Talking About 20 Classic Books I Still Haven't Read But Would Like To

Mike talks about 20 classics that he hasn't read yet, but intends to before he dies.
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0:00 Introduction & Background
1:54 Rules: What Dictates a Book is a Classic?
2:44 20 Classics I'd Still Like to Read
21:17 Final Thoughts
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#MikesBookReviews #Classics #ClassicBooks

[@mikesbookreviews]

Hey bookworms! Just a note that I did a lot of guessing on what each of these are about, as I didn't want to look up a plot synopsis of any in fear of spoilers. So if I miss the mark on what some (or most) of these are about, well that's why I want to read them; so I know. Thanks for watching!

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

ANIMAL FARM is pretty obviously about the Russian Revolution. Historians have identified which historical person is represented by each of the animals - each of the characters.

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Your definition of a classic being anything from 1972 or earlier makes me a classic! 😁 It’s great to see you generating interest for some of the older works of literature, Mike!

[@mikesbookreviews]

I was born in 1978, so I feel you.

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

Same @Philip lol

[@holeyheartedmelissa4503]

1971 here 🤢 I logged in to say the same thing! 😂

[@alynam82]

🤣 My sister was born '79 so she just missed the cutoff, lol

[@alynam82]

I agree with Dr. Chase -- it's great that you're shining light on classics, something I have the utmost interest in exploring. If ever about to start one, please announce and I'll try to read with ya's

[@patriciadeane7250]

Ann Rand’s Atlas Shrugged was a great book. We The Living was my favorite of hers. Do not apologize for reading any of Ann Rand! So pleased to see that you mentioned her…..one of my favorite authors.

[@ferretzor]

Great list. I recently finished the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo, which was fantastic. And I read Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov back to back in 2020, absolutely blew me away. I also really recommend 'The Master and Margarita' by Bulgakov, if you haven't read it. The Devil causing mayhem in Moscow with talking cats and disappearing people and all kinds of fantastical elements. A brilliant book.

[@imokin86]

I second that, it's the most widely read fantasy-adjacent novel in Russia. Maybe even the most popular classic, period.

[@turtleanton6539]

Monte cristo is great

[@paulthomassen5007]

The Master and margarita has a great take on Christianity, the devil, witchcraft, psychology, the pre ww2 soviet union and NKVD

[@BoozerSl]

Crime and Punishment is one my favorite books of all time. I would almost say it is a psychological horror/thriller by modern standards. War and Peace is actually an awesome book, you may enjoy it more than you think. It looks like a long boring tome, but it a great story.

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

Dostoevsky's characters are symbols, of different ideologies or religions; Tolstoy's characters are more like real people.

[@JLchevz]

The Exorcist is fantastic. It's atmospheric, it's scary at times, it's funny, the characters are great. I loved it.

[@turtleanton6539]

sounds great

[@carlosbranca8080]

Crime and Punishment is in my top 3 novels of all time for me. Animal Farm and Of Mice and Men you can read in a sitting, they are very short and fast paced. Great list!

[@alexbigday1587]

I read The Outsiders when I was 15 and it was one of the most beautiful and yet painful reading experiences that I have ever had. Pretty good book and also a quick read!

[@DarkClaw0912]

I’m impressed with the amount of books on your list I HAVE read. I think you’ll enjoy many of these. Brave New World in particular has stuck with me since reading it in high school.

[@turtleanton6539]

it is a great one

[@amandanunez2437]

Side note: I absolutely LOVE your t-shirt in this video!

[@kaiju_k5042]

Had to pause this video and jump into your "Books that made me cry" when you mentioned Project Hail Mary, cause omg same haha.

[@scottferris2686]

Foundation is my Dune (I read the complete trilogy every year), can’t wait for you to read it. Outsiders, Of mice and Men, copperfield - you’ve got a great list (mostly, I’ll keep my opinions about the fountainhead to myself). Good video

[@nahmean7045]

Glad you said that 'Call of the Wild' is top of the list. One of my favourite stories of all time. It's relatively short though so I'd recommend reading it back to back with 'White Fang', they complement each other very well. 😁

[@mikesbookreviews]

Noted!

[@thecaffeinatedbookwyrm3051]

Yes! Short but powerful tales! Usually sold together in hard copies.

[@tannerhachey1525]

Call of the wild is awesome! I hope you were able to get around to it!!!

