In her post Thornton Wilder & Bridges, guest writer Teri Blair said this about Mr. Schminda, her former teacher:
Years ago, I was given a reading list by my 11th grade English teacher. I was in the college prep class, and the list of 100 or so books were ones he wanted us to read before we graduated from high school. It wasn’t just his idea. He told us a committee of English professors had compiled it. These books were considered the bare-bones-minimum to have read before we darkened the first door of a collegiate hall.
This piqued the interest of several readers — myself included — and we asked to see the list. Teri generously reproduced it from mimeographed pages carried with her since high school. So, without further ado…(drumroll)…and in no apparent order except that which made sense to Mr. Schminda et al., here is…
THE “95 BOOKS” LIST
Provided by Teri Blair
JOHN STEINBECK
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
CANNERY ROW
HERMAN MELVILLE
MOBY DICK
WHITE JACKET
TYPEE
OMOO
WILLIAM FAULKNER
LIGHT IN AUGUST
INTRUDER IN THE DUST
MARK TWAIN
PUDD’NHEAD WILSON
CONNECTICUT YANKEE
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
THE DEERSLAYER
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
WILLA CATHER
O PIONEERS!
MY ANTONIA
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
THE SUN ALSO RISES
ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
THE GREAT GATSBY
THORNTON WILDER
THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY
OUR TOWN
THEODORE DREISER
THE AMERICAN TRAGEDY
SISTER CARRIE
FRANK NORRIS
THE OCTOPUS
MCTEAGUE
STEPHEN CRANE
THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE
MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS
WALTER VAN TILBURG CLARK
THE OX-BOW INCIDENT
JOHN HERSEY
THE CHILD BUYER
DANIEL KEYES
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON
OLE ROLVAAG
GIANTS IN THE EARTH
WILLIAM BARRETT
LILIES OF THE FIELD
SINCLAIR LEWIS
MAIN STREET
ARROWSMITH
BABBITT
DODSWORTH
ELMER GANTRY
EDNA FERBER
CIMMARRON
GIANT
ICE PALACE
UPTON SINCLAIR
THE JUNGLE
OWEN WISTER
THE VIRGINIAN
NORMAN MAILER
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD
HERMON WOUK
THE CAINE MUTINY
HARPER LEE
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
LORRAINE HANSBERRY
A RAISIN IN THE SUN
OLIVER LAFARGE
LAUGHING BOY
THOMAS FALL
THE ORDEAL OF RUNNING STANDING
PAUL ZINDEL
THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON
MARIGOLDS
JAMES AGEE
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
ROBERT PENN WARREN
ALL THE KING’S MEN
JEAN MERRILL
THE PUSHCART WAR
JOHN KNOWLES
A SEPARATE PEACE
DALTON TRUMBO
JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN
MICHAEL CRICHTON
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN
THE TERMINAL MAN
ARTHUR CLARKE
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
RAY BRADBURY
FAHRENHEIT 451
NEVIL SHUTE
ON THE BEACH
PAT FRANK
ALAS, BABYLON
MARGARET MITCHELL
GONE WITH THE WIND
BETTY SMITH
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
RICHARD WRIGHT
NATIVE SON
RALPH ELLISON
THE INVISIBLE MAN
HAL BORLAND
WHEN THE LEGENDS DIE
LEONA RIENOW
THE YEAR OF THE LAST EAGLE
HAMLIN GARLAND
SON OF THE MIDDLE BORDER
DAUGHTER OF THE MIDDLE BORDER
EDITH WHARTON
AGE OF INNOCENCE
JACK LONDON
WHITE FANG
CALL OF THE WILD
SEA WOLF
CARL SANDBURG
REMEMBRANCE ROCK
PEARL BUCK
THE GOOD EARTH
RICHARD H. DANA
TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES
SCARLET LETTER
JESSAMYN WEST
THE FRIENDLY PERSUASION
ALDOUS HUXLEY
BRAVE NEW WORLD
SAUL BELLOW
THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH
ARTHUR MILLER
THE CRUCIBLE
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
WASHINGTON IRVING
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
RIP VAN WINKLE
EDGAR ALLAN POE
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
THE RAVEN
BRET HARTE
SELECTED STORIES OF BRET HARTE
SHERWOOD ANDERSON
WINESBURG, OHIO
J.D.SALINGER
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
LANGSTON HUGHES
SELECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES
JAMES THURBER
MY LIFE AND HARD TIMES
EUGENE O’NEILL
BEYOND THE HORIZON
Postscript
In a brief email exchange about her former teacher, Teri said:
Mr. Schminda is retired now, but lives in the same small town where he taught English to high school juniors. He whet my appetite for good books, and it was more than passing on the list of classics to read. He was thrilled about literature and authors.
One of the books we read the year he was my teacher was Moby Dick. I remember him pacing up and down the aisles between desks waving his paperback in the air and talking about Captain Ahab. He got fired up thinking about the adventure of the whale hunt.
When we read The Grapes of Wrath, I was desperate to go to Oklahoma and retrace the steps of the Okies fleeing the dust bowl. I wanted to know and love books as Mr. Schminda did. We all had to do an in-depth study of a writer; I picked James Weldon Johnson, my friend Pam chose Stephan Crane, and Sherri’s was John Steinbeck.
