The Itinerant Librarian: Have I read books that shaped America? Yea, a few

Friday, August 03, 2012

Have I read books that shaped America? Yea, a few

I came across the Library of Congress's list of "Books that Shaped America." I came across the list at Bookshelves of Doom here.The list is part of an LOC exhibit, which you can view online too. My four readers know that I come across a list like this, and I just have to see how many I have read. Follow the link to see the full list. Out of their list, I have read the following:

Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776). I have found that, like other works of the U.S. Founders, many people think they know this book, or they think because they have seen a quote from it that they have read it. I actually read it, and I think a lot more people ought to read it.
Benjamin Franklin, The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin, LL.D. (1793).This is what most of us know as the Autobiography.
Washington Irving, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820).
Frederick Douglass, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845). I've read this a few times, graduate school being the latest. My daughter now has to read it for school this upcoming year. It is one of her summer readings.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick, or The Whale (1851).
Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854).
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1855).
Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).
L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). I remember reading this as a child, but I have not read it recently. It may be time to look at it again.
Jack London, The Call of the Wild (1903). Another one I remember reading as a kid.
Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage (1912). I read this for my Adult Readers' Advisory class in library school. It was my Western literature selection.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925). I read this in graduate school, and I remember hating it. In fact, it is one of those books that I honestly do not understand the infatuation so many people feel for it. The fact that a new film is coming out is not something that appeals to me i.e. I could not care less.
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). Read this for my African American Literature course in graduate school.
Margaret Wise Brown, Goodnight Moon (1947). I read this to my daughter a few times when she was a baby.
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951). I believe I have expressed my hatred of this book before, so I will not say more on it.
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952).
E.B. White, Charlotte's Web (1952).
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (1953). I had to teach it to high school freshman back in my days as a school teacher.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged (1957). Yes, for some reason I do not understand to this day, I inflicted this on myself. It is, to put it simply, the paean to selfish assholes everywhere who think they will never need anybody.
Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat (1957).
Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957). Another one I read on my own that I did not like. It is another case of an overrated book.
Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961). I remember finding this book interesting when I read it, and I did like it. Given current events, it is starting to seem relevant. It may be time to revisit it.
Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are (1963).
Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987).
Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On (1987).

Out of the 88 books on their list, I have read 25. However, I will add some of the authors from the list that I have read some of their other works. I always feel like I have to make this observation because very often I have read some of these canonical or classic authors, but not the specific books listed on a list. For instance:

The Federalist (1787). I have read parts of this, but I have not read all of them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. I have read his short fiction, but I have not read The Scarlet Letter (1850). I have no intention to do so neither. I already know the basic plot, so I don't feel the need to inflict it on myself.
Mark Twain. I have read a few of his other works in addition to Huck Finn. To be honest, I like his later, darker works.
Emily Dickinson. I have read her poetry, just not a collected works book.
W.E.B. Du Bois. I have parts of his work, but I never had to read the whole work. I may need to fix that gap.
William James. I read The Varieties of Religious Experience instead.
William Carlos Williams. Have read some of his poetry, but not the whole book listed.
Robert Frost. Same thing.
Langston Hughes. Ditto.
William Faulkner. I read As I Lay Dying instead. I hated it, and to this day, it has turned me off from ever reading Faulkner again. If I want to read some generational tale about some family, I prefer the Buendías. The Bundrens really are just a bunch of very messed up people Southern whites.
Dashiell Hammett. I've read his short fiction.
Eugene O'Neill.I read Long Day's Journey into Night. Oh, and I saw Desire Under the Elms performed.
Ray Bradbury. Yes, I did read the book listed. However, The Martian Chronicles is my favorite Bradbury work.
Ayn Rand. Yes. I have read more than one book by this woman. I also read The Fountainhead. If you must inflict this author on yourself, read The Fountainhead, which is somewhat more readable plus it is a lot shorter.
Robert A. Heinlein. I have read a good amount of his short fiction. Novels of his I recall reading include Starship Troopers, Time Enough for Love, and Farnham's Freehold. I hated that last one. I did like the other two. I kind of have a love-hate relationship when it comes to Heinlein.