[slwvx]

Mark Twain is America's Homer

One aspect of Huckleberry Finn (the novel) that I think is relevant today is the spectacularly stupid zero-sum conflict between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. It seems relevant to the US's politics and many international conflicts

[bsder]

Definitely Twain and it's not even close. Huckleberry Finn even has the episodic flavor of The Odyssey.

For books you have "The Innocents Abroad", "Roughing It", "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "A Tramp Abroad", "The Prince and the Pauper", "Life on the Mississippi", "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court".

That's a hell of a lineup and includes a LOT of the flavor of the US as a young country.

[readread]

I don't see how it's not him, Whitman (the timing of his work is a strong point in his favor, being so concerned with the civil war and that apparently-neveaending struggle in America's metaphorical soul), or maybe Melville though I think he's the weakest of those three. Most other plausible answers are too late in the country's history to take that particular title, for one thing. Irving and Poe are early enough but I don't think either's even close to the combo of clout, staying-power, influence, quality, and breadth of coverage of, specifically, Americanness that one would expect for this (and I like both of them!).

I would agree with other posters that if we allow the search to stretch into the 20th century, odds are we'd end up with a filmmaker or songwriter, but I think we've got our all-around best options already, and they're all (basically) 19th century.

[jimbob45]

Would anyone go out of their way to read any of Twain if it wasn’t required high school reading?

Also the American Homer is/was Garrison Keillor. Homer’s delivery was oral and radio is surely closer to oratory than books.

[somenameforme]

I did. I read some of Twain in high school but didn't really "get it", in hindsight. Then as I grew older and began reading many of Twain's endless quotes it made me want to go read more of his works, and I'm glad I did.

I think high school readings are quite pointless in general, because most kids either aren't mentally developed enough, or aren't going to have the focus, to actually "get" what's being said - at least not beyond the point of cramming enough stuff down to be able to puke it back up on a test/report.

That was certainly the case for me and I think this is extremely common given there are plenty of people that think Huck Finn is a racist book, when the entire underlying message is a never-ending mockery of racism.

[matwood]

> because most kids either aren't mentally developed

I've gone back and read so many books I was supposed to have read in HS and college. I don't think at the time I had the life experience to fully grasp many of the message(s). It's one thing for a teacher or guide to explain in abstract the underlying messages, it's another to have dealt with them in your own life and see yourself in the characters [1].

[1] I always read like I'm one or more of the characters and not simply an observer.

[throwaway173738]

Maybe the point of high school readings is just to give you some books that will be relatable when you’re finally an adult.

[cestith]

I was raised where Sam Clemens was raised. People not only read the books. They tour his home. They tour the cave from Tom Sawyer. They attend the annual National Tom Sawyer days. They come from all over the world.

[graemep]

Its not required reading in the UK and I still read Twain, as did my kids.

[Tangurena2]

Plato (who came long after Homer) complained about "kids these days" not memorizing poetry (like the old farts did) and using that new fangled technology called "writing".

[marcus_holmes]

Came here to say this and I'm not even American. It's definitely Twain.

Though other American countries (even just North American countries) might have different opinions, so maybe he's just the USA's Homer.