Video suggestion : the Nobel Prize Winners, which one became classics, which ones got forgotten

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

Superb idea. Thank you.

@mj2495

2 ай бұрын

I agree. Although limited in scope to the US, the list of Pulitzer winners of fiction from 1918 through the 60's is replete with names now unremembered.

@wahwahweewa

2 ай бұрын

Bob Dylan's book - completely underwhelming

@Tolstoy111

Ай бұрын

@@wahwahweewa he won for his total body of work. The song lyrics etc

@LuvLuke954

11 күн бұрын

Fantastic idea!

Tristan I must say you are one of my favorite book tubers. I enjoy all you do for those of us who enjoy the classics.

@LuvLuke954

2 ай бұрын

100%.

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

Here here 👏👏👏

@kasiakwiatkowska5816

2 ай бұрын

Wholeheartedly agree!!

@janebaily3758

2 ай бұрын

Tristan has such great gifts! He is a treasure!!

@zibilanna

2 ай бұрын

Yes 😊!

Scarlett was the oldest of the O'Hara sisters, not the youngest! That's why it became her responsibility to take care of Tara and the rest of them.

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for the correction 🙏

@tyttiMK

2 ай бұрын

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 It IS my favourite book, I read it in three days when I was 12...

I feel reading The Odyssey, The Iliad & The Bible is a great base for reading all literature. Just my opinion 😊

@JoanKentBible

2 ай бұрын

I agree😊

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

@flowersfantasy, Agree with you 100%.

@janebaily3758

2 ай бұрын

I agree!

@mariaberjano5327

2 ай бұрын

Yes, I agree and it s a shame how our educating systems got lost in nonsense and ignore the great beauty of the classics.😊

@willmpet

Ай бұрын

It should remain an opinion. I do not value the bible at all. It doesn’t deserve to be on anyone’s list of great literature at all. It is just a story of genocide, slavery, and misogyny. It is only popular because it was the only ‘approved’ book for centuries! It was written by men who would consider a wheelbarrow to be breakthrough technology and who never traveled more than 5 kilometers from their home.

Excellent video. I really love your little guided tours around books. It inspires me to read books I wouldn't normally read. Thank you.

I absolutely love your videos and explanations of books. Having said that, any list of top books that doesn’t have The Count Of Monte Cristo is infuriating. How dare they😡😝

@jennyaldridge4186

2 ай бұрын

I second that. I can’t believe To the lighthouse is listed but not TCOMC.

Currently reading through Moby Dick for the first time and my god am I in love. Melville really is a genius

@Yesica1993

2 ай бұрын

That book hates me. I must conquer it someday!

@cynthiabrown5456

2 ай бұрын

I haven't read that yet, but we read Bartleby the Scrivener in high school, and I absolutely loved it. I have to go back & read it to see why! You may want to check that out.

@jennyaldridge4186

2 ай бұрын

I’m working my way through it but always find something else to read instead. I really can’t get interested in all the different varieties of whale!

@rjr230

2 ай бұрын

@@cynthiabrown5456 Yes! I have a collection of his shorter works that stares at me while it sits in my bookshelf lol

@LuvLuke954

2 ай бұрын

Ok ok. I’m going to give it a go! I have it - might as well!! ✌🏻😄

I would argue that the Color Purple is not greater than Bleak House, or Les Misérables, or A Picture of Dorian Gray, or Dracula, or Sense and Sensibility.

@disakland4714

2 ай бұрын

I agree. It was good, but 50 greatest good? Not for me, but it’s difficult to get everyone to agree 😅

@joanneleeson516

2 ай бұрын

I agree with you about that.

@jatrodai8921

2 ай бұрын

If you don’t mind i have a question. What was your opinion on Dracula? I have read it recently myself and have no one to discuss thoughts on it with.

@captainnolan5062

2 ай бұрын

@@jatrodai8921 It is an excellent example of Gothic Horror from the Victorian period. Full of atmosphere and delightfully scary. The science and technology portrayed in the book was cutting edge (like the technique of transfusions). Stoker codified many of the tropes we now think of when we read about vampires. Wonderful stuff. What were your thoughts?

@marthacanady9441

2 ай бұрын

Of course it’s not greater than any of those you mentioned. It’s absurd to think it is. Lol.

