Rainy days are perfect book days. I just re-read one of the greatest books in the canon of American literature: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. It tells the story of an American migration from the dust bowl of Oklahoma, the abandonment of homesteads, for the hope of California. It is a story of struggle, suffering and faith.
We live in an era defined by ingratitude and a selfish narcissism that repeatedly suggests we live in the worst of times, as opposed to the best of times. Truly.
There is no hour in the story of human civilization that would be preferable to live in over this one. This is the greatest hour to ever be alive.
We live in an era of climate change. The first couple of pages of The Grapes of Wrath describe in perfect, vivid detail what happens when nature and man’s mismanagement of the land combine. This is some of the greatest writing in the history of the English language. It is a warning and a testament. This book is worth reading, or re-reading if you’ve already done so.
What are your favorite classics of American literature?
To Kill a Mockingbird. Drop the mic. Themes of justice, class, racism, equity, integrity, childhood innocence (and the loss thereof), segregation, poverty, scapegoating, compassion. Could have been written today—timeless.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Betty Smith. I love this book because it shows humans in all their frailties and shows how they love each other through those frailties. There is something in this book that reaches the heart and illuminates it—and that is what we need now, illuminated hearts. Evolved hearts. I love that this book was the most requested by soldiers in WWII, because I always think of it as a young girl’s book. That’s when I read it, but I just re read it with my Book Group and we all loved it and we are not young! It feels as small and ordinary as life usually feels (Franny ironing her father’s shirt, I can still see that!) and also feels momentous. It’s as if she takes each of our ordinary lives and illuminates them to show the glorious ness of each one. I thought of it this morning because yesterday I came across this quote from Lao Tzu about leadership, and it was something like, A leader must love the people to lead them. I see that love in Stacy Abrams face.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Who does this remind you of, Steve?
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
I was a preacher's kid, second grader, and we lived in the tiny town of Bridgeport, Alabama. About October 1949, the school (grades 1 -12) conducted achievement tests. My score indicated I could read at 12th grade level. My parents were surprised, if not dumbfounded. They informed me that, if I wanted, I would be double-promoted straight into third grade. I visited the third grade class and realized quickly that I would be leaving all my friends, so I remained in second grade. Around that same time, Miss Ida McFarlane, who was one of the church ladies, arrived at the parsonage one day with a stack of books. The books were for me, Miss Ida said, and introduced me to Little Women, Heidi, Alice in Wonderland, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Bambi, and several other children's classics. Another day, Miss Ida took me to the city library and pointed out that I could borrow the books, for free. She also taught me to play piano, and tried to teach me how to crochet As I grew older, I appreciated Miss Ida's efforts more and more. I never stopped reading. I think Miss Ida was, in her own way, a miracle worker. There is no way for me to name my favorite book, but right now I am reading "The Autobiography of Henry VIII" by Margaret George.
The books which most affected the younger me: To Kill a Mockingbird. The Catcher in the Rye. Little Women. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. A Raisin in the Sun. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Slaughterhouse Five. Stranger in a Strange Land.
How do we define a “classic” - by the number of years ago it was written? I am not sure of the “literature” standards - but I recently read Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and was set on fire.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey. Seems particularly poignant and relevant at a time when this country seems to be losing its mind, when people with mental health needs are so criminally neglected and/or abused, and when "cruelty is the point" is the prevalent mindset among so many!
To add to all the great books below: To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner), Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), Peace Like River (Leif Enger), Catch 22 (Joseph Heller), and all the great murder mystery writers.
Without a doubt, it's "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. The story and themes have just as much relevance today as they did the day this book was published.
Willa Cather’s “O, Pioneers,” “East of Eden” stunned me a few years ago not having ever read it. And Stegner’s “Angle of Repose,” is one I’ve read a few times. His sentences fill me up like a fine meal. I’m sure I could keep going, but those are 3 that have lived in me a long time after reading them.
Apropos of nothing that’s already been mentioned, “The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test” by Tom Wolfe describes a pivotal era in our society. In world society for that matter
The music, the drugs, the “scene” the players like “a wild haired kid named Jerry Garcia”.
