Book a Week in 2014 - BW34

[mumto2]

Eliana, the pictures are all lovely. Dd is in love with your granddaughter, she was very disappointed to learn that the baby I was looking at belonged to a BaW friend not a real life one. :lol: Your son looks so happy, actually you all do in the family photo. Lovely.

 

My Murakami won't be here for a month or two. I may be second but that library system takes quite a while for a transfer. I may be glad. I did request Kafka on the Shore during a bout of Murakmi love last week. Picked it up today.

 

Jane's canning sounds like fun and is making me very hungry.

[Stacia]

My Murakami won't be here for a month or two. I may be second but that library system takes quite a while for a transfer. I may be glad. I did request Kafka on the Shore during a bout of Murakmi love last week. Picked it up today.

 

Even though I have declared (by divine, book-opinionated right, you know ;) ) 1Q84 to be Murakami's masterpiece, I think that Kafka on the Shore is still my favorite Murakami of the ones I've read. (There is one disturbing scene in there, though.)

[Violet Crown]

Eliana, your family is beautiful. "All alike," ha! And your grandbaby is adorable.

 

One-quarter done with Boswell! Perhaps next year, his Tour to the Hebrides. A famous philosophical moment from the Life of Johnson:

 

After we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove the nonexistence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it,--"I refute it thus."

[shukriyya]

I'm finally taking a moment away from unpacking and laundry (5 loads so far with several more on the horizon) and grocery shopping to check in and after reading all the posts and repartie I just want to say that you ladies have a place in my heart :001_wub:

 

Eliana, your family is so full of joy and loveliness. Thank you for sharing them with us.

 

Jane and Jenn, the post about peaches and the comment about eating them over the sink took me back several, ahem, decades...I can feel the sticky, sweet, warm juice running down my chin as my younger self runs in from the garden to fuel up. Domestic Goddess seems to have Proustian powers as well...

 

 

[LostSurprise]

Finished up Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia Wrede. I liked the fairy tale as a child and I wanted something light until I can find all the fiction I've lost in this house (under the bed? in dh's car? where can they be??). 

 

 

 

I had mixed feelings about it. It was hard to finish. I enjoyed the beginning, but the good things about it (Elizabethan England, Faerie Queen, plot like a Shakespeare comedy) didn't pan out as well as I hoped (stilted language--sometimes overly Elizabethan sometimes totally modern, convoluted plot line, static characters). It was fine. Moving on.

 

Really enjoyed the ideas in Nano Houses by Phyllis Richardson. 

 

No specific or detailed plans, but the book covered tiny, minimalist designs for 1-2 person homes from around the world. Some of the experiments and green designs were very interesting. I liked several in this link to an article on nano houses. The use of passive sun or water use, earth building, the South Korean one where you pull the shower curtain out of the floor and over your head!, multi-purpose everything. Lots of photos. Fun. I'd like to see more Chinese designs but this was very international. 

 

Working on:

 

   

[Jane in NC]

My husband shared this link with me.  Apparently Russia is asking the Bulgarians to crack down on the Banksy-like paint jobs appearing on former Soviet monuments.  Check this out:

 

 

 

Jenn, has your husband been making quick trips to Sofia?

[Kareni]

Bill Bryson may be stuck in his shtick (does that make him shtuck?); however, his wit lives on here in a phrase that we trot out from time to time.

"Welcome to Iowa. This is what death is like."

The question now is, which of his books did this come from?


ETA: It probably comes from  The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America which I read many moons ago.

Regards,
Kareni

[Pam in CT]

Gals, I'm sincerely sorry if I am the cause of BaW threads getting deleted.

 

I've been working for hours now & am almost done with my 2014 posts. Since I have over 9,000 posts here, this may take me approximately... forever, esp as most of my posts on this board have some type of pic or graphic in them.

 

It's 3:30am my time & I am exhausted. It may be easier to have the board gods just smite my posts to oblivion...

 

:-(

 

ETA" delete hilarious photo of "enhanced" communist art

 

This. is. AWESOME.

