John Steinbeck and other American Greats
John Steinbeck and other American Greats
#0John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 8:35pm
I believe he is the greatest American author.
I just finished reading The Winter of Our Discontent, one of his lesser known works, for school and it was, as all his work is, enchanting, real, beautiful and profoundly tragic while still mantaining a glimmer of hope.
And Of Mice and Men remains my all-time favorite book.
Who do you think is the greatest American author?
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The Grovers Corners Yenta
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/3/04
#1re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 9:45pmI also love John Steinbeck. The Grapes Of Wrath is my favorite.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#2re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 9:46pmI also vote for Steinbeck and THE GRAPES OF WRATH.
The Grovers Corners Yenta
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/3/04
#3re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 9:52pm
In Monterey, California there is a section of the town devoted to Cannery Row, but it happens to be a tourist trap. I was very disappointed.
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#4re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 10:04pm
...
I just realized how many of the writers I love aren't American. And how many of the Americans I like don't have a very large body of work. Weird. I'll have to think about this some more.
ETA- Okay, Mark Twain comes to mind. Love that guy.
Updated On: 8/29/05 at 10:04 PM
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#5re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 10:13pmI'm more a Kerouac dude myself!!!!
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#6re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 10:18pm
Kurt Vonnegut, Edith Wharton, John Updike...not sure if they're quite as great, though.
Updated On: 8/29/05 at 10:18 PM
#7re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 10:55pm
I'll have to go with Grapes of Wrath on this one. As much as I loved that book however, I hated Tortilla Flat.
And as native northern Californian, I hate to say it...but I agree with Grovers...Cannery Row SUCKS and is a tourist trap.
ConvinceMe2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/05
#8re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 11:12pmWilla Cather, Ernest Hemingway, Edna Ferber, Stephen King, Emily Dickinson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allan Poe, just to name a very small few.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#9re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/29/05 at 11:50pm
Edna Ferber wrote basically pulp fiction for her time. Her novels are good narratives and little else. Steinbeck has a profound use of symbolism in his works and the use of the inter-chapters in GRAPES gives the novel incredible setting and place--to say nothing of the foreshadowing created by the turtle crossing the road at the beginning of the novel. I think it's a far more layered work than HUCK FINN--and that's often considered the "American Epic".
#10re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 12:41am
I would love to say J.D. Salinger, but he didn't write enough to become the Greatest Ever...
#11re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 12:44am
I can't stand Steinbeck, mostly because I was TRAUMATIZED by The Red Pony when I read it in 6th grade. I'll never forgive him for that one.
::shudder::
#12re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 12:47amI read Edna Ferber's "Saratoga Trunk" and saw the movie with Cooper and Bergman. Dollypop's right.....pulp, delicious though it may be, it's pulp! She was HUGE in the late twenties/thirties because so many of her "novels" were being made into movies, such as "So Big" and the aforementioned "Saratoga Trunk".
#13re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 12:55am
"East of Eden" is one of my favorites, why the heck don't they teach that one in school, it would keep the students awake at least...
Is there no prostitution unit in high school english classes anymore?
BroadwayGirl107
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/26/03
#14re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 1:10amNathaniel Hawthorne was brilliant.
#15re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 7:54am
To me, F. Scott Fitzgerald will always be the great American author and The Great Gatsby will always be the great American novel.
Also, I'll give a shout-out to Theodore Dreiser, an amazingly accomplished author who doesn't always get the respect and recognition that he deserves. Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy are two of the best books ever written.
Steinbeck is a genius, no doubt. Another lesser known work of his that you should pick up, if you have the chance, is The Moon is Down.
More greats:
JD Salinger
Gertrude Stein
Willa Cather
Philip Roth
John Updike
Edith Wharton
This list could go on forever...
Of the young, promising American authors writing today, my personal favorite is Jhumpa Lahiri. If you get a chance, pick up her astonishing novel The Namesake.
#16re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 10:07am
Im partial to the southern girls, flannery o'connor, eudora welty and zora neale hurston.
And on a side note, I'm a little more than confused as to why anyone would criticize someone's favorites. Just post your ideas; let someone think Edna Ferber is a great novelist, what harm does it do?
Remember, everybody is someone's favorite.
#17re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 10:17amgreatest ever? umm...faulkner. yes. faulkner.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#18re: John Steinbeck and other American Greats
Posted: 8/30/05 at 10:18amWas STEPHEN KING actually entered into this discussion?!?!?!?
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