[@kabiansadi]

Outstanding list. Did a few inclusions in my TBR thanks to the video. A lot of great works to dig into

[@84tand]

Great selections! Animal Farm, Brave New World, Call of the Wild, Mice and Men are perfect pallet cleansers for your longer series because they are short and sweet.

[@mikesbookreviews]

That is certainly needed with modern fantasy series being 7+ books long on average.

[@annetteanderson7482]

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens was one of my favorite high school old classic reads, while was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was my favorite more modern classic reads. I am over 60 and have not re-read them but their stories stick with me today.

[@Raechill92]

I ran a classics bookclub for a couple years and had a great time with it. I’ve since taken a break from classics to catch up on modern works, but I’d like to get back to reading at least one a month. I’ve read a few of the ones you’ve mentioned here and would love to read the majority of the others. Classic sci-fi, Dickens, and Austen are the highest on my list at the moment. Great video! It’s providing me with even more motivation to pick classics back up.

[@Raechill92]

@Maya Nightwolf Thanks, Maya! I have read it and loved it. It’s one of my favorite books of all time. I’m constantly recommending it too! 😊

[@gaberodriguez4023]

LES MISERABLES is my favorite novel of all time! Would love to hear your review once you finish it, Mike!

[@SJ-GodofGnomes21]

Foundation was an amazing series, intelligent Sci-Fi , asks so many questions of society... Also insane production value... It looked amazing!

[@Gonzalezluis89]

I’m currently reading Crime and Punishment . I wasn’t planning to read Mice and Men, but you definitely got me interested. Thanks

[@JolienReads]

Great list Mike! I never really read a lot of classics, but have decided that 2022 is the year that I will read at the very least 5 and I hope I will keep that pace for the years to come. Animal Farm is one I will get to for sure since I loved 1984. You have a few other dystopian novels, like Brave New World, that I want to read someday. I got Atlas Shrugged from a friend of mine 2 weeks ago. I have NO idea what it's about but I'm sure I'll give it a try somewhere down the line.

[@Mike-wr7om]

Dandelion Wine is my favorite book. David Copperfield is also on my list of favorites.

[@immortallegacy100]

At the moment I'm looking forward to getting a Nook and reading "John Carter of Mars" and "Sherlock Holmes", as well as the collected works of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. All of the above costs about $10 combined as EBooks, and since I don't get to visit bookstores very often (and want to save as much money and shelf-space as possible), getting the new Glowlight 4 will save me money in the long run. I'm a (fanfiction) writer and aspiring author, and I'm on a self-imposed "masterclass" to learn as much as I can in regards to writing fantasy. That's how I'm justifying the hobby lol.

[@wesb2823]

I recommend The Sun Also Rises from Hemingway. It hit me in the feels for some reason. The Outsiders is outstanding! I read that in 6th grade and reread it as an adult. It holds up for sure.

[@thegenericgeek]

I just finished Childhood's End based on your earlier video. Was a good read. Appreciate your videos.

[@unlimitedreads]

Oh, Mike - great video! I decided this year to select 10 classics to read because I owe it to myself to experience them. At just 119 pages you HAVE to read Of Mice and Men! Sooo tragic, man. I read it just the other week and it just impacted me in the deepest way. Have some tissues on hand!

[@walternate2914]

Crime and Punishment is my all-time favorite novel. It has aged so well. I've read it multiple times and multiple translations and I also speak and read Russian. For English readers, personally like the Constance Garnett translation which captures the tone and spirit of the novel more than the more recent literal translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky. If you like audiobooks, Anthony Heald narrating the Garnett translation is fantastic. One of the best audiobooks of all time.

[@jnbfilm56]

Les Miserables is just epic, no other word from it. Its prose, its story, the characters, damn. I do believe you will find some issues in certain points where Victor Hugo gives huge amount of historical and context information. I loved everything about it, amazing. Read A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, it will change your life. Greetings from Colombia

[@LuvLuke954]

100 Years - one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES!! Top 5 for sure.

[@andreamiller3578]

Hope you enjoy those. Definitely some great, accessible books in that list. The book store has the John Carter trilogy in one book for sell. I bought The Black Company compilation instead, but I think I'm going back for the Mars books. I love the Tarzan novels so I'm already familiar with the style.

