Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My Dad's Approved Reading List

I think I've told this story here before. Michael, my cool cousin six years my elder, influenced my reading choices when I was in junior high and he was in college. (That is a key job function of being a cool older cousin, right?)

My dad was none too happy that I was reading Breakfast of Champions in eighth grade; rather than forbid me from reading such things, Dad figured he could instead eat up all my reading time with other things -- books of his choosing -- if he offered big enough incentives. It was a move of parenting brilliance, I must admit. The deal he proposed was that for every book I read from a list of books he approved, I would get one flying lesson. I was going to try to solo before I got my driver's license.

I just found the book list. Here it is:
  • A Farewell to Arms, E. Hemingway
  • To Have and Have Not, E. Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls, which he probably would have approved as a substitution)
  • The Old Man and the Sea, E. Hemingway
  • Tom Sawyer, M. Twain
  • Test Pilot, J. Collins
  • All Quiet on the Western Front, E.M. Remarque
  • Any 1 (only) by Edna Ferber
  • Any 2 (both count) by J. Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden)
  • The Virginian, Owen Wister
  • Any 2 of (both count) Ernest K. Gann (e.g. The Aviator, The High & the Mighty)
  • The Caine Mutiny, H. Wouk
  • 4 short stories, R. Lardner
  • 4 short stories, E. Poe (Tell-tale Heart, Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher; Poems:  Lenore, Annabelle Lee, The Raven)
  • 4 short stories or 1 novel, N. Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter)
  • 4 short stories, D. Runyon (Blue Plate Special, Money From Home)
  • Seventeen, B. Tarkington
  • The Three Muskateers, A. Dumas
  • 1 (only), Z. Grey
  • 1 (only), M. Albrand [? Can't read this or figure out who this is]
  • Up to 3, J. London (Call of the Wild, White Fang)
  • 1 (only), L. Short
  • 1 (only) J. Marquand
  • We, C. Lindbergh
  • Treasure Island, R. L. Stevenson
  • The Prince & the Pauper, M. Twain
That is one heck of a great reading list . . . for adventure-seeking boys. I read the bolded ones, for sure, and maybe a few more. A couple of these we read for school, possibly even the previous year, but he gave me credit for those to get me started.

Update:  I added blue bolding for things I know I read eventually.   Musing:  Jack London was a socialist.  I wonder if schools still assign his novels.

Update 10/28/14:  I did read The Three Muskateers a couple years ago and liked it alot.

18 comments:

love johnson said...

I would have to argue the "cool" moniker.

Stephanie said...

Oh, the irony. Michael would have preferred to read this list.

Stephanie said...

Michael: you can read all these books in under 6 months.

Michael said...

I'm going to give it a shot. Going to go chronologically although there is an argument for reading them in the order he wrote them down. Depending on availability I'm thinking: Hawthorne, Three Musketeers, Poe, Tom Sawyer and Prince and Pauper, and Treasure Island to start.

Stephanie said...

There is just absolutely no way you went through school without having to read The Scarlet Letter. What on earth did you read in lit classes in jr high/high school?

Michael said...

As I told you offline, I have no memory of reading anything on the list. Since then I have recalled being fascinated with the Gold Bug in your Grandfather's collection of Poe and other short stories (small brown books, did you get those?), but I can't tell you anything about it. As far as school goes, I seem to remember we just screwed around a lot (HISD, ask LJ), particularly later in AP classes.

Stephanie said...

Nope, I didn't get the little books. As I recall, there were a couple different sets. Maybe Mom got some.

Stephanie said...

I'll set up some sort of thing to keep track of what you and I have read on the list. I'm not particularly inclined to read more, though. Have read and am reading and w ill be pitching Hemingway short stories for book club, though. His short stories are better than his novels, IMHO and in the opinion of a son of his.

Michael said...

Someone got those books. D doesn't have them. I'm sure I would have put dibs on them had they been available. I did get several technical tomes...

Stephanie said...

Poe stories would be great for reading out loud to B.

Michael said...

The only thing appropriate for reading to B these days is THE RIOT ACT.

Stephanie said...

All the more reason for some father/son reading time.

Scooter said...

Did anyone figure out who Albrand is/was? Martha Albrand?

Stephanie said...

Scooter!!!!!!!!!!! You probably don't want any fanfare, but I couldn't contain it.

Yes, we think probably Martha Albrand.

Forwarding you an email Mike sent with Publishers Weekly best sellers from the 1920s.,,

Scooter said...

Thanks, Steph. I'd'a bet money Dorothy Sayers was on that 20s list and I woulda lost. Guess she didn't sell that well here or that she was a decade later.

Stephanie said...

There's a new movie in the works for The Three Musketeers, starring Olando Bloom. I think filming is just about to begin.

Stephanie said...

Musketeers is the only one on the list that I haven't already read that I am inclined to read.

Stephanie said...

How about this? We each make a list -- for B and his cousin D to consider and enjoy/ignore.