My husband shared this link with me.  Apparently Russia is asking the Bulgarians to crack down on the Banksy-like paint jobs appearing on former Soviet monuments.  Check this out:

 

 ETAJenn, has your husband been making quick trips to Sofia?

[aggieamy]

My husband shared this link with me.  Apparently Russia is asking the Bulgarians to crack down on the Banksy-like paint jobs appearing on former Soviet monuments.  Check this out:

 

 

 

Jenn, has your husband been making quick trips to Sofia?

 

*Like*

 

I just wanted everyone know that I liked it. 

 

It's too cool for stealth liking.  

[LostSurprise]

It's pretty awesome, but isn't anyone slightly disturbed that Santa has a machine gun??

[Violet Crown]

I just sent that link with the "vandalism" to everyone I could think of.

 

Is it vandalism when the art is improved?

[JennW in SoCal]

 

 

 

Jenn, has your husband been making quick trips to Sofia? 

All he said was something about a deadline to meet....who knew? :laugh: 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

 

I'm finally taking a moment away from unpacking and laundry (5 loads so far with several more on the horizon) and grocery shopping to check in and after reading all the posts and repartie I just want to say that you ladies have a place in my heart :001_wub:

 

Eliana, your family is so full of joy and loveliness. Thank you for sharing them with us.

 

Jane and Jenn, the post about peaches and the comment about eating them over the sink took me back several, ahem, decades...I can feel the sticky, sweet, warm juice running down my chin as my younger self runs in from the garden to fuel up. Domestic Goddess seems to have Proustian powers as well...

 

 

 

Shukriyya is this you with the little sticky fingers and bright eyes?  Too adorable! 

[shukriyya]

Shukriyya is this you with the little sticky fingers and bright eyes?  Too adorable! 

 

Not in this lifetime but in an alternate universe somewhere I'm all sticky and peach-blessed :D

[aggieamy]

It's pretty awesome, but isn't anyone slightly disturbed that Santa has a machine gun??

 

There's a Weird Al Yankovic song called The Night Santa Went Crazy.  Kinda reminds me of that.  

[Rosie_0801]

I just finished 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' I'd heard of Truman Capote so I guess he must be one of you Americans' celebrated writers, therefore I shan't give my opinion.

[Onceuponatime]

With the lack of visible likes, I feel as though my participation is also invisible. It makes me want to like everything more so everyone knows I was here and paying attention.

 

We've started the new school year, so there is less time to read, but I am halfway through Mindfulness and have started Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley. According to the author of Mindfulness, her book is not about eastern practice. It comes from a Western viewpoint and is really an argument against mindlessness, which is going through life automatically without paying attention. She proves that our default mode is mindlessness and we need to guard against it because it carries with it assumptions gathered early in life that may not be correct. Plus, we need to be aware that our default mode is likely different from any other person's default, leading to miscommunication and misunderstanding. Basically, the message is "Wake up and look around you."

 

 

[Pam in CT]

I just finished 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' I'd heard of Truman Capote so I guess he must be one of you Americans' celebrated writers, therefore I shan't give my opinion.

 

Eh, it's OK Rosie.  We Americans are contented enough just to hear you say "shan't...."  

[LostSurprise]

I just finished 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' I'd heard of Truman Capote so I guess he must be one of you Americans' celebrated writers, therefore I shan't give my opinion.

 

As if we Americans ever agree on anything so well that you Aussies couldn't comment and find someone to agree with you. :)

 

 

The best thing about BaT to me was that the woman who read the audio book sounded like a 7 pack a day smoker, so my visual of Holly Golightly is a 35 year old, blonde, rough around the edges, 7 pack a day smoker who sleeps around a lot. She is not a bit like Audrey Hepburn. 

 

I'm not a typical American though.  :laugh:

[aggieamy]

I just finished 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' I'd heard of Truman Capote so I guess he must be one of you Americans' celebrated writers, therefore I shan't give my opinion.

 

Not allowed.  You have to give an opinion.  

 

Here I'll make it easy for you if you're concerned your negative opinion is going to make us dislike you.  I will make a blanket silly/slightly offensive statement about Australians and you can respond with a witty criticism of an American author whom I find to be an odd duck.

