tier-ranking more classic books (so you know which ones to read) -- part 2 📚 

link to part 1 here with more traditional classics: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-92QbQOK8VTI.html

"A classic is a book nobody wants to read but everybody wants to have read." -Mark Twain

Love that you included modern classics too, would be interested in a video breaking down exactly what makes a 'classic' and their importance

Gregor Samsa waking up as a bug and his first worry being how he's going to get to work is the most German thing I've heard, relatable

You should review Agatha Christie! She's the most published author ever, only beat by the Bible and Shakespeare. She's written half a dozen classics. I'd love to see you do something similar to your Cain's Jawbone video and try to solve one of her mysteries.

I’d love to see Jack make a video on current books that he thinks will become classics in the future (if he hasn’t already)

1:46 - The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien 2:10 - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 2:42 - Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh 3:25 - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 3:46 - Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka 4:27 - Persuasion by Jane Austen 5:23 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen 5:38 - Lady Susan by Jane Austen 6:02 - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen 6:37 - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell 7:04 - East of Eden by John Steinbeck 8:38 - The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 9:00 - Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih 9:45 - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 10:08 - The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov 10:59 - Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse 11:16 - The Art of War by Sun Tzu 12:06 - Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin 12:14 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker 12:37 - Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 12:56 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 13:21 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 14:09 - Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown 14:44 - The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 15:17 - The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford 15:32 - Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence 15:40 - The Stranger by Albert Camus 16:07 - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 16:16 - The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli 16:46 - Silas Marner by George Elliot 17:07 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 17:19 - The Secret History by Donna Tart 18:12 - Harry Potter by JK Rowling 18:38 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 19:10 - The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 19:35 - The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 20:27 - The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith 20:45 - Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut 21:10 - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 21:47 - Roxana by Daniel Defoe 22:19 - A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 22:26 - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark 22:59 - Nadja by Andre Breton 23:15 - Brighton Rock by Graham Greene 23:36 - The Razor's Edge by William Somerset Maugham 24:00 - Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood 24:24 - Howards End by EM Forster

I would love a video where you re-read books, that you read "at the wrong time" like "The Master and Margarita". It would be so interesting to see if / in what way it changes your opinion about the books!

The Master and Margarita is complicated to read since there are a lot of historical references/inside 'jokes' that are difficult to understand if you are not familiar with that era and its people. It's best to read one with a LOT of footnotes. The version shown here is pretty decent.

you NEED to read "a thousand splendid suns" especially if you found "the kite runner" emotional. That is the most heart wrenching and beautiful book I've ever read😢 still waiting for a book to make me feel everything the way that did😅

Metamorphosis is my favourite classic by a significant margin. I studied it with my students and the deeper you dig into it the more it rewards and astounds you. I absolutely love it.

Is it too early to ask for a part 3? 😂 I’d love to know your opinion on more classics!

"It (Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone) made so many of us readers for life." Well said, Jack!👏

Uni has caught me in a reading slump basically ever since I started my degree, so thanks for making these videos! I love how accessible you make it and make light of books considered classics - makes me feel okay with not reading classics just for the sake of them being classics.

Omg the orange-juice-after-toothpaste description hit me HARD. 🤣🤣🤣

I think Huckleberry Finn is a masterpiece, but I also think it’s very specifically situated in American (US) culture and history. I agree the dialect is hard to read and aged super poorly, but even so I’d be curious to know if you’d view it differently rereading it after living in the US

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe was the first chapter book I ever read; My Dad gave it to me for my birthday. I was already a pretty avid reader, but that book changed my life and cemented my love for reading.

