The RedEyed Reader wants to know what the teachers around Manual are reading. This week’s teacher feature is on David Wright, who teaches Sophomore and AP English.

Name: David Wright

Teacher of: English

What is your favorite book, and why?
This is always a difficult question because it asks for one. Five or so usually come to my mind, but for now I’ll answer with Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. I like it for its attention to the intricacies of family, guilt, crime, and the spiritual life, which includes belief in God and the difficulty of such an endeavor. Oh, and of course the fact that each of the three brothers represents one of the three components of a human being: the mind, the heart, and the body (passions). My favorite part is Book VI, “The Russian Monk,” which comes after the famous Grand Inquisitor chapter. It’s really the answer to the skeptical, atheistic claims made in the Grand Inquisitor section; however, it’s the Grand Inquisitor chapter that has been so extrapolated. But I am not surprised by this though…

What is the book you are currently reading?
The Complete Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. He was a Victorian poet with strong religious sensibilities. He straddles the line between Victorian and Modern poetry; some consider him the first modernist poet. His work is nothing short of brilliant.

Do you have a favorite author?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the great Romantic poet.

What is your favorite genre to read about?
Victorian and Romantic poetry. I also really like the great epics: Homer, Virgil, Milton.

If you could spend one day with a character from any book, fictional or non-fictional, who would you choose?
Right now, I think I’d like to hang with Wendell Berry, the great Kentucky writer. He’s an agrarian novelist, poet, essayist, farmer, and Christian. I’d like to spend the day farming with him and have him tell me how tilling the soil nurtures the poetry of our souls… and why he refuses to own a personal computer.

What do you think of Mr. Wright’s book choices? Have you read them as well? Want to suggest something new for Mr. Wright to read? Comment below! Remember to check back on Redeye for more RedEyed Reader teacher features.