[@hucklebuck411]

I read a lot of your picks when I was a teenager and would like to revisit them. I'm surprised you didn't mention the somewhat infamous The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Right now I'm reading the big tome of The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and have been surprised by how entertaining these stories are. I would also recommend Le Morte d'Arthur (about King Arthur and his noble knights) by Sir Thomas Malory. I've also been reading a lot of classic Horror short story anthologies. Many of these stories are truly exceptional and leave lasting impressions.

[@bridleybateson5622]

The Iliad is amazing. I read the Robert Fagles translation, it was wonderful and easy to read. Also, for such a short book Animal Farm is jammed with so many provocative ideas and alergories. It's perfect.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

Great video! Love Of Mice and Men the most out of that list (and there are some I haven't read yet in your list) - Animal Farm is a very quick read but you'll love it. Iliad is dry but I think you'll like it.

[@Jane-w]

Great video, Mike. Quite a few of these I'd also like to read but I'm going to go with ones I already own. Top 5 children's classics I want to read: The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, The Secret Garden, The Little Mermaid, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Top 5 adult classics I want to read: The Iliad, The Art of War, Dracula, King Lear, Sense & Sensibility

[@AdamThayer]

Oh man, I can't believe you haven't read some of these! I'm so jealous that you're going to get to enjoy them for the first time!!!! Can't wait to hear your thoughts as you're going through these.

[@grnberet9401]

Lots of good classics. I am looking forward to reading Monte Cristo with others of the discord.

[@dailycarolina.]

Currently reading: Anna Karenina The classics I want to read the most: The Three Musketeers, Don Quixote, Beowulf, Wuthering Heights, The Makioka Sisters, Les Miserables, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Divine Comedy, The Brothers Karamazov, Buddenbrooks, Anne of Green Gables, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, North and South, Around the World in 80 Days, Macbeth and The War of the Worlds.

[@matthewahearn5448]

I wouldn’t trip over myself to read the Three Musketeers. I find very few people who actually liked it. None of the Musketeers is actually likable, so it’s hard to root for them. I have yet to find a person who doesn’t think The Count of Monte Cristo is a far better book.

[@EhsJaySaunders]

I've been reading through the John Carter TTRPG sourcebooks, and it's got me wanting to revisit the series.

[@TheMcMonster]

Good to see some good sci-fi on the list. I'll always watch you talk about sci-fi.

[@TheHumbleRoots]

The Outsiders is Brilliant. And Les Miserables is one of three best books ever written.

[@mikouf9691]

I would like to read The Iliad and The Odyssey, but that edition you are holding in the thumbnail looks huge! I read half of the others on your list. You have some good reading ahead of you.

[@atom0191]

Thanks for the video, Mike!

[@FATIMAPECHI]

Great list of classics, I think. From your list, I've read Animal Farm, David Copperfield and The Exorcist. On the relatively short term, I really want to read "Call of the Wild", "White Fang", "1984", "Crime and Punishment", all Jane Austen, "Brave New World", "The Divine Comedy" and Jules Verne's works (I have a nice big hardcover collection of his works). I am in the middle of reading "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and loving it so far!

[@sarahmcdonald9624]

Oooo! I jumped back into reading with The Count of Monti Cristo and that was a ride. A loooioooonng ride.

[@randomdude3620]

I'd recommend Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. It's a satire about the absurdity of war, which follows an American WWIl bomber squadron. It's one of the most unique books I have ever read and had me in stitches of laughter at certain points.

[@dqan7372]

You've got some good reading ahead of you!

[@knittymama570]

Nice list! There are several you mentioned that I'd like to do also. 👍 I've always been on the fence about reading The Exorcist. I saw that movie at about age 9. Nothing has scared me like that since. I can't imagine how the terrifying the book is. Maybe someday I'll read it. Maybe.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I do love a good scary book that makes you wonder what that random noise your house just made.

[@davidhumphries9323]

Great list! I might have to read some of them. Not sure if anyone mentioned this but Dandelion Wine is the first in a trilogy. Something Wicked was the final book.

[@alib6615]

We are about the same age, and I didn't read Animal Farm until May, 2023. To me it lived up to the hype. I never got around to this before because we never had to read it in school and there is always such a long list of books to be read, but I always wanted to read this. Good news is that it is not very long; so it is a quick read. There was a version included in my Audible membership, so I listened to it at night before I went to sleep. Would highly recommend. You get the basic premise, but Orwell's writing is so good. Also, the audiobook version I listened to...the man's voice was so soothing (Ralph Cosham). I know it deals with heavy subjects, but for some reason it hit me the right way to relax before going to bed. I had some weird dreams, but worth it.