📚TIMESTAMPS 📚 1:47 - The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) 2:09 - A Christmas Carol (C. Dickens) 2:41 - Vile Bodies (E. Waugh) 3:25 - Americanah (C. Ngozi Adichie) 3:45 - A Metamorphosis (F. Kafka) 4:27 - Persuasion (J. Austen) 5:23 - Sense & Sensibility (J. Austen) 5:38 - Lady Susan (J. Austen) 6:03 - Northanger Abbey (J. Austen) 6:37 - North & South (B. Percival) 7:04 - East of Eden (J. Steinbeck) 8:40 - The God of Small Things (A. Roy) 9:00 - Season of Migrations to the North (T. Salih) 9:45 - The Kite Runner (K. Hosseini) 10:09 - The Master and Margarita (M. Boulgakov) 11:00 - Siddhartha (H. Hesse) 11:16 - The Art of War (S. Tzu) 12:06 - Giovanni's Room (J. Baldwin) 12:14 - The Color Purple (A. Walker) 12:57 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (M. Twain) 13:22 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (M. Twain) 14:10 - Wieland (C. Browkden Brown) 14:45 - The Bluest Eye (T. Morrison) 15:17 - The Good Soldier (F. Madox Fox) 15:33 - Sons and Lovers (D. H. Lawrence) 15:40 - L'Étranger (A. Camus) 16:07 - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (R. L. Stevenson) 16:17 - The Prince (N. Machiavel) 16:47 - Silas Marner (G. Eliot) 17:08 - The Old Man and the Sea (E. Hemingway) 17:21 - The Secret History (D. Tartt) 18:12 - Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) 18:39 - The Hunger Games (S. Collins) 19:10 - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis) 19:35 - The Testaments (M. Atwood) 20:29 - The Talented Mr. Ripley (P. Highsmith) 20:46 - Slaughterhouse Five (K. Vonnegut) 21:48 - Lady Roxana (D. Defoe) 22:19 - A Study In Scarlet (A.C. Doyle) 22:27 - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (M. Spark) 22:58 - Nadja (A. Breton) 23:15 - Brighton Rock (G. Greene) 23:37 - The Razor's Edge (W. S. Maugham) 24:25 - Howards End (E.M. Forster)

‘I’m moby dick without mody part’, - actually killed me 😭 i would also recommend reading master and margarita in two sessions because I don’t know a single person, who liked it from the get go and didn’t get bored out of the mind by everything that didn’t include Woland!

Video idea: what books you THINK will become classics/modern classics and why

I had never intended on reading 'the god of small things' but one day I found it in a second hand store for a very cheap price and therefore purchased it. Started reading with no expectations and it turned out to be one of my all time favourites.

“Fleagency” is the best thing I heard. Your play on words and jokes are the literal best way to discuss these books. I do think the Art of War deserves a 2nd read (esp since it’s so short) bc it isn’t just about war and enemies. It can be applied to work and personal life. It also influences major marketing strategies and sports. It’s actually a pretty pacifist text and I feel like if you didn’t like the Prince, you would like this one more. I’ve read that war is not glorified in traditional Chinese philosophy like it is in Western. Sun Tzu constantly says that it is better not to engage in war and to do everything you can to prevent it. And the strategies are more about deception in order to carry out and end a battle in the quickest, most efficient way, rather than strategies for a blood shedding battle. Sun Tzu’s values are rooted in Taoism, so harmony and simplicity are important factors. I would definitely recommend reading it again!

I would love to see a tier ranking of just children's literature. The comments would be bloodshed

Hunger games is the book that got me out of a 3 year reading slump, and I can reread it any day! I’m so happy u acknowledged it as a classic, I did not expect it and was pleasantly suprised😄

The Color Purple actually made me bawl my eyes out. 10000/10 I’m very happy my English teacher last year chose it for our class because I know that it’s not something I would’ve picked up on my own. But I’m so so glad I read it.

I definitely think you should give the Master and Margarita another try! I recently read it and would say it is a *lot* , but I find the narrative voice so spellbinding, hilarious at times plus I find the plot and characters actually interesting. Definitely more readable than a lot of the old dusty classics in my books

i was 11 when i read metamorphosis and you can be sure that it left a HUGE impression on me, i am still disturbed by it to this day. i remember our literature teacher always told it was her favorite book and one time she wrote the first sentence of the book and made us continue the story, and then awarded me foor writing the best one, and then made it one of the books we had to read in that year, and lemme tell you it did NOT go the way 11 year old me wrote it to be lol.

