Great American Books

This is the official blog for the students of Monica Osborne's Great American Books course at Purdue University.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

So What Makes an American Book Great?

This semester we've looked at a variety of American books and stories that have been called "great" for one reason or another -- Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Flannery O'Connor's stories, Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Morrison's Love, Hijuelos's Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Roth's American Pastoral, and Doctorow's Ragtime. So the big question, then, is what makes an American book great? Or, what makes it especially "American"? And, finally, which of these books do you consider great, and why?

This is the last post of the semester -- yay! Please post your comment no later than Saturday, April 21.

posted by Monica @ 8:09 PM  

29 Comments:

  • At 8:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think in order to be a "Great Book," in general, it must be entertaining, thought provoking, and able to relate to people throughout the years. The "Great American" books are the "Great" books (as described above) written by American authors and about the American life. Of the books that we read this semester, I would consider "The Scarlet Letter" to be the most classic "Great American Book," from the group. I would definitely also consider "American Pastoral" and "Ragtime" as "Great American" books.

     

  • At 8:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I agree with Melissa about what makes a "great book" as far as it needing to be entertaining, thought provoking and that people should be able to relate to it. However, I think that to be a great "American" book it needs to have to do with experiences that Americans can relate to what it really means to be American. I think that all of the books that we have read have done this. A few have explored the American Dream, which is part of what it means to be American and the thought of immigrants trying to become American fits with this as well. We have read about a social outcast, "an idiot", immigrants, African Americans and dreamers. It is each of these people that make up America as a whole, so their stories are what makes up "Great American Literature".

     

  • At 9:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think Danielle made a very good point - great American novels have to deal with issues that most Americans can relate to. It has to hit us on an intimate level; we have to empathize with the story and the characters. We have to be able to say, "Yeah, I know how that feels." I feel like Toni Morrison's "Love" is a wonderful example of a great American novel. It shows the struggle of African Americans in the mid-1900s, but it mostly deals with a dysfunctional family. Who doesn't know what a dysfunctional family is like? Even if yours isn't troubled, you know of a family that has problems. The Cosey family had some issues that were typical, immoral, and American.

     

  • At 11:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    A "Great" book is one where you have your hero, Hester, Heed and Christine,Coalhouse, The Swede, Nestor, etc. and you follow thier struggles in everyday life with each turn of a page. Being great and American implies the ability to overcome all that is thrown at you, no matter how down you stoop before being able to stand on your own two feet again. The strongest hero we examined all semester is hands down Hester Prynne, for her ability to rise above and not let herself become bogged down with what the villagers say to her. She is the strongest character by far that we have seen all semester and maybe in any great American book.

     

  • At 12:44 AM, Blogger Unknown said…

    I agree with the overall idea that a great book is entertaining and though-provoking. I think a great book is one that you just really get into. You have characters you like and you don't like. You really get into it and you can truly empathize with the ones you like and get seriously angry with the ones you don't like. I also think a great book can spark your interest in reading more books by that author or maybe read more books with the same topic. I really enjoyed reading The sound and the Fury, American Pastoral, Love, and Ragtime and think they are all great books. They all made you really think and try to figure things out. They left you wondering. I would be interested in reading more by these authors.

     

  • At 6:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I agree with everyone else that for a book to called a "Great American Book" that it needs to be entertaining. I also think that the book needs to have some sort of issue or person that we can relate to in order to be great. All the books that we read containing some sort of issue that America faced. I think the best book that we read was Ragtime because it was the one that contained characters that we knew about like Houdini and J.P. Morgan. This book made me want to research more about these characters to see what things were true in the book and what things weren't.

    Brittany T

     

  • At 8:34 AM, Blogger Samantha R said…

    I agree with everyone above that a great "American" novel is suppose to be thought provoking and entertaining. I also feel that many of the novels that we have read have caused some sort of controversy in literature. Whether it was a heated debate as to what the author really meant (i.e. Flannery O'Connor) or just the controversial topics that come up throughout history (i.e. adultery in the "Scarlett Letter").
    I think that "The Scarlett Letter" is the most classic "American" Novel. I also feel that Oscar Hijuelos did a wonderful job of writing the view of America through immigrants. This is what I think makes that novel a great "American" novel.

     

  • At 10:44 AM, Blogger Lisa W said…

    I hate to go against the grain, but I don’t feel that a "Great American book" has to be entertaining. The books that we have read this semester were not particularly entertaining. The aspect that accounts for a great American book is its ability to be retold throughout the decades and continue to be re-examined for its different aspects. All of these novels we have read speak to their readers on multiple levels and portray multiple meanings. What makes these novels "great" is their ability to be discussed and argued. I think that Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury was my most favorite book this semester for its ability to hold so many levels and be so vague and yet so concise simultaneously.