[@briteskin]

I keep hoping some these older books you mention will hit the syllabus for the school year since see them in the school depository but we get mostly newer coming of age stuff along with the first Harry Potter and The Hunger Games books most of the time. Makes sense since the students are in the 'troubled youth' category. 'A Farewell to Arms' was read one year. 'The Outsiders' and 'Lord of the Flies' seem to make the list every other year. 'Go Ask Alice' has made our list once or twice too. I mention that one since has been getting some play on some of these book ban lists. Hopefully some day some of the older stuff will hit the reading list and keep crossing my fingers for Bradbury's 'The October Country'.

[@PsilocybeJedi]

The Outsiders and Of Mice and Men were the only books I absolutely LOVED reading that school made us read and I was engaged and enraptured the whole time. Both have wild endings.

[@fonzi107]

The Exorcist is such an amazing book! Read it in about 3 days, can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it when you get to it!!!

[@jamesdawson2937]

The song Stranger in a Strange Land was by Leon Russell. My favorite book by Heinlein was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

[@cmmosher8035]

I read a bunch of Steinbeck in the 90s and 2000s. His stories hit me in a similar place as Kings books do and I think you will enjoy him. I have had a copy of East of Eden from about 20 years that i really need to read. I know you didnt like Moby Dick but i have a copy of it and I have been wanting to dip into it.

[@SJ-GodofGnomes21]

Outsiders.... Absolutely brilliant book and film

[@olesrensen1863]

If you havent read for whom the bell tolls, you should read that before a farewell to arms, its much better. Its one of the best books ever written IMO.

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

Of Mice and Men, East of Eden.... so good!!! I can't wait to read more Steinbeck.

[@darkpsyanide]

Call of the wild is one of my absolute favorite book ever. I read it back in High school fell in love with it, also enjoyed the movie.

[@donaldmartineau8176]

One Great reason to live a looooooong life...So many wonderful to read or reread!!!!

[@VogonPoet67]

If you haven't already read these classics, here are a few I would toss into the mix: Sir Orfeo; Dante's The Divine Comedy; Cervantes's Don Quixote; Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; Goethe's Faust; Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

[@PenultimatePenPen]

Absolutely loved Dandelion Wine. Bradbury has some of the best prose out there. Found myself underlining so many segments of that book just so I could go back and read them again

[@cking2176]

Really like your headless horseman shirt. About to do some googling to try to find it.

[@avi4905]

Animal farm is on my list too, but I keep pushing it away till god know when. You mentioning it here will finally get me to read it. Crime and punishment and les miserable was a really good read definitely recommend it.

[@joel5962]

I’m almost there as classic too (like Philip). Ha! My classic TBR includes Last of the Mohicans, a few Jack London books, some Willa Cather novels, Don Quixote, and Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I was born in '78, so I'm feeling the heat.

[@alvinmarcus5780]

If you get a chance try the Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle and a bunch from Jules Verne, a man so far ahead of time it's amazing. Both of them are excellent at the story.

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

That's affirmative, but don't overlook Doyle's own sci-fi! THE LOST WORLD, THE POISON BELT, and more. Also sample Doyle's other short-story hero, whom he liked better than he liked Sherlock Holmes. It's a Frenchman named Brigadier Etienne Gerard, who is a hussar in Napoleon's army. That means he's a little guy, like a jockey, who rides a horse, armed only with a very long sword, and his job is to ride straight into the ranks of the enemy, slashing the necks of the foot-soldiers around him, and beheading as many of them as he can before someone shoots him or unhorses him, at which point he will be absolutely helpless in the hand of the enemy whom he was slaughtering. He's vain, and hedonistic, and absolutely full of himself, irritating as hell, and no wonder.

[@alynam82]

You've got so many on this list that I have, and is on my TBR. Dickens is one I plan to dive into this year. I've been dancing between David Copperfield or Tale of Two Cities to start with. (I've only read two of his Christmas novellas. But never a novel). Exorcist was a fantastic book. You'd be surprised how much it does NOT feel like a classic when reading. It could have been written last year and you'd never know it. Steinbeck is also on my TBR for this year, I want to get to East of Eden this spring or summer.

