12-10-2017, 07:48 AM
although i agree with rowens that americans are pretty rubbish when it comes to art (basquiat and pollock and t.s. eliot being notable exceptions)* i can’t see how there is no such thing as The Great American Novel. it’s a bit like saying there’s no such thing as a romance novel. i suppose a single definitive “Great American Novel” cannot possibly exist outside abstraction, given the criteria for writing one includes that it be time period specific; but attempts have most certainly been made, and quite a few books have been nominated. Moby Dick being one of them.
so, and as you yanks will insist on making this all about you—that may very well go some way to answering the following questions—why does this concept exist for american and not british novelists? why do american writers hanker after writing The Great American Novel, at all? why don’t british writers or australian writers or french writers or german writers (serious german writers) or russian writers harbor similar desires?
but this is by the by, because i’m assuming, regardless of aspirations and consciously demarcated goals, there surely are novels equivalent to The Great American Novel, for all of those other places. i just wondered what they were. if there were such an appellation, what would be The Great British Novel? Brighton Rock? Trainspotting? Pride and Prejudice? something more contemporary that i’ve never heard of?
*i know this isn’t exactly what you said, Rowens, but it’s what i chose to hear.
so, and as you yanks will insist on making this all about you—that may very well go some way to answering the following questions—why does this concept exist for american and not british novelists? why do american writers hanker after writing The Great American Novel, at all? why don’t british writers or australian writers or french writers or german writers (serious german writers) or russian writers harbor similar desires?
but this is by the by, because i’m assuming, regardless of aspirations and consciously demarcated goals, there surely are novels equivalent to The Great American Novel, for all of those other places. i just wondered what they were. if there were such an appellation, what would be The Great British Novel? Brighton Rock? Trainspotting? Pride and Prejudice? something more contemporary that i’ve never heard of?
*i know this isn’t exactly what you said, Rowens, but it’s what i chose to hear.