The fact that I knew about Jekyll&Hyde's plot twist before reading it took away all atmosphere of the book for me. This book would have been so eerie and beautifully grim if I hadn't known about the secret. I was actually really upset after reading the book because of what could have been. I don't know if you know the feeling. You probably do.

As someone who has studied classic chinese literature, I am always confused why the Art of War is well known in the west lol. If you would like to read a classic chinese novel, I would suggest Dream of the Red Chamber or Water Margins (also translated to Outlaws of the Marsh). These 2 novels are regarded as 2 of the 4 top classical chinese novels. (The other 2 classics are The War of Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West, which I feel are more well known) I will say that since these are novels, they are probably easier to read compared to something like Art of War.

why is it so hard for people to understand that others can have different opinions than yours and are still valid like cmon

15:32 "Sons and lovers is... a book about mommy issues and... yea, it's fine" the best book review

the master and margarita is brilliant, you should definitely give it another go! the beginning is a bit confusing, but it all ties perfectly at the end. the metaphors and references to other books are outstanding (have you read goethe's faustus? it's needed to better understand the book)

The Little Prince, Count of Monte Cristo, and Don Quixote as suggestions if you ever decide to continue this series! Agatha Christie would be cool too, though it could possibly be a list on its own, combined with other famous detective/mystery books

Really glad modern classics were included!

Ive been waiting for this ever since the last video was posted. Classics are my love ❤ Great job, Jack!

I looove classics so much, so happy you talk about them as well 😍❤️

I will definitely return for this video for recommendations, thanks Jack! The one book i can comment one, as a russian person, is Master and Margarita. I loved it when i read it for school, it was so different from every other classic russian literature. But I definitely get why it has gone over your head, i think it has a lot integration into soviet culture and also the city with all the little details and humor and context. I imagine it just doesn’t hit as hard in translation and with little context, unlike, for example , war and peace and Anna Karenina, which are kind of simpler and more universal i guess? Anyway, hope you like it the second time) maybe there is some good commentary on it as well!

I just discovered your channel last week. And I’m really enjoying your channel so far. You’ve got the gift of the gab, my friend. I’m no public speaker so I’m really impressed how fluidly you articulate your thoughts. And as an aspiring novelist, it’s insightful gleaning into your thoughts on various books using accessible language. We all know how acerbic reviews on goodreads can get ha.

As a former French student, I swear I’ve read whole journal articles about how to translate the first line of The Stranger /L’Etranger 😂😅

Absolutely love your videos! Your book reviews and recommendations feel more like a genuine and passionate conversation with a fellow book lover, which is not something I often see with booktubers (at least the ones I've seen so far). Genuine plus points for the puns too lol

How am I supposed to ever finish my classic book when Jack keeps posting bangers during my lunch break

0:48 Out of these I've only read Animal Farm, Frankenstein, Lord of the Flies, and How to Kill a Mockingbird (all in high school). I agreed with their rankings.

0:18 Yes, as a new adolescent reader, I am starting of with classics to know what is considered good (in a way) Thank you Jack😊

I love Americanah so much, it is one of my favourite books ever. It is this amazing love story that takes place in three different countries. The writing is phenomenal, beautiful and very easy to read.

so happy to see someone give dr jekyll and mr hyde the praise it deserves its a rlly good book and everyone i know hates it i makes me sad

As someone who comes from ex-soviet country, knows the culture and speaks very similar language to Russian, I even found "The Master and Margarita" hard to read and honestly I took my time with it and loved it in the end! :)

i just read the god of small things back in august, it was on my bucket list this year to read my first indian novel. i've never read anything with a chronology like that. when i was like halfway through, i thought it would be a four star because i thought it wasn't fully working for me and was a bit melodramatic. but after i finished the book and all the little events come together, i thought each scene was actually perfectly crafted. i understood why the endorsement on the cover said they reread the book right away. anyways i'm excited to read more indian lit

Watching your videos has gotten me back on the reading train! My day job is video game development so I usually play games in my downtime but I forgot how much reading can spark new ideas for games too! Love your content always pumped for new videos!