Mr. Schminda told us that we’d have to write one paper after another once we got to college. He told us by the time we left 11th grade he was determined that we’d know how to write term papers. We wrote and wrote and wrote. And when I got to college, thanks to his instruction, I knew how to write.
Thanks, Teri, for sharing Mr. Schminda with us, and thank you Mr. Schminda for inspiring Teri and countless others with your passion for reading and writing.
[…] And so I walk slower. This one act is real. My connection to life. -related posts: Bridge to Nowhere – The Great Connector, Fear Of Bridges, Minneapolis At Night, Natural Wonders: A Pentagram, The World According to Mr. Schminda (et al.) […]
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A side note: When I read through the list it dawned on me that I was unfamiliar with a large portion of its authors and books. I added links to author biographies (I tried to pick ones that were complete and might have some staying power, Internet-wise) so I could go back and read about each author when I had time.
But, what was interesting to learn in the process was, in some cases (Thomas Fall, Hal Borland, and Leona Train Rienow come to mind), there is scant info available on the Web. Made me wonder if there’s a dearth of info, in general, on these particular authors and if so, might this present a great opportunity for historical writers who also happen to love literature?
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This is an amazing list of books. I’m kind of astounded by how few I have read. How inspiring – makes me want to run out and start reading them, one by one.
Thanks, ybonesy for posting the list (and for all the work you put into the links). Thanks, Teri, for sharing the list!
I hope to see the mimeographed copy some day! I can just smell the ink when the copy was new. I bet there are a lot of people who have never smelled the inky hum of the mimeograph machine. I wonder if they are still around?
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My high school was one of those brick, turn-of-the-century classic buildings…full of wood and huge windows. I’m thinking of sitting in Mr. Schminda’s classroom, him passing out the lists to his young charges, and how thrilling it is to be passing it along. I thought about trying to send ybonesy a picture of the mimeograph sheets to post (something like the diary pages she once shared on Red Ravine), but I was having a techo-block.
I can’t wait to spend time reading about the authors. Thanks for that, ybonesy.
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Yes, I would love to see the mimeographed sheets. Maybe QM can photograph them next time you two get together. (I have a pretty cheap printer/scanner, btw, and it works fine for what I need to post on the blog. It’s six years old, I think, but it still works great.)
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A now defunct local band from Louisville, KY called the Mick’s had a song called Herman Melville. The song had one word. Whale.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and I hope we can be friends. 😉
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Well, thanks for returning the favor. Seems you have a wide network of friends. I’m impressed.
That must have been one whale of a song!
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About the List: On Richard Wright’s, Native Son (someone commented that they were reading it. Was that you, Teri?), anyway, Richard Wright also wrote tons of haiku near the end of his life.
I did a post on it a while back called: Richard Wright – 810 haiku (LINK). The piece also has lots of links on Wright, including a photo archive.
Baldwin and Giovanni also talk about Richard Wright in their dialogue in this post: Baldwin & Giovanni: On Truth & Love (LINK).
Good stuff for anyone who is interested. I find that learning about the author in depth really pumps up my interest in the book. And what I get out of it. Happy reading!
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I noticed James Baldwin wasn’t on the list, and Teri, you said on another post that Emily Dickenson wasn’t either. I was wondering, for anyone who’s interested in responding, if you could add five more books to the list and round it out to an even 100, which five would you add? Think of it as THE 100 CLASSICS TO READ BEFORE YOU DIE list. I suppose if you want to take any off the list, you can, but I personally am going to honor Mr. Schminda et al and only add five. Go!
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Though I feel like I’m tampering with the sacred scroll, I will add my five:
1. Truman Capote
In Cold Blood
2. Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities
3. Robert Frost
Selected Poems of Robert Frost
4. Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dallaway
5. Kate Wiggen
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Just kidding on #5. Wanted to make sure you were reading carefully.
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Funny, Teri, very funny. For some reason I just flashed on My Horse Flicka (smile).
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I’m going to go with Teri’s 5. They fit for me. And I’ve already read 3 of them! 8)
Well, I guess I’m going with 4 of them. Which means I need to come up with 1 more (unless someone post some others I like). I read Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, too. i can still picture the cover!
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Rebecca was on my mind yesterday while I was reading Native Son. It was published in 1940, and is full of sex, murder, profanity, and violence. It is also holding my attention like a moth to the flame. My mom was 12 in 1940, and I think of the books available in her world to be along the lines of Rebecca…a wholesome girl having wholesome adventures changing the world in wholesome ways with her wholesome thick braids swinging behind her. I had the same sensation when I read Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room last year. I kept thinking, “Really? They printed this back then? How? Who?”
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100th – Oh, I think my 100th might be Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. I’m not done with it yet. But when I read other writers, it tends to be on all of their lists. And it’s a classic in the sense of that time period. And of the journey we all go through of finding home.
So that’s my 100. I’m going to type my list out and post it at home. Then start reading. You’ve inspired me, Teri!