If you haven’t read this and we’re alive at this time, you’re missing something special
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser, USA -John Dos Pasos, 1984-George Orwell
Brave New World- Aldous Huxley, The Jungle-Upton Sinclair, Les Miserables-Victor Hugo
Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert, Portrait Of A Lady- Henry James, Walden- Henry David Thoreau, On The Road-Jack Kerouac, The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald Carol Ortiz
To Kill A Mockingbird. Every page is perfect. Ironically , the one line in the novel (repeated multiple times), which did not make it into the screen play is “as Atticus would say, it’s not time to worry yet”. The book and film are often credited as heralding the civil rights movement- the underbelly of omitted line is that it was time worry and do something.
I agree however, that in spite of current challenges, fears, and struggles of today, this is a great time to be alive. Because above all, we have reasons to hope.
Not to denigrate anyone else’s opinion, but “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” & “Moby Dick” stand together at the head of the class, with about 6 classic runners up (Gatsby, Mockingbird, etc)- and some are arguably not even “American” depending on your point of view. For example, my personal favorite read is “The Sun Also Rises” but one could argue that it is only American in the way it’s viewed in mirror from somewhere else.
I think “East Of Eden” is the best of Steinbeck but “Grapes...” is more classically American in its mise-en-scène (how’s that for fancy and so not American?🫡)
There are at least three or four more that have all been mentioned but just to round things out I would include my favorite Gertrude Stein,
“The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”
I guess I just love the view of America as reflected in the eyes of ex-pats of the Lost Generation
To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath for sure. And also Anna Karenina, Moby Dock, Of Mice and Men, Brave New World, Catch 22, Nineteen Eighty Four, Call of the Wild, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, anything Ray Bradbury, anything Ken Kesey and the list goes on. The sad thing I noticed while reading through everyone’s posts, is that a number of these books have either been banned or are on the chopping block in schools and libraries in several states. It is Fahrenheit 451 coming to fruition. Very frightening.
Willa Cather: My Antonia. No character was written with as much love as Antonia. Not literature: 1491, what the Americas really were pre-contact (read it 5x).
Was Animal House a novel before being made in a film? hardy har har...Well read people will never have a consensus on "Best Novel" but I love this growing list. Thank you Steve for opening this up. As the long winter begins in the Pacific Northwest I look forward to re-reading "The Grapes of Wrath" and this might just be the winter to finally dust off " Lonesome Dove". I've read almost all of McMurtry, and have saved Lonesome Dove for a series of cold, rainy days. They're here!
Boy, thats a hard one, like being asked to name your favorite child. The impact of JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye has never left me. Jack London’s Call of the Wild, Vonnegut’s SlaughterHouse Five, Twain’s Tom Sawyer...
Oh forget it! I can’t decide.
Just an aside I thought mostly sad but a little bit funny, I remember when my home town newspaper asked random town folk in their weekly “People Poll” - “What is the last book you read?”...not one had read a book, or it had been so long they couldn’t remember.
Moby Dick. The greatest ever! Though my perspective may be skewed because I read it at an advanced age while I was living in the vibrant whaling community of Utqiagvik. Then still Barrow. Wonderful place and the book really resonated with me. Everybody should live someplace where you are a noticeable minority and don’t understand the local language. Kinda reminded me of my year in Japan in college. Great perspective
OK, I'll be the only politically incorrect person on here. When I was 11 years old, I read "Gone with the Wind". It totally blew me away, just as "Anna Karenina" did six years later (I know, it's Russian. My favorites are all by Russian authors, so they don't count in this exercise.) Some others: I loved "Jack and Jill" by Louisa May Alcott as a young child. "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron was devastating. (Looks like I go for the sweeping dramatic tragedies.) "My Father's Dragon" series by Ruth Gannett was a favorite at age 6. Can't leave out the unworldly brilliance of poet EMILY DICKINSON! Since I read a book every day since age 4, there are thousands and thousands to choose from. Those are just a few that immediately come to mind. Oh! I should mention some American authors I've enjoyed recently: Kate Atkinson, all of her books; Chris Bojhalian, Double Bind and The Midwife; Jhumpa Lahiri (all except for her most recent); Abraham Vergese; Lauren Goff; Jacquelyn Mitchard; and the great Michael Connelley. "Me and Rumi" by William Chittik is fascinating. Andre Dubus, III "House of Sand and Fog", heartbreaker. And I'm going to count Azar Nafisi's "Reading Lolita in Tehran", since she's now an American citizen. [Unfortunately, I can't count Louise Penny, the marvelous Canadian "mystery" writer; nor Philippa Gregory, a tremendously gifted British historical novelist; nor Tana French, great Irish writer; or the delicious Swedish author, Frederick Backman -- I have never both wept and belly-laughed repeatedly in the course of a single book. Will I ever finish Proust's ever finish "A la recherché du temps perdu"? Sad to say, it's unlikely.] OK. That's it for now. Wait, not yet: "Beloved" by Toni Morrison! And "A Farewell to Arms"! "The Book Thief"! So I guess this is my list of "Highly Recommended Books and Favorite Authors" which immediately leapt to mind. SO many more! We are so blessed to be a mostly literate society. Got a lot of reading to do: many fascinating books noted by people here! I'm making a list. Will check it twice.
