The Great American Novel: First Round

You may remember that back in the summer I came across a competition started by Guardian journalist and blogger, Matthew Spencer, to find out which is the greatest 'Great American Novel'. The first round has taken place now, setting duals up between several top notch candidates. Some great arguments were made and information taken from numerous sources in this highly anticipated first round draw. The results are as follows:

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (W)
vs

JR by William Gaddis – The Battle of the "Difficults"

That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx (W)
vs

Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton (W)vs

Something Happened by Joseph Heller

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (W)
vs

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Rabbit, Run by John Updike (W)
vs

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin

Billy Bathgate by EL Doctorow (W)
vs

We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

Libra by Don DeLillo (W)
vs

42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos 

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (W)
vs

The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster

Now I don't know about you, but I would say that although there are some top authors on both sides of the drawer, this seems like some authors didn't have a chance. By that I mean that I know every single one of the winners and only three of the losing novelists... So perhaps I am not as well-read in this department as I hoped... oh well!

Anyway, in summary, there don't seem to be any particularly controversial decisions I think you'll agree, but there were some definite contests - namely Steinbeck vs. Auster and Wharton vs. Heller. Although the winners aren't hard to guess, each author has a big and long-standing following. Luckily, though, I am yet to hear of any violent fights breaking out in libraries... but, saying that, I'd pay good money to see book geeks flapping bookmarks and library cards at each other...

In the second half of the drawer we are expecting to see the likes of Fitzgerald, Nabokov, Chandler, Toni Morrison and post-modernist Pynchon who my brain will never ever understand. Ever.

You can follow Matthew's blog via the Guardian website here.