Documentary, The Great American Read - Heroes
We examine books on America’s list that feature heroic characters. Celebrities, literary experts, authors, and everyday book lovers discuss why our favorite heroes are complex and relatable, from the everyday hero to the tragic and unlikely or anti-hero.
# TheGreatAmericanRead #heroic #American
We examine books on America’s list that feature heroic characters. Celebrities, literary experts, authors, and everyday book lovers discuss why our favorite heroes are complex and relatable, from the everyday hero to the tragic and unlikely or anti-hero.
# TheGreatAmericanRead #heroic #American
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00a hero is who we all wish we were if we
00:08didn't have our own personal limitations
00:10a hero is defined by their deeds and not
00:15their words someone who doesn't always
00:18do the easy thing someone who is able to
00:22understand many things and put them all
00:24together and show unbelievable grace
00:26under pressure and you like heroes
00:29because they saved a day yes
00:36hi everyone I'm Meredith Vieira and
00:39welcome to the Great American Read we're
00:42on a quest to discover the nation's best
00:44love novel and your votes are pouring in
00:47on social media via text message and at
00:50PBS.org honestly this book changed my life
00:54I love it just because it was one of the
00:56first books that I read that made me want
00:58to be a writer just a really inspiring
01:00book out of the 100 books in the
01:03competition we've discovered that many of
01:05your favorites center around inspiring
01:08heroes
01:11Christopher is the ultimate unexpected hero
01:14I believe that Winston Smith is a hero
01:19Charlotte is a heroine because she is what
01:22a friend really is there to help there's
01:26nothing more American than a classic comic
01:28book superhero but your votes indicate that
01:31when it comes to novels you prefer your heroes
01:34relatable
01:35we want to read stories about people who are
01:40like us it's not interesting to watch someone who's way better than you just do stuff that's way
01:47better than what you could do for the duration of a book reading about
01:51everyday heroes it gives us hope and I think it lets you know that you're not
01:54alone in the good fight
01:56you're also fascinated by tragic heroes who face insurmountable odds
02:01I don't think somebody has to succeed in order to be called a hero
02:06I think all heroes are in some way tragic heroes were drawn to have this
02:12element of persevering but also of struggle and that struggle and where
02:16they end up makes them for us more believable and many of your favorites are
02:21unlikely heroes I think Don Quixote is one of the great heroes in literature
02:26and Ignatius J Reilly is following in this footsteps tonight we examine the
02:33titles you've chosen that feature heroic characters on the great American
02:38read
02:54welcome back to the great American read I'm here at the library of Congress
02:59which houses printed materials from as far back as the year
03:02seven hundred seventy but before books even existed there have been legends of
03:08valiant men and women who saved the day or at least try to and your votes
03:13confirm that when it comes to our favorite books America loves a hero but what
03:19makes a hero why do they bring us such comfort how do they inspire us to become
03:25our best selves
03:30one of the absolutely crucial things about hero stories and about heroism is that it really teaches
03:38us something about ourselves the stories that we pick and the characters that we hold up they
03:43really show us what we value as a society I think when we hear heroes or see them or read about them we think about
03:53qualities we wish we had courage strength fortitude bravery many of the books that are trending focus on
04:01ordinary people who when pushed rise up to the extraordinary what is it about these everyday heroes that we love I think we're drawn to that everyday quality we both seek it in ourselves and also when we see it we would like to celebrate it
04:17I'm trying to think of what the contrasting scenario is like Superman is special he's from this special planet and he only pretends to be a totally regular person a more democratic concept is just a totally regular person who can rise to the occasion because that's the American concept
04:36one of your favorite tales of an ordinary person rising up is the best-selling trilogy The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
04:47the series takes place in a dystopian future where children are forced to participate in an annual televised fight to the death the novels hero Katniss Everdeen lives with her mother and younger sister in a poor coal mining district when her sister is selected for the Hunger Games Katniss volunteers in her place armed with the tools she has used to keep her family alive courage
05:16courage intelligence and a bow
05:18courage intelligence and a bow
05:23without thinking I pull an arrow from my quiver
05:35and send it straight at the game makers table
05:42I hear shouts of alarm as people stumble back
05:45everyone stares at me in disbelief
05:49thank you for your consideration I say
05:52then I give a slight bow and walk straight toward the exit without being dismissed
05:56this is one of my favorite passages because this is the moment where you really see that revolutionary behind Katniss you see this defiance and you see that she doesn't need their permission to survive
06:17my name is Megan Del Pryor and my favorite book is The Hunger Games
06:22I am the director of Gotham Archery
06:26the whole reason I even applied here was because The Hunger Games reading that book and saying I want to do archery I want to be Katniss for real
06:33when Katniss goes into The Hunger Games she might have a kind of fear she might be worried
06:38all the kinds of things that normal people would feel but because she has this kind of skill set we know as the reader that she has the ability to come out on top at the end
06:51for me archery is a way to both survive but also to be independent and self-sufficient
07:00Megan's mother read The Hunger Games first and immediately thought of her daughter
07:07Megan is not your traditional or typical girl
07:10she's the dragon rider as opposed to you know the princess being saved
07:15so I was like you gotta read this
07:17when I first picked up The Hunger Games my father had just passed away
07:23like Katniss Everdeen Megan is the eldest in her family and lost her father
07:28for both of them that loss meant life would never be the same
07:33my father was like my rock in my life and Katniss's father is also like her rock when she's younger