The Aspern Papers by Henry James, who went out of fashion for no good reason. The Aspern Papers is one of the greatest psychological thrillers of all time.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is in my top 10. Also, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men. There are many children's books like Sounder, Where the Red Fern Grows, Misty of Chincoteague, Caddie Woodlawn... So many books, so little time
To Kill a Mockingbird. Drop the mic. Themes of justice, class, racism, equity, integrity, childhood innocence (and the loss thereof), segregation, poverty, scapegoating, compassion. Could have been written today—timeless.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Betty Smith. I love this book because it shows humans in all their frailties and shows how they love each other through those frailties. There is something in this book that reaches the heart and illuminates it—and that is what we need now, illuminated hearts. Evolved hearts. I love that this book was the most requested by soldiers in WWII, because I always think of it as a young girl’s book. That’s when I read it, but I just re read it with my Book Group and we all loved it and we are not young! It feels as small and ordinary as life usually feels (Franny ironing her father’s shirt, I can still see that!) and also feels momentous. It’s as if she takes each of our ordinary lives and illuminates them to show the glorious ness of each one. I thought of it this morning because yesterday I came across this quote from Lao Tzu about leadership, and it was something like, A leader must love the people to lead them. I see that love in Stacy Abrams face.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Who does this remind you of, Steve?
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
East of Eden was Steinbeck passing on his life’s learnings to us. For the price of a book you can know what a great writer knew about life.
I consider Lonesome Dove a great American novel. It’s a helluva a story, with some unforgettable characters and extremely well written.
I was a preacher's kid, second grader, and we lived in the tiny town of Bridgeport, Alabama. About October 1949, the school (grades 1 -12) conducted achievement tests. My score indicated I could read at 12th grade level. My parents were surprised, if not dumbfounded. They informed me that, if I wanted, I would be double-promoted straight into third grade. I visited the third grade class and realized quickly that I would be leaving all my friends, so I remained in second grade. Around that same time, Miss Ida McFarlane, who was one of the church ladies, arrived at the parsonage one day with a stack of books. The books were for me, Miss Ida said, and introduced me to Little Women, Heidi, Alice in Wonderland, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Bambi, and several other children's classics. Another day, Miss Ida took me to the city library and pointed out that I could borrow the books, for free. She also taught me to play piano, and tried to teach me how to crochet As I grew older, I appreciated Miss Ida's efforts more and more. I never stopped reading. I think Miss Ida was, in her own way, a miracle worker. There is no way for me to name my favorite book, but right now I am reading "The Autobiography of Henry VIII" by Margaret George.
The books which most affected the younger me: To Kill a Mockingbird. The Catcher in the Rye. Little Women. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. A Raisin in the Sun. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Slaughterhouse Five. Stranger in a Strange Land.
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
The short story, “The Lottery” has stuck with me forever.
Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird; Twain: Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Scarlet Letter
Religious intolerance, hypocrisy, suppression of women by combined religious/political power.
How do we define a “classic” - by the number of years ago it was written? I am not sure of the “literature” standards - but I recently read Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and was set on fire.
