Okay when I received this in the confessions mailbox, my heart sank a little. Although I tend to read more British literature, there’s a place in my heart reserved for American literature.

Sometimes I feel like our American Lit classes in high school can perpetuate the feelings expressed in this confession since they usually make us read rather tedious books (in my opinion) like The Scarlet Letter and Grapes of Wrath.

However there are so many gems to be found in American literature. Some of my favorite novels and authors are American. Gone With the Wind, The Bell Jar, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , The Fountainhead, To Kill a Mockingbird… these are all quintessentially American and are beautifully written. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is the definition of engrossing as is everything Poe wrote. The satire in Catch-22, the existentialism of The Catcher in the Rye, the irony of O. Henry, the panache of Fitzgerald, and the simplicity of Hemingway; these have all left deep impressions on readers and many times have defined generations.

I don’t want to come off as if I’m shaming or arguing with whoever made this confession. Instead my intent is to defend the American classics that have deeply touched me.

(Source: classicliteratureconfessions)