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

East of Eden is SO. GOOD!!

[@alynam82]

@@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD I've had this Barnes and Noble copy for a few years now, and always searched for the right time to read it. I've always wanted to try Steinbeck and I hear that this was his Magum Opus 😀

[@theromanwanderer8923]

We need an updated top 10 fantasy series of all time, I'm really curious to see where you would put Malazan now that you've been through most of the books and Tad Williams. And any change to the last list!

[@Ulmo90]

I think I've read Call of the Wild when I was younger as well as David Copperfield perhaps time for a reread. I read Brave New World last year, perhaps not my favorite book of the year, but it was an interesting one. Read A Farwell to Arms as well, great story. I hope to read more classics during 2022

[@NotsoChatty]

Looking forward to your eventual thoughts on Solomon Kane.

[@SJ-GodofGnomes21]

Sun Tzu just makes so much sense!

[@timv82]

There are 10 novels in John Carter and an additional novella, I love ‘em all, you should also check out Carson of Venus as well as his Pellucidar books if you haven’t

[@calista3371]

Brave New World is one of the best books I've ever read. It was amazing. I hope you read it and review it.

[@SJ-GodofGnomes21]

The Iliad was a fantastic read.

[@katrinabill8247]

You are correct in that Animal Farm is an allegory. It is an allegory to the Bolshevik (sp?) Revolution of the 1910's (I can't remember if it was '17 or '18) in Russia right before the Russian Revolution, and Orwell is close to the top of my TBR list, as well as Beowulf and The Iliad/Odyssey duology that's just chilling in the back of my bookshelf lol

[@EricMcLuen]

Interesting list - have read a few, some no desire too. Animal Farm was a bit too heavy handed for my tastes. Not sure I fully grokked Stranger but am glad I read it. Art of War is interesting. It really needs a reader guide to go along with the actual text. Will be interesting to get your thoughts on Foundation being such a huge Dune fan. Still need to find my copy of Dracula...

[@PWRobinson1976]

Hi Mike! Greetings from Germany! 😀 I don't want to spoil it for you but I read the Exorcist and I couldn't really identify anything expanded or different from the movie adaption. The movie is a 10/10 adaption! Love your videos!!! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@joseph_b319]

2001 and Rendezvous with Rama( i know not on the list) two great books. My only thing with those is they are written in the old dry style. I tried reading Childhoods End, but put in on a temp dnf.

[@the__shrike]

I just finished reading Asimov's Robot series for the first time: I, Robot (1950), The Caves of Steel (1954), The Naked Sun (1957), The Robots of Dawn (1983), Robots and Empire (1985). The first book isn't that great but the follow up novels are pretty great IMO. I don't know if you've already read these but you should definitely consider reading them. It's a prequel to the Foundation series (although that was kind of retconned later on I think).

[@chimmey7741]

Of Mice and Men... Classic read Mike.. Still remember school reading 30+ years on..

[@iWizard]

Also, any time you want to chat about ANY of these books, I’ve read almost all of them and I teach about a quarter of them. Let me know!

[@KalleVilenius]

Dostoevsky is pronounced Dosto-yew-ski. You should read his stuff sooner rather than later, it's really good and Crime & Punishment is one of the the oldest examples of a criminal and a detective playing cat & mouse. Raskolnikov is not the criminal mastermind he'd like to think he is, though.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Interesting...

[@BigDaddy13515]

Dostoevsky is my favorite writer out of all the OG writers.. Notes From the Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karimizov and The Idiot are all great. Crime and Punishment and Notes from the Underground are great nihilistic reads 👌

[@KalleVilenius]

@@BigDaddy13515 Great anti-nihilism reads, that is.

[@imokin86]

Dosto-eff-ski, if you want it to sound closer to the way we say it in Russian.

[@JamesI88]

This is great news🍻

[@afoxstale]

The art of war is great. I think you can listen to the audiobook for free on KZbin. It's about 5ish hours from what I can remember and has a read along on the screen. I'm not completely sure why people use it for business, but as a historical war strategy book it's fantastic -- especially loved the bit about the use of fire

[@zachbrehany2253]

With 2001, I will say that it helps to watch Stanley Kubrick's version right afterwards. For those that are not too aware of it 2001, both the film and novel were made at the same time and while the novel is great on its own, adding the film creates an all new level to this story (sort of like with the film and novelization of Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood). But yeah. Next to your future video on The Godfather (currently rereading that novel plus the prequel and *gulp* sequels), this is one I'll be waiting for.