The wait was worth it! I love all of Jack’s videos and enjoy listening to his opinions. ❤

I’m Russian and hearing you say that you weren’t in the right headspace for The Master and Margarita resonated a lot with me. I could only read it fully on my third try and fell in love with it instantly. It is, indeed, very confusing + you have to be very well-versed in Biblical themes and know a bit about at least historical landscape of the time that is depicted as “present” which is Soviet Moscow in roughly the 1930s. This is a very curious book with marvelous characters and I hope you’ll give it one more chance. The beauty of it is that every time you re-read it, you find something new that you haven’t noticed before because you probably lacked experience or knowledge to understand. Bulgakov is such a wonderful and controversial author who was way ahead of his time, I love him!

The Kite Runner is one of my favorite books of all time. I didn't read it by choice, but I loved it by choice. It has stuck with me a decade later.

id rlly love to see jack read and review Catch-22, its such a cracked up classic-like literal CRACK-with so many tone shifts and a beautiful ending and GOD id fr love to hear his thoughts on it. i literally have not been able to stop thinking about it since i finished reading it

The Metamorphosis is that one book that I randomly found in the library and was instantly hooked when I read the opening line for the first time. I still have some books to read so I did not borrow it that time when I found it. By next week, I went back to the library to borrow it but I couldn't find it in the shelves anymore. Until I graduated from that school, I haven't found the book ever since. It was just gone. I was 15 years old that time but until now I still couldn't forget it so I finally bought one when I turned 20. It became one of my favorite books. The story is just depressing and although it doesn't directly refer to depression, I can't help but relate similarly to whatever George Samsa was feeling. The metaphor of the story towards mental health is so strong in this one. And as someone currently having quarter life crisis, it hits closest to home.

i used to hate metamorphosis with a passion until i realized that kafka is german and one of the hardest authors to translate bc so much gets lost, so now i feel bad and need to read it in its native german sooner or later bc his short stories are fire

please please please read "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". I personally think that it's one of the most incredible classics ever written with just how many topics it explores and how controversial it is. Plus it's set in Paris and as we all know, you love that city about as much as I love this book

Honestly love this! Maybe do a video on what you think will be future classics?

I read north & south and northanger abbey back to back at the start of this year and they're STILL my favourites so far. ik they're still very well-known but I feel like they don't get the recognition they deserve when it comes to talking about classics, so I feel like I'm in my vindication era rn cheers jack

i screamed YESSS when you gave giovanni's room 6 out of 5 stars. so glad you enjoyed it!! i loooove that book

I was literally looking for something to watch while having lunch and BAM Jack's got me

I love that you have so many books at the top. You’ve got a great passion

The last time, I heard ‘Austussy’. The bar is high for Punnery and Jack will exceed our expectations as always🔥

You’re bang on with Gaskell and I wish more people knew how good North and South is. Also that is the perfect description of John Thorpe.

POV: You're waiting for someone to put the timestamps up. And to that person thank you so much you're our hero

ahhhh sooo happy about all the jack content we're getting lately 😊

Omg I CLEARED my classics TBR thanks your last video like this!!! Tysm Jack!!

My favorite childhood classic is “the little prince” so I got excited when you mentioned children’s books😭

Would love an in depth analysis of the hunger games!! I've been waiting for someone to give us a really academic take on Suzanne Collins FOREVER including looking it up on jstor (middling results)

Hi Jack! I LOVE your videos…you’ve got me into reading again and I’m so grateful !! Pleaseeeeee can you do your top 10 of ALL TIME…your taste is 🤌 chef kiss ✨

Hey Jack , I was wondering if you could make an introduction series to various genre of books.

I am *just about to* read Season of Migration to the North for my comparative literature course (and I mean I am actually just about to sit down and read it). I was already excited to read it, but I'm so glad it made a spot at the top as I'm even more excited for it now!

