It's strictly a matter of subjective opinion. If you are enamored with American Romantic literature and the genre of this work, then you should study it. It is over 100 years old, and does not reflect modern vocabulary usage and grammar, and the modern milieu. If I were you, and wanted to study Modern English for the purpose of interpretation, I would consider such works as (listed roughly in order of increasing difficulty): The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Great Gatsby by F. Scot Fitzgerald The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) by Dan Brown (don't accept what you read as historical fact) The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner ( a difficult book for native speakers, if you like to read in the stream-of-consciousness style, consider "Light in August"...easier.) You will be well versed in the 20th century vernacular when you have read a few of these books. I would be much more impressed to see a list like this on your CV or graduate school application, than "Leaves of Grass" But what matters is the opinion of the examiner or interviewer, not mine.