There are several lifetimes' worth of promising literary leads here—544 books in all. An 85-page appendix providing enlightened summaries of all the works mentioned is worth the price of admission all on its own. But to get you started, here, in all its glory, is the all-time, ultimate Top Top 10 list, derived from the top 10 lists of 125 of the world's most celebrated writers combined. Read it and— well, just read it.I've boldened the two works I've read.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
The Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov
Middlemarch by George Eliot
(HT: Joe Carter)
Wow...I've only read three. Huck Finn, Hamlet and The Great Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteman, with as much as you read, I would've thought you'd have read more than that. Sadly, I can't recall reading any: Although I'm sure I've read excerpts in English class from Huck Finn, and Hamlet.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that Huck Finn made the list, actually. I enjoyed it, but the ending was weird. (Remember the part with Jim locked up in the garage?) Anyway, I've never read any Tolstoy, which basically makes me an uncultured Neanderthal.
ReplyDeleteFurther, I'm surprised that Alexander Dumas didn't make the list. The Counte of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers would be worthy additions. Also, we shouldn't forget Robinson Crusoe, which was basically the first real novel in history. Just my two cents.
I'm surprised that Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov didn't make the cut.
ReplyDelete