 

"Paul Hogan is the best Australian actor ever and I think Rosie should name her pet Kangaroo after him."  

 

Now you should feel free to give us an honest opinion of BaT.  

 

:001_cool:

[Stacia]

I like Truman Capote & think he's a wonderful writer. That said, Breakfast at Tiffany's is not my fave of Capote's works.

 

Personally, I love his short story A Christmas Memory. Beautiful. Wonder if it has as much resonance, though, for someone who is not a Southerner??? (Rosie, I guess you'd love that one as you're probably the ultimate Southerner in the BaW group. ;) )

 

In Cold Blood is also powerful, wonderful, harsh. Tough story but so well-done.

 

Go ahead & state your full opinion, Rosie. We need a good BaW brawl, I think. :001_tt2: :lol:

 

 

[Stacia]

 The best thing about BaT to me was that the woman who read the audio book sounded like a 7 pack a day smoker, so my visual of Holly Golightly is a 35 year old, blonde, rough around the edges, 7 pack a day smoker who sleeps around a lot. She is not a bit like Audrey Hepburn. 

 

I love that. I've never seen the movie, just read Capote's story. Sounds like the audio people got it right because the way you describe it is more how I picture her from the story (vs. the photos I"ve seen from the movie).

 

Lol.

 

[Stacia]

My husband shared this link with me. Apparently Russia is asking the Bulgarians to crack down on the Banksy-like paint jobs appearing on former Soviet monuments. Check this out:

 

 

 

Jenn, has your husband been making quick trips to Sofia?

Jane, thanks for the awesome link. My ds loved seeing this.

 

Jenn, is your husband an artist?

[shukriyya]

Growing up in Canada our diet consisted of Canadian and British authors with the occasional American thrown in for good measure--Faulkner (love) Steinbeck (loved GoW). I haven't read any Truman Capote and don't have much desire to but I did see the movie version of BaT. There are lots of classic American authors I've not read. Anyone care to recommend three must read classic American novels? I've read TKaM, most of Steinbeck, most of Faulkner, most Carson McCullers (love), some Wharton, some Hemingway, some Fitzgerald, most Morrison, some Hurston... actually I've probably read more than I realize but I know I've missed out on some classics.

[aggieamy]

We read In Cold Blood for my book club one month.  It was one of those books I didn't enjoy but couldn't put down.  Great storytelling and writing.  I made the mistake of reading some background on the book and it made me dislike Truman Capote a bit.  I remember that one of the daughter's was incredibly upset after the book came out because he wrote about a few things she had told him that he said he would have kept in confidence.  

[Stacia]

Shukriyya, you need to read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, if you haven't yet read Vonnegut. I often call him the most important American writer of the 20th century. I'm not sure Slaughterhouse-Five is your type of story, but I think it's one to read regardless.

 

If you're going to read Capote, In Cold Blood is considered his masterpiece. It's harsh reading, imo. I think that book led to him being credited with creating the 'true crime' genre of writing. If you want something nicer, lighter, touching, try A Christmas Memory.

 

Of course, I'm giving you two recent American writers here. I'm sure others can provide many more suggestions, esp. for American writers from earlier time periods.

 

I've never read Faulkner, but I need & want to. I'm quite sure I would love his work.

[aggieamy]

Growing up in Canada our diet consisted of Canadian and British authors with the occasional American thrown in for good measure--Faulkner (love) Steinbeck (loved GoW). I haven't read any Truman Capote and don't have much desire to but I did see the movie version of BaT. There are lots of classic American authors I've not read. Anyone care to recommend three must read classic American novels? I've read TKaM, most of Steinbeck, most of Faulkner, most Carson McCullers (love), some Wharton, some Hemingway, some Fitzgerald, most Morrison, some Hurston... actually I've probably read more than I realize but I know I've missed out on some classics.

 

Is TKaM To Kill a Mockingbird because that's one of the first books I thought of when I read your request? (I don't really know how to appropriately punctuate a sentence like that.  Not really a question and not really a statement.)