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey. Seems particularly poignant and relevant at a time when this country seems to be losing its mind, when people with mental health needs are so criminally neglected and/or abused, and when "cruelty is the point" is the prevalent mindset among so many!
Also “Sophie’s Choice” by William Styron. A heartbreaking story of the Holocaust
To add to all the great books below: To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner), Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), Peace Like River (Leif Enger), Catch 22 (Joseph Heller), and all the great murder mystery writers.
Without a doubt, it's "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. The story and themes have just as much relevance today as they did the day this book was published.
The Red Badge of Courage.
“It appeared that the swift wings of their desires would have shattered against the iron gates of the impossible.”
Any short stories by Eudora Welty
Probably not a classic .. yet…but “Prince of Tides” is so beautifully written and such an exquisite story.
Willa Cather’s “O, Pioneers,” “East of Eden” stunned me a few years ago not having ever read it. And Stegner’s “Angle of Repose,” is one I’ve read a few times. His sentences fill me up like a fine meal. I’m sure I could keep going, but those are 3 that have lived in me a long time after reading them.
“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”Dee Brown
“To the Indians it seemed that these Europeans hated everything in nature-the living forests and their birds and beasts, the grassy glades,
the water; the soil, and the air itself.”
And now there is climate crisis, and some ideas of making reparations to the native Americans. Yes a fascinating and educational time to be alive.
Apropos of nothing that’s already been mentioned, “The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test” by Tom Wolfe describes a pivotal era in our society. In world society for that matter
The music, the drugs, the “scene” the players like “a wild haired kid named Jerry Garcia”.
If you haven’t read this and we’re alive at this time, you’re missing something special
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser, USA -John Dos Pasos, 1984-George Orwell
Brave New World- Aldous Huxley, The Jungle-Upton Sinclair, Les Miserables-Victor Hugo
Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert, Portrait Of A Lady- Henry James, Walden- Henry David Thoreau, On The Road-Jack Kerouac, The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald Carol Ortiz
To Kill A Mockingbird. Every page is perfect. Ironically , the one line in the novel (repeated multiple times), which did not make it into the screen play is “as Atticus would say, it’s not time to worry yet”. The book and film are often credited as heralding the civil rights movement- the underbelly of omitted line is that it was time worry and do something.
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
Lily Bart…one of the great tragic heroines of American literature.
Faulkner “Light in August” and the tragedy of Joe Christmas. Charles Fraser, “Cold Mountain."
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and The Unvanquished by William Faulkner.
East of Eden also by Steinbeck .
Might be time to reread "Grapes..."
I agree however, that in spite of current challenges, fears, and struggles of today, this is a great time to be alive. Because above all, we have reasons to hope.
Not to denigrate anyone else’s opinion, but “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” & “Moby Dick” stand together at the head of the class, with about 6 classic runners up (Gatsby, Mockingbird, etc)- and some are arguably not even “American” depending on your point of view. For example, my personal favorite read is “The Sun Also Rises” but one could argue that it is only American in the way it’s viewed in mirror from somewhere else.
I think “East Of Eden” is the best of Steinbeck but “Grapes...” is more classically American in its mise-en-scène (how’s that for fancy and so not American?🫡)
There are at least three or four more that have all been mentioned but just to round things out I would include my favorite Gertrude Stein,
“The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”
I guess I just love the view of America as reflected in the eyes of ex-pats of the Lost Generation
To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath for sure. And also Anna Karenina, Moby Dock, Of Mice and Men, Brave New World, Catch 22, Nineteen Eighty Four, Call of the Wild, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, anything Ray Bradbury, anything Ken Kesey and the list goes on. The sad thing I noticed while reading through everyone’s posts, is that a number of these books have either been banned or are on the chopping block in schools and libraries in several states. It is Fahrenheit 451 coming to fruition. Very frightening.
Willa Cather: My Antonia. No character was written with as much love as Antonia. Not literature: 1491, what the Americas really were pre-contact (read it 5x).
It's interesting that names like Richard Wright, James Baldwin, or Zora Neal Hurston are not showing up on anyone's list of favorites. Hmmm.
