Top 10: must-read classics
This list is generated from 120 "Jewels of the universal literature" book lists from a variety of great sources. An algorithm is used to create a master list based on how many lists a particular book appears on. Some lists count more than others. I generally trust in the lists that are voted by authors and experts over user-generated lists.
1.- Don Quixote by MIGUEL DE CERVANTES
The story follows the adventures of a hidalgo named Mr. Alonso Quixano who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and decides to set out to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote)
2.- One Hundred Years of Solitude by GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ
One Hundred Years of Solitude is the story of seven generations of the Buendía Family in the town of Macondo. The founding patriarch of Macondo, José Arcadio Buendía, and Úrsula Iguarán, his wife (and first cousin), leave Riohacha, Colombia, to find a better life and a new home. One night of their emigration journey, while camping on a riverbank, José Arcadio Buendía dreams of "Macondo", a city of mirrors that reflected the world in and about it. Soon after its foundation, Macondo becomes a town frequented by unusual and extraordinary events that involve the generations of the Buendía family, who are unable or unwilling to escape their periodic (mostly self-inflicted) misfortunes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude#Plot)
3.-The Little Price by ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPERY
The narrator, an airplane pilot, crashes in the Sahara desert. The crash badly damages his airplane and leaves the narrator with very little food or water. As he is worrying over his predicament, he is approached by the little prince, a very serious little blond boy who asks the narrator to draw him a sheep. The narrator obliges, and the two become friends. The pilot begins to learn more about the little prince, discovering that he comes from the asteroid known as B-612. Eventually, he begins to learn other details of the little prince's planet as well, including the fact that baobab trees are a major menace and that the object of the little prince's affection is a rose. This rose is very vain, however, and tells lies, making the little prince unhappy. He decides that he cannot trust her anymore and leaves his planet. (http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-little-prince/summary)
4.- The Picture of Dorian Gray by OSCAR WILDE
Lord Henry Wotton visits his friend Basil Hallward, where he sees a painting Basil is working on and admires it. Basil is very protective of the subject of his painting, not even willing to tell Lord Henry who it is. But, after being badgered by Lord Henry, Basil gives in and tells him how he came to meet the young and handsome Dorian Gray. The two are drawn to each other and begin a friendship, which gives way to Dorian becoming Basil's muse.
(http://www.softschools.com/literature/summary/the_picture_of_dorian_gray/)
5.- The Divine Comedy by DANTE ALIGHIERI
In this epic poem, Dante's alter ego, the Pilgrim, travels through Hell and Purgatory to reach Heaven. His journey is meant to impress upon readers the consequences of sin and the glories of Heaven.
(https://www.enotes.com/topics/divine-comedy)
6.- The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
The Prince is a classic book that explores the attainment, maintenance, and utilization of political power in the western world. Machiavelli wrote The Prince to demonstrate his skill in the art of the state, presenting advice on how a prince might acquire and hold power. Machiavelli defended the notion of rule by force rather than by law. Accordingly, The Prince seems to rationalize a number of actions done solely to perpetuate power. It is an examination of power-its attainment, development, and successful use.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28862.The_Prince#)
7.- The Metamorphosis by FRANZ KAFKA
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes." (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/485894.The_Metamorphosis?ac=1&from_search=true)
8.- Hamlet by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
One of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother’s infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s death and burial, the play within a play, the “closet scene” in which Hamlet accuses his mother of complicity in murder, and breathtaking swordplay are just some of the elements that make Hamlet an enduring masterpiece of the theater.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1420.Hamlet?ac=1&from_search=true)
9.- The Iliad by HOMER
The Iliad is one of the two great epics of Homer, and is typically described as one of the greatest war stories of all time, but to say the Iliad is a war story does not begin to describe the emotional sweep of its action and characters: Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth and history in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1371.The_Iliad?ac=1&from_search=true)
10.- The Miserables by VICTOR HUGO
Introducing one of the most famous characters in literature, Jean Valjean—the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread—Les Misérables ranks among the greatest novels of all time. In it, Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil, and carries them to the barricades during the uprising of 1832 with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose. Within his dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of Valjean by Inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Thénardier, and the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. Les Misérables gave Victor Hugo a canvas upon which he portrayed his criticism of the French political and judicial systems, but the portrait that resulted is larger than life, epic in scope—an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses even as it touches the heart.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24280.Les_Mis_rables?ac=1&from_search=true)