tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post5802557624290745158..comments2023-09-22T02:24:42.144-07:00Comments on a light inside: Currently Reading: The Great GatsbyJenna St.Hilairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16528611770211261141noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-52356400306480250722012-08-02T20:39:15.692-07:002012-08-02T20:39:15.692-07:00Hm, good argument. I wondered how Lolita qualified...Hm, good argument. I wondered how Lolita qualified, and then assumed it was just because the author happened to live in America. I'd agree that the list of great novels written by Americans and the list of Great American Novels that carry a strong sense of the American ethos are different things.Jenna St. Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474588706124865006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-87781791760214602562012-08-02T05:29:39.440-07:002012-08-02T05:29:39.440-07:00I would put Artificial Nigger, or The Geranium (sp...I would put Artificial Nigger, or The Geranium (sp) on a "great American Short Story list, but I think Flannery's novels aren't quite American ethos enough to be on the list. But then I'm harsh and judgemental, and I really don't think half the books they listed count. I think a great American novel really needs to tap into the American identity. I would even drop Lolita, much as I love it, because Nabokov is formed in Europe and Humbert is as well, which is obvious in the book, and because Lolita really isn't about the American identity...Mashahttp://www.cyganeria-masha.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-66634539471407687902012-08-01T23:20:31.790-07:002012-08-01T23:20:31.790-07:00Haha, thanks. I try. :DHaha, thanks. I try. :DJenna St. Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474588706124865006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-53640383357147781952012-08-01T21:06:27.482-07:002012-08-01T21:06:27.482-07:00"My Antonia" is in the top five, not jus..."My Antonia" is in the top five, not just the top 100, if you ask me. :) But I haven't read nearly as much American fiction as you have. I haven't read Wiseblood, and though I believe Flannery O'Connor's short stories are more popular than her lone novel, she is such a towering figure in American lit it seems unjust that she should not make the list.Marianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-87129847385961694642012-08-01T20:59:50.648-07:002012-08-01T20:59:50.648-07:00"Maybe women are just less likely to write th..."Maybe women are just less likely to write the sort of poignant but endless misery that warms the hearts of English professors everywhere."<br /><br />HAH!!!! Jenna, you are SO quotable!Marianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-4655542644980039352012-07-28T18:25:36.971-07:002012-07-28T18:25:36.971-07:00I've never read it, but I've heard good th...I've never read it, but I've heard good things about it, <i>The House on Mango Street</i> by Sandra Cisneros. I'm not sure it would qualify technically as a Great American Novel but if we're just offering up suggestions.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501327753737422337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-13392921625572963522012-07-28T16:27:43.823-07:002012-07-28T16:27:43.823-07:00I feel like that list was missing some books...
I...I feel like that list was missing some books...<br /><br />I read (and hated) Gatsby in middle school/high school..I can't remember..but I picked it up again (after reading Hemingway's impression of Fitzgerald in A Moveable Feast) and I really liked it. I think schools make kids read it too soon.<br /><br />If you're starting out with Stienbeck, go for "Travels with Charley, it's not as harsh. We read The Red Pony in high school too, and it turned me off Stienbeck until I found Mice and Men, and that got me loving him again. <br /><br />I'm trying to think of a woman who should be added to the Great American Novels list..I'm leaning toward possibly Willa Cather with my Antonia, any other suggestions?Mashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943998810222103926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-42673471104376029432012-07-27T16:18:00.493-07:002012-07-27T16:18:00.493-07:00It was definitely depressing!
You know, I noticed...It was definitely depressing!<br /><br />You know, I noticed how short that list was overall, but somehow completely missed the fact that Harper Lee was the only woman on the list. Her novel is unusually uplifting, too. Maybe women are just less likely to write the sort of poignant but endless misery that warms the hearts of English professors everywhere. :)Jenna St. Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474588706124865006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-70082593653514717232012-07-27T15:49:21.998-07:002012-07-27T15:49:21.998-07:00P.S. Out of all the "Great American Novels&qu...P.S. Out of all the "Great American Novels" on that Wikipedia page, I notice that only <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> was written by a woman. That makes me pretty much disregard the whole list on principle.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04739546442661093275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-72352290089994556352012-07-27T15:47:26.510-07:002012-07-27T15:47:26.510-07:00I didn't get it at all when I read it in schoo...I didn't get it at all when I read it in school. I was fifteen, I think? I think I got more enjoyment out of <i>The Sound and the Fury</i> and <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i>, which we also read that year. I've picked up <i>Gatsby</i> again lately and am appreciating it more, but mostly I'm just struck by how depressing it is. :PAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04739546442661093275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-17781900549614438572012-07-26T01:44:00.609-07:002012-07-26T01:44:00.609-07:00:D
No need to apologize. It's been a rough ei...:D<br /><br />No need to apologize. It's been a rough eight weeks or so on the writing front, and it's only just starting to turn. I'm afraid I basked a little in your exclamation points. ;)<br /><br />The book is a bit bewildering, and I expect it would have been much more so to me in high school. I doubt I'd have found much to like about it then--though it certainly would've been a prose upgrade from the stuff I generally read.<br /><br />Oh, and thanks for the warning. If I do ever break my self-inflicted ban on Steinbeck, I won't start with Of Mice and Men. ;)Jenna St. Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474588706124865006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-74440188089570306832012-07-25T21:28:29.641-07:002012-07-25T21:28:29.641-07:00"The words 'great American novel' sho..."The words 'great American novel' should have been enough to tell me how the book was going to end—the only words that ever make me wonder whether we wouldn’t have been better off staying part of the British empire." BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!! YES!!! <br /><br />"I was raised in the West, after all; give me liberty or give me death, but definitely give me the hope of immortal bliss." YES, YES AND YES!!! <br /><br />Oh my goodness, Jenna, you are SO funny. Sorry for all the caps and exclamation points. They were warranted. <br /><br />Excellent review. I was compelled to read The Great Gatsby in high school and have felt bewildered by it ever since (haven't re-read it, but I have thought about it in the same way you admit to thinking about reading Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men was intolerably horrid.) Thanks for your excellent analysis and insights as always. Beautifully written, too!Marianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-4510131471603830132012-07-25T21:17:51.825-07:002012-07-25T21:17:51.825-07:00Thanks. :D
OK, I had to look up that list. I'...Thanks. :D<br /><br />OK, I had to look up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Novel" rel="nofollow">that list</a>. I've read Huck Finn, Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird. And fifteen pages of Lolita. And yeah, much as I liked Mockingbird and thought Gatsby was interesting and Huck had its moments... ergh.<br /><br />I'm kind of interested in Moby-Dick, but am not sure I dare to swear myself back on Steinbeck to get through The Grapes of Wrath. The Red Pony was SO awful. :)Jenna St. Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474588706124865006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-2063260602609489732012-07-25T17:12:16.662-07:002012-07-25T17:12:16.662-07:00Very thorough & intriguing review, Jenna.
Al...Very thorough & intriguing review, <b>Jenna</b>. <br /><br />Although I have to say <i>The Great Gatsby</i> is probably not going high up on my reading list. I'm usually leery of Great American Novels. Of the list of them given on wikipedia, I've read two, <i>Huckleberry Finn</i> and <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>. Although eventually I'd like to read <i>The Grapes of Wrath</i>.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501327753737422337noreply@blogger.com