Who is the greatest American novelist?

Question

If you were compelled to make a decision, who has been most influential, who has captured the essence of the country in the way Tolstoy's War and Peace speaks for Russia?

Does no one consider Herman Melville, Henry James, Henry Miller, Edith Wharton, William Faulkner, Nathaniel Hawthorne?

Answer 1

Mark Twain. Though dated his novels told more of the essence of this country than any other American writer. I like Steinbeck too but most of his writing centered on California. Sorry all you left coasters (I'm one too) but California does not tipify the essence of the whole country.

Nope. Not Melville, Hawthorne, Faulkner, Miller or Wharton. While all of them are good in their own right, none of them spoke to or for the common man like Mark Twain. If popularity is a factor then he is hands down the clear winner.

Answer 2

For me its always been William Faulkner. What else says American Lit like Faulkner and his stories of the post-civil war South; both the internal and external struggles of rural America during the early twentieth century. He is unquestionably the most thought-provoking author in American history.

Answer 3

Has to be Mark Twain. He was the first to write in American dialects and one of the first to show the common people of America. He influenced all the other American writers who came after him. Not only did he influence the writers, but he influenced the American people, especially in matters of slavery and racism.

Answer 4

Agreed, Steinbeck.

Answer 5

I would have to go with John Steinbeck. He definitely showed what America was like during his time, I think

Answer 6

I think Laura Ingalls Wilder. Though her books aren't really very advanced, they really show what it was like back then.