I rarely comment but I really appreciate your videos and they always encourage me to engage with some classics I wouldn't normally pick up for myself. Thank you for the effort you put into your videos and for your insights 🤗

Count of Monte Cristo should certainly be on this list!

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

I totally agree!

@mj2495

2 ай бұрын

Me too!

@telercoi3234

Ай бұрын

Definite agree, I was actually waiting for it to be in the top 10!

@dpelpal

18 күн бұрын

So should "The Woman in White" AND "The Moonstone". Wilkie Collins was the greatest mystery writer of ALL TIME.

I’ve always believed John Steinbeck’s, “The Winter of Our Discontent” should be on everyone’s reading list. It’s a great book no one ever mentions.

Yayyy Tristan!! I have my coffee, notebook & pen ready!! So excited to see your list!!

This is a great video. I’ve read about 20 of these books. I think everyone needs to read Middlemarch-I think of that book often. I read the Bible daily. I would add the need for the Count of Monte Cristo to be on the list.

I named a cat Albert after I had just finished reading that particular Camus novel. She was a stray that came up and let herself in and the other animals had zero problem with her and she was happy to see everyone. It was just so opposite of the usual experience of introducing a new cat to established cats it seemed fitting to name her in a way after a book about an unusual fellow. Also, before I decided on a name I had been calling her 'Stranger Kitty', so it was a natural development. Of course she is a girl cat, so she is mostly called Bertie, but that is where her name came from.

@Tristan Just an observation as a viewer: It might be a good idea to pin a comment of your own as a reminder of where this list comes from. Many people, as shown by the comments, have missed that this list isn't your own ranking. This way, you clear up any confusion and you can gauge interest in avideo of your own 50 Greatest list, if you ever plan on making one. Either way, very interesting list. And congrats on the increased attention you're getting with the two channels!

I really wasn’t a fan of 100 years of Solitude. I really think Persuasion by Jane Austen should have been on that list somewhere. I love P&P but I think Jane’s writing had matured and sharpened by the time she wrote Persuasion. Surprised Les Miserables wasn’t on there and also other French classics like Hunchback and phantom xx

@nanceefrench9144

2 ай бұрын

I read Les Miserables about 40 years ago. It took me forever. I loved it but it was so realistic but so very sad. I was surprised it wasn’t on the list.

@user-ed5zl2cw2h

2 ай бұрын

I would also add Balzac to this list.

@micheleheddane3804

Ай бұрын

Persuasion is wonderful.quiet and escape into self

@JoelleFromParis

Ай бұрын

I was also surprised that no Victor Hugo was listed.

@johangustafson6417

Күн бұрын

@@JoelleFromParis I would not be surprised, given that the presenter believes that 58 % of the best books in history come from the UK or the US, whereas the rest of the world contributed only 42 %. Germany, Italy, India, and Spain have only one book each on the list, and China and Japan have none.

I would love to hear what YOUR top 50 books are, Tristan… or did you already make that video?

@nl3064

2 ай бұрын

Unless these are his favorites? Hard to tell, if this is a personal list, or if it's him trying to be objective.

@TKTalksBooks

2 ай бұрын

@@nl3064 Thank you. Yes, you are correct

@scunner6828

2 ай бұрын

Doesn't he explain at the beginning where he gets this list from? It's certainly not his top 50 as it includes several of his least favourites

Thank you for all the hard work you put into this but I would much prefer a 'Tristan List' where you recommend books for us and read a little from them. That helps me more. ❤

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

Is this list of 50 alogarithmic based, please ? I ask because it is so difficult to believe that some books are hardly ever recommended and get here they are !

I’d love to see a “Tristan” list like this. I’m a new subscriber so I may have missed it if you’ve already done it, I’ll go and look for that.

Thank you so much, Tristan. This was so enjoyable and I love how you give a synopsis of each book. Your passion is infectious. Both of your channels are a delight.

"If one were to count the ten greatest novels of all time, five of them would have to be Russian, leaving only five for the rest of the world Before the Russian revolution, Russia produced the greatest novelists in the world. Before the revolution, Russia passed through an immense period of creativity; it was almost an explosion. Nowhere else, in no other time, were so many great artists born together: Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Turgenev, and many more."

