Top Ten Tuesday | I Read Dead People
Oh, friend, forget not, when you fain would note in me a beauty that was never mine, how first you knew me in a book I wrote, how first you loved me for a written line.
- Edna St. Vincent Millay -
I'm finally joining the Top Ten Tuesday link-up hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! I needed something short 'n' sweet for this month's post, and this fit the bill nicely. Today's TTT prompt is "Authors I'd Love a New Book From," with freedom to interpret that definition however you choose. I've decided to restrict my candidates to deceased authors (RIP). I haven't read every work by every author on my list, but I still feel confident that I'd be interested in reading more from them even if I had.
In no particular order, then, here they are: ten authors who I (selfishly & with shocking entitlement) wish had written just a little bit more before they passed away.
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❧ C.S. Lewis
My boy was fairly prolific, it must be acknowledged, but to paraphrase him, you can never get a C.S. Lewis bibliography long enough to suit me. Super specifically, reading the fragmentary After Ten Years in a collection of his unpublished/unfinished work made me wish that I could read a completed, novel-length version of it. The Till We Have Faces vibes were strong and they were promising and they were, sadly, never to be realized.
❧ B.J. Chute
Please! give me! something else! along! the lines! of Greenwillow! for the love! of literature! I beg you!
❧ Patricia A. McKillip
Granted, I still have a few McKillip offerings awaiting a first read, but I'd still like several more. Gimme more of that gossamer-fine high fantasy written in the purest hue of lavender, please.
❧ Walter Wangerin, Jr.
Specifically, I really want another novel that isn't biblical fiction from this guy. Because biblical fiction isn't really my jam, but this man's writing certainly is. I mean, he really just . . . dropped a masterpiece as earth-shattering and soul-devastating as The Book of Sorrows and then expected me to just?? Go on functioning??? The audacity, the vivacity.
❧ Harper Lee
Because, however it may have been misapplied/irresponsibly elevated, and whatever flaws it may have, To Kill a Mockingbird is remarkable and I'd love to read more from the pen that wrote it. And, publication controversy notwithstanding, I actually did like Go Set a Watchman, as well.
❧ Virginia Woolf
Did Woolf already say everything that she really had to say before her death? Possibly. Would another work offer anything substantially new? Possibly not. Would I still devour it? Heck, yes.
❧ L.M. Montgomery
This really isn't fair because I've by no means exhausted Montgomery's substantial oeuvre, but I'd like a few more options (besides The Blue Castle, et. al.) that don't center on Starry-Eyed Waif Wunderkind™.
❧ Catherine Marshall
While I'd probably disagree with some of the worldview and/or theology espoused in it, I wouldn't say nay to reading another novel by this lady. Christy, for all its faults, is no mean feat, and even Julie was quite decent (from what I can remember).
❧ William Goldman
I've barely scratched the surface of Goldman's bibliography, but I get the feeling that most of his work is quite different from MY BELOVED IMMORTAL The Princess Bride, and while I don't want a replica of that book, I would like something . . . maybe more along those lines? Maybe? *shrugs* I guess I oughta give his other stuff more of a try.
❧ Natalie Babbitt
Again, haven't read all of her work yet, but I think it would have been interesting to see what she would have done with a piece for adults. Especially since she was so good at developing mature themes in her children's books.
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There you have it!
If you could have one more book from any author you pleased, which author would you choose?
Okay, first of all, I love that Edna St. Vincent Millay quote.
ReplyDeleteAnd second of all, I love this idea, although it also makes me a bit sad, since we definitely won't ever get more books from these people...
Top of my I-would-love-another-book-from-you dead authors list is probably Madeleine L'Engle (I know she wrote a TON of books, but another one would never hurt). Although Lewis, Tolkien, and Rumer Godden are also on there. :)
Isn't that quote great? I love Millay's poetry.
DeleteYep, definitely a bit of a downer. xD But c'est la vie!
Ooh, your list is neat! I need to try L'Engle's non-fiction; I've heard great things.
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ReplyDeleteHow lovely, Olivia!
ReplyDeleteI Absolutely-One-Hundred-Per-Cent agree with all of these. Well, at least the ones I know (particularly Sir Clive Staples). I haven’t yet read anything from Walter Wangrin or B.J. Chute, but would you recommend them? What have they written?
I would also LOVE to have more from Tolkien. I mean, the Lord of the Rings is extremely hard to beat (impossible, some might argue), but I really love his shorter stories (Farmer Giles of Ham and Smith of Wooten Major are two particularly wonderful ones) and just in general the world could use more Tolkien.
Also, this one is kind of different, but maybe Thomas Aquinas? I would actually really like to sit down and have a conversation with the guy over lunch, because he was Brilliant and my poor mind can comprehend only some of his philosophies.
Thanks again!
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Delete(Had to delete the first draft of this comment as I messed up the italics, haha.)
DeleteSir Clive Staples forever. <33 And ahhhh, yes, Walter Wangerin and B.J. Chute are wonderful authors whom I HIGHLY recommend. I've not read everything that either of them wrote, but I have read a decent bit.
Wangerin's Chauntecleer the Rooster books (at least the first two; I've heard strange things about the third, which was written much later) are stunning, gritty anthropomorphic novels -- think Animal Farm, but ten times better, imho -- about faith, community, forgiveness, theodicy, etc. The second installment, The Book of Sorrows, is probably in the top five best books I've ever read in my life. It's extraordinary, though emotionally/spiritually brutal, so be forewarned, hehe. It's also better to read the first installment (which isn't as good) beforehand as the sequel doesn't make as much sense without it.
B.J. Chute wrote several books, but most of them are out-of-print/fairly obscure; it's hard to get much information about them online. Her best-known work is Greenwillow, which is a delightful little pastoral dramedy. Think somewhat Anne of Green Gables vibes (though, again, I personally prefer Greenwillow). It is squeaky clean and a real "refreshment of spirit." :)
Fun, fun, fun! If I recall correctly, I quite enjoyed Farmer Giles of Ham when I read it/SOWM.
Oooh, Aquinas! Love that. I've never read any of his original work, but it's on the to-do list. Do you have a favorite piece from him?
Thanks as always for the lovely comment, Astrya!
Harper Lee is a good pick!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Top Ten Tuesday.
Lydia
Thanks for commenting, Lydia! I enjoyed your post, as well.
DeleteNo, NOT the Starry-Eyed Waif Wunderkind™! *hides under the table*
ReplyDeleteI fully recognize Montgomery's importance as an influential author of women's fiction... and yet... and yet. ;)
You've really put your finger on it with To Kill a Mockingbird; texts like this one (Huckleberry Finn is another that comes to mind) are deeply important and meaningful IN SPITE OF the way they've sometimes been presented as "the only books white Americans need to read about racism, ever." Like, no! Read other books! By Black authors! But also... do read To Kill a Mockingbird.
Montgomery and I have a like/dislike relationship. ;) ;)
DeleteYes, 100%! It is vitally important that we present these books in the proper context, as *one, incomplete, not-exhaustive* perspective on racism, NOT the be-all, end-all of literary racism education for children. Own-voices stories are indispensably necessary; we must ensure that our children read those stories. To Kill a Mockingbird is just one of MANY good and important books to read on the topic.