I’ve read so many books in my life that it’s hard to pick one that’s better than all others, even when I narrow the list down to American-authored novels. (The list is only a phantasm in my mind—I don’t keep track, and I often find myself reading something I’ve read before.) I know the books I’d exclude, probably incurring the wrath of English teachers and professors everywhere: Moby Dick, To Kill a Mockingbird, Giants in the Earth, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and many other plodding stories in that catch-all non-genre “literary fiction.” You can add to that list just about any book Hollywood has ruined for me, although tinsel town often reaches beyond our shores to ruin other novels too.

We often joke abut writing “the great American novel,” but it hasn’t been written yet, and probably never will be.  Streaming videos, computer games, and other distractions keep people from reading now, kill whatever extra time they have in this killer economy, and replace books where participation is more active with crap where people can be passive zombies. Despite a universal education paradigm to reach whatever level is required now in the U.S., and the need to go beyond that for any decent paying job that higher ed doesn’t train anyone for, Americans are less literate today than ever before. I see it on the banners running at the bottom of newscasts; I hear it at social events; and I read it in emails and text messages. How could “the great American novel” arise in such a wasteland?

That novel would have to be great in all the story elements: plot, characters, settings, dialogue, and themes, to name a few. Writers who excel in all thse elements and tell a damn good story while doing it are as rare as a T-Rex. (I make no pretensions.  I do my best to entertain my readers and have fun doing so, but I’d never have the hubris to call any story of mine great.) That infamous dinosaur actually existed millions of years ago; I’m not sure any such writers ever did…or will.

Most writers just muddle along, doing their best, myself included. There are so many books produced every year now, you’d think that the great American novel would have been published (or at least a few candidates), but I’m afraid it’s not going to happen. And, in spite of accolades from erudite critics or the NY Times Book Review, any declaration to the contrary is automatically suspect of being marketing hyperbole. Pulitzers, Nobels, and other famous book awards are determined by troglodytes sitting on some erudite committee and not the reading public, and that public’s numbers are shrinking with every passing year.

The best we few readers can do is celebrate a book we’ve enjoyed. Every one I read and enjoy is the great American novel just after I finish it. If I reach “The End” and want more, all the better, no matter what anyone else believes. I respect your opinions, of course. Reading tastes are subjective, and the list of books I’ve read probably has little in common with your list. I used to be embarrassed when someone asked me, “Have you read X’s book Y?” and I haven’t read Y—worse, never heard of it…or I hated Y and don’t want to disappoint the speaker by saying so. That no longer happens. For that person, maybe Y is “the great American novel.” That’s fine. I don’t have to agree, and I have right to say so.

Maybe no novel is “great.” Or maybe is each one is great for some reader? (Today “awesome” is sometimes used. One reviewer said that about one of my books. It was one of those useless short reviews on Amazon, defined as a thumb’s up or down and zero content. The reviewer meant well, I’m sure, but the book is at best good and solidly entertaining for most readers, not awesome.)

And that’s what’s important, of course. Take the sentence “_______ is the great American novel” and fill in the blank.  You can’t cheat, though. You have to have read that book, and the author has to be American (OK, living in the U.S., at least…or dead and buried here). And if you’re just parroting someone else (like so many reviews on Amazon), you’re disqualified too.

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In libris libertas!

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2018 at 3:30 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.