07:40and he teaches her a lot of what she knows to survive
07:43the mother of the book had lost her husband
07:48mom went into her own world and withdrew
07:52and Megan understands that and Rose to the occasion to look after her siblings
07:56It was a struggle to continue to live regular day to day life
08:05so I took on that role of big sister and sometimes mom and sometimes funny caretaker
08:15I think Katniss has had to grow up early
08:18she's serving almost as a parent figure to her little sister
08:21but also shows her bravery
08:24at some point you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead
08:29the hard thing is finding the courage to do it
08:33I think The Hunger Games are popular because they express someone vulnerable who becomes a hero
08:39we all sometimes feel caught up in things beyond our control
08:42and how do we deal with it and I think in that is where you see the book's popularity
08:48they're also fun to read
08:50The Hunger Games was the first young adult novel to sell more than a million e-books
08:56much of that success can be attributed to Katniss Everdeen's appeal as a new generation of girl hero
09:02that young adult readers are drawn to
09:05both relatable and complex
09:10Katniss Everdeen is brave
09:13she's fierce but she's stoic
09:17and reading that book just kind of shaped and helped me feel more confident in these characteristics that I have myself
09:28please vote for my favorite book The Hunger Games
09:32it proves that against all odds no matter where you are
09:35what social class you are
09:37what ethnicity you are
09:38what gender you are
09:40you can beat all of the odds
09:46most of the people I write about are everyday heroes
09:49I think that you know the most positive thing about heroic characters is it just says
09:54it's not that we necessarily can all get to that level as much as we can up our game
10:01author James Patterson knows a thing or two about everyday heroes
10:06his detective character Alex Cross is the star of one of the most successful book series of all time
10:1324 and counting since the first book Along Came a Spider in 1993
10:19Alex is a policeman a detective in Washington DC
10:25but he's also an incredible family person and he's balancing that
10:29he works on some of the hardest cases and DC is a tough town
10:33Alex is a real flesh and blood character he's complex
10:38and he solves very grisly murders frequently
10:41and that has an effect on him and it has an effect on his family
10:43hi I'm Shaquille O'Neal and my favorite book to read is the Alex Cross series
10:50he's a real life hero
10:53and whenever you can save someone's lives or you know figure out information
10:58that helps you you know solve a crime
11:01definitely makes you a hero
11:03when I write the books I'm solving a puzzle
11:07and figuring out what the story needs to be the mystery how it proceeds the twists and the turns
11:12and Alex must solve the mysteries
11:16I think we spark to everyday heroes because we wish to be them
11:20we celebrate the every man the every person
11:23and you even see that in moments of great tragedy 9-11
11:27I think you see how people are really drawn to firefighters or emergency workers
11:32or the people who went beyond their job
11:34they rushed in where angels fear to tread
11:37I think one of the reasons that people love the series is they can identify with what you have to do for your work
11:44and then your family life
11:46I kissed my grandmother on the way out the kitchen door
11:49we've done that since I was 8 years old
11:51we also say goodbye
11:53just in case we never see each other again
11:55it's been like that for almost 30 years
11:58ever since Nana Mama first took me in and decided she could make something of me
12:03she made a homicide detective with a doctorate in psychology
12:07who works and lives in the ghettos of Washington DC
12:12Alex has turned down several jobs that would make him a bigger person in the department
12:17he prefers to work where he grew up
12:20where he considers to be a lot of problems
12:23and I admire that about him
12:25Mr. Patterson, I would like to say thank you for allowing me to step out of the Shaq character
12:31and become Alex Cross
12:33and if you ever want to do a book and call it Shaq Cross, I'm in
12:37Get out there and vote for the Alex Cross series, or else
12:41Be a hero yourself and join The Great American Read
12:47Check out all 100 titles at pbs.org
12:51You can cast your vote right there or on our Facebook page
12:54on Twitter, via text message, or toll-free call
12:58Among your favorite novels featuring ordinary heroes
13:02a number are set during significant moments in history
13:05and that is certainly true of The Help by Katherine Stockett
13:13The book is set in Mississippi during the 1960s Civil Rights era
13:18An African-American woman named Abeline
13:22peels back the curtain on what it's like to work as a household maid
13:26She reveals to a young, white newspaper reporter
13:30the harsh working conditions that she and her fellow mates face
13:34putting herself at great personal risk
13:37Abeline is taking this action
13:40on behalf of a much bigger group who doesn't have this kind of voice
13:44right, or an opportunity to have their voice heard
13:47I think that's something that you get here
13:49that really makes this story unique
13:51when we're thinking about all the different hero stories that we're talking about
13:54The Help, this is one of my favorite books
13:57These kind of books can be challenging to read
14:00because this is real life stuff
14:03it's painful, it's not just a story
14:05it's things that happen to people
14:07and so for me it can be challenging
14:09but I do try to challenge myself to also read things that are not so pretty
14:13I want to yell so loud that baby girl can hear me
14:17That dirty ain't a color
14:19Disease ain't the negro side of town
14:20I want to stop that moment from coming
14:23and it come in every white child's life
14:26when they start to think that colored folks ain't as good as whites
14:30Heroic tales of people during the civil rights era
14:34make sense to me because that was a war
14:37it was an almost civil war
14:39and we celebrate war heroes
14:41there was bloodshed
14:43and there was sacrifice
14:44and one that the forces of progress and good made some serious headway in
14:52that many of us are living on the dividends of now
14:55It's a story about heroes and women
14:58and I really like having those role models and seeing people triumph
15:02Hi, I'm Venus Williams and I am encouraging you to get involved in The Great American Read
15:09There are a lot of great books and is one of your favorite books on the list?
