When I say quintessential, I mean what novel if translated into another language would best tell speakers of that language what it means to be an American today, as if they weren’t well aware lol. And ignoring translation difficulties! I’m sure some languages just don’t go back and forth that well with English.
My own pick would be Lush Life, by Richard Price. I don’t imagine that Americans are actually as clever, as selfish or as brutal as they sometimes appear in this book; but overall, I think it communicates the modern dilemma pretty well. As Americans see it.
I do think that people are actually more the ghosts of literature than anything else; larger and more ephemeral. Literature at least is real; people may not be.
But anyway. Or nominate a novel that describes another people that well, if you prefer. I only thought of the question because Orhan Pamuk’s book Snow had such a dramatic effect on me. I thought, so THAT’S what Turks are really like, when I was done. I’d love it if someone could come up with a good candidate for the French of today, or the Germans.
by tolkienfan2759