The Seven Great American Novels From the 1920s

Today, we will be looking at The Atlantic’s list of The Great American Novels and see the seven great American novels from the 1920s. Keep reading to find out which books made their list!

The Great American Novels

The original article by The Atlantic has over a 100 books in their list spanning from the 1920s to the 2020s. Every book selected had to be published in the Unites States or intended to. That leaves out many books but still makes for an amazing list.

The original idea for The Great American Novel was proposed by writer John William DeForest in 1868. His goal was to paint the American soul. And The Atlantic tries to do just that with their list.

Books from the 1920s

Having browsed many lists, I can say that if a list is too big, it will intimidate readers. That is why we decided to approach this list a bit differently. Instead of making one giant list, we will be listing books from the list in decades.

The goal of this list is to highlight the best books of the past century. And yet, because it is a huge list, many novels will go unnoticed or overlooked. By making this list into smaller lists, readers can focus on each book more.

Great American Novels From the 1920s

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
• An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (1925)
• The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein (1925)
• Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (1927)
• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (1929)
• Passing by Nella Larsen (1929)
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929)

The Great Gatsby

The novel that has come to define the 1920s is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. And while I agree that the book is a lot of hype, it does capture the essence of the 1920s well. It is not a novel I think about often and yet, it does deserve its place on the list for what the novel means to American literature.

A Farewell to Arms

Earnest Hemingway is considered one of the greatest American writers to have ever lived. He has many written many great novels and one of them is A Farewell to Arms. The novel has 47 potential endings (which were published in 2012) and yet it feels like he chose the best one for his iconic novel about a love story spanning across World War I.

The Sound and the Fury

Many of these works of literature are taught in schools. And I was lucky enough to read The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner in a classroom that dove deep into the novel. It is not an easy novel to read and when broken down, it is a powerful novel that you can’t stop thinking about. It is beautifully told and not many authors could have pulled off what Faulkner did in this unforgettable classic.

Conclusion

It is hard to understand just how impactful these novels were when they were published in the 1920s. That is a world that we would not recognize. Yet, these novels have stayed a part of the literary circle for a century.

Lists like The Great American Novel remind us to revisit classics that many of us have forgotten. That these novels are important works of fiction and a part of the American identity. How many of these books have you read or plan to read? Let us know in the comments below!

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