21 of the Greatest American novels that everyone should read

In tracking pieces of great American literature from the 19th-21st century, we can identify an overwhelming sense of the loss of true purpose, disembodiment, and dislocation that is rather fitting when you consider the historical context.

Against the backdrop of the first colonial settlements and the changes made in American society following the Civil War of 1865, to the Great Depression, the First and Second World Wars and the prefab building and re-building of America in a new, utterly capitalist image – it’s frankly no wonder that increasingly radical, postmodern narratives began to emerge.

Where society would rely on historical narratives to construct meaning, all meaning was subsequently, systematically dismantled by the arrival of mass consumerism. It’s hinted at, for example, in The Great Gatsby – in those all-knowing, all-seeing yet empty eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's billboard.

Roles and purpose in American society were no longer clear-cut, as women, racial minorities and queer communities struggled for basic human rights and independence. No longer could citizens rely on an unwavering national identity, for it had been changed beyond recognition.

The land of the free and the home of the brave began to feel, for many, to have lost all sense of reality. But with mass consumerism taking charge, there was increasingly no sense of personal self to fall back on. Suddenly, the hidden ugliness of the American Dream was brought to light.

It's not surprising, then, that so much of the literature to come out of America in the late 19th and 20th centuries served as a cautionary reaction to the commodification of society, and the overwhelming feeling that there was – and perhaps still is