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).
Another vote for East of Eden.
“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.
The Virginian
Gone With The Wind gets my vote.
Atlas Shrugged
(no, I’m NOT serious)
I agree with Huck Finn. Where does The Catcher in the Rye stand against the contenders?
The Constitution was ratified and took effect in 1788.
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.
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.
Hey, the question was “most American novel”, not “best American novel”. Atlas Shrugged isn’t that crazy an answer.
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…)
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.
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.
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.
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
Steinbeck’s Grapes Of Wrath
Kerouac’s* On The Road *
But it’s about the American Dream, yearning, aspirations and self-invention. It’s not just about rich folk.
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.
Gatsby is about a dirt poor Midwesterner who reinvents himself as a rich New York upper-cruster. It’s the quintessential American story.
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.