Brooks's Top Ten

I really tried not to be like Ben Adams and go verbosely over my count, but I couldn't pick just ten! But I did. I forced myself. I just three the other nine candidates in as an "appendix." (There are always ways around things.)

1. William Cowper, The Task: five-thousand-line mini-epic about the transformation of a stool to a sofa.
2. William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: to quote from Norton: “This, the most immediately accessible of Blake’s longer works, is a vigorous, deliberatively outrageous, and at times comic onslaught against timidly conventional and self-righteous members of society. . . .” All very attractive adjectives. :-)
3. Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus: the high-philosophical tone and unique style makes my mouth water.
4. Thomas Hardy, poetry: his complete poems runs almost a thousand pages, and his rising stature as a poet makes his verse good feeding ground.
5. James Joyce, Ulysses: I've been baptized in two exerpts and am thirsty for more.
6. D.H. Lawrence, poetry: I like his poetry, and (like Hardy) there is a lot of it to explore.
7. Robert Frost, poetry: after reading “Birches” and “Mending Wall,” I want to be a Frost expert.
8. Eugene O’Neill, plays: after watching Long Day’s Journey Into Night, I’ll pay good money to see anything O'Neill's written.
9. Richard Wilbur, New and Collected Poems: “Love Calls us to the Things of this World”—I wish more Christians would write like this! Bought this volume at the Strand, NYC.
10. A. R. Ammons, Garbage: this man has his mind in the right starting place, at least, in addressing Modernism.

Here are the runner-ups:

1. Elizabeth Browning: Sonnets from the Portuguese: for a romantic picnic with Dana, perhaps?
2. John Henry Newman: Apologia Pro Vita Sua, I want to read this in the near future, not for its literary value, but for theological reasons. I am trying to decide whether or not I am Roman Catholic, or just catholic. :-)
3. Herman Melville, Mardi: “almost unreadable . . . Melvillians find it inexhaustibly fascinating.” I’m in.
4. Emily Dickenson, poetry.
5. Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim and Nostromo: interest stimulated by Heart of Darkness.
6. William Faulkner, Absalom Absalom!
7. William Carlos Williams, poetry.
8. Ted Hughes, Collected Poems: another Strand purchase. Viva la Crow!
9. Craig Raine, poetry: founder of the Martian School.