When it comes to time wasters, one needs to be selective. With so many options for squandering one’s time online, one must be fastidious and efficient by seizing opportunities to repurpose time wasters. A few weeks ago, several of my friends on Facebook tagged me in a note asking me to: “List fifteen authors (of any kind: poet, playwright, whatever) who have influenced you and will always stick with you. Don't take too long to think about it -- just list the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.”
I normally ignore but notes, but I was intrigued by this task. Well, fifteen minutes transformed into three weeks by the time my list was almost done, people have moved on to ”15 Life Changing Movies” and their “15 Most Favorite Breeds of Dogs.” Movements on Facebook are short-lived, but this task lingered with me. And since I had the list done and don’t have my book read for book club this month, this is a great way to quickly fulfill my daily blog post obligation, complete the Facebook assignment, and show how pretentious my literary tastes really are, all in one effort.
1. Sylvia Plath: An amazing poet with a horribly tragic life who captured my imagination in my college years with her hauntingly dark and melancholy images. Her poetic rendering of her complex relationship with her onerous mother made my fascination with Plath’s writings and life very intimate and undeniable. Once I became a mother, I saw her horrible death at such a young age as less romantic and became less interested in her personal life, but I still remain a fan of her work.
2. Thomas Hardy: Much like Plath, Thomas Hardy’s works are both stunning and full of enormous tragedy. But more effectively than Plath whose poetry vastly surpasses her novel, short stories, play and letters, Hardy was able to write successfully and effectively across my many genres (novels, poetry, and plays) with tremendous skill. His works of fiction have a gravitas associated with them that supposedly put an end to the Victorian novel and made his works among the first Modern novels. Although there is not much lightness, joy and happiness in the works of Hardy, beauty abounds in his characterization, language, and motifs. Without question, Hardy remains my favorite novelist.
3. Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie might have been the first play that I read that was not by William Shakespeare, and I was immediately captured by not only the tragic themes but how dialogue can be used to propel a compelling plot. I went on to read almost all of his plays (I have seen a few of them on the stage, but I am the rare person who likes to read plays a little more than I like to see them). I have been strongly influenced by his character development, dark motifs and dramatic twists. Williams is an American treasure whose plays rank among the best American plays ever written.
4. E. B. White: Although White is mostly known as a children’s author, he is arguably among the world’s greatest essayists. Any writer who even dabbles in essays knows the works of White, and anyone who wants to the master the art of the essay has studied his essays thoroughly. I have read some of his essays so many times that I have large portions of many of them memorized. E.B. White is the essayist who in small doses inspires me to work harder and in large doses makes me curl up in a fetal position, wallowing in by self-doubt, self-pity and self-loathing. Needless to say, I am on a rich but restricted diet of E.B. White. (Every once in a while I am asked: What is an essay and how it differs from short story? If you really want to know pick up a copy of White’s collected essays.)
5. Toni Morrison: This Nobel Prize winning author knows how to weave a yarn that captures the imagination and stirs the soul. Song of Solomon is an epic story that had me riveted and thrilled to turn the next page; The Bluest Eye allowed me to experience an empathy different than I have ever felt previously; Beloved transported me to the time of slavery where I became attached to Sethe and her daughter Denver -- a truly eye-opening novel. Morrison is a challenging author, but she is worth the investment of time in order to read and understand her stunning literary fiction.
6. Arthur Krystal: This author is probably the least famous writer on my list, but he is easily the best essayist that you are not reading. He dismisses humor writing and memoir in preference of the literary essay, and he is very much continuing the tradition of American letters associated E.B. White. When I sit down to write, I stare at homemade sign that reads: “Be Like Arthur.” Arthur Krystal is the modern day gold standard that all essayists should aspire.
7. Harold Pinter: I had no idea who British Playwright Harold Pinter was until I saw his play Old Times staged while I was studying in England. The biting language and dark themes attracted me and made want to read more of his plays. Thanks to my husband, I have read all of his plays and am always astounded by the depth of his characters, his plot twists, and acerbic dialogue. Pinter is a literary phenomenon who greatly deserved the Nobel Prize in Literature that he earned shortly before his death.
8. Mark Twain: Anyone who dabbles in humor should read Twain. Anyone who writes essays should read Twain. Anyone who is an American or wants to be an American should read Twain. Really anyone who can read should read Twain.
9. Christina Rossetti: A minor Victorian poet whose big brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti, co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite movement in art and literature, Rossetti is a fascinating poet who mostly lived in her brother’s shadow and at times would shine on her own with her profoundly feminine poetry in terms of both style and content that touched on themes of motherhood, infertility, repression, and sexuality. Her poetry is simply beautiful and should be enjoyed simply for its beauty.
10. Fyodor Dostoyevsky: When it comes to novelists, Dostoyevsky runs a very close second to Thomas Hardy as my all time favorite. The darkness and tragedy that permeates his works nicely compliments all the depravity, mental illness, and violence; and he is certainly not afraid of an unhappy ending. So much misery and gloom, I just cannot get enough of Dostoyevsky.
11. Gertrude Stein: Truly an innovative marvel who is highly influential and really quite profound, Stein is so much more than a “Rose is a Rose is a Rose.” Her importance exceeds her friendships with Hemingway and Picasso. She was Modernist writer who broke conventions and re-imagined poetry while exploring the conditions of possibilities in politics, art, gender, language, ethnicity, religion and race. I had the wonderful opportunity to spend 18 months of my life reading all of Stein’s works and perusing hundreds of essays about her writing as I earned my Master of Arts in Literature in part by writing a thesis called Becomings: Gertrude Stein's approach to minor literature. (Eventually, I’ll post some of my writing about Stein to my blog, but I really needed a ten year break from the woman.)
12. Dorothy Parker: A depressed, cynical drunk with a caustic tongue and a quick wit, what isn’t there to love? I never tire of reading “The Telephone Call.” She captures with great humor and precision the anxiety we have all felt while waiting for the phone ring—so simple but so brilliant. I must admit that I am completely enamored by her cleverness and have even written a short sketch where I have a conversation with her ghost. (One of my most favorite blog postings that I have been converting into a One Act play for over a year.)
13. Judy Blume: Show me a woman who was a girl in the 1980s and I’ll show you a Judy Blume fan. I highly recommend the essay collection: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume.
14. Isabel Allende: A novelist who uses elements of Magic Realism, Allende is just a masterful storyteller. Her stories are compelling and her characters, particularly her female characters, are beautifully drawn. She skillfully unifies humor and solemnity while taking her readers on a marvelous journey. (I was happy to see that she is equally spirited in real life as she is in her writing. She was absolutely delightful and hilarious when I heard her speak in San Antonio – a wonderful treat!)
15. Oscar Wilde: Whether I am reading his plays, his poems, his fairy tales or his epigrams, my usual reaction is: “Damn, he is clever.” Wilde is a writer whose brilliance is revealed with each subsequent reading. During my early 20s, I read Wilde so frequently that when my husband bought me a kitten to keep me company while he worked and went to school, I named him Oscar. Sadly, my interest in Wilde’s writing has lasted longer than my interest in cats.
Surprisingly, not nearly as many British authors made my list as I would have suspected. Here are my mostly British Honorable Mentions: Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, George Bernard Shaw, William Shakespeare, William Blake, Matthew Arnold, Jonathan Swift, John Donne, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Harold Bloom.
