In Search of the Great American Novel

The idea of the "Great American Novel" was first put forward in print three years after the Civil War. Though as hard to define as it is to produce, the idea of the Great American Novel seemed to require a work of literature that said something quintessential about the American experience for all time. Because a novel covering all of the epochs of American history would be impossibly unwieldly, most who have taken the time to decide what constituted the Great American Novel have had to settle for works that seemed to capture the mood and character of one of those particular epochs. Perhaps if James Michener had written a book entitled "America," instead of "Hawaii," "Texas," or "Centennial," that might have been the universally acclaimed Great American Novel. Unfortunately for us he found the narrower subjects of his novels more than adequate.

Henry James was reported to have said that he doubted that America could, in fact, produce the Great American Novel. Most familiar with American literature would vehemently disagree, though getting them to agree on which of the many candidates for the Great American Novel are, in fact, the greatest is a rewarding albeit not easy task. It is very likely that few have read all of the candidates most frequently mentioned, I certainly have not, but here are the ones I have found.

Three novels are most often mentioned as being the Great American Novel. The first is Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Of the three this is most predictable choice and is certainly a difficult one with which to take issue. The second, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," which I must admit I have never been able to read in its entirety, but which incorporates a theme of singleminded maniacal vengeance and seems to me, at least, to be more Shakespearean than American. The last, J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" was the biggest surprise, in part because of the urban legends that have grown up around it concerning the reports that certain high profile assassins had the book in their possession and/or were obsessed with it.