@tommurray6407

Ай бұрын

Absolutely Mr willieluncheonette. We are sympatico!

@willieluncheonette5843

Ай бұрын

@@tommurray6407 Nice! You might like this--- :"Just a single man, Fyodor Dostoevsky, is enough to defeat all the creative novelists of the world. If one has to decide on 10 great novels in all the languages of the world, one will have to choose at least 3 novels of Dostoevsky in those 10. Dostoevsky’s insight into human beings and their problems is greater than your so-called psychoanalysts, and there are moments where he reaches the heights of great mystics. His book BROTHERS KARAMAZOV is so great in its insights that no BIBLE or KORAN or GITA comes close. In another masterpiece of Dostoevsky, THE IDIOT, the main character is called ‘idiot’ by the people because they can’t understand his simplicity, his humbleness, his purity, his trust, his love. You can cheat him, you can deceive him, and he will still trust you. He is really one of the most beautiful characters ever created by any novelist. The idiot is a sage. The novel could just as well have been called THE SAGE. Dostoevsky’s idiot is not an idiot; he is one of the sanest men amongst an insane humanity. If you can become the idiot of Fyodor Dostoevsky, it is perfectly beautiful. It is better than being cunning priest or politician. Humbleness has such a blessing. Simplicity has such benediction."

I would definitely replace 100 Years of Solitude with Les Miserable. Also I would argue East of Eden should be on the list. Maybe in place of Lolita.

@Tolstoy111

2 ай бұрын

Lolita is an amazing work. What's your issue with it?

@marthacanady9441

2 ай бұрын

Oh, I do so agree.

@crustywhitedog8724

2 ай бұрын

East of Eden replaces The Color Purple, Les Mis replaces Lolita, 100 Years of Solitude stays where it is.

@Tolstoy111

2 ай бұрын

@@crustywhitedog8724 you think LM is of greater literary value than Lolita? Seriously?

@therealjetlag

Ай бұрын

I agree. I couldn’t finish 100 Years of Solitude. So so so boring.

I loved this list! I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby (on Chapter 3) and I immediately knew, with its first sentence, that I was entering a masterpiece!☘

In the top three on my list would be Fyodor Dostoyevsky's book 'The Idiot'. I would also include authors: Auster, Calvino, Ishiguro, Saramago, Singer and Vonnegut.

It’s a pleasure hearing your describing the great literature

So I respect the fact the Bible is on the list. Technically it is a book. It could be replaced with at least 10 other books - off the top of my head: (East of Eden, Watership Down, Wind & The Willows, Canterbury Tales, ATOTC, Lord of the Flies, Les Miserable…) And I’m sorry. But Lolita on this kind of list is truly bad form. Not Tristan - he is merely reporting the information- the those who make up these lists. And the fact that it’s listed in the top 10?? What? I’m nowhere near a banner of books. But for those book listers to keep this on a Best of ALL TIME List? Is insane to me. But as usual- TRISTAN rocked this list and this video. Well done!! ❤️

@scunner6828

2 ай бұрын

Your opinion of course but I thought Lolita was beautifully written. Disturbing? Yes. Engaging and thought-provoking? Yes. Slightly dull in places? Yes. But Nabokov can really inhabit a ( admittedly loathsome) character and spin a yarn.

@soundsnags2001

Ай бұрын

The Bible is so great.

I really enjoyed this video. Thank you. Its also a pleasure to see how happy you are in talking about these books. Its quite contagious 👍🏻

I think « The Old Man and the Sea » would be a better choice for a Hemingway book.

There are so many great classics its impossible to read them all and with new classics emerging we are truly spoiled 😃

@user-ed5zl2cw2h

2 ай бұрын

I apply 50-years-old filter. If a 50-year-old book is still valued by people then it may be worth reading.

It is hard to see Tender is the Night by Scott Fitzgerald out of the list. Especially when poorer books like Catcher in the Rye, or The Colour Purple, get so highly praised. The Castle by Kafka deserves a place as well. These are the ones I would swap personally. Great channel! Thanks for all the videos.

I am curious where Margaret Atwood would fall if the list was extended, and what book would be her best.

@blabbinglobster

2 ай бұрын

My thought, too! Her often overlooked short stories are incredible, as well as her novels.

