In celebration of Independence Day (a classic American Holiday), I’ve chosen not to focus on the negatives of U.S. politics and, instead provide you with the best of the best. First off, we have the ten best pieces of American literature. You can find the GoodReads list of books here.
I first read this in high school on the recommendation of my aunt and I’ve never been so pleased to listen to a recommendation in my life. It’s a classic tale, one you’ll probably be forced to study the hell out of in an English class, but it is one of the few you’ll adore. At the same time, do not read Go Set a Watchman if you want the idealistic heroism of Atticus Finch to endure
2. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
I read this book when I was in my last year of high school and going through my phase of reading murder mysteries. It’s based on a true story and, if you believe the film Capote, Truman Capote got overly involved in the case. In Cold Blood is important because it marks the beginning of books written based on true crimes (thus paving the way for authors like Ann Rule).
3. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
My best friend, Maria, gave me a copy of this book for my birthday the first year I knew her, having discovered my love of nineteenth century literature. It is an ode to female familial relationships as the March sisters try and deal with the gender roles ascribed to them
4. The Colour Purple – Alice Walker
The Colour Purple was one of the first books I ever read written by a black feminist. It’s a beautiful book and I read it cover to cover in a night. It was so searingly raw that I was brought to tears
5. On the Road – Jack Kerouac
On the Road defined the Beat Generation. It is the first story to sort of talk about a journey of discovery as a legitimate journey. If you know your Beat figures, you’ll recognise them clearly. Kerouac proves himself a master of language in this book.
6. Beloved – Toni Morrison
Like The Colour Purple, Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a feminist novel about slave women in the United States. Women feature so rarely in the slave narrative, they are so rarely the writers of those narratives and so books written by women about these women – fictional or not – are important. Morrison’s book is poetically beautiful and as honest as can possibly be.
7. The Help – Kathryn Stockett
I read this book because I loved the film based off of it. The film, however, does not do it justice. The book is problematic though because it paints Skeeter, the main character, as a saviour figure for the black maids of Jackson, Mississippi when she is, in fact, using them for her own gain. The fact that the thing she gains from it is a career is by the by. Then again, at least the tale of these women (who are representative of southern women subjected to the Jim Crow Laws) has been told
8. The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
Tim O’Brien’s book is a searingly beautiful and honest account of the things that soldiers carried with them during the Vietnam War both literally and metaphorically. It’s one of those books that should be classified as ‘Need to read’ for all politicians so that they might understand the true ramifications of war.
9. Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates
Set in the centre of 1950s suburbia, Richard Yates tells the story of a marriage that is falling to pieces. The two main characters are in the midst of a marital rut. The wife, April, never saw herself as a housewife – she wants to be an actress, it’s easy to sympathise with her. The husband, Frank, is stuck in a dull job. Neither wants to be where they are and – emphatically symbolising the optimism of the 1950s – believe that better things are just around the corner.
10. Mom & Me & Mom – Maya Angelou
This last one came to me via Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf and if you’ve read my earlier review of Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, you’ll know that I’m likely to read anything that comes up on that list. In the book, Maya Angelou tells us of her relationship with her mother and all of the lessons she learnt from her. It is Angelou’s last book before her death and it is an ode to a life well-lived.
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