holzy1139 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Recently I have developed an interest in what is, I supppose, known as "americana"...I always feel silly using this comparison but I guess it makes sense: books that are like Springsteen songs. You know, stories about young men and women in small towns dealing with issues of independence, regret, redemption, crime, all that good old American crap haha. It can be novels from any era really, but I'd love to discover some contemporary works that I've never heard of.If it helps, I'm currently reading Steinbeck's East of Eden and loving it. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 ummmmmmmmmmTwain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. E Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Recently I have developed an interest in what is, I supppose, known as "americana"...I always feel silly using this comparison but I guess it makes sense: books that are like Springsteen songs. You know, stories about young men and women in small towns dealing with issues of independence, regret, redemption, crime, all that good old American crap haha. It can be novels from any era really, but I'd love to discover some contemporary works that I've never heard of.If it helps, I'm currently reading Steinbeck's East of Eden and loving it. Thanks!Ironically, Stephen King is very good with this. Although there's little in the way of redemption there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Tyrion Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Ironically, Stephen King is very good with this. Although there's little in the way of redemption there...e.g. - The Stand by Stephen King Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. E Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 And I mean, considering a huge amount of King's protagonists are your salt of the Earth everyday working schlubs...off the top of my head:Salem's LotNeedful ThingsCarrieThe Dead ZoneCujoChristine...Of course, most people are brutally mutilated or killed of in horrible ways but still... :drunk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Tyrion Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 And I mean, considering a huge amount of King's protagonists are your salt of the Earth everyday working schlubs...off the top of my head:Salem's LotNeedful ThingsCarrieThe Dead ZoneCujoChristine...Of course, most people are brutally mutilated or killed of in horrible ways but still... :drunk:Salem's Lot was the best one out of that list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 when i first saw this i also thought of the King-meister. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Hmmm... When i think 'Americana' in books, i think of the west, of the depression, and never of Springsteen. For me it's more L'amoure, McCarthy's Borderland books, Hunter S. Thompson, Stienbeck, American Gods, Ellis, but never bruce fucking springsteen. Maybe it's from growing up in a shit hole mining town in the Southwest, but i have a different interpretation of what 'Americana' is. While I'm sure King does a great job capturing the feel and problems of an upper middle class north eastern town, it has little to do with what /I/ perceive as americana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbor Gold Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I don't really understand the category but I would go for The Grapes of Wrath if you haven't already done so.Or, to change it up, try The Art of Fielding. It's about a baseball in a small college town in Wisconsin. You don't have to like baseball to like the book, but it's definitely got "young men and women in small towns dealing with issues of independence, regret, redemption, crime, all that good old American crap." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umel of Ys Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Yes, Grapes of Wrath is absolutely gorgeous.I'd also suggest:Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, OhioLook Homeward Angel (Thomas Wolfe)Ask the Dust by John FanteMartin Dressler by Steven Milhauser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Dressler:_The_Tale_of_an_American_Dreamer).King does excel at subverting americana, his novels and stories always develop against a quintessentially american and benign backdrop (emblematic settings, music, game shows...) which is in stark contrast to the horrible things happening there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 How has this thread been alive for five hours without somebody mentioning Ray Bradbury?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 How has this thread been alive for five hours without somebody mentioning Ray Bradbury??I just wanted to let you do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Hmmm... When i think 'Americana' in books, i think of the west, of the depression, and never of Springsteen. For me it's more L'amoure, McCarthy's Borderland books, Hunter S. Thompson, Stienbeck, American Gods, Ellis, but never bruce fucking springsteen. Maybe it's from growing up in a shit hole mining town in the Southwest, but i have a different interpretation of what 'Americana' is. While I'm sure King does a great job capturing the feel and problems of an upper middle class north eastern town, it has little to do with what /I/ perceive as americana.You think American Gods and whatever Ellis wrote is more American than King?I'm willing to accept that you could say King's stuff is upper middle class, though I'm not 100% sure on that.But Gaiman and Ellis even being close to Americana....I don't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 King's characters are upper middle class? The fuck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthmail Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 King's characters are upper middle class? The fuck?Sure they are. In Needful Things, one lady thinks shes having sex with her picture of Elvis. Nothing says Romney levels of elite foreign bank accounts and untraceable amounts of money like fucking a picture of Elvis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I thought it was a picture of Jesus but hey... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthmail Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 To the elite, they are one in the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 i think you broke my brain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuthbert Allgood Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 King's characters are upper middle class? The fuck?Hmmm, no, not strictly. I read King, I read almost everything he wrote pre-truck accident, and saying his characters are upper middle class doesn't feel accurate. Sure he wrote about them too, but he writes about American Towns (god bless people who can say King's name when someone asks about "Americana" literature :) ), so his characters include a wide range of people.My favourite King novel IT comes to mind: Richie was upper middle class, Beverly was eating with food stamps, Henry was bottom of the social pyramid, Bill son of a blue collar..some got richer, one got to be a librarian working at minimum wage..and all this reflected on how they acted, who they are.Of course, he wrote about Best Seller Writers with seven figures incomes haunted by African American Ghosts, but he also wrote about a fatherless boy in 60's, trying to save money in a jar for months to get a bicycle... (Low Man in Yellow Coats, such a great novella by the way) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Hmmm.. maybe i'm off on that one. I don't read much King, but having grown up in a fucking trailer park, what little i did read about him made me think he didn't really write to my level of poverty/class. More 'upper' than I. As for Ellis, i think American Psycho is the best example of the 80's and America than any book i've read. An American God.. are you serious? A fucking road trip book about American Myths? You can't beat that shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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