Early American Literature (novels, comic book, ebook, letter)

[MobileBayBlues]

Hello all! I have always been an avid reader, but it has usually revolved around newer fiction and history. I am wanting to get my hands on a few early American novels, but I am unsure of where (or Who?) to start. I am looking for fiction and literature from say, the Revolution/Colonial times, up to the Civil War, and preferably ones that take place from Virginia to Massachusetts. Who are your favorites and why? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys!

[katharsis]

Great thread. Love the English writers Austen and Gaskell, so I will be interested in reading the suggestions.

[Tracysherm]

I guess you'd have to start with Washington Irving:
His short stories, including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle


Then maybe Nathaniel Hawthorne:
The Scarlet Letter
The House of the Seven Gables

I never read Herman Melville or James Fenimore Cooper, but they are biggies in the early to mid 1800s.

Then for non-fiction, try Emerson, especially Self-Reliance.
Maybe try the works around America's founding documents, like anything by Thomas Paine, or the Federalist Papers.

[Tracysherm]

Oh! How could I forget Edgar Allan Poe!

I thought I had read most of Poe's work, but as I just looks up his bibliography, I see I still have some more to read!

[Gandalara]

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Louisa May Alcott

[Mark S.]

Washington Irving is probably my favorite from that era.

I enjoyed some of J.F. Cooper's stuff, but every word of Twain's criticism of them was 100% true.

I've always found Hawthorne a bit of a snore, but some people love him.

Melville was good, although in dire need of an editor with a healthy red pen. He

And if you want Civil War era, you have to read Harriet Beecher Stowe, since she wrote the book that Lincoln claimed "started the war."

[Cida]

I'm guessing that a good librarian could help you with this.

Everyone's suggestions for "literature" are good ones. Those are respected books that you might read in English classes. But if you want something really early, you could try:

Charlotte Temple, by Susanna Rowson
The Coquette, by Hannah Foster
The Lamplighter, by Maria Cummins

They're all very early, and hugely popular in their day.

[601halfdozen0theother]

Well, if you'll accept mid to late 19th century popular fiction, there are the writers of "domestic" fiction for women, which was a popular genre in the mid 19th century. There's Catharine Sedgwick and others. Here's a list of them: Domestic Fiction, 1830-1860

Susan Warner wrote what has been considered the first "best seller" - The Wide, Wide World, which was a romance for women first published in 1850. It (and others of her books) can be read on-line on Project Guttenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28376

Then there's Mrs. Southworth. Hers are more gothic-ish. You can find many of her works on Project Guttenberg, too. Here's The Missing Bride, pub. 1855: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14382

Ann Sopia Stephens wrote Malaeska, which was the very first dime novel published. The ordinary folk were reading Dime Novels during most of the latter 19th century. Here's some on-line: http://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/library/prod//depts/dp/pennies/texts/dimes_toc.html

I started reading the Dime Novels from the late 19th century that my great uncle owned when I was a kid, and they're pretty addictive. Kind of the precurser to comic books - and Harlequins. I don't know why many more haven't been scanned in full text. Here's an excerpt from a juicy one: "Willful Gaynell" A Dime Novel Excerpt - American Women's Dime Novel Project | American Women's Dime Novel Project

And Horatio Alger started getting his super popular books for boys in the mid 1860s. If you've read one you've read them all, but you gotta read at least one! Read Ragged Dick, that's the classic starter.

You can tell that l9th century pop fiction is my thing! I collect it when I can.

I also really love Bret Harte, you've got to read something by him!

Oh - did anyone else mention James Fenimore Cooper? He can be read lightly as an adventure author, just skim over the language barrier.

[Mayvenne]

What a great thread. At present I have too much on my plate, but will definitely be checking into some of these. We did have to read The Scarlet Letter and a few others back in high school, but I wonder how they would be reading for pleasure now. I am really intrigued with the suggestions.

[sawyersmom]

Poe, Emerson and Thoreau are my favorites of the romantics. Hawthorne is an acquired taste and Melville, well, I had a professor who was obsessed with him and since I didn't like that professor I declared I didn't like Melville. I haven't read him since that class.
My all time favorite though still is and will always be Mark Twain. I can read his work over and over and over again. He's the best.