Three Great Literary Authors

By Philip Rudy

Literature can stimulate your mind and help you think a more clearly through the day. There is a direct relationship between your learning curve and reading. Reading helps you stay focused, keep your analytic skills sharp, and explode the door open for creativity.

Literature is tough however, and it is hard to make a living off of your writing. For example, did you know that the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, lived in her vehicle while she wrote those books and was rejected by a plethora of publishers before finally accepted?

Here is a list of some of the top people in literature that ever existed—these people have changed many lives.

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts and was baptized in the Episcopal Church but moved to Britain with his family. He later traveled back to the U.S.A. to serve in the military, which he eventually left to attend the University of Virginia to study languages. In 1827 he published his first book.  In 1833 he was awarded a prize by Baltimore Saturday Visiter for his short story “Ms. Found in a Bottle.” He served many terms in the military throughout the years but was discharged in 1829. In 1830 however, he matriculated as a cadet. His wife died in 1847 and he died in Baltimore, Maryland in 1849.

Here is a small list of some of his most famous books:

• Hop-Frog
• The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
• The Black Cat
• The Murders in Rue Morgue
• The Cask of Amontillado
• The Masque of the Red Death
• The Fall of the House of Usher
• The Tell-Tale Heart
• The Pit and the Pendulum
• The Raven

Anne Frank

Although some might think of Anne Frank and not automatically associate her as one of the great persons in literature, her diary has traveled many places and touched many lives. She was born in 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany and in 1942 her family went into hiding in a secret annex. On her 13th birthday, Anne got the best gift she could have ever gotten—her diary. She wrote in it for the next 2 years and her last diary entry was on August 1, 1944. (The Frank Family was arrested prior to that from their hideout in the Archterhuis in 1944). An American edition of the Anne Frank diary was published in 1952.

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was greatly regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period (correlating to the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901). He excelled at creating fictitious characters and in fact, his biographer Claire Tomalin claims Dickens is the best character creator of all time behind only one man— William Shakespeare. One of his best known books, David Copperfield, actually was his “most autobiographical” piece. In it tells the story of a young boy whose father died and was sent off to boarding school when his cruel stepfather took his place.

Dickens was also a leader in social reform and fought for children’s rights. Some of his most famous pieces include:

• The Adventures of Oliver Twist
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
• A Christmas Carol
• Great Expectations
• David Copperfield

Philip Rudy is a blogger for a law firm in Southfield, MI. In his spare time Philip loves reading and is a big fan of the three people mentioned in this article. He one day hopes to write a book of his own.

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