So glad I found your channel, simply lovely! Thanks for the suggestions!

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

Thank you 😊 I'm pleased to meet you too.

I'm new here... been following for a couple weeks - I'm hooked - so thought I'd join in. So I'd leave out Lolita and have A Christmas Carol instead

@user-ed5zl2cw2h

2 ай бұрын

You wouldn't lose anything by omitting Lolita. Read other Nabokov's novels or short stories, they better represent his talent.

This was a really good list and I enjoyed, very much, as always, your unique summarizing style. I would have found a place for Ovid’s Metamorphoses. A wonderfully innovative work that poses as an epic poem while, at the same time, defamiliarising epic poetry. It is, to me, the most sublime exposition of mock-heroic verse in which many of the divinities and heroes of Greco-Roman myth are made to look ridiculous, as are traditional masculine Roman values. This is a work that packs a great deal in a relatively small space. Not to mention, its exquisite language and imagery and its enormous influence on Western art and literature. I recommend Melville’s translation.

@cynthiabrown5456

2 ай бұрын

I love Ovid. Good call on that.

One not on the list but should be is: Watership Down. Beautifully written. I would also include Dorian Gray. Probably David Copperfield too which I am digging into for the second time. I might also suggest something by Ian McEwan -perhaps Atonement even this list is more focused on the classics. I also keep coming back to Chandler's The Big Sleep, and Lucky Jim by Kinglsey Amis is superb.

Thank you for bringing joy to every one of your videos!

man, i wish i'd undestand better why Don Quijote is so relevant. And this is not a veiled critique, i literally mean i wish i was more educated in order to understand that. I have been reading it since last year, a couple a pages a day, which is my startegy for books i want to read, but i dont want to read, iykwim.

@cynthiabrown5456

2 ай бұрын

Many people consider it the first novel ever written. I think its staying power comes from the interplay between idealism & reality & the clash of the two. So many readers and writers are idealists at heart... sometimes pushed to cynicism then back again as the wheel spins around. I think that's what makes it intriguing for so many people who love reading. That said, I think translation matters & mine was brutal, sluggish & not an enjoyable read.... I'd like to try again with a better one... & maybe you should check your translation & see if there's something you'd like better out there?

@elisabasta

2 ай бұрын

@@cynthiabrown5456 thank you for your answer. i wish i could blame the translation, but I'm reading the original work, Spanish is my native tongue. I'll keep going a couple of pages a day hahaha. if it is an important work for literature as a whole, it's particularly relevant for literature in Spanish, as you may expect. :'(

@elizabethmusso5946

2 ай бұрын

I get it. My skill in reading Spanish is average, but as that book was written in the early 1600s, a few years before The King James Bible, the language is of that era. Four hundred years! (I have the “IV Centenario” edition that I got in Madrid in 2005.) I had to look up words on every page. There are tons of footnotes on each page explaining things that are no longer around. No fun. I haven’t picked it up in years. I have an old version of an English translation, but it’s much the same. Kind of tedious, I hate to say. I was looking for a more up-to-date English translation of it. Haven’t had much success. (I go by Elisa too!) 😊

I read Frankenstein, many years ago. Mary Shelley, wrote a masterpiece.❤

@Yesica1993

2 ай бұрын

I read it for the first time just this past year. I absolutely LOVED it! I read it on Kindle, listened to an audiobook (which I generally don't do), and then ordered a physical copy. I hope to be re-reading it forever.

@CarolR-ub1fz

2 ай бұрын

@@Yesica1993 You can find some good deals at, Abe Books.

@Yesica1993

2 ай бұрын

@@CarolR-ub1fz Yes, I got a good deal!

@leenverbraken1683

2 ай бұрын

I’ve read - I thought - Frankenstein a few years ago. I didn’t like it that much.. I’ve just figured out it was a children’s retelling 🙈.

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

Read it when I was 14 years old and found it sad ! Kept saying to my parents: " It isn't up to humans to meddle with God's work' Re-read it and still find it sad, particularly now with AI ....how far are we going ?

