominations. For another change of pace, how about Zane grey and riders of the purple sage? While other nominees tie into a specific historical epoch and location, the cowbay genre is quintessentially American and spans a time and area larger than most. Even recognized as part of the national character today by millions of foreigners, inspiring personal character traits, clothes and even us diplomacy to the current day. /s ---
**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 11, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/48 "2015-10-11T22:08:38Z")
> [@barath\_s](#): > > While other nominees tie into a specific historical epoch and location, the cowbay genre is quintessentially American and spans a time and area larger than most. I’ve heard it said that the kind of movie cowboys we see in Westerns are from a very limited time, after the Civil War (or at best after the Mexican-American one) to around 1890. That’s not so long. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/49 "2015-10-11T22:17:55Z")
An American Tragedy. Love, murder, and the electric chair. Plus, it has “American” in the title 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/50 "2015-10-11T22:26:51Z")
I’d go with _Gatsby_. The world looks at America as the place to go reinvent yourself as a flashy rich guy. By way of contrast, the most Canadian novel is _Anne of Green Gables_. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/51 "2015-10-11T23:25:00Z")
Another vote for Huck Finn. My main problem with Gatsby is that I pretty much disliked every character. Gatsby himself would have been an interesting character but his absolute obsession with one of the most purely vapid and useless wastes of literary oxygen ever put to print along with the fact that everyone else was pretty annoying made for a largely forgettable book. Fitzgerald could have titled it “Rich People Behaving Badly.” Huck Finn at least had a cross section of socioeconomics, even if it was geographically concentrated. If you want to go old money East Coast, Twain’s “A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” is probably a better one anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/52 "2015-10-12T02:53:51Z")
I think _Moby-Dick_ (yes, it is actually hyphenated, although the hyphen is usually dropped these days) is a fine choice. It exemplifies the adventurous spirit of Americans and presents the microcosm of America on board the Pequod. But \*Huckleberry Finn \* would be a good choice too. And _The Great Gatsby_ for more modern times. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809/53 "2015-10-12T19:20:38Z")
Am I the only person here who’s even _read_ _ **Look Homeward, Angel** _?!? :dubious: 😕☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-novel-of-all-time/733809.md?page=2)