 

I would recommend Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, and Jack London.  Those are all American authors that I think are good storytellers and have the classic American feel.  

[Onceuponatime]

Twain, Twain, Twain. My top three American author picks. :-D

 

I've not yet read Capote or Vonnegut.

 

eta: I agree with aggieamy and would add Poe.

[aggieamy]

Thought of something else.  If you like mysteries then Raymond Chandler is a great American author for the noir genre.  Easy to read and fun.  It's the kind of story where a man can't trust any ditsy dame and the cops are half crooked and our hero is always looking for a glass of whiskey and needs a cigarette.  

[Stacia]

Agreeing with Mark Twain too.

 

Langston Hughes' The Ways of White Folks (which I read earlier this year) was a searing look at race in America. Sadly, ironically, just as timely today as when it was written, imo. Highly recommended.

 

A completely different look at America (& probably not your style at all) is gonzo-journalist Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

 

Edgar Allan Poe, of course!

 

I'm assuming you've already read Hammett's The Maltese Falcon?

[shukriyya]

Is TKaM To Kill a Mockingbird because that's one of the first books I thought of when I read your request? (I don't really know how to appropriately punctuate a sentence like that.  Not really a question and not really a statement.)

 

I would recommend Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, and Jack London.  Those are all American authors that I think are good storytellers and have the classic American feel.  

 

Yes, To Kill a Mockingbird, I've read it a few times. Read LMA as well and Call of the Wild (and maybe White Fang?)

 

Twain, Twain, Twain. My top three American author picks. :-D

 

I've not yet read Capote or Vonnegut.

 

eta: I agree with aggieamy and would add Poe.

 

Okay, Twain seems to be one to read. I've only read Tom Sawyer. Besides Huck Finn what else do you recommend? Poe, I've read several of his. Not read any Vonnegut.

 

Agreeing with Mark Twain too.

 

Langston Hughes' The Ways of White Folks (which I read earlier this year) was a searing look at race in America. Sadly, ironically, just as timely today as when it was written, imo. Highly recommended.

 

A completely different look at America (& probably not your style at all) is gonzo-journalist Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

 

Edgar Allan Poe, of course!

 

I'm assuming you've already read Hammett's The Maltese Falcon?

 

Assume nothing, my friend :D I've not read The Maltese Falcon but have seen the movie.

[Onceuponatime]

 

Okay, Twain seems to be one to read. I've only read Tom Sawyer. Besides Huck Finn what else do you recommend?

 

 

.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Puddin'head Wilson

Joan of Arc

Innocents Abroad

The Prince and the Pauper

 

Joan of Arc was one of the few serious books he wrote, and he considered it his masterpiece. The rest are irreverent humor with some sly social commentary.

[shukriyya]

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Puddin'head Wilson

Joan of Arc

Innocents Abroad

The Prince and the Pauper

 

Joan of Arc was one of the few serious books he wrote, and he considered it his masterpiece. The rest are irreverent humor with some sly social commentary.

 

Thank you. I'm pretty sure I read ACYiKAC way back in my teen years. 'Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc' comes in two volumes and looks intriguing. It's a free kindle book as is 'The Innocents Abroad'.

 

I could easily look up a list of the top 50 American classics but I'm more interested in books that have resonated with the BaWers as my rubric.

 

[Pam in CT]

Growing up in Canada our diet consisted of Canadian and British authors with the occasional American thrown in for good measure--Faulkner (love) Steinbeck (loved GoW). I haven't read any Truman Capote and don't have much desire to but I did see the movie version of BaT. There are lots of classic American authors I've not read. Anyone care to recommend three must read classic American novels? I've read TKaM, most of Steinbeck, most of Faulkner, most Carson McCullers (love), some Wharton, some Hemingway, some Fitzgerald, most Morrison, some Hurston... actually I've probably read more than I realize but I know I've missed out on some classics.

 

Oh this is a fun party game....   :patriot:

 

Well, if you've already covered Faulkner and Wharton and Steinbeck and TKAM (all essential), Hemingway and Fitzgerald (critical to the canon although less satisfying to me personally), and Morrison and Hurston (more recent adds to the canon), and McCullers (who I think is less often included in the canon, though I agree she deserves to be)...