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I want to add one other thing that Natalie Goldberg taught me:
You don’t have to like a book of literature, to get something out of it. In fact, it doesn’t matter if you don’t like the book. If you don’t like it, you will get even more out of it – if you open up and push yourself to finish it.
Study what you don’t like about t. It will open up your own writing. And it’s part of a practice to finish what we started. And honor the writers that came before us. These books are classics for a reason. Not because they are the life that we have lived. But because they tell us about the worlds we don’t live in.
Thanks, Natalie.
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[…] (see our post “Book Talk – Do You Let Yourself Read” as one of many examples, and “The World According To Mr. Schminda (et al.)” for a list of about 100 must-read classics) have also played a small but vital role. Just peruse […]
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I’m re-reading My Antonia (from Mr. Schminda’s List) right now. People talk about the books they read at least once a year; I think this Willa Cather classic may be going on my list.
The Illusion Theater in Minneapolis is putting the play “My Antonia” in February and March, and I’ve already got tickets. Two people I’m going with are committing to read the novel before we go. As Natalie Goldberg is fond of saying, “We’re keeping great literature alive.”
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Teri, this sounds wonderful, to read Willa Cather’s My Antonia, then follow it with the play at the Illusion Theater. That is totally inspiring! Cather is an amazing writer. You make me want to read My Antonia again, too. You know, I don’t have books I read once a year. And only a few that I’ve actually re-read — they are usually non-fiction books. I have to ponder that. I don’t watch movies much again either. Only if they blow me away. I do have a strong memory of the things I love though. And it comes out in other pieces, other ways. What draws people to watch movies or read books again and again?
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Teri, I had seen your comment and then yesterday I didn’t have a chance to come in and comment also. I definitely would love to read this book. And I want to re-read Death Comes to the Archbishop. Although I just noticed, that one didn’t make Mr. Schminda’s list. We read that one in high school, I believe, or it could have been college. Might have been in one of my New Mexico courses, because of the local setting.
Have you finished all ~100 books, Teri? You were on a mission to read them all, as I recall, right?
BTW, I love this post. It was so hard to prepare, with all those links. I wonder if all the links are still valid. Will have to check that some day. It would be great if over time we got reviews from our readers on all these books, and we could link to red Ravine posts instead of outside links.
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QM,
The books and movies I revisit again and again are ones where there is some emotional/mental/spiritual struggle I can relate to. It assures me I’m not alone, and helps me get to the other side. Sometimes, a book or movie touches a part of my history that not many people know.
My Antonia is part of “The Big Read” series from the library. The CD is only 25 minutes long, and introduces the book and author. Ted Kooser talks about Nebraska, Garrison Keillor reads excerpts. How can you lose with those two on board?
Have you read Cather’s “prairie trilogy,” QM? I’ve read two (My Antonia and O, Pioneers!), I’m going to start the third today. I’ve never read Song of the Lark.
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I just listened to the Introduction to Fahrenheit 451, one of the CDs in “The Big Read” Series.
Ray wrote the book in the basement of his public library; the same place where he received his “self-taught” education. He couldn’t afford a studio, but one day heard typing coming from the lower level of the library. He went downstairs, and found you could rent a typing room: 10 cents for 30 minutes.
He dashed out and got a pile of dimes. He wrote the book in 9 days.
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I love hearing about these seemingly impossible writing feats. Have you started the book? Does it seem to have been written in 9 days?
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I read Fahrenheit 451 ages ago, and would like to read it again someday. It’s never been out of print in 50 years.
Ray did say the ideas for the book were percolating in him for several years–the idea of a world that didn’t have any books… where people were addicted to electronics. When TV sets became commonplace in American homes, he worried where it would lead.
When it occurred to him that his central character would be a firefighter who started fires (instead of putting them out), he had his path.
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I’m re-reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck today. It isn’t on Mr. Schminda’s famous list, but it *is* a title I read in his 11th grade English class. Not only is the story wonderfully written, but I revisit myself as a teenager. What did I think about the world back then?
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Teri, I just realized that White Fang is on this list. I picked up that vintage copy at the 1968 exhibit at the Minnesota History Center (LINK). I’ve started reading it. What an old book. It’s got a copyright of 1933 for this edition, originally set up, electrotyped, and published in 1906. It’s got an extra large font which I like.
I also like these lines:
In advance of the dogs, on wide snowshoes, toiled a man. At the rear of the sled toiled a second man. On the sled, in the box, lay a third man whose toil was over—-a man whom the Wild had conquered and beaten down until he would never move nor struggle again.
It is not the way of the Wild to like movement. Life is an offence to it, for life is movement; and the Wild aims always to destroy movement. It freezes the water to prevent it running to the sea; it drives the sap out of the trees till they are frozen to their mighty hearts; and most ferociously and terribly of all does the Wild harry and crush into submission man—man, who is the most restless of all life, ever in revolt against the dictum that all movement must in the end come to the cessation of movement.
—Jack London, White Fang
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[…] -Related to posts: Discovering The Big Read, Midwest Poets & Writers — When Can You Call A Place Home?, The Vitality Of Place — Preserving The Legacy Of “Home”, The World According To Mr. Schminda (et al.) […]
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