     

  • At 11:48 AM, Blogger amy s. said…

    Along with Lisa, I also don't believe that a great American book must be entertaining, thought provoking yes, but not entertaining. In all honestly, I found very few of the books we have read this semester to be entertaining. However, each book that we read this sememster falls under the category of being a great American book. I agree with what many have said about a great American book relating to people across the years. To me, that is the key point that makes a piece of literature into a great American book. For example, if a book contains themes, lessons, or characters that address issues that people will always struggle with, then in my opinion, it is a great American book. I feel like "The Scarlet Letter," is a good example of a great American book because it involves small-mindedness, the struggle of women, and the effects of repression, all of which are things that Americans and people as a whole deal with in their lives. It's a great American book because people can still relate to it today, the same ways they could years ago.

     

  • At 11:56 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think what makes an American book great is the power to hold the readers attention, compel the reader to think, and challenge what we already know. I think The Sound and the Fury would be the epitome of the great American book, but all the books we read had at least one of the above components.

     

  • At 12:06 PM, Blogger Jennifer said…

    I think what makes a "Great American book" is something that explores what it is like to truly be American. Other people have mentioned it needs to have to deal with situations that are often found in everyday American lives. It can also deal with the growing population of immigrant people in America and their struggle to make it here. I feel like it is hard to say what makes a great American book great. I feel like that answer is always up to the reader. After reading over other people’s comments it is obvious that not all of us thought these books were "great." Therefore it is up to the reader to decide what makes a "great American" book so great!

     

  • At 5:29 PM, Blogger Joanna said…

    I don't know if it's just because I wrote a paper about it, or if it's the only book I've been able to read the whole way through, but my favorite was "Love" by Toni Morrison. I just thought she did a very good job with writing the conflict between Heed and Christine, and how they came together in the end.
    I think what makes a great American Novel is one that had point, and isn't written for just the heck of it. Like "The Sound and the Fury". I personally saw no story line, morals, or entertainment behind it what so ever. It was just a lot of peoples perspectives about one person, and it didn't make sense. It was hard to read. Also, it just has to catch your attention and keep you hooked. If someone wants to take a class about great american novels it should be books that are fun to read. Or no one will read them. They have other classes.

     

  • At 8:11 AM, Blogger kelli m said…

    I think that a great american book is one that describes a typical american's life, sparks your imagination and makes you think beyond the text. I feel like the "great" books are the ones that are out of the ordinary in their writing style and create a new kind of story-telling. "Great American Novels" shouldn't have just one theme, I think that different novels should have diverse plots because I see America as a place with many different types of people with many different backgrounds. I consider "The Scarlet Letter" to be great because it challenged the norm of the time and because it simply is a classic.

     

  • At 9:42 AM, Blogger Torey said…

    Like Kelli said I think for an American book to be a "great book" has to portray the American lifestyle. It should obviously have an interesting and thought provoking theme and relatable characters and situations. I think that if the books we have read didn't have that to them, they would not have been so enjoyable and worth reading. A great book takes you beyond just the words on the pages. It takes you into that time period, into that scene and makes you a character.

     

  • At 11:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think what makes an "American book" American is the world of differences and multiculturalism of our land brought about in the books. America is a melting pot and we have so many different cultures and everyone represents their own style, including writing. This makes the books "American" because they are representing so many different cultures and sometimes many of them are freely incorporated into one book. I think that an American book is great because it holds your attention and allows the reader to get involved with the characters. It holds American values and is unlikely to be like anything you have ever read before.

     

  • At 5:11 PM, Blogger Adam Miklius said…

    A great American book I feel has to past the test of time. It must be able to relate to its generation and the generations to come. It must explore topics that provoke thought and have a deeper meaning. I feel American Pastoral as a great American book because it gets its readers to sit back and think about how those periods in America's history effected everyone not just the activists but also the people who just wanted to live a normal life. It has somthing for everyone and it is easy to relate too and at the same time provokes thought.

     

  • At 10:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think a "great" book is one that lets us experience what we cannot. It allows us to be in someone else's shoes and in situations that we physically or mentally cannot take part in. This teaches us a valuable lesson. We grow as individuals and as a society through these readings. The ability of the author to take us to a new realm and educate us are key elements to writing a great book. I think American Pastoral is a great book because Roth makes us feel apart of the story. I can put myself in many of the character's shoes and wonder what I would do in the situations he presented.

     

  • At 8:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I agree that it is important for a book to be entertaining but a great American book has to have something to go along with it. I find that can be a number of things. It can be a view of american culture or americans themselves, exploring one of the lesser known facets of the Americana, or examining our history.

    I'd have to say that my favorite work we read this semester is a tie between the works of Flannery O'Connor and Mambo Kings play songs of love. I really like the O'Connor stuff because of the ambiguity of the stories and the feeling that her narratives are little snapshots of our culture. I liked Mambo Kings because it takes a stereotype of an american minority and explores the fact and fiction behind it. It just makes me think about the fact that everyone has a story.