I love the book tier-ranking videos!

just submitted my final exam for my two undergraduate degrees and watching this video is my mini-celebration! so soothing after reading books for postmodernism. love your content Jack, thanks for being you ☺️🎉🤍

*Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is my favorite author!* I also love reading translated Russian classics like Ivan Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons.” But I always obsess over Sherlock Holmes, the writing is dense yet smooth. My favorite stories are the “Blue Carbuncle” and “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty.”

this video is literally a sign for me to finally purchase and read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I avoided this book just as much as I actually wanted to read it but I wasn't entirely sure whether I'd enjoy it. And it's already in my shopping cart on a bookstore's website, and I just hope I would get as much pleasure reading it as you did. so thanks for the video, right on time!!!

I watched “The Muppets A Christmas Carol” every year, throughout the year when I was a kid. For that reason I’ve been putting off reading the book because the muppets perfected it 😅

Hi :) You really got me back into reading, thanks for that. I'd love to one day see a video on modern classics only, ranked or compared otherwise. Or (I keep adding to this hah) something about the books that have guided you though life and influenced you most. Appreciate your channel and good luck with all future moves!

The little "I'm fragile" at the end, hit me right in the feels.. sending so much love

Oh, I read the metamorphasis of Franz Kafka in high school and it was so haunting. Kafka in general has that vibe where you're super intrigued by the premise and then a little bit scared by it. We actually had the Process from Kafka as one of the books in the final exams and it's even more about people just living for the work and capitalism.

Jack, our chaotic King, constantly doing the lords work. You love to see it ❤

Jack, would really love to see you do a video on cookbooks, or rather, food literature? For one, I think it's fascinating to see reactions to genres people don't read often, and two, there is quite a bit of narrative-heavy cookbooks out there, filled with stories and experiences and culture, akin to more of a memoir than just a cookbook.

Yes!!! I literally go back to part 1 all the time when I read more classics.

I'm so glad the Kite Runner is on here. It definitely made me sob

It would be really interesting for you to do a foreign literary classics tierlist

omg thank you so much for this video, I felt less lonely when you reviewed The Testaments and The Underground Railroad. I had the exact same (unpopular) thoughts. You also motivated me to read a few classics that have been staying too long in my TBR. Enjoy your weekend, xx

So many of these have been on my TBR and I just got some copies recently bc of this channel 😂

Great video again! It would be great to have a video about the best begginer novels/novella. X

Absolutely loved!! I would love to hear your opinion on Latin American classics like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende. Your videos always put a smile on my face :)

This man is so passionate and charismatic, I love the way he talks about books.

This is a great video. Loved the books you selected for this one

Master and Margarita is like an IT book for Russian students, most of us think (even as the adults) that this is the best book or a fave in Russian classical literature (because it's not boring as lots of our other classical books are, and of course it's layers upon layers)

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is 6/5 the language is what makes it so great. Blew me away first time I read it (recently). It made me feel like I had gone back in time.

I'm watching this in my train from Paris to Saint Malo and I now want to read The razor's Edge. I really like this kind of videos, please continue to do them ❤️

adding so many books to my tbr bc of you 😩

I took a class in adolescent literature and we thoroughly dissected the Hunger Games. I will have to agree it deserves a top spot on this list! Can't wait to see my kids read it someday ❤

This is my 3rd video of yours I've watched in 2 days and I've gotten so many great recommendations! It's a shame that I've only read 3-4 of the books across all three vids 😩

Jack opens me open to so many new books I’d never consider reading. Thank you ❤❤

Was anticipating this video....so excited!!!!!

I was reaching for the sword in anticipation that Narnia would go any lower than Jaw Drop. Looks like you're safe.

I'm so here for some Dickens-Defoe slander lol. I had to SUFFER through some of their work for uni. I don't think I've ever taken so long to read a novel as I did with Robinson Crusoe. It's been 2/3 years and I'm still traumatised.

JACK!! THIS IS AMAZING! TYSM