I must say I wouldn’t include the following books in the top fifty: The Colour Purple The Catcher in the Rye Lolita

@nl3064

2 ай бұрын

Ffs sake, another one. Color Purple, sure, maybe - not least of all because, from the portion that I read, Beloved did the slavery theme better. But enough of every other comment being some hipster who's now hating on Lolita and Catcher. I don't love every book on the list, but those are some of the better ones - certainly two of the most entertaining and accessible, the right mix of both literary quality and mass cultural appeal. Enough with the puffed-up snobbery. There's less deserving ones.

@freudulant

2 ай бұрын

@@nl3064 Why does it bother you that people don’t rate these two in the Top 50 books? That’s a small number why would you presume people would exclude these titles out of “puffed up snobbery” and not simply the fact that they didn’t enjoy them or didn’t feel they stood out enough in excellence to make their Top 50?

@nl3064

2 ай бұрын

@freudulant that's fair. It's just that every third comment here is knocking those two in particular, and many of them without even a good intellectual explanation (with Lolita especially, it's, "oh, our delicate modern sensibilities outweigh the crafted quality of the book!"). It's starting to get annoying. And no one said you have to like any of these books, but there's a gap between enjoyment, which is subjective, hence not really a valid argument, and acknowledging the skill on display. There's plenty I don't particularly find "fun", but that I acknowledge the quality and importance of.

@freudulant

2 ай бұрын

@@nl3064 I suppose if you don’t love it though you probably wouldn’t recommend it. I certainly didn’t enjoy CITR in particular most likely because I read it in my thirties and then the protagonist was not a natural ally but rather irritating. It may have been quite difficult if I read it in my teens.

It is surprising that "Canterbury Tales" and "Gargantua" are not listed. I thought that maybe you would arbitrarily include "Tristan and Iseult" for an obvious reason. As for Steinbeck, it would be "East of Eden" for me. "Catch-22" is wonderful and it should be mentioned that Heller was inspired by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek's "The Good Soldier Švek".

Love you passion for reading and well written books. Just happened upon your channel and so glad I did!

Fun list. I've read all but 4.5 of them (I'm about halfway through In Search of Lost Time). This seems like a pretty good set of classics for folks wanting to start reading the most recommended core classic books. IN such a short list there will always be a lot left out, and it is too short a list to include much outside the mostly-male, mostly White Western literature, but that's a limitation lots of classics lists have.

I am so glad I found this YT Channel...feel at home at last.... :) what I missed was "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupery "The Rider on the White Horse" by Theodor Storm "Momo" and "Neverending Story" by Michael Ende... although I could imagine those to be seen as more contemporary literature.. I loooooove Pride and Prejudice...it is a timeless classic...always enjoyable ;) and...I am one of those who actually not only read "1984" but also compared it to other English Literature such as "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C. Clarke and H.G. Wells "The Time Machine" in a "Paper" I had to hand in for my A-Levels (German Abitur) in English. That was aaaaages ago ..but still...some books and their ideas..stick with you.. for life ;)

Ever so inspiring ! I am so thrilled by the way you put it all

Some lnteresting choices...I have read a batch of these but certainly there are a lot more to add to by TBR. Thanks as always Tristan to make everything interesting!!

I love the organization and summaries. Just subbed 👍🏽

Regardless of Les Miserables placement, I love your enthusiasm and your presentation of each book. Your love of literature is infectious and you inspire me to read more. I finished Les Miserables last year, and that was one of my life’s greatest reading experiences. I am now half way through The Brothers Karamazov. I am loving it. I love it’s Russianness and the way he flows through each of the characters and how they effect each others thoughts and actions. I have a craving for fish soup! Thank you for what you do. You truly brighten the world!

@carmenl163

2 ай бұрын

I love Russian literature! Dead Souls by Gogol is another one of my favorites; you might want to check it out.

I'm gonna quote from an accurate review of To The Lighthouse: The cliché that ends the book is perfectly in tune with those throughout the book, and it is larded with them. The characters are as banal as they come, their situations dull, and the resolution not resolved. Now, were there some great descriptions, or philosophic depth Woolf may have pulled it off, but there is not an original thought in the book. Some argue that it perfectly portrays the dullness of those folk’s lives, but one need not write a boring poem on boredom to make a point. Having recently read Betty Smith’s great A Tree Grows In Brooklyn the point is hammered home, as nothing earth-shaking occurs in that novel, but it is an absolute masterpiece in that everything it utters serves the novel’s purpose- be it the description of a store, the tang of a scent, or the look in a character’s mien. The everyday in that novel is vivid, intellectual, and breathing, while To The Lighthouse is a hermetic and aridly lifeless affair. The characters are unrelatable to most and even those who do know such people long to distance themselves from those types... That some fools believe this a great work only manifests how out of touch many writers are with the real world, and real art.

