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Friday, August 25, 2023

1,001 Novels: Northern New England - Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont

 1,001 Novels: Northern New England - Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont


     I'm about fifty books deep in the 1,0001 Novels: A Library of America, and this is the first completed region- let's call it Northern New England.  No big cities in this portion- the cities that do exist would be called towns in other parts of the country, and many of the books are either set in very small towns, rural areas or vacation spots.  Lots of family dysfunction, which I'm guessing will be everywhere you go.  Not much minority representation- but plenty of women, often single, often sad.

    This being an occasion for reflecting on the experience of reading 1,001 Novels, the predominant theme is family dysfunction written from the perspective of a woman.  It was good to see some Native perspectives, since, otherwise we are talking about a mostly white perspective- diversity in this area is typically represented as Catholics and French Canadian migrants from the early 20th century.   Class differences are a frequent theme- although here I suspect Northern New England is similar to the picks from other parts of the United States.  Editor Susan Straight didn't seem so interested in the New England Boarding School Milieu- no The World According to Garp or Rules of Attraction, which really seemed like a slam dunk for Vermont.

     Also- no repeat appearances from any of the authors- you would think Stephen King, at the very least, could get two picks in his home state of Maine and that John Irving could score two in New Hampshire.  Even Paul Harding has a strong claim for multiple picks.  Historical fiction was largely snubbed- no Kenneth Roberts, no Arundel.  Nothing from the Revolutionary War or the French-Indian War.  No Charlotte's Web, a book that is as Maine as it gets.

   Affliction was my top pick from this group of books.  I picked it over two Pulitzer Prize winners (Tinkers and Empire Falls) both of which could have been first. 


1,001 Novels: A Library of America - Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont

1. Affliction (1989) by Russell Banks
2. Tinkers (2009) by Paul Harding
3. The Lottery and Other Stories (1948) by Shirley Jackson
4. The Beans of Egypt,  Maine (1985) by Carolyn Chute 
5. The Night of the Living Rez (2022)by Morgan Talty 
6. Empire Falls (2001) by Richard Russo
7. Unlikely Animals (2022) by Annie Hartnett
8. Edinburgh (2001) by Alexander Chee
9. Olive Kitteridge(2008) by Elizabeth Strout
10.  October Light (1976) by John Gardner

11. We Took to the Woods (1942) by Louise Dickinson Rich
12. The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) by Sarah Orne Jewett
13.  Peyton Place (1956) by Grace Metalious
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989) by John Irving
15. A Day No Pigs Would Die (1972)  by Robert Newton Peck 
16. The Dearly Departed (2001) by Elinor Lipman
17. Evenings (1998) by Susan Minot
18. A Piece of the World (2017) by Christine Baker Kline
19.    Baby Love by (1980) Joyce Maynard
20.  Hitty: Her First Hundred Years (1929) by Rachel Field
21.  Carrie (1974) by Stephen King
22.  A Separate Peace (1959) by John Knowles
23.  Chenoo (2016) by Joseph Bruchac
24.  Lake People (2013) by Abi Maxwell
25.  The Lowering Days (2021) by Gregory Brown
26. The Northern Reach (2021)by W.S. Winslow
27. Songs in Ordinary Times (1995) by Mary McGary Morris
28. Live Free Or Die (1990) by Ernest Hebert
29. Lungfish (2022) by Megan Gilliss
30. Shine On, Bright & Dangerous Object (1975) by Laurie Colwin
31. Fortune's Rock (2001) by Anita Shreve 
32. Stern Men (2000) by Elizabeth Gilbert
33.  Midwives (1997) by Chris Bohjalian
34. Cost (2008)  by Roxana Robinson
35.  Winter People (2014) by Jennifer McMahon
36.  The Prayer of the Bone (1998) by Paul Bryers
37. Red Hook Road (2010) by Ayelet Waldman
38.  Before and After (1992) by Rosellen Brown
39.    Oslo, Maine (2021)by Marcia Butler
40.   Salem Falls (2001) by Jodi Picoult
41. Project x (2004) by Jim Shepard
42.  The Poachers Son (2011) by Paul Doiron
43.  Boar Island (2016) by Nevada Barr


