# The most widely read classic American novel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789 "2006-04-07T23:11:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/41 "2006-04-08T15:36:17Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Really long, not very well written nor very accurate historically AFAIK. I’d be amazed if very many living Americans have read it. If you have, please chime in though, as those who’ve read THE SCARLET LETTER or any other suggestion can add to the OP. I don’t know. When I went looking for it in used bookstores while I was in school, there were plenty of recent paperback copies. Someone’s reading it, still, I think. However, I wasn’t one. Too much like work for something I’d picked up on a whim. add-on titles Tom Sawyer - Yes Moby Dick - Yes The Old Man and the Sea - Yes Catcher in the Rye - Yes Grapes of Wrath - Yes Of Mice and Men - Yes The Great Gatsby - Yes In Cold Blood - No (Is this really a novel, though?) The Scarlett Letter - Yes Gone With the Wind - No The Red Badge of Courage - No Other suggestions: The Last of the Mohicans (Just to make Samuel Clemens spin in his grave) - Yes. Billy Budd - far more allegorical than Moby Dick to my mind - Yes ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/42 "2006-04-08T15:41:37Z")
I have read all of those but To Kill a Mockingbird. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/43 "2006-04-08T16:04:57Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Really long, not very well written nor very accurate historically AFAIK. Say what you will about the quality of prose, but the novel is historically accurate. Margaret Mitchell consulted with the Atlanta Historical Society while writing it. (And don’t forget that some contemporaries of Scarlett were still alive when the novel was published.) The only specific historical criticism I’ve seen is that the wealth of the Tara plantation, from acreage to livestock to slaves, was exaggerated; no actual plantation of that time in Clayton County, Georgia, matched it. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/44 "2006-04-08T16:29:12Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Were the two cities Pittsburgh and San Diego? Hey! I got my retraction in under the wire. How dare you. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/45 "2006-04-08T16:47:19Z")
Others: Gone with the Wind- YES Of Mice and Men- no Tom Sawyer- YES The Old Man and the Sea- YES Scarlett Letter- YES Moby Dick- NO (note: got 100 pages or so into it one night in jr. high when I was babysitting and had nothing else to read; was kind of enjoying it, but never picked it up again. It’s on a very short list of classic novels that I haven’t read but do plan to read) The Turn of the Screw- NO Grapes of Wrath- no ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/46 "2006-04-08T16:50:38Z")
Another two votes for Gatsby and Mockingbird - my two faves… ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/47 "2006-04-08T17:38:00Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Hey! I got my retraction in under the wire. How dare you. Yes, my post was very slow in loading. Was that a coincidence or if two people are responding simultaneously does that cause one to take forever to load? A wittier response on my part would have been to ask if the two cities were New London CT and Paris TX, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/48 "2006-04-08T17:45:53Z")
The Sun Also Rises NO Catcher in the Rye YES The Great Gatsby NO The Color Purple NO Catch-22 YES To Kill a Mockingbird YES (although it gave me absolutely no useful advice on killing mockingbirds…what a ripoff!) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn YES Slaughterhouse-5 YES Gone with the Wind NO Of Mice and Men YES Grapes of Wrath YES Tom Sawyer YES The Old Man and the Sea NO Scarlett Letter YES Moby Dick YES The Turn of the Screw NO The Da Vinci Code NO Peyton Place YES Valley of the Dolls YES > [@everyone loves monkeys](#): > > embarrassingly i cant remember weather i read Huckleberry Finn or Tom sawyer, but it was a long time ago so please forgive me! Easy to tell apart, Tom Sawyer is the one that’s racist toward native Americans and Huckleberry Finn is the one that’s racist toward blacks. It’s a _joke_. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/49 "2006-04-08T18:32:24Z")
The Sun Also Rises - Yes Catcher in the Rye - Yes The Great Gatsby - Yes The Color Purple - No Catch-22 - No To Kill a Mockingbird - Yes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Can’t remember, don’t think so. Slaughterhouse-5 - Yes Gone with the Wind - Yes Of Mice and Men - No Grapes of Wrath - No Tom Sawyer - No The Old Man and the Sea - Yes Scarlett Letter - Yes Moby Dick - No The Turn of the Screw - No The Da Vinci Code - No Peyton Place - No Valley of the Dolls - No ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/50 "2006-04-08T18:37:30Z")
The Sun Also Rises No. I love it, but no. Catcher in the Rye No. Overrated. The Great Gatsby No. I love it, but no. The Color Purple Huh? Catch-22 No, I love it but… To Kill a Mockingbird Yes. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Yes Slaughterhouse-5 No. ---
**Author:** ![Cockatiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cockatiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cockatiel)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/51 "2006-04-08T18:42:42Z")
The Sun Also Rises- No Catcher in the Rye- Yes, for school, and I loved it. Read it multiple times after. The Great Gatsby- Yes, for school, and I hated it. Possibly one of the worst books I’ve ever read. The Color Purple- No Catch-22- No To Kill a Mockingbird- Yes, for school, and I loved it. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Yes, for school, and I liked it. Slaughterhouse-5- Yes, on my own, and I loved it. Gone With the Wind- Tried to read it on my own, but didn’t make it past page fifty. Of Mice and Men- No Grapes of Wrath- No Tom Sawyer- No The Old Man and the Sea- No Of Mice and Man- No Scarlett Letter- Yes, for school, and it was decent Moby Dick- No The Turn of the Screw- No ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/52 "2006-04-08T19:02:20Z")
