Is there an equivalent for American culture? Something steeped in the history, culture...

>Lord of the Rings
>"history and culture"
Please stop with this nonsense. It's a good fantasy story, but it's not fucking "steeped in history".

It's derived from Anglo-Saxon poetry, the Norse sagas and English and Teutonic folklore. Tolkien didn't just pull it out of a hat FFS.

full-house speaks the truth

A Song of Ice and Fire

The western seems to me to be the American equivalent of the European medieval fantasy.

Which book I would choose to equate to LotR though, I don't know.

~=The Hobbit?

This. The western is the American mythos.

those digits....

Upvoted.

[Edit: Wow! Thanks for the gold, kind stranger.]

It was written by the most famous philologist of the 20th century, a guy who also happened to be the highest ranking professor of a dead language at the most prestigious university on the planet

J.R.R. Tolkien was probably one of the most "steeped in history" human beings who ever lived. To pretend he didn't incorporate his virtually unparalleled knowledge of history and culture into his writing is just flat-out retarded. Seriously, it's something only a mentally retarded person could say.

solid pick. maybe Steinbeck as well.

>/pol/acks
>a jew woman

internet lefties are permanently trying to combat this 2004 Jon Stewart-era fantasy of all Western conservatives as American hillbilly Baptist free marketers

Even if internet lefties have developed some positions past the party line of stoner atheist democrats, that kind of sneering cartoon version of politics still informs their worldview and probably always will

>/pol/ hates Je-

Wh-where?

phone posters should be banned from Veeky Forums

Is some jew trying to meme this after someone was trying to push Culture of Critique on the board?

Please don't post again.

What always surprises me is how good artist Tolkien was. These covers are brilliant.

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4/10 an attempt was made

TIL before reddit pickle rick was just pick rick

anything by Louis L'amour would fit

Metareddit is still reddit
Please go back there

Look at all these newfags. This joke has been around Veeky Forums for years now.

I'm a pretty hardcore reactionary, but Rand is trash. It is possible to remain conservative and still recognize Rand as being a bad writer. They are not mutually exclusive.

Let's ignore the fact that LoTR came first, and is a major inspiration of almost EVERY fantasy series after it.

Do you know the shit JR Tolkien did to make Lord of the Rings? He made THE ELVISH FUCKING LANGUAGE

A NUANCED LANGUAGE

WITH FUCKING PARTIAL IMPERFECT TENSE

A GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT, COHERENT LANGUAGE

AND ON THE BASIS OF THAT LANGUAGE, AND SEVERAL OTHER FUCKING LANGUAGES, HE MADE THE HOBBIT

YES

HE WROTE THE LANGUAGE BEFORE THE FUCKING STORY

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_constructed_by_J._R._R._Tolkien

BEFORE THE FUCKING PREQUEL STORY TO THE LORD OF THE RINGS, HE WROTE A LANGUAGE

HE WROTE A FUCKING GIGANTIC BACKSTORY, TOO

WITH GODS, AND DEMONS, AND ANGELS, AND SHIT THAT MAKES THE THEOGENY LOOK LIKE AMATEUR HOUR

AND ONLY THEN

ONLY AFTER CREATING SEVERAL FUCKING LANGUAGES

DID HE WRITE THE PREQUEL

YES

THE FUCKING PREQUEL

TO THE LORD OF THE RINGS

AND HERE YOU ARE

YOU FILTHY, FUCKING PLEBIAN

TRYING TO TELL ME THAT TENZIN INFO DUMPING A CORNY COMIC BOOK VILLAIN BACKSTORY

IS THE SAME CALIBER OF WRITING

AS THE MAN

WHO MADE

SEVERAL

FUCKING

LANGUAGES

KILL YOURSELF

SERIOUSLY

KILL YOUR FUCKING SELF

SOMEONE PUTS EFFORT INTO SOMETHING AND CREATES A MASTERPIECE, AND YOU SEE IT THE SAME AS THE SHIT A 9-5ER SPEWED OUT IN A WRITER'S ROOM

Best candidates are:

>Moby-Dick
>Huckleberry Finn
>Blood Meridian
>Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha county novels (i.e.-all of them)

If you're looking for a straight fantasy inspired by American history and culture, you're not going to come up with anything that great. America has a very strong folk-tale tradition, with regional differences on recurring themes/stories, but in terms as a grandiose mythology it hasn't really been done yet.

It's funny this thread has come up, because it's something I've been thinking about trying my hand at. I think the best way to approach it is through the mythology of the Native Indians merged with the vibrant folk traditions of the US.