Ernest Hemingway's For whom the bell tolls is one of my favorite novels.
Was Animal House a novel before being made in a film? hardy har har...Well read people will never have a consensus on "Best Novel" but I love this growing list. Thank you Steve for opening this up. As the long winter begins in the Pacific Northwest I look forward to re-reading "The Grapes of Wrath" and this might just be the winter to finally dust off " Lonesome Dove". I've read almost all of McMurtry, and have saved Lonesome Dove for a series of cold, rainy days. They're here!
Gilead. Marilyn Robinson. It changes you.
Anything by Mark Twain. Much of Hemingway. Mockingbird.
Lovely to have everyone's reminders of American lit! Thx!
Boy, thats a hard one, like being asked to name your favorite child. The impact of JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye has never left me. Jack London’s Call of the Wild, Vonnegut’s SlaughterHouse Five, Twain’s Tom Sawyer...
Oh forget it! I can’t decide.
Just an aside I thought mostly sad but a little bit funny, I remember when my home town newspaper asked random town folk in their weekly “People Poll” - “What is the last book you read?”...not one had read a book, or it had been so long they couldn’t remember.
The Lorax. Read it, learn it, live it.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”
Tony Morrison' s The Bluest Eyes, or Jazz.
East of Eden - Steinbeck’s masterpiece.
My favorite is To Kill a Mockingbird -- Atticus Finch is my literary (fictional) hero.
Cannery Row, which follows logically the process of journey of life in USA - with humor.
Moby Dick. The greatest ever! Though my perspective may be skewed because I read it at an advanced age while I was living in the vibrant whaling community of Utqiagvik. Then still Barrow. Wonderful place and the book really resonated with me. Everybody should live someplace where you are a noticeable minority and don’t understand the local language. Kinda reminded me of my year in Japan in college. Great perspective
OK, I'll be the only politically incorrect person on here. When I was 11 years old, I read "Gone with the Wind". It totally blew me away, just as "Anna Karenina" did six years later (I know, it's Russian. My favorites are all by Russian authors, so they don't count in this exercise.) Some others: I loved "Jack and Jill" by Louisa May Alcott as a young child. "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron was devastating. (Looks like I go for the sweeping dramatic tragedies.) "My Father's Dragon" series by Ruth Gannett was a favorite at age 6. Can't leave out the unworldly brilliance of poet EMILY DICKINSON! Since I read a book every day since age 4, there are thousands and thousands to choose from. Those are just a few that immediately come to mind. Oh! I should mention some American authors I've enjoyed recently: Kate Atkinson, all of her books; Chris Bojhalian, Double Bind and The Midwife; Jhumpa Lahiri (all except for her most recent); Abraham Vergese; Lauren Goff; Jacquelyn Mitchard; and the great Michael Connelley. "Me and Rumi" by William Chittik is fascinating. Andre Dubus, III "House of Sand and Fog", heartbreaker. And I'm going to count Azar Nafisi's "Reading Lolita in Tehran", since she's now an American citizen. [Unfortunately, I can't count Louise Penny, the marvelous Canadian "mystery" writer; nor Philippa Gregory, a tremendously gifted British historical novelist; nor Tana French, great Irish writer; or the delicious Swedish author, Frederick Backman -- I have never both wept and belly-laughed repeatedly in the course of a single book. Will I ever finish Proust's ever finish "A la recherché du temps perdu"? Sad to say, it's unlikely.] OK. That's it for now. Wait, not yet: "Beloved" by Toni Morrison! And "A Farewell to Arms"! "The Book Thief"! So I guess this is my list of "Highly Recommended Books and Favorite Authors" which immediately leapt to mind. SO many more! We are so blessed to be a mostly literate society. Got a lot of reading to do: many fascinating books noted by people here! I'm making a list. Will check it twice.
The Road by Cormak McCarthy
The Aspern Papers by Henry James, who went out of fashion for no good reason. The Aspern Papers is one of the greatest psychological thrillers of all time.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is in my top 10. Also, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men. There are many children's books like Sounder, Where the Red Fern Grows, Misty of Chincoteague, Caddie Woodlawn... So many books, so little time