Late last year, I decided 2017 would be the year I dove more fully into the literary canon. I was an English major (you are all shocked), and when I graduated and no longer had to read the classics for my classes, it was a real joy to dive into books that were as far from that category as possible: YA dystopias, adult mysteries, popular nonfiction, and lots of Harry Potter re-reads.
Lately, though, I’ve been wanting to inject more variety into my reading. Despite all the reading I did for my degree, my knowledge of the (English language) literary canon is not as expansive as I wish it were. It will be ten years this December since I graduated with my BA, so 2017 seems like a good time to revisit some of my roots, to broaden them, and in so doing, learn more about our cultural history.
The first book I chose was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I expect most of the books I read for this project will be audiobook reads, and this was a great one to kick it off, since Angelou reads it herself. She’s got such a unique voice and cadence, and her story of her first sixteen years of life is engrossing, painful, and important. It’s also full of joy and humor in many parts. I like a good memoir, and there’s no doubt that Angelou’s is among the best, both in terms of content and writing style.
I have read a lot of the classics already, of course; favorites include Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, The Color Purple, and A Christmas Carol. There are definitely some I like less (Mrs. Dalloway, A Tale of Two Cities, Wuthering Heights), and a couple I loathe (Absalom, Absalom!, The Great Gatsby). I look forward to adding more titles to each category this year.
I’ve made a list of some authors I’d like to read more of for this project, including Jane Austen, Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, and Ernest Hemingway. I want to try a few more Dickens titles and finally read The Catcher in the Rye. I want to check out classic adventure tales like Robinson Crusoe and read newer additions to the literary canon like Things Fall Apart and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I want to broaden the idea of what our English language literary canon should be, too, and I hope you’ll help me do so by commenting with a recommendation for a book you loved.
A few titles to consider — some I’ve only recently read or revisited!
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET by Sandra Cisneros (I’m so shocked we didn’t read this in high school, considering it’s set in Chicago)
AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston — I haven’t read it since college, but I think I read it 500000+ times in college for various projects (& I mean that in a good way)
I suspect you’d like digging into some Dorothy Parker, too.
I read Angelou’s book when some on our school board wanted to ban many of the books on the AP english reading list. Since I had been in hgh school during the 70’s I had read many of the books that were being considered to be banned – but none of the newer ones (having been deep into children’s books with raising 3 kids). After speaking my mind to the school board I dove into angelou’s book – I think i finished it in under 24 hours and felt i had not come up for air! What an amazing child/woman and what a childhood so different from my own. I think this book sent me on my way to becoming a more empathetic person and eventually changing my perspective on many social and political issues.