 

... then one way to think about where else to look might be geographical?  You've covered the South well; and California, and Nick Adams' Michigan, and Wharton's New York/Fitzgerald's Jazz Age scene?  Maybe to round it out, 

 

for our Puritan colonial Northeast roots, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

for the plains, Willa Cather's My Antonia  (her Death Comes for the Archbishop, set in New Mexico, is also terrific)

for the Mississippi, Twain's Huck Finn

for a very different NY, Betty Smith's Tree Grows in Brooklyn (categorized as YA but like TKAM I don't really understand why)

and for the Jewish American vantage on Brooklyn, Potok's The Chosen (or, for a, um, less reverent alternative, you could always try Philip Roth, lol...)

for the Northern black urban experience, Lorraine Hansbury's Raisin in the Sun (this is a play, not a novel; IMO brilliant)

 

 

and, not so much geographically driven, but to get a sense of other pulls...

 

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

 

(and when you mention Hurston, you do mean Their Eyes Were Watching God, right?  Just checking...)

 

 

 

And now in the spirit of cross cultural exchange,  I would ask you, please, to name your most critical reads for Canada?   :001_tt2:

[Jane in NC]

Of course it is impossible to list three American novels or authors--and some good ones have been suggested so far.

 

What immediately came to my  mind are a couple of books that often make the great American novel list that I have not read:  Gravity's Rainbow (Pynchon) and An American Tragedy (Dreiser).

 

Did anyone mention All the King's Men?  A personal favorite of mine is the USA trilogy (The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money) by John dos Passos. 

 

Carson McCullers and Willa Cather belong on the list of great American writers.

 

What about Native Son?

 

Oh, oh!  What about Walker Percy?  Gosh, I have not read any of his novels in ages but boy did I like Love in the Ruins once upon a time.

 

 

 

 

[Onceuponatime]

Throwing in: The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

[Stacia]

Pam, I was thinking the same thing re: a geographical coverage. I had noticed that the first posts all leaned heavily on Southern writers & was wondering who/what to recommend for some of the other areas. Little House on the Prairie books are what come to mind for me for the Midwest, lol. Yes, I know they're children's books. It's my picture of the Midwest, though (an area I've never really visited).

 

I read Pynchon for the first time this year (Bleeding Edge) & thoroughly enjoyed it -- hoping I 'got' about 70% of it, lol. I would like to try Gravity's Rainbow someday.

 

As for the Northwest, Mink River by Brian Doyle (another book I read this year) did a lovely job of capturing some of the magic & beauty of the area, I think.

 

Jack London would give you the Alaska angle, I suppose (though I don't like his books). Not sure what to recommend for Hawaii.

 

If you do decide to read The Maltese Falcon, I'd recommend this particular version: Published by North Point Press, ISBN 0-86547-156-8/cloth, 0-86547-157-6/paper. It has some great period photos of San Francisco in it which correlate to locations in the story.

 

Another modern book is Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt. It's not classic lit or anything, but I think he does a good job as an 'outsider' capturing the charm & weirdness of a Southern city. One to read for fun, imo.

 

And, hey, if you want 1960s/70s American showmanship, I guess I should recommend the Evel Knievel bio I'm reading right now. :lol:

[Pam in CT]

Jack London would give you the Alaska angle, I suppose (though I don't like his books). Not sure what to recommend for Hawaii.

 

 

Agreed re Jack London...  :ack2:

 

A couple years ago, my youngers and I read Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson -- I think that's my favorite fiction set in Alaska.  (while the initial reviews make it sound quite violent, the protagonist's violence precedes the opening of the story.  The body of the story is a Hatchet-type wilderness survival story... but better; and with the redemptive strain that I like...  

 

(And with a bit of funky-ness thrown in just for you!)

[Jane in NC]

One of the best novels that captures the Midwestern small town spirit is Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson.  It was once a standard in the canon but now seems to have been relegated to the dusty shelves.

