Ranking My Favorite classics 📚Classic Lit Recommendations 

What is your favorite classic of all times? What would you add to this list and what would you toss out? Let me know down below and we'll talk classics some more!

The count of monte Cristo will always be a five star for me , totally agree with you in this . Frankenstein again something was very intriguing,such a well written book . The list is acceptable for me as everyone has their own point of view and i personally feel no classic book is first or second or last it's just personal experience where one connects with the characters,their lives , to get most out of classics one have to be in correct mindset . By approaching classic books with curiosity and a desire to uncover thier layers of meaning , checking the background of authors by doing so one can often enhance appreciation and enjoyment. I remember when i first read the catcher in the rye I didn't like it at all but after re-reading i found it relatable he was coping with the death of his brother so much going on his life .

I think this is a amazing list. I was so happy to see The Great Gatsby at number 1, because it is also my favorite book I have ever read. Fitzgerald does such an amazing job transporting us to a different period of American society, and using his characters to criticize the American dream. Even as someone who is still in high-school, I love the book so much because I feel that I can relate in some way to each of the characters in the book, and understand their motives and ambitions. It is truly a timeless masterpiece.

My favourite classic is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier❤❤ the gothic themes, the haunting presence of an enigmatic woman, romance, drama, thrills, this one has it all

Hello! Thanks for a great video - happy to see Virginia Woolf om your list. 😊 My top three classics are: Orlando Frankenstein Wuthering Heights I would like to recommend maybe an quite unknown classic: The Kristin Lavransdatter triology by Sigrid Undset. A powerful love story from Norway in the Middle Ages.

@RoadReads You say the same thing about The Great Gatsby! I am inspired to go and read it a few more times to make sure I love it as much as both of you do!!

my ten favorite classics, in no particular order: THE DIVINE COMEDY Dante Alighieri THE COUNT OF MONTECRISTO - Alexandre Dumas DON QUIXOTE - Miguel de Cervantes THE BETROTHED - Alessandro Manzoni IF THIS IS A MAN - Primo Levi THE ITALIAN - Ann Radcliffe PINOCCHIO - Carlo Collodi THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME - Victor Hugo NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND - Fyodor Dostoevsky HISTORY: A NOVEL - Elsa Morante Yes 5 are Italian but since I started digging into Italian literature I have found many of my favorite books. I believe it is a work of literature that went unnoticed because the world was too dazzled by the wonder of the painting, sculpture, architecture and music of the Italian peninsula. Well Italy has magnificent literature too and I can't wait to continue discovering it and I hope that more and more people talk about it.

Always loved Moby Dick. Hard on the 1st read, but when you reread it all comes together.

Ok, now I'm trying to think of my top 10. This is hard. 10: Little Women (kept) 9: Dracula (kept) 8: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (we gotta put some Brontë on the list and Anne is my personal favorite) 7: The Great Gatsby (moved down) 6: The Sorrows of Young Werther (it was so influential) 5: The Little Prince (yes, another children’s book, but I think children’s media can be just as good) 4: Pride and Prejudice (Austen is a must) 3: Frankenstein (moved up) 2: The Trial (because I like it) 1: Hamlet (self explanatory) This is definitely more my own taste than universal, now that I thibk of it.

Great video! I've read only two from your list but it is your no 1, The Great Gatsby (timeless masterpiece indeed) and my no 1, The Karamazov Brothers.😊 I will finally read soon Dracula and To kill a mockingbird. Today I finished Persuasion. Loved it! Impossible for me to rank classic books but nevertheless Dostoievski rules!🏆📚

My top three is; 3. Jane Eyre, 2. The Time Machine and 1. The Great Gatsby. My favorite character in Gatsby is Nick, to me he is not just the narrator, he really is the star of the book. He is Fitsgerald. I have heard other readers set Nick aside as if he is not really part of the story. I have read it several times and I have to say, I don't agree with that at all.

