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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  4548 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Moby-Dick is the Greatest American Novel
Have you finished Jamrach's Menagerie yet? I've only just begun.

As for the "Greatest American Novel", I like your call of Slaughterhouse-Five and would add to it A Farewell to Arms. Though, I might point out that while both of these picks have American Protagonists, they take place largely outside of the US (and partially on the planet of Tralfamadore) which makes it difficult to call them an "American Novel" in the same way one might coin Huck-Finn as such.





briandmyers  ·  4548 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Got one chapter left on Jamrach, I should finish it today.

I liked Huck Finn a lot, I think I'll put that on my re-read list also (although I very rarely re-read books) - I last read that when I was a teenager, that would have been in the late 70's.

Just thought of another book that I would consider a 'greatest American novel' candidate - "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving - such a powerful book.

lucid_one  ·  4548 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I've never actually read any of the books you guys are mentioning except "A Prayer for Owne Meany" and I'm not sure if it deserves to be called the greatest American novel but I can definitely say it's one of my favorite novels. A wonderful story, pretty much read it in a day.
briandmyers  ·  4548 days ago  ·  link  ·  
If you read any, you should read "Slaughterhouse-Five". It will make a Vonnegut fan of you, and break your heart at the same time.
lucid_one  ·  4548 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Thank you for the suggestion. I'll put it at the top of my list but may have to re-read a Prayer for Owen Meany again first.
thenewgreen  ·  4548 days ago  ·  link  ·  
A Prayer for Owen Meany is a damned near perfect novel. I've yet to meet anybody that didn't enjoy reading that book.

aside: I used to always confuse John Irving with John Updike until I actually read John Updike. In my opinion, they couldn't be much different in their styles and subject matter. I started reading Updikes "rabbit" series and never got passed Rabbit is Rich.

briandmyers  ·  4548 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Agreed. The comparison of Marilyn Monroe to America sticks with me, a beautiful piece of writing.