Vermont

1. The Lottery and Other Stories (1948) by Shirley Jackson
2.  October Light (1976) by John Gardner 
3. A Day No Pigs Would Die (1972)  by Robert Newton Peck 
4.  Songs in Ordinary Times (1995) by Mary McGary Morris  
5.  Midwives (1997) by Chris Bohjalian  
6.  Winter People (2014) by Jennifer McMahon 
7.  Project x (2004) by Jim Shepard  

New Hampshire 

1. Affliction (1989) by Russell Banks 
2. Unlikely Animals (2022) by Annie Hartnett 
3. Peyton Place (1956) by Grace Metalious 
4. A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989) by John Irving
5.  The Dearly Departed (2001) by Elinor Lipman
6. Baby Love by (1980) Joyce Maynard  
7. A Separate Peace (1959) by John Knowles
8.  Leah, New Hampshire:  The Collected Stories of Thomas Williams (1992) by Thomas Williams
9. Lake People (2013) by Abi Maxwell
10. Live Free Or Die (1990) by Ernest Hebert
11. Fortune's Rock (2001) by Anita Shreve 
12. Before and After (1992) by Rosellen Brown
13. Salem Falls (2001) by Jodi Picoult

Maine

1.   Tinkers (2009) by Paul Harding 
2. The Beans of Egypt,  Maine (1985) by Carolyn Chute 
3.  The Night of the Living Rez (2022)by Morgan Talty 
4. Empire Falls (2001) by Richard Russo
5.Edinburgh (2001) by Alexander Chee 
6. Olive Kitteridge(2008) by Elizabeth Strout
7. We Took to the Woods (1942) by Louise Dickinson Rich 
8. The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) by Sarah Orne Jewett
9.  A Piece of the World (2017) by Christine Baker Kline
10. Hitty: Her First Hundred Years (1929) by Rachel Field
11.  Carrie (1974) by Stephen King
12.  Chenoo (2016) by Joseph Bruchac #
13.  The Lowering Days (2021) by Gregory Brown
14.   The Northern Reach (2021)by W.S. Winslow
15.  Lungfish (2022) by Megan Gilliss
 16. Shine On, Bright & Dangerous Object (1975) by Laurie Colwin
17. Stern Men (2000) by Elizabeth Gilbert
18.  Cost (2008)  by Roxana Robinson
19. The Prayer of the Bone (1998) by Paul Bryers
20. Red Hook Road (2010) by Ayelet Waldman
21.  Oslo, Maine (2021)by Marcia Butler
22. The Poachers Son (2011) by Paul Doiron
 23. Boar Island (2016) by Nevada Barr


Thursday, August 24, 2023

1,001 Novels: A Library of America - Vermont

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America - Vermont

1. The Lottery and Other Stories (1948) by Shirley Jackson
2.  October Light (1976) by John Gardner
3. A Day No Pigs Would Die (1972)  by Robert Newton Peck 
4.  Songs in Ordinary Times (1995) by Mary McGary Morris
5.  Midwives (1997) by Chris Bohjalian
6.  Winter People (2014) by Jennifer McMahon
7.  Project x (2004) by Jim Shepard

      
  It's tough to make many observations about the literary state of Vermont based on a sample size of four books.  If you include Vermont in a Northern New England Three Pack with New Hampshire and Maine some themes do start to emerge, but so far as Vermont itself goes the only trend I notice was two YA titles out a total of seven titles, close to a third.  But sample size being small and all, hard to draw any conclusions from 2/7.

     Shirley Jackson is the stand out here, the only A grade canon level author in the group.  Two are YA one offs (Peck/Shepard), three are more-or-less best-seller type authors who are on the border of literature and fiction and John Gardner is an interesting non-canon author who is a kind of "what might have been" situation.   Mostly, Vermont functions in all the books as an extension of the rural parts of Maine and New Hampshire- no city people here, just towns folk and rural farmer types.  No coast to speak of, and no "summer people"- who feature in both Maine and New Hampshire in a prominent way.  

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