> [@](#): > > The Last of the Mohicans (Just to make Samuel Clemens spin in his grave) - Yes. I know of no reason to suspect that Samuel Clements disliked _Last of the Mohicans_ in any way. Yes, he wrote a rather well-known essay criticizing it, but Clements was a satirist, and many of the things he criticizes in Cooper’s writing, he uses in his own (in the same essay, even, as I recall). Of the ones in the OP, I’ve read _The Sun Also Rises_, _Catcher in the Rye_, _Catch-22_, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and _Huck Finn_. I suspect that the title would go to either _Mockingbird_, _Huck Finn_, or _Tom Sawyer_ (which I’ve also read): All of those are very commonly assigned reading, and they’re also (unlike some other oft-assigned books) frequently read voluntarily. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/53 "2006-04-08T19:11:01Z")
The Sun Also Rises- No The Great Gatsby- Yes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Yes Slaughterhouse-5- Yes then, **Sampiro** ’s list: 1. The Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann - Yes (God help me) 2. Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach - Sadly, yes 3. The Exorcist - William Blatty - Yes 4. Jaws - Peter Benchley - Yes ☹ 5. God’s Little Acre - Erkstine Caldwell - No 6. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller - Yes 7. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee - Yes 8. A Woman of Substance - Barbara Taylor Bradford - No 9. The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough - Yes 10. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell - Yes 11. Peyton Place - Grace Metalious - No 12. Animal Farm - George Orwell - Yes 13. The Carpetbaggers - Harold Robbins - No 14. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger - Yes 15. The Godfather - Mario Puzo - Yes Others: Moby Dick - Yes. I’m glad I didn’t read this in high school. I would have hated it in high school. I read it years later and really loved it. Old Man and the Sea- Yes, hated it, but then, I read it in _junior_ high. Farewell to Arms - Yes, loved it Scarlett Letter - Yes Of Mice and Man - No The Turn of the Screw- Yes Grapes of Wrath - Yes…well, mostly. Babbit by Sinclair Lewis - Nope The Da Vinci Code - Yes ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/54 "2006-04-08T19:15:06Z")
> [@mailman](#): > > The Sun Also Rises No. I love it, but no. > Catcher in the Rye No. Overrated. > The Great Gatsby No. I love it, but no. > The Color Purple Huh? > Catch-22 No, I love it but… > To Kill a Mockingbird Yes. > The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Yes > Slaughterhouse-5 No. How do you love books you haven’t read? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/55 "2006-04-08T19:20:14Z")
The Sun Also Rises **Nope** Catcher in the Rye **Yep** The Great Gatsby **Nope** The Color Purple **Yep** Catch-22 **Nope** To Kill a Mockingbird **Yep** (do we have a rhythm going?) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn **Yep** Slaughterhouse-5 **Yep** Just a “Yes/No/ No/ Yes” etc. response is fine, but if you want to argue with me, go right ahead. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Grimpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grimpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grimpen)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/56 "2006-04-08T19:21:52Z")
The Sun Also Rises - Yes Catcher in the Rye - No The Great Gatsby - No The Color Purple - No Catch-22 - No To Kill a Mockingbird - No The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Yes. Slaughterhouse-5 - Yes (not the best of Vonnegut, though) Gone with the Wind - Yes (I doubt I could re-read it now without boredom) Of Mice and Men - No Grapes of Wrath - No Tom Sawyer - Yes The Old Man and the Sea - Yes Scarlett Letter - Yes Moby Dick - Yes (read it in high school, tried to re-read later and gave up) The Turn of the Screw - No The Da Vinci Code - No Peyton Place - No Valley of the Dolls - No I’d vote for Sam Clemens. The list leads me to realize I’ve been much more likely to read English novels; which is interesting, because one of the reasons I favor Twain is that he writes in more of a distinctively American idiom. He had an ear for American humor and speech patterns of that place and time. (Some of the others, I think, could have been written almost anywhere.) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/57 "2006-04-08T19:53:43Z")
ADDITIONS: Scarlett Letter **Yep** Moby Dick **Nope** The Turn of the Screw **Nope** Grapes of Wrath **Nope** Tom Sawyer **Yep** The Red Badge of Courage **Yep** Gone with the Wind **Yep** For Whom the Bell Tolls **Nope** Da Vinci Code **Yep** Peyton Place **Nope** Valley of the Dolls **Nope** Autobiography of Ben Franklin **Nope** Jonathan Livingston Seagull **Yep** The Exorcist **Nope** Jaws **Yep** God’s Little Acre **Nope** A Woman of Substance **Nope** The Thorn Birds **Nope** Animal Farm **Yep** The Carpetbaggers **Nope** The Godfather **Nope** The World According to Garp **Yep** A Prayer for Owen Meany **Nope** Moby Dick **Nope** In Cold Blood **Nope** Of Mice and Men **Nope** The Old Man and the Sea **Nope** Last of the Mohicans **Nope** Billy Budd **Nope** Babbitt **Nope** My nomination: Stephen King, **The Stand**. ( **Yep** ) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/58 "2006-04-08T20:43:51Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Yes, my post was very slow in loading. Was that a coincidence or if two people are responding simultaneously does that cause one to take forever to load? I dunno. Makes sense, though. > [@](#): > > A wittier response on my part would have been to ask if the two cities were New London CT and Paris TX, anyway. The first one was witty enough–in fact, it was just the type of rejoinder I was attempting to head off. Oh well, it is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done before and all that… ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/59 "2006-04-08T20:56:07Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > The Sun Also Rises - NO > Catcher in the Rye - Yes, ugh > The Great Gatsby - Yes > The Color Purple - No > Catch-22 - Yes > To Kill a Mockingbird - Yes > The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Yes > Slaughterhouse-5 - Yes Characters inserted for software purposes. ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789/60 "2006-04-08T23:12:18Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > How do you love books you haven’t read? :smack: Idiot read OP incorrectly. Idiot has read all the books mentioned, but was incorrectly voting for whether thy are “American classics.” Sorry. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-widely-read-classic-american-novel/351789.md?page=4)