 

I agree with Pam though on Papa Hemingway's Nick Adams stories.  They capture both the Midwestern spirit as well as the echoes of war that haunted the author's generation.

 

[Stacia]

Agreed re Jack London... :ack2:

 

A couple years ago, my youngers and I read Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson -- I think that's my favorite fiction set in Alaska. (while the initial reviews make it sound quite violent, the protagonist's violence precedes the opening of the story. The body of the story is a Hatchet-type wilderness survival story... but better; and with the redemptive strain that I like...

 

(And with a bit of funky-ness thrown in just for you!)

I think you & I agree on Jack London! :ack2: indeed!

 

Will look up the other book with funky-ness. :lol: Thanks! :thumbup1:

[Jane in NC]

Agreed re Jack London...  :ack2:

 

A couple years ago, my youngers and I read Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson -- I think that's my favorite fiction set in Alaska.  (while the initial reviews make it sound quite violent, the protagonist's violence precedes the opening of the story.  The body of the story is a Hatchet-type wilderness survival story... but better; and with the redemptive strain that I like...  

 

(And with a bit of funky-ness thrown in just for you!)

 

I loved Jack London's The Sea-Wolf which I read just a couple of years ago.  Yeah, forget Call of the Wild...

 

:sneaky2:   The devil in me recommends Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary.  With the popularity of the Paleo diet fad, consider Bierce's definition of a cannibal:

 

 

A gastronome of the old school who preserves the simple tastes and adheres to the natural diet of the pre-pork period.

 

Or how about wine?

 

 

Fermented grape-juice known to the Women's Christian Union as "liquor," sometimes as "rum." Wine, madam, is God's next best gift to man.

And since we are on the WTM boards, Bierce gives us his definition of a kilt:

 

 

A costume sometimes worn by Scotchmen in America and Americans in Scotland.

:smilielol5:

[mumto2]

You all have been busy this morning. I looked a few hours ago and saw Rosie's post. Didn't have time to reply but my thought was a never read anything by him. ;) I managed to skip American Literature in high school. Took a Modern Lit/ Sci Fi combo instead. Probably a sad statement that no one cared if I skipped it. I have read a few of the recommendations above, I love Twain, To Kill a Mockingbird,and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil best. I love MiGoGaE and have read it a couple of times. I might feel a reread coming on. :lol:

 

An interesting side note is my fifth grade teacher was a much younger cousin (maybe once removed) of Twain. She read aloud beautifully, we listened to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn that year. I always think of her when his name is mentioned.

[Violet Crown]

Growing up in Canada our diet consisted of Canadian and British authors with the occasional American thrown in for good measure--Faulkner (love) Steinbeck (loved GoW). I haven't read any Truman Capote and don't have much desire to but I did see the movie version of BaT. There are lots of classic American authors I've not read. Anyone care to recommend three must read classic American novels? I've read TKaM, most of Steinbeck, most of Faulkner, most Carson McCullers (love), some Wharton, some Hemingway, some Fitzgerald, most Morrison, some Hurston... actually I've probably read more than I realize but I know I've missed out on some classics.

I'll put in a vote for Flannery O'Connor (her short stories are better than her novels). Faulkner of course: try Absalom, Absalom (btw you might or might not want to read the Bible story of Absalom first, if you don't know it; it does provide a partial spoiler, but then when Faulkner was writing, he would have assumed his readership knew the story).

 

As a fifth-generation New Mexican, I am bound to recommend Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It ends at about the time my great-great-grandfather became territorial governor, and is required reading in my family. Then you have to go visit Santa Fe. And the Pueblos.

[Pam in CT]

Throwing in: The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

 

Yes.  Covers two key issues / eras with one stone; very efficient.  Inherit the Wind, as well.  Perhaps we should generate another list for canonical American plays...

[Stacia]

As a fifth-generation New Mexican, I am bound to recommend Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It ends at about the time my great-great-grandfather became territorial governor, and is required reading in my family. Then you have to go visit Santa Fe. And the Pueblos.

 

That's very cool.

