If you haven't read these, you just aren't educated

In 1934, an aspiring writer named Arnold Samuelson had the opportunity of a lifetime.

The 22-year-old Samuelson hitchhiked from Minnesota to Florida seeking a mentor to help him improve his writing.

The author he chose was Ernest Hemingway.

Although Hemingway was not impressed with Samuelson's writing, he respected his seriousness and dedication to improving his craft.

Unfortunately, Hemingway had plans to leave Florida soon on his boat, Pilar.

But luckily for Samuelson, Hemingway invited him to join as part of the crew.

Samuelson accepted.

While at sea, Samuelson had the opportunity to pick Hemingway's brain.

In one of their interactions, Samuelson asked, "How can a writer train himself?"

Hemingway replied, "Here’s a list of books any writer should have read as part of his education… If you haven’t read these, you just aren’t educated. They represent different types of writing. Some may bore you, others might inspire you, and others are so beautifully written they’ll make you feel it’s hopeless for you to try to write."

This is the list of inspiring and demoralizing masterworks that Hemingway handed to young Samuelson:

• The Blue Hotel by Stephen Crane

• The Open Boat by Stephen Crane

• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

• Dubliners by James Joyce

• The Red and the Black by Stendhal

• Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

• Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

• Hail and Farewell by George Moore

• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

• The Oxford Book of English Verse

• The Enormous Room by E.E. Cummings

• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

• Far Away and Long Ago by W.H. Hudson

• The American by Henry James

After looking at Hemingway’s list, I noticed two things:

1. Having only read The Brothers Karamazov, I just ain’t educated.

2. All the authors listed were dead at the time he shared the list with Samuelson. Competing with the dead whose works have stood the test of time seems like sound advice to me.

Wait a second.

I also notice that Emily Bronte is the only female author on the list.

But I digress …