I'd have a very hard time arguing against Huck Finn, but the novel that first leapt to mind for me was The Catcher in the Rye. And then I remembered that I much preferred A Separate Peace as a coming-of-age novel, and think that Gatsby may be more iconic of America.
Come on. You drop by for a cup of coffee, and the world's not ending? Please.
Connor ,'Not Fade Away'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Matt the Bruins fan - Jul 13, 2013 7:06:51 pm PDT #21051 of 28370
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Amy - Jul 13, 2013 7:18:03 pm PDT #21052 of 28370
Because books.
The structure of Code Name Verity was a little disconcerting at first, but it didn't take long for her voice, and the intensity of the character, to compel me.
I'd have to reread to talk about the first question you asked. I know had thoughts about it at the time, but I don't remember what they were.
erin_obscure - Jul 13, 2013 9:22:55 pm PDT #21053 of 28370
Occasionally I’m callous and strange
Kate - I felt like it was very much a smokescreen (in response to the first question)
Gris - Jul 14, 2013 3:25:06 am PDT #21054 of 28370
Hey. New board.
Grapes of Wrath. Huckleberry is a reasonable backup.
sj - Jul 14, 2013 5:49:41 am PDT #21055 of 28370
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
Author Robert Galbraith is actually J.K. Rowling link.
Kat - Jul 14, 2013 6:07:55 am PDT #21056 of 28370
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Kate, I feel like anything that pertains to Maddie is true. I believe that the Anna Engel stuff was all lies -- it was meant to be the diversion. Most of her account was a lie. Hence her "This is the truth! This is the truth!" and her telling the girl who refused to confess to just lie.
It's a perfect way to teach unreliable narrator, I think.
Polter-Cow - Jul 14, 2013 4:09:16 pm PDT #21057 of 28370
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Has anyone read Armor, by John Steakley? I haven't read a book this fucking frustrating in a while. I'm almost annoyed that it actually redeemed itself in the end.
Fred Pete - Jul 15, 2013 5:31:27 am PDT #21058 of 28370
Ann, that's a ferret.
I do think class is as much an American focus as race, although race is clearly not a focus anywhere else.
Yet class in America is inextricably intertwined with money, more so (I think) than elsewhere. I'd also add a 3rd Great American Focus, religion, which also plays out in a way different than elsewhere.
I'll argue for Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. It isn't on that list. But class/money determines almost the entire plot, with more than a passing discussion of the effect of religion.
Oh, and Moby Dick is overrated. The treatise on whaling breaks into the plot too deeply.
§ ita § - Jul 15, 2013 7:03:24 am PDT #21059 of 28370
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
although race is clearly not a focus anywhere else
I don't understand what this means. What is the anywhere else?
Amy - Jul 15, 2013 7:56:06 am PDT #21060 of 28370
Because books.
I should have said almost, I guess. Race isn't a big focus in historical British literature, or most European literature, unless I'm completely wrong. And I absolutely could be. I just couldn't think of examples that address it the way Huck Finn and other American literature does.