If I were asked to write a letter to a person from the past about what awaits him in the future, I would simply attach a list of the most famous works of American contemporary literature. Modern American literature is an army of interesting authors and a sea of a wide variety of books.
The individual and society, the sharp problems of racism, immigration, the lost generation, and provincial hopelessness - are perhaps the main topics of American literature. The authors manage to capture stories that are random, secondary in the plot, or even taken out of the general stream of storytelling, which miraculously encloses the entire beauty of the work.
Some works are filled with relishing old grievances and unfading narcissism, whilst some are biased with sincerity and naivety. In the post-war period, when the mood of the winners was replaced by confusion before the crisis, which began to assert itself both in the material and in the spiritual aspects of life, American literature became a clean book, where the authors wrote down their thoughts and warnings. They recorded a state of alienation of the human person from modern society, and this, of course, resulted in a form of protest. Representatives of this youth movement made it clear that their American contemporaries live on the ruins of civilization.
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Jennifer Egan is considered one of the most interesting contemporary writers in America. “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” tells about the past times of the youth of the heroes that coincided with the birth of punk rock. Today they are in their forties and get even harder to avoid the rules of time. Successful producer and failed punk rocker Benny Salazar continues his run in the circle of rock music, breakaway, touring tours, etc. But time does not lag behind the heroes a single step, which means they need to achieve the American dream more quickly than ever.
The American dream is another topic for contemporary American literature. The idea of striving for success develops into a thirst for profit, the pursuit of wealth, which became characteristic of the 20th century. This is the time of disappointment in the 'American dream', the decline of all the traditional spiritual ideals that its authors once prescribed in their works. Examples of life experiences of the main characters of various American writers are given and the consequences of the pursuit of the 'American dream' are described. The achievement of this dream is connected with the heroes’ utopian belief in a happy future, as in 'The Cariboo Cafe' by Helena Maria Viramontes. Despite perseverance, and practicality in achieving their goals, the characters in their quest for quick enrichment act contrary to their moral principles, for example committing a crime. This often leads them to disappointment in the 'dream'.
In modern society, the heroes of American literature strive not only for material wealth but also wish to become a part of the wealthy class, to fall into the circle of intellectuals, and to become famous. Thus, the component of the 'American dream' is expanding. Although to achieve these goals, they sometimes suppress their personality, abandoning their origin, tormented by internal contradictions, for the sake of realizing the “American dream” in the version in which they imagine it, which may ultimately lead to their death, as in “In the American Society” by Gish Jen. Heroes become hostages to the 'American dream' as a national myth, which is often the driving force in their pursuit of success and personal happiness.
Nowadays, American literature is universally recognized as distinctively national literature. Even though it is rooted in the British literary tradition due to the use of the same language, Contemporary American literature is all about experiments and the search for new values and the meaning of life. Perhaps, this is what makes it so unique.
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