     

  • At 11:30 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    In order for an American book to be great I think that the book needs to be thought provoking and provide the reader with enjoyment. I also think that the reader has to be given the opportunity to think and make assumptions about what will happen far before it actually does happen. I would consider The Scarlet Letter great because from start to finish it kept me interested and allowed me to really think and formulate opinions about what was going to happen.

     

  • At 3:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    A "Great Book" has to be exciting to read first and foremost. I think a "Great American Book" is a book that illustrates a piece of American culture in it, whether it be past or present. It shows how Americans can all relate to eachother in a sense. It can be either through real life experiences or fiction. I really liked how in "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love," fiction and real life were somewhat linked. First, the stories of brothers trying to reach fame and fortune in the music industry in America. Then, how Hijuelos added in clips from the "I Love Lucy" show. This helped demonstrate to the reader how much of a struggle it is for immigrants to achieve the "American Dream." In my opinion, "The Scarlet Letter", was the most classic example of a "Great American Book" that we read. It is really interesting to see how our society's views on certain things have transformed over the years.

     

  • At 8:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Alex--
    A great book must be innovative. It must explore the context of what it is writing about in a different and interesting way, a way that makes the reader say, "wow, I never looked at it that way." It also must cause the reader to want to learn about the story, to be 'involved' in the story through the narrative.

     

  • At 12:53 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think that one main quality that the books that we have read all have, which makes them great books, is the ability to portray the same message to people throughout time. I also agree with everyone else that the book must be thought provoking and entertaining. Without this element, the audience would not be able to relate to the different time periods. The scarlet letter, for example, takes place a long time ago, yet can still be related to our lives. I think Ragtime and American Pastoral are the most "American" themed books. Both of these book's plots revolved strongly around the views of American in the time period they are set in. I think all the books we have read are great books, because they are all relatable and cause us to raise questions.

     

  • At 5:19 PM, Blogger Curtis M said…

    I think for a book to be great, it has to have some kind of cultural impact in America. Also, it has to have clever writing, be though provoking, and make a bold statement about culture or our society. I think that The Scarlet Letter is the most traditional great American book on this list. Hawthorne uses this book to make a bold statement about the culture of religion and has clever writing, as well as it would have been an exciting read back in Hawthorne's time.

     

  • At 8:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think that a "Great American Book" is first of all one written by an American author. Also, I believe that it should be written about a topic that is pertinent to the lives of Americans throughout the years. It should be able to stand the test of time. I think that a great American book is one that deals with American issues from an American perspective as well. Of the books that we read this semester I believe American Pastoral by Philip Roth to be the "Greatest" American book that we read. I also think that The Scarlett Letter and Ragtime were Great American books.

     

  • At 9:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    What makes an American book great? It is that these American books are based on historical events, that may not always be based on a true story, but that the plot that the story is/are based off of is what helped advance America to what it is today. And that is what makes these American books so great. Like Ragtime a true classic, and the fact that it is based off of real people of historical events is what makes this book truly a great American book. As well as the book: Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, is also based off of immirgants who came in to this country trying to make a better life for themselves; trying to get to their American dream, thats why this book is a great American book.

     

  • At 3:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    A great american book discusses issues in american life. Thought provoking arguements, controversy, and discussion is often needed to demonstrate life in america. Characters often overcome struggles and discuss parts of history that are often slipped under the rug. I would consider "Love" and "Ragtime" as great american books. Family, relationships, and living life to the fullest are key components to the novels.

     

  • At 10:32 PM, Blogger BlainMcDowell said…

    Sorry this is really late but I just now remembered. So to me the number one thing a book has be to be considered great, is an engaging story. In my mind it has to have some twists and turns along the way, and a suprise ending never hurts either. It's great when after you finish reading it you immediately run to tell your friends about it. Now, in order to be American, I guess essentially it must take place, in some capacity anyway, in America or be written by an American author. Some might mention the American Dream, but I think that's a phrase that's way overrated and overused (hence the 20 paper title's containing the words "American Dream") As far as I'm concerned, "A View of the Woods" is still the best work we've read this semester. You are probably getting tired of hearing about it already, but it makes you want more, makes you want to find out exactly what is going on, makes you want to do something about things......that's what makes it engaging, and that's what makes it great.

     

  • At 11:05 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    I think the most important thing is that a book needs to be thought-provoking. In order to be considered great, it is really important that it forces the reader to see things in a new light. Like Blain said, in order to be American, it should be written in America or by an American writer, or have an "American" theme--such as the American dream--as we've explored in detail this semester. Of the books we've read this semester, I consider them all to be great, as they've encouraged all of us to see things in a completely different way. My favorites were "Love" and "Ragtime," both of which dealt with controversies in American history, especially racial discrimination and differences.

     

  • At 9:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

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