[@fernandomarasco7450]

I'm so happy this time it is me who have read books you still haven't Mike hahaha great video!

[@fernandomarasco7450]

By the way, i'd like to make you a recommendation. One hundred years of solitude of García Marquez. You either love it or hate it. But if you love it, it's gonna be one of the most beautiful books you've ever read

[@britneypadilla]

Yass! I love classics! I just read Call of the Wild in December- I was recommending it yesterday to a student at the library 🤓📚 14:29 lmao

[@agapologia]

Oh man. Crime and Punishment is sooooo good. Excellent introduction to Dostoevsky. If it clicks for you, you will almost certainly enjoy most of his other works (Notes from Underground, The Double, Demons, The Gambler, and Brothers Karamazov in particular). They almost all feel like closely related stories. Especially Notes from Underground -> Crime and Punishment -> Brothers Karamazov. They're nested within each other like those Russian dolls. BK contains C&P which contains NFU. So good. But do yourself a favor and read something light alongside Dostoevsky. Like a chaser to wash down whiskey. Very rough, and will leave you disoriented, but well worth it.

[@edwardmeade]

You definitely need to read Call of the Wild. The real genius of the book is that London's narrator in the book is not the protagonist. The dog is the protagonist. This is a very common trope nowadays but having an adult work with an animal protagonist was a novel idea back in the day. Speaking of novel ideas, it probably shouldn't make your top 10 but George R. Stewart's 1941 novel "The Storm" has a weather event as the protagonist. The most important humans in the story are identified only as 'the junior meteorologist' or ' the superintendent' or 'the general'. The storm does have a name: 'Maria' pronounced 'Mariah'. The idea took hold and after 1945, the National Hurricane Center started naming hurricanes. It also inspired the Lerner and Loew song "They Call the Wind Mariah" which, in turn, inspired Mr. and Mrs. Carey to name their daughter Mariah.

[@sandy23stories40]

I love classics !!!! Let’s read it together 🤗 great video

[@inanimatecarbongod]

I'm always fascinated by videos like this as an indicator of what a given creator has read and hasn't but wants to. 50 years seems like the most reasonable rule of thumb now that we're out of the 20th century and well into the 21st. I think there probably used to be a general assumption that 20th century books maybe counted as "modern classics" at best, but a book like Animal Farm is now nearer in time to Dickens (published 75 years after his death) than it is to us (77 years later). At some point it surely has to just be considered a classic, but equally I think there's a certain difficulty in actually seeing even early 20th century literature that way... and part of that, maybe, is that WW1 wreaked such changes upon the world at large that there was a greater sense of things being new and different, and we still talk of "modernism" in relation to the art of that period. It doesn't feel "classic" like the 19th century does. Out of this lot, I've read Animal Farm (though not since high school; should reread, but damn I'm sick of hearing Orwell invoked all the time in political discourse), Brave New World (great, surprised you haven't read this yet), 2001 (great, but with notable differences to the film), Crime and Punishment (great, and definitely not to be confused with Tolstoy 🙂), the Iliad (great, read it in four different translations too; but as I said about Beowulf, you may wish to read it first in a prose version like I did and then a verse version), the Foundation trilogy (which I haven't read since high school so don't know what I'd make of it now; I have the whole series which I should reread, and read the 80s/90s ones for the first time), and I attempted to read Stranger in a Strange Land once but failed to finish it. Might try again one day. Haven't read Call of the Wild, Of Mice & Men, Do Androids etc (VERY surprised you haven't read any Dick before), Outsiders (haven't read or seen the film, but I dimly recall seeing a staging of it at high school. Don't really remember much about it but I don't think I liked it), Exorcist (on my own to-read list; a book I've read in a related vein that I recommend is Ray Russell's Case Against Satan from 1963), Les Mis (the sheer size of which has always daunted me, but I really like the 1934 French 3-part film version), Farewell to Arms (or any other Hemingway, should probably rectify that), Dandelion Wine, or the Solomon Kane stories (really need to read more of REH's non-Conan stories). Never read Sun Tzu but I've always found the fact that business gurus swear by it a bit... unnerving? Probably the wrong word, but something about it I've never liked. Dickens I only know from the Christmas books (and TV/film adaptations, of which I have a ton still to watch), though this year I may try one of the proper novels at last. I've got ebooks of all of Burroughs' Mars books, just haven't got around to them. Rand... yeah, you can have that one (though you evidently came out of Atlas Shrugged without growing up to be a massive piece of shit like most of her fans seem to do, so points for that). I've read For the New Intellectual, which is an essay plus excerpts from her novels; over half of it is bits of Atlas Shrugged including the entire "this is John Galt speaking", and about halfway through the latter I finally got so fed up with the fucking thing I actually threw the book away from me in disgust. Never done that before or since with any other book. As for War and Peace... I've attempted that twice in two different versions, finished neither, and made even less headway with the second than the first. That was 20+ years ago I am going to make a third attempt on it one day, maybe this year, and am determined to finish it if only to be able to say that I did and I refused to let it defeat me. If it does defeat me, of course, there will not be a fourth attempt. Anyway... hopefully that wasn't TOO much of an essay :)