 

I've never read Willa Cather. Nor have I ever been to Santa Fe (one of my mil's favorite towns). I have been to Mesa Verde -- does that count for "Pueblos"/close enough?

[Jane in NC]

Hey!  The Likes are back!

 

I just enjoyed a juicy peach in celebration!

[shukriyya]

You ladies really know how to come through!  What fab suggestions and what's more resonant is that they're meaningful to *you*

 

Shukriyya, you need to read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, if you haven't yet read Vonnegut. I often call him the most important American writer of the 20th century. I'm not sure Slaughterhouse-Five is your type of story, but I think it's one to read regardless.

 

If you're going to read Capote, In Cold Blood is considered his masterpiece. It's harsh reading, imo. I think that book led to him being credited with creating the 'true crime' genre of writing. If you want something nicer, lighter, touching, try A Christmas Memory.

 

Of course, I'm giving you two recent American writers here. I'm sure others can provide many more suggestions, esp. for American writers from earlier time periods.

 

I've never read Faulkner, but I need & want to. I'm quite sure I would love his work.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure I'm up for Vonnegut and Capote is out, tried him and no likey.

 

Oh this is a fun party game....   :patriot:

 

Well, if you've already covered Faulkner and Wharton and Steinbeck and TKAM (all essential), Hemingway and Fitzgerald (critical to the canon although less satisfying to me personally), and Morrison and Hurston (more recent adds to the canon), and McCullers (who I think is less often included in the canon, though I agree she deserves to be)...

 

... then one way to think about where else to look might be geographical?  You've covered the South well; and California, and Nick Adams' Michigan, and Wharton's New York/Fitzgerald's Jazz Age scene?  Maybe to round it out, 

 

for our Puritan colonial Northeast roots, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

for the plains, Willa Cather's My Antonia  (her Death Comes for the Archbishop, set in New Mexico, is also terrific)

for the Mississippi, Twain's Huck Finn

for a very different NY, Betty Smith's Tree Grows in Brooklyn (categorized as YA but like TKAM I don't really understand why)

and for the Jewish American vantage on Brooklyn, Potok's The Chosen (or, for a, um, less reverent alternative, you could always try Philip Roth, lol...)

for the Northern black urban experience, Lorraine Hansbury's Raisin in the Sun (this is a play, not a novel; IMO brilliant)

 

 

and, not so much geographically driven, but to get a sense of other pulls...

 

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

 

(and when you mention Hurston, you do mean Their Eyes Were Watching God, right?  Just checking...)

 

 

 

And now in the spirit of cross cultural exchange,  I would ask you, please, to name your most critical reads for Canada?   :001_tt2:

 

'Scarlet Letter' is one I've not read and feel I've missed out on some integral American literary experience. 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' I bought last month as a kindle super deal. Willa Cather is also on my radar, both of those look good. Pretty sure I read 'The Chosen' in my late teens. No can do on Ayn Rand...sorry ;) And yes, 'Their Eyes were Watching God' is one of Hurston's I've read.

 

Let me think on the Canadian authors. We've got some great writers! :thumbup:

 

Of course it is impossible to list three American novels or authors--and some good ones have been suggested so far.

 

What immediately came to my  mind are a couple of books that often make the great American novel list that I have not read:  Gravity's Rainbow (Pynchon) and An American Tragedy (Dreiser).

 

Did anyone mention All the King's Men?  A personal favorite of mine is the USA trilogy (The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money) by John dos Passos. 

 

Carson McCullers and Willa Cather belong on the list of great American writers.

 

What about Native Son?

 

Oh, oh!  What about Walker Percy?  Gosh, I have not read any of his novels in ages but boy did I like Love in the Ruins once upon a time.

 

'American Tragedy' has popped up on my lit radar from time to time. Is it preferable to 'Sister Carrie'?

 

Throwing in: The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

 

Read and loved this in college.

 

Pam, I was thinking the same thing re: a geographical coverage. I had noticed that the first posts all leaned heavily on Southern writers & was wondering who/what to recommend for some of the other areas. Little House on the Prairie books are what come to mind for me for the Midwest, lol. Yes, I know they're children's books. It's my picture of the Midwest, though (an area I've never really visited).

