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Favorite American writers/books?

Si! Nos Podemos! said 11/19, 01:09 PM
This may seem a little off-course, but what I'm really interested in is which writers and books do you think best exemplify or grasp the principles of our Nation? This can be fiction, nonfiction, whatever you think is relevant. Religion, Society, Politics, and everything in between; who really captures the essence of our democracy? I've got a couple, and they ARE typical names we use and hear: Jack Kerouac, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hunter S. Thompson. Kerouac tops the list b/c(besides his jazzy, innovative prose) he nails the American ideal of an open road and endless possibilities. Hemingway is an easy choice because his brash, short-winded style is like apple pie: Simple, tasteful, with just enough there to chew on for a bit. Fitzgerald is the king of the American plight; that is, the burdens that come with each class of wealth, and the idea of the American Dream as nothing more than a longing for something that is just out of reach. For modern writers, Thompson wins out for his sheer brevity. His fusion of journalism and fiction creates a new genre where you believe everything and nothing that you read. His book on the 1972 election is the best political book out there.

Your God(ess) said 11/19, 07:55 PM
Hemmingway? Ew! He's a sexist lunk (and I don't like his topics...) Fitzgerald okay...I don't really like his themes, and I was disappointed by The Great Gatsby (bad title and I thought some characters had stupid obnoxious tendencies). But I honestly don't think he would be king of the American plight... I felt no pity whatsoever for Gatsby, and Nick, I felt, didn't do enough to be the main point of view for the book. If anything, Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is much more about the plight of men in America... at least for the lower-classes, but not just for white people... his book The Pearl also does a nice job of the forces against minorities and the poor.

Stephen Crane is much better. Very vivid works. Red Badge of Courage is a MUST!

Toni Morison's Beloved, I think, is a classic. Interesting plot, original (I think), and very thought provoking (if a tad TOO vivid...).

Catcher in the Rye is pretty good, but Holden seemed too.... oh, how shall I describe him... well, I thought he tried too hard at times... I would have preferred it if he did something much bigger than that... but I liked his sister.. very real.

Another great author is Zinn, but I'm out of room!!!!!!!!!

Si! Nos Podemos! said 11/20, 11:52 AM
Well, Hemingway is a misogynist, no doubt, but though I dislike some subject matters he prefers to cover, you can't deny that his works as a whole greatly represent American literature. There is a huge depth in his storytelling that speaks to the random cruelty we all must suffer. The reasons he suffered greatly in his own personal life are pretty Western as well: alcoholism, manic depression, a barely disguised oedipus complex, and pressures of fame and being motivated towards certain activities with mindless complusion (hunting, fishing, warfare and violence, travel, awkwardly emotional interhouse letters w/ his love interests). But what I meant with Fitzgerald is not that he understands the American plight in the image we conjur up at the sense of the word. He once wrote "the rich are very diferent from you and me,' and if you read his other works like "Tender is the Night" you see that he uniquely understood the human differences between classes, and what actually constitutes their 'plights.' I'm sorry you didnt' like Gatsby, its one of my favs tho it took me years to love it. His characters can be static, but they're all really Scott himself, and he was an **** in real life.

Your God(ess) said 11/20, 06:44 PM
Well, I suppose Hemingway does do a good job on that... but still, I'd go with Steinbeck for random cruelty.

And on Fitz... I guess you have a good point there, but unless I can like or have any pity for the characters, I can't really like the book... and Daisy was just... UGH! I couldn't stand her... ick!

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by the character limit, Howard Zinn (wrote The People's History of America) is an excellent author. While his style may not be the best, he writes about history and gives such different perspectives that I'm just fascinated. I just have always wanted to know more about what each person feels and sees... I don't know... it's just something about me I guess...

Someone wrote in the comments that some good books were The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splended Suns by Housseini, and I have to disagree a little. They were very vivid and descriptive of Afganistan (and immigrants to an extent), but I thought they were WAY too sad..... And I felt he could have done a bit better writing it...He still did a good job, though.

Si! Nos Podemos! said 11/21, 12:15 PM
Steinbeck is great with the harshness of the world, though I'd venture to say he has more of an interest in the moral aspect of circumstances than anything. I loved East of Eden. And I hated reading the Pearl, but only because it was so effective. You never commented on Kerouac, he's probably my favorite writer of all time. Every single faction of subculture since before the Prohibition era has borrowed from his archaic zeal and hip language stylings. His view of America as this vast ocean of romantic vagabonds, truth-seeking lunatics, and red-eyed charlatans all in search for something bigger than what they already know is as relevant today as it ever was. I also liked some of Hawthorne's work, though his style is too French in the sense of: 'Reader, Behold! In walks a new character, in whom we can see....' I like breaking the fourth wall, but not every other sentence for three hundred pages. I've never read Zinn though I've been recommended that book several times. I'll have to check it out. Also, Chuck Palahniuk and Phillip K Dick are both very imaginative and I love their ability to bring some of their more 'out-there' subjects down to earth, where we can easily identify w/ it.

Your God(ess) said 11/21, 06:27 PM
Another great writer: Agatha Christie. I know she isn't like American, but still... mystery books are so great.

I can't believe you didn't like The Pearl! I really liked it, except that it was so depressing... hmmm... Okay so I can see how you wouldn't like it... hmmm. Why are so many books so damn depressing?

OMG! Ever since this thing my English teacher had my class try to mimic J. D. Salinger's style when we read Catcher in the Rye I've been writing a bit like the dude ever since. I'm so peeved. kinda...

I haven't read Kerouac... so that is why I haven't talked about him.

Oh I just remembered another great dude to read: Sherman Alexie. His book titles are way too long (like The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian), but they are very vivid and nice. In the Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven book though, he sounds a tad whiney, but apparently a bunch of people writing about minorities were a bit like that... cause it was so new or something... but that is what someone told me... not sure myself really...

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In my first paragraph, I meant "If anything, Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is much more about the plight of men AND WOMEN in America" ... silly me!

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