15:13Or maybe find a new favorite book?
15:15You never know
15:17Another crucial time in our history, The Cold War, is the setting for this next novel
15:21featuring a hugely popular everyday hero
15:25CIA analyst Jack Ryan
15:28in Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October
15:31The story follows the defection of one of the Soviet Navy's best submarine captains to the United States
15:40in a stealth submarine called the Red October
15:45Jack Ryan is called in to assist the US government
15:48before tensions with the Soviet Union escalate out of control
15:56The path Jack Ryan had chosen was in the CIA
16:00The agency's official motto was
16:02The Truth Shall Make You Free
16:04The trick, he told himself at least once a day, was finding that truth
16:09And while he doubted that he would ever reach this sublime state of grace
16:13he took quiet pride in his ability to pick at it
16:16one small fragment at a time
16:20What made that book so compelling to people was basically that it humanized the Soviets
16:24that it had two heroes
16:25one was an American, Jack Ryan
16:27and the other was the Soviet submarine captain
16:30and in a way it was sort of reassuring to think
16:32well there's good people on both sides
16:33so we're probably not going to blow ourselves up
16:35Tom Clancy was fascinated by the details of submarine warfare
16:38and he sent a manuscript to the up-and-coming Naval Institute Press
16:43Editor-in-Chief Fred Rainbow recorded and sent us this inside story
16:49I had the opportunity to take the first call that anybody had from the Naval Institute from Tom Clancy
16:55Clancy had meticulously researched his manuscript
16:58which featured details about life on a naval submarine that had never been revealed
17:05The real concern for the United States Navy was that we were giving away classified information
17:10we had sent this to a couple active duty officers to review the manuscript
17:15they believed the manuscript had to be classified
17:18The Navy actually conducted an investigation
17:21and determined that the novel contained nothing classified
17:24The thing that they didn't expect is that Tom Clancy was a tremendous interviewer
17:30and the people he interviewed were people who got the opportunity to serve on U.S. submarines
17:35President Ronald Reagan called the book unputdownable
17:39catapulting it to the bestseller list
17:42The hunt for Red October was not only a huge success for Clancy
17:46but also for the entire U.S. Navy
17:49For the very first time the U.S. Submariners felt good
17:52they had swagger in their step
17:55it affected positively recruitment for the submarine force
17:59and at the same time the submarine force of the Soviet Navy at the time was hurt
18:06because all of a sudden they knew as hard as they could run
18:10they couldn't catch up to the U.S. Navy
18:12Jack Ryan is clearly the kind of hero that many Americans want and need even today
18:17the series continues to be one of the most popular in the world
18:22with 21 titles
18:24all of them hitting the New York Times bestseller list
18:27Jack Ryan is a thinking man's hero and he's one of the reasons why the hunt for Red October is my favorite book
18:33and I think everyone should read it
18:35If you love a book talk about it and vote for it
18:37you can vote once a day every day at pbs.org slash great American read
18:44and remember to follow us on social on Facebook Instagram and Pinterest
18:50Your votes are coming in for another story of everyday heroes
18:53the young adult novel The Giver
18:59This Newbery award-winning book by Lois Lowry is a selection for the nationally acclaimed Free Minds Book Club
19:06located inside the D.C. jail
19:12How's everybody doing?
19:14Yeah?
19:15The majority of our members didn't grow up with books in the home
19:20and so when they're introduced to it
19:22it's like a world opens up to them that's incredible to witness
19:27The Giver centers around 12 year old Jonas
19:30who lives in a seemingly perfect society called the community
19:34where memories and feelings have been eliminated
19:37Jonas is appointed the role of the receiver
19:40making him the only one to recall any memories, good or bad
19:43He eventually discovers the community's dark side
19:47and takes a daring step to save a life and seek freedom
19:51Okay, so what do we all think of Jonas?
19:54He was courageous
19:56He was courageous. Why do you say that?
19:58Well at first he was seen to be a part of the community
20:01that's all he knew but then it seemed like once he got his job
20:04it seems that he started to wanted to see things different
20:07and once he started learning about colors and memories
20:10memories and aspects of life that he didn't get in his world
20:14so he wanted to stop venturing off
20:17that's what it appeared to me
20:19Jonas went on
20:21things could be different
20:23I don't know how, but there must be some way for things to be different
20:27there could be colors
20:29and grandparents, he added
20:31staring through the dimness towards the ceiling of his sleeping room
20:34and everybody would have the memories
20:37Jones was a hero
20:40Uh huh
20:42I think he was a hero
20:44Do you think that you could exhibit some of those qualities?
20:46I don't see myself as a hero though
20:48Anything heroic that you've ever done or consider heroic?
20:51Uh...
20:53Or something that you would like to do
20:55There we go
20:57I'll strive to be a hero
20:59I don't consider myself a hero but
21:04I think what I'm doing now by
21:06getting this GED
21:07Educating myself
21:08Okay
21:10I'm becoming a hero
21:11That's awesome
21:12That's awesome
21:13So you didn't have that opportunity before?
21:15Yeah, I didn't have that opportunity before
21:17Okay, so now you're taking advantage of it
21:18That's awesome
21:19And I love it
21:21Vote for the Giver
21:22It's a great book
21:24It's a very inspiring story
21:26For everybody to read around the world
21:28Be a part of the great American read
21:30And vote!
21:32So much has been written about
21:34The idea of the hero
21:35I think it connects to some deep human aspirations
21:38Of us wanting to test ourselves
21:42What we would do in times of great struggle and toil
21:45And war and famine
21:47And whatever those cases may be
21:48The hero stories are the reason you give somebody else your seat
21:52They're the reason that you make a phone call to your congressman
21:54You don't want to make
21:55They help you do those little things
21:56Because they've inspired you for such bigger heights
22:05Based on your votes
22:07It's clear Americans are also drawn to heroic stories
22:10That take on a darker twist
22:12Featuring characters that we consider tragic heroes
22:14There's a whole film noir kind of aspect to the sort of wounded and hurt American hero
22:24The person who keeps trying no matter what
22:27Or who tries to spite himself
22:32Because heroism is risky
22:34Because heroism requires sacrifice
22:36We have to understand that we might not make it out at the end
22:40And that's true of all of the characters that we see
22:43Who really take these extraordinary actions
22:46And change the world or change lives around them
22:49If we're not really thinking about what it means to be human
22:53What it means to be mortal
22:55Then we're probably not going to say
22:58This principle is the thing that I stand on
23:01Because we might trade our principles for a little bit more life
23:06The decision of how to spend our limited time on earth
23:10And what we are willing to sacrifice for the ones we love
23:14Is at the center of another of America's favorite books
23:17Featuring a tragic heroine
23:20Published in 1952
23:22E.B. White's Charlotte's Web
23:24Is still one of our most beloved classics
23:29Of course Charlotte is a hero
23:31I insist upon it
23:33I mean, true, she came to a sticky, messy end
23:35But she's, you know, saved Wilbur
23:37She did something with her life
23:39Charlotte's Web is the story of a pig named Wilbur
23:43Who was born a runt
23:45He is sold to a nearby farm
23:47Where the plan is that he will be slaughtered
23:49In his new barn, he befriends a spider named Charlotte
23:53She comes to love Wilbur so much
23:56That she hatches a plan to save his life
23:58She spins messages to make the humans see what she sees in Wilbur
24:04A terrific pig
24:06But Charlotte gives so much of herself in the process
24:09She sacrifices her own life
24:11Charlotte, as any really good friend would do
24:17Saves Wilbur's life
24:22Wilbur was the runt of a litter
24:24Nobody wants them
24:27Nobody expects anything from them
24:29Mm-hmm
24:31I'm an only child
24:32I didn't know my father
24:33My mother passed me to my grandparents
24:35And they raised me
24:37So it mirrors
24:39All the stuff that I pick kind of mirrors my life
24:43Why did you do all this for me?
24:46He asked
24:47I don't deserve it
24:48I've never done anything for you
24:50You have been my friend
24:52Replied Charlotte
24:54That in itself is a tremendous thing
24:56I wove my webs for you because I like you
24:58After all, what's a life anyway?
25:01We're born, we live a little while, we die
25:04A spider's life can't help being something of a mess
25:08With all this trapping and eating flies
25:11By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle
25:15Heaven knows anybody's life can stand a little bit of that
25:20Wow
25:24The inherent truth is that
25:27No matter how you're born
25:29And no matter how you're perceived
25:32You will not make it through life without friends
25:35Charlotte's Web
25:36Charlotte's Web
25:38It's like a relationship that
25:40Has never gone bad
25:42Like me and Charlotte's Web
25:44Are cool, like there's nothing
25:46That that book could ever do to me
25:49Other than bring me just good times
25:53In a survey of librarians, teachers and authors
25:56Charlotte's Web was chosen as the number one children's book
26:00Published in the United States
26:02Wilbur thinks he's not gonna make it through the heartache of losing
26:06His friend, mentor, protector, but he does
26:11He is okay at the end and that's why kids need to read that story
26:15So they'll know, this is terrible, but you can get through it
26:20You can make it
26:22I would love for you to vote for Charlotte's Web
26:25Because it is a fantastic tale of friendship
26:28Of commitment
26:30Of love
26:31Of hope
26:33And you know what?
26:35When somebody's writing messages in a spider web about you
26:38Telling people how great you are
26:40That's what a true friend
26:42Is
26:44Another of your best loved books featuring a tragic hero
26:48Who makes the ultimate sacrifice
26:50Is one of the most enduringly popular
26:52George Orwell's dystopian novel
26:55Published in 1949
26:57About a vision of 1984
27:04In a world of perpetual war and totalitarian rule
27:08Winston Smith is a low-ranking government employee
27:12Big Brother is always watching
27:15And even thinking rebellious thoughts is a crime
27:19Winston risks his life
27:21Waging a battle for individual freedom and expression
27:24A battle he cannot win
27:26I'm Reverend Katrina Foster
27:33I'm the pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church
27:35In Greenpoint, Brooklyn
27:37And my favorite book is 1984
27:41The first time I read it
27:43I could see its relevance in the world
27:46And it helped me to see some realities that were unpleasant
27:50It taught me something about
27:52The strength of the human spirit
27:57In a very difficult situation
28:03Winston Smith is my favorite character
28:07Even though
28:09The struggle he is engaged in
28:11Is
28:13So overwhelming
28:15He still tries
28:17Being in a minority
28:18Even a minority of one
28:20Did not make you mad
28:21There was truth
28:23And there was untruth
28:25And if you clung to the truth
28:26Even against the whole world
28:28You were not mad
28:30Most Americans, most humans
28:32Live our lives
28:34In struggle and tragedy
28:35More than absolute triumph
28:37So that's why I preach
28:39Fail
28:41Fail
28:43Fail
28:45If you have no failure
28:46It means you haven't tried
28:47I grew up in a very traditional family
28:52Went to church every Sunday
28:54And when I was four years old
28:57I knew that I was called to be a pastor
29:00I knew that that's what I was supposed to do with my life
29:03I was this little tomboy
29:06I did not behave like stereotypical girls
29:09And my parents were uncomfortable with that
29:12Around the age of 14
29:14I started realizing that I kind of liked girls
29:20In the same way that boys kind of like girls
29:23Young Katrina had a lot in common with the book
29:26In 1984, personal relationships are forbidden
29:30But Winston intentionally seeks out one of his coworkers
29:33I identify with that a lot
29:36But I also identify with the things that pushed him to do the things that got him in trouble
29:44To look at the world and say this is not right
29:47To want to love and be loved
29:51To want to make human connection
29:53Like Winston, Pastor Foster fell in love
29:56But when she and her wife started a family
29:58It brought her up against the rules of the church
30:02In 2007, approximately 70 pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
30:10Came out together as gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans
30:14We were working to change the policy that explicitly stated that
30:19Gay, lesbian, bisexual pastors were not allowed
30:23Basically to have families, to have a relationship
30:25At the 2007 gathering
30:28I spoke on the floor in favor of policy change
30:31And the policy failed
30:33And I was now in the crosshairs as the most open lesbian
30:38With a family in the entire country
30:40But we were willing to lose everything
30:43After more conversations
30:47We were able to convince the church
30:50To change the policy
30:51As we work towards a progression of human rights
30:56It has never come easily
30:58It has never come without cost
31:01But if we remember Winston
31:04He was a tragic hero, yes
31:07But he is an example
31:09That someone has to stand up
31:12Heroism means that everything around you has gone wrong
31:17That there is some sort of systemic failure
31:191984 is a very good example of the system failing
31:24Hey y'all, I'm Reverend Katrina Foster
31:29And I encourage you to vote for my favorite book
31:321984 by George Orwell
31:34And make it your favorite book too
31:36A timeless favorite about personal sacrifice
31:40And the drive to overcome one of the great American struggles
31:42Is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
31:46Published in 1952
31:51In the book the protagonist simply called narrator
31:55Is a black man who lives his life as a model citizen
31:58And continuously tries to uplift himself and his community
32:03But at every turn he comes up against a gauntlet of discrimination
32:07That leads to his ultimate and tragic end
32:12Ralph Ellison started out to write a war novel
32:17But then one day he just put down
32:20I am an invisible man
32:22And he wondered what, where did that come from?
32:25And the story came out of just that statement
32:29I had no desire to destroy myself
32:32Even if I destroyed the machine
32:35I wanted freedom, not destruction
32:38It was exhausting for no matter what the scheme I conceived
32:42There was one constant flaw
32:44Myself
32:46Invisible Man is an incredible tour de force
32:50That explored race in a new way
32:52By delving into the idea of social invisibility
32:55Amongst black people, specifically black men
32:58What does it mean to be hyper visible
33:00Yet outrageously and completely invisible
33:03At the same time?
33:05I feel that way all the time still
33:07The first time I read Invisible Man
33:10I was about 14 or 15 years old
33:12I can remember just being confused by the book
33:16And the seriousness and depth of it
33:18The politics of the book were very much relevant and contemporary
33:22Winton Norcellus met Ralph Ellison in the early 80s
33:26And the two became close friends
33:29I learned an unbelievable amount
33:31I respected his intelligence and his insight
33:33I was grateful for the time he spent with me
33:35I loved him
33:37What could I say about it?
33:38It's like somebody in my family
33:39Ellison exploded onto the literary scene with the publication of Invisible Man
33:45Which won the National Book Award
33:48And spent 16 weeks on the bestseller list
33:51Invisible Man is the most poetic attempt
33:55In American literature, not just Afro-American
33:58At defining, explaining, and helping you to see
34:02Exactly what that gauntlet of things are from the eyes of a regular person
34:05The narrator, good dude, not bad, trying to make sense out of the world
34:12And everything he touches is hot
34:14Every time he puts his hand on something he's getting shocked
34:17Every person he trusts, all of the establishment, it's all corrupt
34:20And all of that corruption is for him to accept a position of inferiority unquestioned
34:25And I really could relate to that
34:28Because that was very much the life that I was living
34:31I consider the book to be a blueprint for modern living
34:35And the type of hopelessness that the narrator concludes
34:40When you look across the landscape of our country
34:42For the average everyday American, white and black
34:45You have that feeling
34:47What can you do? You can hate some other people
34:49But they're not what the problem is
34:51The narrator is faced with a huge systemic problem
34:55In the same way that other tragic heroes are
34:59Like Winston Smith in 1984
35:01The system is bad, right?
35:03There is this racism that is inherent in the whole system
35:07And the ability to overcome that seems basically impossible
35:12When he goes down underground
35:15And his conclusion is to embrace his invisibility
35:17It's like the conclusion that every man gets
35:22When there's too much for him or her
35:25My name is Wynton Marcellus
35:27If you want to be a part of the Great American Read
35:30Go to our PBS website and vote
35:32We need you to vote
35:34There are even more great books about heroes on America's Bookshelf
35:39Check out all these titles at pbs.org
35:42Slash Great American Read
35:43Then keep reading, sharing with your friends on social media
35:48And most of all, voting
35:54We've explored the books you love that feature everyday and tragic heroes
36:00But there's one more group that's clearly a voter favorite
36:03The unlikely or anti-hero
36:06Where the main character doesn't seem to possess any of the classic heroic qualities
36:09The anti-hero requires us to do more work
36:16To figure out what it is about this character that we value
36:22The reader gets to see a different person, a different way of thinking, a different way of experiencing life
36:29I think my favorite heroes are unlikely heroes
36:32They're heroes we don't expect to do what they are able to do
36:35I think this is true of the curious incident of the dog in the night time
36:39Or Don Quixote where you have a figure racing against windmills
36:43Those qualities of unlikeliness help us think about what should a hero be like
36:47And how does a hero act like
36:49Readers nationwide are voting for one of the classic portrayals of an unlikely hero
36:54Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote
36:59The most published and translated novel in the world
37:05And a top seller since it was written more than 400 years ago
37:09It is often referred to as the first modern novel
37:13Because of how realistic and fleshed out the characters are
37:16They don't get more lovable than Don Quixote
37:21He is the perfect example of the kind of character
37:26Who the reader can both adore and feel superior to
37:31And feel in awe of
37:33There's no summing him up
37:35There's no encapsulating him
37:37You just have to read that intensely long, you know, layered novel
37:41And just enjoy him
37:43Set in Spain in the early 1600s
37:46Don Quixote is the story of an aging nobleman
37:50Who spends his time reading books about medieval knights
37:53And becomes obsessed with chivalry
37:56He declares himself a knight
37:58Takes up a lance and sword
38:00And roams the country
38:02On a quest to defend the helpless and defeat the wicked
38:05Scholars have long debated
38:08Is Don Quixote sane?
38:10Or has he lost his mind?