I love your passion for each of these books! I love so many of these, and you may have given me some inspiration to try ones I've always shied away from (looking at you Lolita). My three that always MUST be my top 3 are: Rebecca, Anna Karenina, and my most beloved, must read every. single.year is Jane Eyre. Love to have discussion about all of these books and love that everyone has their ultimate favorites!

I haven't read some of them. In my list, I would include the Book of 1001 Nights, Robinson Crusoe and Anna Karenina.

You have an excellent list. I have read several of them and actually all the others are on my TBR list - hopefully will complete them this year. Think my favorite book at least at this point is East of Eden -John Steinbeck. I love your excitement for the classics. Thank you for your video.

Ulysses written as a prank! I had not considered such a thought until you said it. Now, it makes perfect sense to me. 😉

I once did a modern language synopsis of Frankenstein chapter by chapter. That's an intense way to analyze that book. Most of the books on this list are some of my personal favorites. I'm sad there's no Nathaniel Hawthorne or Homer on the list but I get it. I can't argue with any of your choices or placements.

I listened to Lolita on audio last year, read by Jeremy Irons. I was so torn between the awfulness of HH's actions and the beauty of the book. The writing could somehow transcend the subject matter and make me forget and almost feel compassion, and that is a little difficult for me to write. I wouldn't list it in my top 10 books, but I thought your summation was perfect.

Love Fitzgerald, love Gatsby!

Lolita is one of my most favorite books, but I did not find myself empathizing with HH at any point, for any reason. I found every flowery attempt of his to gain my empathy pathetic and disturbing. He really is a monster.

My thoughts as I go along: 10: Little Women deserves this place on the list. I would argue that it *is* a "girly" book (as far as books can be girly or boyish), but that doesn't make it any less appropriate for all audiences. It's pretty typical for 19th/20th century girl books, in that it revolves around home, family, relationships, every-day-life, and moral lessons. What does make it stand out from the typical girl book is the constant questioning of gender norms throughout, especially in the characters of Jo and Laurie. Laurie is a very feminized character, longing to be part of this family of women, playing piano, and having a greenhouse full of flowers. Meanwhile Jo is as close to an out trans boy as you can get without outright saying it. It's cosy on the face of it, but with a queer reading it has so many different levels! Just the fact that the narrative seems to disagre with the narrator on some points (such as the "Meg Goes to Vanity Fair chapter) and as such undermines the supposed moral lessons is just delicious. 9: Dracula is a great pick! I think this novel has so many levels. I especially like to analyse the fears that drive the plot. Also the whole old magic vs new tech angle. It must read very different now than it did at publication! 8: I like The Count of Monte Cristo, but I'm not sure if I would put it on a top 10 list. Top 50, yes. Still agree with what you said, and I'm not angry about it. 7: I actually expected to see Frankenstein higher on the list, but I'll wait and see if there's even better ones higher up. The descriptions in this is the best I've seen! 6: I haven't gotten around to reading Giovanni's Room yet. 5: I haven't read The Brothers Karamazov either. 4: I like To Kill a Mockingbird, but it's so very American that I struggle putting it so high up. Maybe switch it with Frankenstein. It just feels so specific compared to a lot of other classics. 3: To the Lighthouse. Man, I'm starting to feel bad for not having read the books on this list. 2: Lolita. I know that it's not meant as a romance, but I am scared to request it from the library. So I haven't read it. Bonus: Ulysses. I'm not confident enough to start it. 1: The Great Gatsby was kind of boring to me, but I get why people would love it. So I'm fine with placing it here. Ok, that was my reactions to watching this

Maybe Stuart Gilbert with Ulysses.

I agree with all the books except Lolita. That book is just a big screaming no. I don't care how supposedly beautiful the prose is. I will never touch that book. I absolutely adore The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald is one of my favorite American authors My #1 classic is Fahrenheit 451❤

I like your list, have you ever read Les Miserables?