[@FloridasYesteryear]

You should definitely check out The Moon is Harsh Mistress. It is on the shorter side like Starship Troopers. But has different politics and an AI.

[@schnellergeist]

Philip K Dick is the master! Once you read Androids next step is to 'Ubik', which is my favorite of his books. Also check out 'Man in the High Castle' for his greatest hits.If you want a nice palate cleanser his short stories 'The Minority Report' (Yes, the Tom Cruise movie is based on it) and 'We Can Remember it for You Wholesale' (Total Recall was based on it) are classics and each can be finished in a single sitting.

[@timkirsten6184]

Can vouch for Crime and Punishment. Awesome story, my favourite of Dostoevsky along with The Brothers Karamazov

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

If you like CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, try Andre Gide's comedic riff on the same theme, which is a short novel called "Les Caves du Vatican", available in English translation as "Lafcadio's Adventures" and (a more direct translation of the title) "The Vatican Cellars". (Andre Gide won a Nobel Prize, for a different piece of writing.)

[@Gonzalezluis89]

Wow half of these books I have in my list of classics to read this year. Please do reviews for *The Exorcist *Dandelion Wine *Soloman Kane *Crime and Punishment *Gods of Mars

[@FionnKirwan]

Ha ha just read call of the wild today it was a nice simple short story that's was refreshing especially after reading the talisman

[@Mindnbodyexp]

I have a degree in classical lit. With your love of horror novels I would take a look back to romanticism and got his literature. Melmoth the Wanderer, Legend of sleepy hollow, William Blake, The Monk. A lot of modern horror tropes are drawn from those authors. I personally consider Frankenstein to be the first and still top 5 science fiction novels ever written.

[@Candywarhol]

Great list. I often think of Hugo when you point out that an author devotes chapters to headspace. Controversy happens. I am NO Rand fan, but I do watch Birth of A Nation at least once every five years. Conveniently forgetting history does not make the bad man go away.

[@Catcupid]

I understood the concept and symbolism of Animal Farm, but I didn't enjoy the book it self. I haven't read 2001 by Clarke but I loved Rendevous with Rama(which is pretty short and is in the works for an adaptation). Call of the wild is great and a pretty quick read. And you hit one of my favorite authors which is Asimov. I love his ideas and ethical questions. I might love the robot series more though. I love Bradbury and I haven't read Dandelion Lion. I feel shame. Stranger in a strange land is definitely a book of its time. I didn't hate or love it. I would be curious to see what you think of it. Ironically I think I might enjoy Starship troopers more. I didn't realise Edgar Rice Burroughs is controversial. Sure the female characters aren't great but none of the adventure novels of the time do. I have wonderful vintage paperback copies of that series which I am pretty sure has at least ten. Great list. Happy reading.

[@alexandruteodor3585]

Hello, Mike! Would you like to add to your list The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas? Merphy Napier hypes it and I think it is a great book. :)

[@lacys340]

I'm in the middle of Annals of a Fortress by Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-duc originally published in 1876 and loving it. Don't think it counts since I'd never heard of it before finding it at half priced books, but then maybe it should be counted a classic. Lol.

[@philippburnett6045]

Hemingway is my fav. Everything the man wrote is amazing. In my opinion. Ive read Sun Also Rises when I was a teen, now I think I’ll understand way more awesome things that I didn’t before