I’d also nominate “The Red Badge of Courage.”
I’ve read all the OP’s novels except “The Sun Also Rises.”
The Sun Also Rises - NO
Catcher in the Rye - Started, but never finished. Too irritating.
The Great Gatsby - YES
The Color Purple - NO
Catch-22 - YES
To Kill a Mockingbird - YES - standard school text in Australia
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - NO
Slaughterhouse-5 - NO
I’d suggest that Gone with the Wind is a contender.
Yes, I’ve read all the titles in the OP. Except for the Color Purple and Catcher in the Rye, all were assigned reading in high school.
My gut tells me To Kill A Mockingbird is the front runner for the title, and I think Of Mice and Men is a good addition to the slate. I have a bias, though, because I also think TKAM is the closest thing to a perfect American novel that’s out there.
I also suspect that The Sun Also Rises would get a split vote due to the number of teachers that asign For Whom the Bell Tolls or other Hemingway titles instead, likewise Huck Finn is going to have some bleed over to Tom Sawyer.
Catcher in the Rye
The Great Gatsby
The Color Purple
To Kill a Mockingbird
(BTW, I grew up in the States.)
My instinct would be that To Kill a Mockingbird would be the most widely read. (But I’m biased - it’s my favorite book.)
I’ve read Gatsby, Catch-22, Mockingbird, and Huck Finn. Catch-22 was not assigned reading (just for fun!), Gatsby was for a 12th grade honors class, and the other two I was assigned in Jr. High. Just my own personal experience of what I’ve seen kids reading over the years, my guess would be TKaM, with Huck or even Tom Sawyer being a really close second (although I don’t know if my husband has ever read either of those two Twains. I don’t know if he was ever assigned them!).
The Sun Also Rises
Catcher in the Rye
The Great Gatsby
The Color Purple
Catch-22
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Slaughterhouse-5
How classic these are is extremely debatable, but some I would add to your list:
Da Vinci Code (40 million copies worldwide; I’m not sure how many U.S.; Mockingbird has sold about 30 million and Huckleberry Finn about 7.5 million )
Peyton Place (sold out its initial printing within two weeks [unheard of for an unknown author] and went on to sell millions upon millions of copies)
Valley of the Dolls- a “literary” Norma Desmond, it sold 20 million+ copies before going out of print for several years and being forgotten by most people who read it and unheard of by most people born after its release.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin- the author himself acknowledged it had a fictional content to some degree so I’m counting it as a novel. It has not been out of print in more than 250 years and is still required reading.
Here is a list of “bestselling novels of the twentieth century” from WORLD ALMANAC, all of which have sold more than 20 million copies. The list is from 1999 before Harry Potter was quite the “oh sweet butterbeer!” sensation it is now (though it had sold in the millions). Italics mine and indicating not American authored.
- The Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
- The Exorcist - William Blatty
- Jaws - Peter Benchley
- God’s Little Acre - Erkstine Caldwell
- Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
- To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
- *A Woman of Substance - Barbara Taylor Bradford
- The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough*
- Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
- Peyton Place - Grace Metalious
12)* Animal Farm - George Orwell* - The Carpetbaggers - Harold Robbins
- The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
- The Godfather - Mario Puzo
The Sun Also Rises -No (well, I started it…)
Catcher in the Rye -Yes
The Great Gatsby -No
The Color Purple - No (Movie only)
Catch-22 -Yes
To Kill a Mockingbird -Yes
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -No
Slaughterhouse-5 -Yes
Hmmm, where’s the love for John Irving? The World According to Garp, A Prayer For Owen Meany?
The Sun Also Rises: No
Catcher in the Rye: Yes (required reading for school, Yr 10, 30 yrs ago.)
The Great Gatsby: Partly
The Color Purple: No
Catch-22: No
To Kill a Mockingbird: Yes (required reading etc) Still my favourite book!!
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Excerpts only.
Slaughterhouse-5: I think so, but many years ago.
Of Mice and Men: Yes
Grapes of Wrath: Partly
I’ve read all but The Color Purple and Catch-22.
No:
The Sun Also Rises
The Color Purple
Yes:
Catcher in the Rye
The Great Gatsby
Catch-22
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Slaughterhouse-5
plus:
Moby Dick
In Cold Blood
The Sun Also Rises - YES, for college
Catcher in the Rye - YES, for high school
The Great Gatsby - YES, once for high school and once for college
The Color Purple - YES, for college
Catch-22 - YES, by my own choice
To Kill a Mockingbird - YES, by my own choice
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - YES, once for high school and at least once more by my own choice
Slaughterhouse-5 - YES, by my own choice
The Sun Also Rises - NO
Catcher in the Rye - YES
The Great Gatsby - NO
The Color Purple - YES
Catch-22 - NO
To Kill a Mockingbird - YES
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - YES
Slaughterhouse-5 - YES
[ul]
[li]The Sun Also Rises - No[/li][li]Catcher in the Rye - Yes[/li][li]The Great Gatsby - Yes[/li][li]The Color Purple - No[/li][li]Catch-22 - Yes[/li][li]To Kill a Mockingbird - Yes[/li][li]The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Yes[/li][li]Slaughterhouse-5 - No[/li][/ul]
I’d like to see Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind on the list. I couldn’t get into it, but I think it is justly viewed as one of the great American novels.
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.
The Sun Also Rises Y
Catcher in the Rye Y
The Great Gatsby N
The Color Purple N
Catch-22 Y
To Kill a Mockingbird Y
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn THE American Novel
Slaughterhouse-5 Y
The Sun Also Rises- NO
Catcher in the Rye- NO
The Great Gatsby- YES
The Color Purple- NO
Catch-22- YES
To Kill a Mockingbird- YES
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- YES
Slaughterhouse-5
Others:
Gone with the Wind- YES
Of Mice and Men- YES
Grapes of Wrath- YES
Tom Sawyer- YES
The Old Man and the Sea- YES
Of Mice and Man- YES
Scarlett Letter- YES
Moby Dick- NO
The Turn of the Screw- NO
Grapes of Wrath- YES
Woops, I’m obviously a moron and didn’t preview. The list for others should actually look like this:
Others:
Gone with the Wind- YES
Of Mice and Men- YES
Tom Sawyer- YES
The Old Man and the Sea- YES
Scarlett Letter- YES
Moby Dick- NO
The Turn of the Screw- NO
Grapes of Wrath- YES
The Sun Also Rises NO
Catcher in the Rye YES, multiple times
The Great Gatsby YES, multiple times
The Color Purple NO
Catch-22 YES, multiple times
To Kill a Mockingbird YES, multiple times
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn YES, probably more times than any other book I’ve read, maybe 8 - 12 times in my 45 years (and as you can surmise, I’m a big re-reader)
Slaughterhouse-5 YES
Your list needs Dickens represented.
Oops! I forgot about the American characterization. Forget that knucklehead Dickens.
Were the two cities Pittsburgh and San Diego?