Star Wars

>It's funny this thread has come up, because it's something I've been thinking about trying my hand at. I think the best way to approach it is through the mythology of the Native Indians merged with the vibrant folk traditions of the US.
I think about this every day, my man. I can not tell you how many folklore books I've read, but I feel like I still cant exactly define what an American folk narrative is. One day I'll get there

Wild West is American folklore. Or it will be one day

Westerns are regional and specific, just well defined. A larger, well-defined piece of an even greater puzzle

You should know better than hoping for a woman's attention, user. Nice try, though!
How come your sperg friend didn't respond to your plebddit spacing? Why don't you take him and go back, autismo?

Star Wars.

Good post, friend
This may actually be the best proposal yet

I never watched Korra, but I don't get what the author of this pasta was getting at. Tolkien's a better writer because he made up a language? Leaving aside that he plagiarized most of the features from Finnish and Welsh, surely that reasoning would elevate George R. R. Martin and the writers behind Star Trek to his level, wouldn't it?

>america
>culture
absolutely adoring this meme

>)

>>Huckleberry Finn
Why not Tom Sawyer?

this post reeks of virginity

A full American epic fantasy incorporating lots of different folkloric elements could be really cool. A protagonist makes a journey westward for whatever reason, encountering witches (of the Salem variety), giants, Indian spirits, gunslingers etc.

Anything like that around already?

CULTURE OF CRITIQUE
U
L
T
U
R
E OF CRITIQUE

like this guy said up hereManly Wellman did that a lot in his books, but they're pretty pulpy. Not to say that they are bad, but they lack the literary quality I think OP is looking for

>Let's ignore the fact that LoTR came first, and is a major inspiration of almost EVERY fantasy series after it.
Not Kull or Conan it didn't.

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>american
>culture

O Pioneers!, perhaps?
You might not agree with Rand, but calling her an orc is a bit much.

He didn't, you fucking mongoloid.

Dearest user, let us not argue about authorial intent in such a thread. It is practically impossible to ascertain the true nature of that man (or woman)'s post, and to pretend otherwise would be arrogance. You have your interpretation - I have mine - and either one is just fine.

it occurs to me that Bakshi was attempting this in his film American Pop. It's not a particularly good movie, but the way he tried to execute the idea of a generational American myth was interesting at least.
The medium for such a thing would probably have to be film or derivative of that; something digital/interactive. Europe invented the novel, we invented the motion picture camera.

What about settler myths and epics...in space?

Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer/Moby Dick. So Blood Meridian too I suppose. For reference, the most American thing I watched recently is Cop Car. It's absolutely American.

Something Wicked This Way Comes catches your culture and theme categories.

Winesburg, Ohio,
U.S.A (John Dos Passos), &
Battlefield Earth
may also qualify, but I've only read two of these.

Hunger Games

Glad you posted it one of the best memes of all time

I love this board.

Because he was capable of shitting that out, and yet totally and utterly misinterpreted some basic english wrt the post in question?

Yikes

Le reddit switcheroo!!! xD

my diary desu

>this is what anglos believe

>not The Chronicles Of Amber
come on...

unironically pic related

American Gods, Neil Gaiman?
also this. Very american sort of books. In fact I think King's intent with this series was to do the American epic.

8/10 fuck the haters

Recc me some American folklore books user, I'm interested.

>Winesburg, Ohio,
This is the book I would apply the terms "epic" "mythic" and "adventurous" the least to

Look for anything with the name Botkin on it. There's also a book called "American Folklore in Literature" or some such that is also good. Its essentially a collection of short stories from authors like Mark Twain and Nathaniel Hawthorne that incorporated elements and themes from American Folklore, compiled into one book. But, yeah, if you're looking for something more grass roots, start with a Treasury of American Folklore by B.A Botkin

thanks a bunch!

Oh, Myths and Legends of Our Own Land by Skinner is another really good starting point. Whole thing is online for free, too

oh boy, thanks for this

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This. The other anons are correct - the West is America's fabled land, although I think some of the older frontier literature like Cooper might also count.

>Louis L'amour
wew, my dad fucking loved his sackett series

but yeah, the whole manifest destiny and exploration/pioneering is a huge part of American folklore

American Gods by that pretentious fuck Neil Gaiman.

Either The Dog of the South or A Confederacy of Dunces.

As much as I love Confederacy of Dunces, it is far from being as popular as LotR.

The closest might be American Gods, but that doesn't really compare (and it's not that great). An American epic might be Gravity's Rainbow, but that's far too difficult for most average readers.

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ABSALOM ABSALOM
SOUND / FURY
FLAGS IN THE DUST (SARTORIS)

clearly feat and loathing in las vegas

This

dos Passos

Stop looking at America as one country and focus on regional myths and histories. Our unifying myths are Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. Work them in how you can but write about the state or region you live in.

This. This all day. REH is American Tolkien.

Dune is the closest we have.

U.S.A. by Dos Passos seconded.
Epic and way ahead of it's time

No joke, this guy is literally my 1st cousin thrice removed.

>southern gothic