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This is the second in a series of lists related to the millennium. This month, Dr. Harold Bush, assistant professor of English, offers a look at some of his favorite literary works of the 20th century.
By Dr. Harold K. Bush
I have been asked to list my favorite literary works of the 20th century. By way of introduction, I would like to make several comments: First, because my field is American literature, I am sure that you will notice a strong prejudice for works by Americans; second, because my theoretical predilection is for cultural studies, some of my choices may not seem as "literary" as others; and third, I understand the question to ask what my favorite works are -- not what I think the academy, or literature professors, might think they are. Thus, I have chosen works that I can still read over and over, and still enjoy at least as much, if not far more than, the first time I encountered them. In no particular order:
1. Wallace Stevens, Harmonium. The period of High Modernism produced a large number of outstanding books of poetry. This is my favorite. It is playful, profound, stylistically revolutionary and full of color and movement.
2. Willa Cather, My Antonia. Cather wrote many splendid works. Her sense of pastoral beauty and the sublime power of nostalgia are most obvious here. One of the great, yet underrated, masterpieces of American literature.
3. Natsume Soseki, Kokoro. Soseki practically invented modern literature in Japan. Kokoro, translated roughly as "The Heart of Things," explores man's loneliness in a rapidly changing Japan during the Meiji Period. Dark, gentle, confusing, yet reassuring about human compassion.
4. Flannery O'Connor, Collected Stories. Lurid, grotesque, "unrealistic" folks; but then you meet one of her characters at a 7-Eleven or a J.C. Penney's store. O'Connor is the master at achieving specific details and nuances that perfectly capture human personalities -- each of whom she loves dearly.
5. Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and Oh, the Places You'll Go! Some of my favorite literary experiences were reading these over and over to my fascinated son, Daniel -- in fact, these were some of my favorite experiences, period. With all due respect to Joyce, James, Proust, Kafka and Woolf, I choose Dr. Seuss.
6. Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things. Powerful meditation on caste prejudice, family division, social dominance and the creative uses of history and memory. Roy, through sheer poetry, awesome scope and soaring imagination, attempts to redeem a world of inherent trauma and tragedy.
7. James Baldwin, Going to Meet the Man. Fierce, bedeviled and lost African-American protagonists -- yet searching for transcendence and the good life in an America that does not want them.
8. Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time. Stories that sound like poems. Profoundly philosophical meditations that occur in the context of fly fishing, camping, skiing, hanging out with hobos or sipping whiskey with a friend.
9. Horton Foote, screenplays of To Kill a Mockingbird, The Trip to Bountiful and Tender Mercies. We also need to acknowledge playwrights and screenwriters as literary masters. Foote is one of the best; these films highlight the fallibility, yet dignity, of human beings.
10. The Beatles, Abbey Road. The best, most artfully coherent album by arguably the greatest mass cultural force of the century. Here we have the Fab Four getting together for one last go-round, and the results are splendid. The final medley is one of the great achievements of the rock era.
Have an idea for a Top 10 list? Call Joe Muehlenkamp at 977-2519.
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