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7 works of classic American literature

In: Free Samples

The American classical literature reflects the eternal truths that have universal significance. It is believed that every educated person should read these works of literature.

  • “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville.

But Ahab never thinks; he only feels, feels, feels; THAT'S tingling enough for mortal man! to think's audacity. God only has that right and privilege. Thinking is, or ought to be, a coolness and a calmness; and our poor hearts throb, and our poor brains beat too much for that.” From https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/melville/herman/m53m/

“Moby-Dick” or “The Whale” is a central novel of the American Renaissance. It is an epic story full of furious hatred, verging on madness, of the Captain Ahab to the white pot whale. The story is full of Christian allusions and subtle metaphors. Through these figures, the author reveals the specifics of human relationship with God, forces of nature and human beings.

In addition to the deep philosophical implication, a novel is valuable from the cultural and historical point of view. No one belles-lettres book will tell you as much about whaling, as Melville’s novel.

  • “Martin Eden” by Jack London.

Love cannot go wrong unless it be a weakling that faints and stumbles by the way.” 

The full text can be found in an online library. 

This is the most powerful and profound novel written by Jack London. It is also called autobiographical, because the writer and Martin Eden have a lot in common. Perhaps that is why the book was so fascinating and philosophically problematic. The author tried to find answers to the questions that agitated for life is his. Perhaps that is why the book turned out to be so fascinating and philosophically problematic. The author tried to find answers to the questions that affected him during his life.

“Martin Eden” is one of the brightest novels of the American Literature, which combined a Nietzschean individualism with relevant religious and socio-humanistic teachings. A novel gives a direct answer why it is illogical to wait for a person with superhuman capabilities, no matter what side of the Atlantic Ocean he comes from.

  • “Trilogy of Desire” by Theodore Dreiser.

“We think of egoism and intellectualism as closely confined to the arts. Finance is an art. And it presents the operations of the subtlest of the intellectuals and of the egoists.”

From https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/dreiser/theodore/financier/

The “Trilogy of Desire” written by Theodore Dreiser consists of three “The Financier”, “The Titan”, and “The Stoic”. Novels are based on the common plotline and tell us about the life of Frank Cowperwood, a successful financier of beginning of XX century.

Dreiser not only gives the broadest panorama of the socio-economic life of the United States at the turn of the century, but also reveals the moral and ethical problems of the market system. We are living in this world today.

  • “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway.

“Whoever wins the war will never stop fighting”.

“A Farewell to Arms” is one of the most famous novels by Ernest Hemingway, where an author put together themes of love, war and humanism. A clean and bright feeling appears between an American soldier and an English nurse during the ruthless war. Unfortunately, these feelings are doomed to die.

This anti-war novel is a brilliant representative of the literature of the “lost generation”. After reading this novel, you are imbued with such a strong disgust for the death, which is dealt by people. You begin to realize that literature is the most effective tool against the war.

  • “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck.

“A man merges with the place where he lives.”

The Great Depression in the United States has led to an acute shortage of jobs, therefore the citizens of poor states had to migrate to more prosperous areas in search of food.  The novel “The Grapes of Wrath” narrates about one family which was looking for a better life.

American farmers’ miserable existence shocks and creates a totally unexpected image of America. The novel reveals the reality of the Great Depression, which cannot be found on the pages of any history book.

  • “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger.

“I certainly began to feel like a prize horse's ass, though, sitting there all by myself. There wasn't anything to do except smoke and drink.”

Salinger’s novel has a huge impact on the modern culture. Perhaps, it is one of the most famous work of literature nowadays. Why is it so popular?

The answer is quite obvious: Salinger, using simple language and even uncensored expressions, sharply and directly expressed the rejection of social values by young people. Each of us passed through this phase of the rejection, but everyone eventually became a prisoner of life, imposed by others.

This book is like a longing for better world, which is so remote from the real one full of paradoxes, nonsense and difficulties.

  • “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut.

“What is sacred for Bokonists?” – I asked after a while.

“Not even God, as near as I can tell.”

“Nothing?”

“Just one thing.”

I made some guesses. – “The ocean? The sun?”

“Man,” - said Frank. – “That’s all. Just man.”

Any novel, written by this author can be in the list of the best American Novels of the 20th century. No one comprehended XX century better than Vonnegut.

Madness and irrationality governed at the time revealed their existence in the horror of nuclear war. What is the meaning of ethics, morality, religion, when the history of humanity is a history of wars and killings?

People weave their history, as if they tie the strings around the fingers. An author called this construction a “Cat’s Cradle”. Why is it called “Cat’s Cradle”? Neither here nor there, because a “Cat’s Cradle” has nothing in common with historical process.

An author received a Master’s degree in anthropology for this novel. The work of literature was evaluated on the criteria of scientific thesis. It definitely means something great. This novel deserves our attention!

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