Bel-ami Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 I've realised that my reading of US 'classics' is almost nil, so this year I'm going to try and get through some of the major omissions which focus on the development of US society or moments in history - maybe then I'll understand Americans a bit more! As it stands, I'm going to read / re-read* the following - please feel free to recommend any that you think I should add. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* Uncle Tom's Cabin Little Women The Red Badge of Courage* The Scarlet Letter The Age of Innocence The Grapes of Wrath Of Mice and Men The Great Gatsby* To Kill A Mockingbird The Catcher In The Rye Catch 22* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 I loved The Scarlet Letter, I hope you enjoy it! Of the American classics I have read I'd definitely recommend The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I also want to say Edgar Allan Poe (I read a really good collection of his short stories last year, published by Heron Books) but I don't think that really fits with your criteria of moments in history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cechak Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 I would say The Sound and the Fury belongs on your list. Also, Their Eyes Were Watching God would be an important one as it comes from the viewpoint of an African-American woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cechak Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 I forgot to say that since Tom Sawyer will be a reread, why not read, The Adventures of Huckleberry Fine, instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bel-ami Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Thanks Hayley - have to admit I had forgotten Last of The Mohicans (which I have indeed read before) - I'll check out the House of Mirth for sure. and thanks Cechak - good call on Huck Finn and I will investigate the others also - that will all keep me very busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haveGood Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Good list, but I'd add Invisible Man by Ellison and the Rabbit Angstrom books by John Updike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEV67 Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 No Moby Dick, no Lolita? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaM Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 My favourite US classic is McTeague, a Story of San Francisco - Frank Norris. It was a achance find in a second hand bookshop and I loved every word of it. I've never manage to finish anything else of his though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEV67 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 I just finished the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I thought was very good. It was funny and entertaining, and historically interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loretta Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 That’s a great list. The only one I didn’t like was The Great Gatsby. I found it a bit boring. I agree with others - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Last of the Mochicans are worth reading..... also: A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Heminway In Cold Blood - Truman Capote The Call of the Wild - Jack London Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 How about Breakfast at Tiffanys? A good modern classic! I'd also second Moby Dick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loretta Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Is Slaughterhouse Five considered a US classic? I read it in my late teens, and at the time thought it was a masterpiece. Trouble is, I can’t remember much about it all, today. Maybe I should re- read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 12 hours ago, Loretta said: Is Slaughterhouse Five considered a US classic? I read it in my late teens, and at the time thought it was a masterpiece. Trouble is, I can’t remember much about it all, today. Maybe I should re- read. I read it a few years ago and I can't remember much about it either, so don't go beating yourself up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 (edited) The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemmingway East of Eden - John Steinbeck Cannery Row - John Steinbeck Oh heck, anything byJohn Steinbeck Edited July 27, 2018 by muggle not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 The Grapes of Wrath To Kill a Mockingbird Gone With the Wind In Cold Blood The Great Gatsby One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The Color Purple Black Like Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 10/08/2018 at 8:29 AM, poppy said: The Grapes of Wrath To Kill a Mockingbird Gone With the Wind In Cold Blood The Great Gatsby One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The Color Purple Black Like Me Absolutely agree with these (well, except the last two, which I haven't yet read). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 Don't know if the OP is still reading, but to add to the list of US classics that are worth trying, I'd add the name of Willa Cather. In particular, I've read both My Antonia and O Pioneers recently, and can thoroughly recommend them - set on the pioneer plains of Nebraska. Also Shirley Ann Grau's The Keepers of the House, set in Alabama and addressing white-black social relationships. More recent, but maybe heading the way of classic-dom, Jane Smiley's Thousand Acres, a King Lear for the Mid-West. I was also bowled over by Eowyn Ivey's To The Bright Edge of the Universe, far too recent to be referred to as a classic. I agree with @muggle not about Steinbeck too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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