Can you recommend American novels of literary merit?

Question

I have to do a research project on a novel by an american author for my honors English class. I cannot think of any books at my level to use. I would like them to interesting as this will be a semester long project. Books that make me think are my favorite. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

im a junior but we are expected to read higher than that level. I have to find how the novel is influenced by the author's life, thanks for all the great suggestions so far!!

Answer 1

Sula by Toni Morrison

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Answer 2

Anything by William Faulkner, a great Southern writer who set many of his disturbing and complex novels in the "antebellum" South. "The Sound and the Fury" is his most complex work, written in four different points of view, one from a mentally challenged young man's perspective, as well as from a character who commits suicide. It is very confusing, but challenging, maybe more so than you're looking for. But Faulkner has many works. His novel, "The Unvanquished" which seems a little hard to find, is a more straightforward tale which depicts a child's experience with the tail end of the Civil War, his reaction to the emancipation of slaves, and the shifting emotional sands that are ubiquitous in southern relationships. Dealing with Faulkner's works would impress your teacher, I think.

Answer 3

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a great one. Also, anything by Mark Twain like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Some other options might be Michael Chrichton, Stephen King, Maya Angelou, Dan Borwn...
It would be helpful if we knew what level you're at, though.

Answer 4

African-American Writers
~Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison
~Mumbo Jumbo (1972), by Ishmael Reed.
~Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison.

Asian-American Writers
~Tan, Amy.
The bonesetter's daughter
The Hundred Secret Senses.
The Joy Luck Club.
The Kitchen God's Wife.

~Wong, Shawn.
American Knees.
Homebase.

Here is a HUGE list of American Novelist that u can choose frm as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_novelists_from_the_United_States

Good luck!!

Answer 5

"The Blithedale Romance" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. There are a lot of interesting facts from Hawthorne's life that are in this book. And, it's a really good read.

"The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
"Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton
"Beloved" by Toni Morrison
"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Winesburg, Ohio" by Sherwood Anderson
"Go Down, Moses" by William Faulkner
"The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane
"Sister Carrie" by Theodore Dreiser
"The American" by Henry James
"House Made of Dawn" by N. Scott Momaday
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
"Wise Blood" by Flannery O'Connor
and of course "Huck Finn" by Mark Twain. such a great book.

Those are a few I can think of off the top of my head. These are novels I studied in various undergraduate classes, so I think they would work well for an honors class. And, they are all really good books. Good Luck!

p.s. 1984 isn't considered an american novel because Orwell was technically an Englishman born in India.

Answer 6

You've gotten a lot of good suggestions so far. No one mentioned "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. 200 pages of whaling and 400 pages of American life that still rings true today - leadership, demagoguery, religious extremes, rich vs. poor, prejudice, man vs. nature, good vs. evil, etc.

Here's one question that will get you thinking - MD begins with the most famous opening line, "Call me Ishmael." But what is his real name? Does anybody call him that during the entire book? And wasn't Ishmael an outcast in the Bible?

Don't be daunted by the size of the novel - Get through the first 50 pages and you'll get in the rhythm of the language and dialogue and the rest of the novel just flows.

Answer 7

Well, I really love "Catcher in The Rye". I read it in high school but i believe that it is a book for all ages. It talks of a young boy's struggle to find himself. Francesca Lia Block is another GREAT author. She wrote Wheetzie Bat but there is a book called Dangerous Angels that is a collection of her works about Weetzie and her kids. Her books fall under magical realism. Her works are out of this world and whenever I read one I can not put it down.

Answer 8

I'd have to say 1984. That book will definetly make you think and it's a pretty well know classic so it should make doing the research a little bit easier. It is also one of the books that has been on the "banned reading list" in the past. Not sure what "level" it would be considered because my grandfather was actually shocked that I wasn't required to read it in high school.

Answer 9

I'm really surprised that no one has already mentioned one of my favorites - To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. It's a beautiful book.

Someone suggested Sula, which I enjoyed a lot (and was one of the few books assigned to us in HS that I decided to read). However, Song of Solomon by her is a superior work, in my opinion.

I've heard One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is good, as is Sometimes a A Great Notion, both by Ken Kesey. I have not read either one, but almost everyone else I know has (Kesey lived in the town over from mine in Oregon), and Sometimes A Great Notion in particular is supposed to be superb.

Good luck! :)

Answer 10

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, funny and satirical and makes you think. Classic satire about war - continues to hold true.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
- Ken Kesey worked in a mental hospital, sampled the drugs, wrote the book. (You can learn more about the background and the times that informed Ken Kesey in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe.)

Good luck!