 

I read Pynchon for the first time this year (Bleeding Edge) & thoroughly enjoyed it -- hoping I 'got' about 70% of it, lol. I would like to try Gravity's Rainbow someday.

 

As for the Northwest, Mink River by Brian Doyle (another book I read this year) did a lovely job of capturing some of the magic & beauty of the area, I think.

 

Jack London would give you the Alaska angle, I suppose (though I don't like his books). Not sure what to recommend for Hawaii.

 

If you do decide to read The Maltese Falcon, I'd recommend this particular version: Published by North Point Press, ISBN 0-86547-156-8/cloth, 0-86547-157-6/paper. It has some great period photos of San Francisco in it which correlate to locations in the story.

 

Another modern book is Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt. It's not classic lit or anything, but I think he does a good job as an 'outsider' capturing the charm & weirdness of a Southern city. One to read for fun, imo.

 

And, hey, if you want 1960s/70s American showmanship, I guess I should recommend the Evel Knievel bio I'm reading right now. :lol:

 

Little House books were all devoured several times in my girlhood :D

 

Brian Doyle is Canadian :D

[Violet Crown]

That's very cool.

 

I've never read Willa Cather. Nor have I ever been to Santa Fe (one of my mil's favorite towns). I have been to Mesa Verde -- does that count for "Pueblos"/close enough?

I've always wanted to visit Mesa Verde! I've been to Gila National Monument many times. But to get the full Cather effect, you have to visit an inhabited Pueblo - Acoma or Isleta, for instance.

[shukriyya]

I loved Jack London's The Sea-Wolf which I read just a couple of years ago.  Yeah, forget Call of the Wild...

 

:sneaky2:   The devil in me recommends Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary.  With the popularity of the Paleo diet fad, consider Bierce's definition of a cannibal:

 

 

Or how about wine?

 

And since we are on the WTM boards, Bierce gives us his definition of a kilt:

 

:smilielol5:

 

Oy, lots of Jack London naysayers here and this is a book on the list for our homeschool Lit course this year :ohmy: I read it so long ago I can't remember it...which doesn't weigh heavily in its favor. :toetap05:

 

You all have been busy this morning. I looked a few hours ago and saw Rosie's post. Didn't have time to reply but my thought was a never read anything by him. ;) I managed to skip American Literature in high school. Took a Modern Lit/ Sci Fi combo instead. Probably a sad statement that no one cared if I skipped it. I have read a few of the recommendations above, I love Twain, To Kill a Mockingbird,and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil best. I love MiGoGaE and have read it a couple of times. I might feel a reread coming on. :lol:

 

An interesting side note is my fifth grade teacher was a much younger cousin (maybe once removed) of Twain. She read aloud beautifully, we listened to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn that year. I always think of her when his name is mentioned.

 

Huck Finn, I've not read. MitGoGaE looks intereting though would it be considered a classic?

 

I'll put in a vote for Flannery O'Connor (her short stories are better than her novels). Faulkner of course: try Absalom, Absalom (btw you might or might not want to read the Bible story of Absalom first, if you don't know it; it does provide a partial spoiler, but then when Faulkner was writing, he would have assumed his readership knew the story).

 

As a fifth-generation New Mexican, I am bound to recommend Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It ends at about the time my great-great-grandfather became territorial governor, and is required reading in my family. Then you have to go visit Santa Fe. And the Pueblos.

 

I think I've got a collection of hers somewhere on my kindle. 'Absalom, Absalom' is one of the few Faulkner I've not read. And thanks for the suggestion to read the Bible story first. Seems like 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' has been mentioned a few times so this'll go on the list. Love that part of the country so to have the landscape infuse the writing is a real draw.

 

This is all rather delightful. I've suddenly got another lens to read through :thumbup:

[Stacia]

Brian Doyle is Canadian :D

 

Oops. I remember you telling me that before! Well, Mink River is set in Oregon, so that's why I was thinking America.... Lol.

 

And, yeah, I kind of figured quite a few of my suggestions might not be your style.... :unsure: