{"id":323,"date":"2016-02-15T21:57:21","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T02:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/?p=323"},"modified":"2020-09-21T19:42:52","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T23:42:52","slug":"woefully-under-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/?p=323","title":{"rendered":"Woefully Under-read"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m not even sure \u201cunder-read\u201d is actually a word, perhaps because I am so under-read, but I am truly woeful of my lack of readness? <\/em>Come to think of it, my vocabulary might be lacking as well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I discovered my malady after my friend Jeff, who just happens to be an awesomely cool librarian, texted me \u201cBronte was a genius.\u201d He was in the midst of Wuthering Heights<\/em> and was expressing his admiration. I answered, \u201cYes, the Bronte sisters were geniuses.\u201d What a snarky thing to say, as if I actually know more than he does. I received my comeuppance (All you non-southern people should know that this is, indeed, a real word). I received my comeuppance when Jeff asked me to send him two lists:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. \u00a0 Top 20 must-read 19th-century UK novels.<\/em><\/li>
  2. \u00a0 Same for American Lit. but 19th and 20th centuries pre-1940.<\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    At this point, it ocurred to me that I wasn\u2019t sure I could come up with these lists. I quickly Googled! I looked up the top 50 19th-century novels. I had read dismally few of them. Is my Master\u2019s degree in Literature a farce? Oh, woe is me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are my excuses: I started my college career out majoring in Sports Psychology. Then, I decided I didn\u2019t have the drive and ambition to make it in that career, so I switched to Creative Writing, because everyone knows writing takes zero drive and ambition, right? Stop calling me an idiot, all you writers out there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Anyway, said degree consisted of a few literature courses and many workshop-type classes that were extremely well-taught by extremely talented professors and left me feeling slightly inadequate. I decided a graduate degree in English Literature would let me use my love of literature in academia. The thing is, working toward a degree in English means studying a smattering of work from a number of different genres and time periods and really becoming an expert in a field only while working on a thesis. My area of expertise is Restoration Drama. Who but an English teacher knows anything about Restoration Drama? I chose the era because Dr. Katherine Keller, the most amazing professor who ever walked university halls, taught the class, and because I wrote about place setting, which is my favorite topic. But that\u2019s a subject for anther time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The important idea here is that I have read precious little. I know quite a bit about 19th-century poetry, and I have read many of the famous Russian and French novels of that century, but there is so much I do not know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So, Jeff, here is your stinkin list, and now I have to go read stuff. I\u2019m trying to decide if I should thank you for the fire under my tush!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    UK Novels (not in order because that is asking way too much)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1<\/strong>. and 2. <\/strong>We\u2019ll start with the Brontes (there are actually 3 of them, but I haven\u2019t read the 3rd, whose name is Anne). Jane Eyre <\/em>is Charlotte, and Wuthering Heights <\/em>is Emily. Both amazing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. and 4. <\/strong>Lord Jim <\/em>and Heart of Darkness, <\/em>two profound and beautiful works by Joseph Conrad, for whom Enlgish was a second language. Blows my mind every time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5., 6. and 7.<\/strong> So Jane Austin was just genius of geniuses. Anything she wrote is perfect, but my three favorites are Pride and Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility,<\/em> and Emma.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    8., 9. and 10.<\/strong> Another absolute genius is Dickens, of course. The problem is, I have read precious little of his work. So, I can recommend A Tale of Two Cities<\/em> and A Christmas Carol<\/em>because they are awesome, and I may be one of few who actually loved Great Expectations. <\/em>My daughter performed in the musical Oliver <\/em>when she was in kindergarten, but that doesn\u2019t count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    11.<\/strong> Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus<\/em> by Mary Shelley. Enough said. I mean, it\u2019s Frankenstein after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (You couldn\u2019t have asked for 10? You had to ask for 20?)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    12. <\/strong>Is it cheating to include children\u2019s books? I hope not because I love them. So, I recommend Black Beauty<\/em> by Anna Sewell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    13. and 14. <\/strong>Is Lewis Carroll for children or for adults? Hm. Anyway, Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland <\/em>is good, but I love Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There,<\/em> mostly because it contains \u201cJabberwocky\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    15. to 20. <\/strong>Confession: I\u2019m rounding out the list with books I veaguely remember, and it\u2019s highly likely that I never finished because I was too busy. I do think they are worthy of another read. Thomas Hardy\u2019s Tess of the d\u2019urbervilles,<\/em> George Eliot\u2019s Silas Marner, <\/em>William Thackery\u2019s Vanity Fair, <\/em>Sir Walter Scott\u2019s Ivanhoe<\/em>, Treasure Island<\/em> by Robert Louis Stevens, and The Time Machine<\/em> by H. G. Wells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (I wanted to include James Joyce, whom I love, but my favorite A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man<\/em> was 1916 I think. Too late for the UK list. Sigh.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    American Novels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. <\/strong>My mom\u2019s favorite book My Antonia <\/em>by Will Cather<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. <\/strong>Little Women <\/em>by Louisa May Alcott<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3., 4., and 5.  <\/strong>There are lots of great Hemingways. I have read many, but I picked some pre-WWII ones: The Sun Also Rises, <\/em>A Farewell to Arms, <\/em>and Green Hills of Africa.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6. <\/strong>The Good Earth <\/em>by Pearl S. Buck<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    7. <\/strong>F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s The Great Gatsby<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    8. and 9. <\/strong>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer <\/em>and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn <\/em>by the great Mark Twain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    10. <\/strong>Jack London\u2019s The Call of the Wild<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    11. <\/strong>Nathaniel Hawthorne\u2019s The House of Seven Gables<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    12. <\/strong>The Country of the Pointed Firs <\/em>by Sarah Orne Jewett. This is technically a book of short stories rather than a novel, but it\u2019s great. So sue me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    13. <\/strong>I love Ayn Rand, but the only book that is pre-WWII is We the Living. <\/em>No matter; it is a book worthy of recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    14. <\/strong>While I remember the details of D.H. Lawrence\u2019s short stories, the novels didn\u2019t stick with me so long. I do remember enjoying Lady Chatterly\u2019s Lover<\/em>, but I think it was mostly because I knew it had been banned when it was first published!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    15. and 16. <\/strong>Henry James is another author I remember appreciating, mostly because his long sentences were so masterfully put together. I can\u2019t say I loved any of the books, though. I\u2019m recommending The Portrait of a Lady<\/em> and The Ambassadors.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    17. <\/strong>I am going to put The Bridge of San Luis Rey <\/em>by Thornton Wilder here only because I can\u2019t list his plays, which are amazing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    18. to 20. <\/strong>Again, I am going to round out the list with books I sort of, kind of remember and probably need to read again: Kate Chopin\u2019s The Awakening, <\/em>James Fenimore Cooper\u2019s The Last of the Mohicans,<\/em> and Sister Carrie <\/em>by Theodore Dreiser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (I\u2019m sorry, I just don\u2019t like Melville or Faulkner. Should I admit that? Many others do, however, so don\u2019t let me discourage you.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Okay, Jeff. That\u2019s it. I need to read more! I think I might start with George Eliot. Anyone else have better suggestions?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m not even sure \u201cunder-read\u201d is actually a word, perhaps because I am so under-read, but I am truly woeful of my lack of readness? Come to think of it, my vocabulary might be lacking as well! I discovered my malady after my friend Jeff, who just happens to be an awesomely cool librarian, texted me \u201cBronte […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[32,33],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-19th-century-american-novels","tag-victorian-novels"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324,"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions\/324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/delynwagenknecht.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}