People take issue with them, but picking something off Adler's or Harvard's (five-foot-shelf) or Bloom's Great Books lists will almost never lead you wrong.<p>But, here we go anyway (and yeah, some of these are just off those lists):<p>1) Shakespeare's big four tragedies are, in fact, out-fucking-standing. Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth. IMO Hamlet reads the best of those. Any would be fine to watch, as well, and may be better that way. The language, especially, is easier to understand when performed, because you have body language, tone, and other context to work with.<p>2) <i>Gilgamesh</i>. I like Mitchell's edition.<p>3) <i>The Odyssey</i>. <i>Iliad</i>'s a bit of a bore, but with a few <i>incredible</i> scenes that really stick with you. <i>The Odyssey</i>, though, is great. Screw the haters, even the "Telemachy" portion is good.<p>4) <i>Revolutionary Road</i> by Yates, for a certain kind of struggle with identity & purpose that I <i>suspect</i> will resonate and provide a useful mirror for lots of folks on here.<p>5) Woolf's <i>To the Lighthouse</i> is probably my favorite book, so I'll throw that on here.<p>6) The 20th century gave us tons of essayists (some of whom also wrote novels and such) who are great reads. Orwell, C.S. Lewis, and Forster all come to mind.<p>7) Maugham wrote <i>a lot</i> of novels, and most of them are well worth a read.<p>8) Farmer's Riverworld series are probably my favorite very dumb books.