38:13I don't think of Don Quixote as crazy
38:16I see him as being a person from a different time
38:19Stranded where he is
38:21They saw 30 or 40 of the windmills found in that countryside
38:26And as soon as Don Quixote caught sight of them
38:29He said to his squire
38:30Good fortune is guiding our affairs better than we could have desired
38:35For there you see, friend Sancho Panza
38:3830 or more enormous giants
38:40With whom I intend to do battle
38:42And whose lives I intend to take
38:44His way of looking at the world is past
38:47But he can't really adjust
38:49He is who he is
38:51He can't become a different person
38:53And it's his commitment to who he is
38:56That I think is fundamentally heroic
38:58America's fascination with Don Quixote goes back centuries
39:03In fact, one of our country's first heroes
39:07President George Washington was even a fan
39:09The president of Mount Vernon sent us this little known story
39:14About a priceless copy of the novel
39:16Still housed at Washington's historic home
39:19George Washington is at a dinner party at Benjamin Franklin's house
39:23The Spanish ambassador is there
39:24And there's a conversation about Cervantes and about Don Quixote
39:29After that dinner, George Washington goes on his own mission to acquire a copy
39:34And he purchased this on the same day that he signed the Constitution
39:38September 17, 1787
39:40It's really extraordinary
39:42In his account book, he goes down to some bookseller
39:44And purchases it for 22 shillings and a few pence
39:48In Don Quixote, George Washington recognized a kindred spirit
39:51As a young man, George Washington writes down the rules of civility and behavior
39:57Which came from a Jesuit text from the 17th century
40:00So that right there connects directly to the era of Cervantes
40:04After George Washington dies
40:06He has Don Quixote on one of the tables in the study
40:09It is out in public
40:11So perhaps he was reading it in his dying days
40:13We don't know
40:15I think Don Quixote is one of the great heroes in literature
40:18And Ignatius J. Reilly is following in his footsteps
40:22Ignatius J. Reilly is the unlikely and unforgettable hero
40:28Of the Pulitzer Prize winning A Confederacy of Dunces
40:31Set in New Orleans, the novel follows Ignatius, an obese 30-year-old scholar who lives with his mother
40:44He launches a crusade against modernity, which he thinks is the downfall of humankind
40:50I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century
40:55When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors
41:00I make an occasional cheese dip
41:02Confederacy of Dunces echoes a lot of Don Quixote
41:07He's ready to take on the pretensions and the ridiculousness of the world we find ourselves in
41:14The book's author, John Kennedy Toole, tried unsuccessfully to get the manuscript published
41:20And he committed suicide in 1969
41:26After his death, Toole's mother took up her son's cause
41:30At the time, Walter Isaacson was a local newspaper reporter
41:35I first became aware of Confederacy of Dunces well before it was published
41:40Thelma Toole, John Kennedy Toole's mother, was peddling it around
41:45And you suddenly see her sweep and all of her grandeur and all of her style
41:51And put this big box on my desk
41:54And I remember going page by page through it
41:57And thinking, this is the greatest unpublished novel in New Orleans
42:03And it wasn't just a New Orleans novel
42:06It was like the greatest unpublished novel of all
42:08Like many great characters in literature, Ignatius is alienated from the world around him
42:15He is not somebody who can participate too easily in the world
42:20Because, you know, he's just awkward
42:23Awkward physically, awkward socially, awkward mentally
42:26When he tries to deal with things
42:28He believes everybody has lost touch with the deeper beauty in life
42:32And only he, Ignatius J. Reilly, can understand it
42:40Ignatius J. Reilly's goal is nothing less than transforming all of New Orleans
42:47And the world in general
42:49Because everybody in the world is kind of less refined
42:53Of course, he's a real buffoon in a way
42:55And he's mildly self-aware of that
42:59But it helps him navigate the weirdness of the world in which he finds himself
43:06I'm Walter Isaacson
43:08And my book is John Kennedy Tools, A Confederacy of Dunces
43:12If it's yours, go to the PBS website and make your vote count
43:16Want to know more about the books on your list?
43:20Hop over to PBS.org and explore
43:22While you're there, sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date with all the Great American Read events
43:32I think our American notions of heroism have changed
43:35After World War II, you see almost more and more anti-heroes
43:39You also see it in some of our protagonists
43:41That aren't exactly heroic
43:43Or, in some cases, you even see heroes that are more like villains
43:47And that really tension that I think is working out what does it mean to be a hero
43:52Is really an interesting one
43:57Hey everybody, I'm Seth Meyers
43:59I know a lot of you chose Catch-22 as your favorite book
44:02Well, it is mine too
44:08Catch-22 follows Captain John Yossarian
44:11Who has one wish
44:13To come out of the war alive
44:14To do that, he has to survive the dangerous combat missions he is constantly ordered to fly
44:24Looking for a way out, Yossarian falsely claims that he is insane
44:29Only to be told that by knowing he is insane
44:32He has proven that he is obviously sane
44:34In short, he finds himself caught in a Catch-22
44:38An expression created in the novel by author Joseph Heller
44:41This book has a lot of issues with the absurdity of the military
44:47It also, I feel like, shows us the character of the people who actually serve
44:51Because the criticisms of the military in this book are so much more the people that run it
44:54As opposed to the people who are the cogs in the machine
44:57Up until the 1960s, wartime novels tended to be solemn and serious
45:02But Heller portrayed war as a dark comedy, full of absurdity
45:08The book's publication in 1961 was right as the Vietnam War was intensifying
45:14So it appeared at a time when many Americans were questioning the government's motivation for war
45:20What Heller does a great job with is he shows that there's all different kinds of people who serve
45:25There are people who do it that are, at their core, incredibly brave
45:29There are people who are cowardly but are trying very hard to be brave
45:34They're putting their lives at risk the same way Yossarian is
45:37And that rebellious spirit and the fact that he was so funny is what made him so special to me
45:45They're trying to kill me, Yossarian told him calmly
45:50No one's trying to kill you, Clevenger cried
45:54Then why are they shooting at me, Yossarian asked
45:57They're shooting at everyone, Clevenger answered
46:01They're trying to kill everyone
46:03And what difference does that make?
