@Quikstik So, you are saying we are NOt better at cinema?

@stupidpoet That would be the insinuation yes. Not by any wide margin, mind you, I just prefer American cinema. Probably out of it being my country and all. Going by pure aesthetics and all that jazz, I’d call us evenly matched, save for perhaps in the execution of special effects. I’d dwell on it more, except it’s 4 am and I’m operating on low brain power at the moment.

Wot? You think I’m British? LOL, no! 100 percent USDA Choice, but on the Left Coast. So we agree, then. And…speaking of all that jazz, well, yes, we’re better at that too (not that it’s a competition or anything). But yeah, I think the Brits have got the novel nailed down very firmly, at least for my taste. And at least up to the mid 20th century. Good night or good morning, whichever it is.

@stupidpoet

The film The Haunting (1963) is actually a really fascinating piece from multiple standpoints. Besides English, I’m also getting a BFA in Film, and The Haunting is a fantastic example of pushing the camera and other tech for cinematic effect. The sets for The Haunting were all designed in Rococo style, with ceilings, unlike normal sets, and the corners were set up so none were dark, which creates a claustrophobic effect. The lens was a custom Panavision that had distortions, so there are numerous subtle optical aberrations in the film. Then there are a ton of unusual moves and angles, and they used infrared film for certain shots.

The book is a must read though.

As someone who studied mainly poetry and drama at a European university (there was an optional paper in American Lit., which I didn’t take– for shame), this thread has been very interesting to read, especially @jeeho’s post and @Quikstik’s curveball.

I’m slowly getting a handle on why “Great American Novel” is a useful term. Cheers!

#schoolandbeschooled

Sick suggestions! Glad to see Huck Finn and American Pastoral, which, going of of @Jhanna ’s contemporary suggestion, I think might be the one for now. Although, since it focuses a little more on the 60’s maybe Infinite Jest should take the title? Such a brilliant and thoroughly Amurican work. wallace just gets it.

For ever, greatest of all time, I think if I were to answer honestly, I’d have to cop out and go with the Great Gatsby: that book just screams “great american novel”, I mean, just look at the title.

@Bradapalooza I like to see HJ getting some love, but I think he might be too european to count, ha, in the same way that many now, for some reason, consider ts Eliot more british than ‘murican.

@stephen_j_p What do you guys think of Eliot over there? Is he yours or ours?

The Corrections anyone? I haven’t read many old “good” books so I don’t have much to add unfortunately but I do like to see Oscar Wao recommended! And IJ of course

@griffinmahon I still need to get around to that one, I hear great things about it, even if Franzen’s got some passive aggressive beef over his friend’s success.

Not one mention of To Kill A Mockingbird? For shame!

No Steinbeck? Vonnegut? Salinger?
Some great suggestions but I’d add: Slaughterhouse 5, Of Mice And Men, The Catcher In the Rye.

@Vesuvius

Not one mention of To Kill A Mockingbird? For shame!

Truuu… and it does have the highest number of views at THUG NOTES, over 700K:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IntI62LWSJA

why have a “great american novel” when you can give someone the nobel peace prize. i always thought the great american novel was some unattainable thing like the american dream. like the american dream is to write the great american novel. no one actually does it, they just live their lives and write a book. am i makin' sense here?

@CatharsisHyperbolates

Shit I thought I had Steinbeck. I left Vonnegut and Salinger out on purpose tbh though. Slaughterhouse 5 is great but not on the level as some of the other novels being brought up. Catcher in the Rye is polarizing for most and meh for the rest.

To Kill A Mockingbird was an oversight.

@Alcaeus

One of my advisers specializes in Trans-Atlantic Literature – HJ is one of the giants of the Trans-Atlantic category and is usually classified as a sort of inbetween rather than “american” or “british.” I definitely see your point of his Britishness, since he acquired British citizenship and spent most of his time there, but his style mashes Old World with New World and his style definitely heavily influenced both British and American writers. Most of his stuff is about Americans in Europe.

America definitely didn’t embrace his lengthy sentence style. But stream-of-conciousness, macronic themes (HJ juxtaposes OldWorld/NewWorld, and almost every great American novel juxtaposes major contrasting images/scenes when you think about it), and more definitely lent themselves to America.

@Alcaeus Yeah honestly Franzen is kind of a douche. Like he’s very smart and he writes really well and I like what he thinks and stuff but he is very condescending I think.

Haha one of his things is like the death of American literature or whatever in the modern age and on this Junot Diaz was like “He wants more traditional writing? Jonathan Franzen is literally the whitest person I know!”

While I think Huck Finn is the FIRST American novel, I would have to follow the masses and cast my vote for Gatsby. Departing from the topic slightly, I think Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” could be considered the Great American Play.