46:08Catch-22 was both incredibly funny and incredibly moving
46:12And it's just always been a book I like going back to
46:15The beauty of a novel like Catch-22 is that it does validate that deep sense of
46:22There's something wrong here that we're not talking about
46:26It's almost like a friend that puts its arm around your shoulder and says
46:30It's not just you, like I see this too
46:33And we're in this together and that's what's unique about a book like that
46:37And I think that's why it lasts and continues as a favorite for people
46:41Hey guys, please, please be a part of the Great American Read and get out there and vote
46:46Our final example of an unlikely hero is also the most recently published of the group
46:512003's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
46:58The story is told to us by Christopher, a 15-year-old English boy with an extraordinary brain
47:06But who finds everyday life a challenge
47:10When a neighbor's dog is killed, Christopher harnesses his differences to try to solve the crime
47:15What's powerful about The Curious Incident is we have this first person who's speaking in ways that we don't always get to hear
47:24That intimacy of that voice is really powerful, it's a feat to create
47:30It strikes me in some ways that it's giving voice and providing this eye that isn't always seen
47:37Mr. Jevons said that I liked maths because it was safe
47:42He said I liked maths because it meant solving problems
47:46And these problems were difficult and interesting
47:49But there was always a straightforward answer at the end
47:52And what he meant was that maths wasn't like life
47:56Because in life there are no straightforward answers at the end
47:59I know he meant this because this is what he said
48:02My name is Mickey Rowe and I played the lead role in the theatrical production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
48:12Christopher exhibits a lot of the same autistic symptoms that I exhibit
48:17Christopher is the ultimate unexpected hero
48:21He succeeds not just in spite of his disability but also in part because of it
48:28I found out about the production because I got an email from the artistic director
48:34They really wanted to audition people who were on the spectrum
48:39I do not tell lies
48:41Mother used to say this is because I was a good person
48:45But it's not because I'm a good person
48:48It's because I can't tell lies
48:50It was the first book that I'd ever listened to and immediately thought this is me
48:53I can relate to so much of this
48:57And it was the first book that made me really realize there really are other people like me
49:02Out there in the world
49:04And that not only am I not weird or stupid or bad
49:09But just like Christopher
49:11I'm powerful and I can do whatever I want to do and accomplish the goals that I want to accomplish
49:16Christopher shows us how large the payoff can be when you do take those risks
49:21Had I not read the curious incident of the dog in the night time my life would be completely different now
49:30I think unlikely heroes are so compelling because they're so recognizable to us
49:36When you have a hero like in the curious incident of the dog in the night time
49:42Taking something that a lot of people say this is something that's wrong with you
49:46But in the book turns out to be something that's very right with you and actually you're the only one that can solve it
49:54Because of this thing that everybody has sort of told you has been a disability
49:59Becomes your superpower
50:02Please vote for the curious incident of the dog in the night time
50:06It is my favorite book because it reminds me that our differences really are our strengths
50:11From the unlikely hero to the tragic to the ordinary person who accomplishes the extraordinary
50:19Heroes are essential to our lives
50:22The hero lifts us it redeems what we try to do
50:26The hero provides us an archetype that gives us a direction
50:31Let's go this way and we'll be okay
50:33Heroes for Americans are very deeply grafted into our own sense of national identity
50:40And we think of ourselves as as heroic
50:43In essence these characters help us to connect to one of my very favorite sayings from Eleanor Roosevelt
50:49She said you have to do the thing that you think you cannot do
50:53The variety of heroes to me
50:55That kind of doubles down and on this American notion that like we have it within us
51:01To be this transcendent
51:04Heroic figure whether we are
51:08More introverted and quiet whether we're physically strong or not
51:13That there's something in the kit in the character
51:16Of all the American characters
51:19There's like a hero gene in all of us
51:21Our hero's journey may be drawing to a close for tonight
51:25But the books you've chosen will always be here
51:28To help us conquer our fears
51:30To give us comfort and hope
51:32And to inspire us to greater heights
51:34We hope you'll be inspired to read and learn more about all 100 books on America's List
51:39And make your voice heard by voting on Facebook, Twitter, via text message, toll-free call
51:42And at pbs.org slash Great American Read
51:51And be sure to join us for the grand finale when we reveal your choice for America's best loved novel
52:12We'll see you next time
52:13We'll see you next time
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