@jennyaldridge4186

2 ай бұрын

This is one of the few books I’ve given up on after trying a good 20%. Sometimes I wonder if I should give it another go but you’ve convinced me not to bother so I thank you for saving me several wasted hours! I’m not a fan of Woolf and struggled with Orlando but IMO it was more deserving to be on this list.

@DanLyndon

2 ай бұрын

@@jennyaldridge4186 It's a very silly list in general. You'll see a masterpiece followed by some drivel or overrated piece of pop lit.

@Tolstoy111

2 ай бұрын

TTL has an atmosphere like no other novel.

I finished reading 'war and peace' in february. I'm reading 'Anna Karenina' now. I'm completely agree with you. I'd add 'the Count of Montecristo'. It is in my tbr list. It is considered a masterpiece by many readers.Thank you Tristan. 😊

@LuvLuke954

2 ай бұрын

Yes!!! Count of Monte Cristo!!!!

@LuvLuke954

2 ай бұрын

It’s one of my all time favorite books ever.

Thank you so much. Great list. I will do my best to put a check mark next to every title. Have a nice day.

Ok. So I have to add as the list was winding down- I was wandering where 100 Years was… so I was happy to see it place first. Astonished. But really happy. 😊

I'm nearly done reading Swann's Way for the first time. I'm in my 60s, and because my family moved every 18 months my whole life (military) I started reading from a young age-making friends was not the best investment of my time. I've read many classics over those years (many of them lost on youth, I will admit), but of Proust I must say: astonishing, his prose is astonishing.

@jennyaldridge4186

2 ай бұрын

I’m in my 60’s and reading Proust. I’m in volume 2 of the 7. It’s definitely something I couldn’t have read prior to retirement.

@carmenl163

2 ай бұрын

I've tried to read Proust several times, but somehow, I just couldn't get into the story. Which is a pity because I love those long, lengthy reads. I've enjoyed reading 'My Struggle' from Knausgard enormously and, in Dutch, the books of J.J. Voskuil-5,200 pages/7 books about his years working as a clerk. But I'm not in my sixties yet, so I still have hope!

@liamtaylor4955

2 ай бұрын

@@carmenl163 So far I have not found the story in Swann's Way, such as it is, very compelling at all. What grabs me is Proust's descriptions of places, they 're like he put a photograph in front of me, and his descriptions of emotions and motives, which are very insightful and which my experience confirms to me, "yep, it's just like that". The real icing is when he puts to words what I have felt but never thought.

@carmenl163

2 ай бұрын

@@liamtaylor4955 That's what the truly great writers do, they translate our deepest thoughts into words. I'm definitely going to give Proust another go! Thank you

The problem with lists like these (or rather the individual lists which it aggregates) are that they are far too parochial and focus on certain canons: English language (over half the entries); 20th century (over half the entries); Western civilisation (almost all); school and university set texts, etc. Thus we are led to believe that there has been no classics in Italian since the 13th century; none in Spanish since the 17th; nothing in Hebrew for 2 millenia; nothing at all from China, Japan, India, Scandanavia, South America (with one exception). This isn't plausible. Even the examples from authors that are in the list, I think the concensus would be that often these aren't even their best books. So the real benefit of such lists is that they are simply fun, stimulate debate and avenues to pursue; but are ultimately pointless.

@mtnshelby7059

2 ай бұрын

A place to start, given there are other starting points as well outside the traditional western canon.

@Yesica1993

2 ай бұрын

Obviously, anyone making lists can only work with whatever language they know, and whatever books have been translated to that language. It's not possible to do the entire world since nobody knows every language in the world and every book in every language in the world, through all of history. He already stated it was a general list. Good grief.

This is an interesting list and it’s made me consider reading several books I have not already read. Personally I would have liked to see more books from non-Western authors. Even just sticking to books which have English translations I’m guessing there are a number of books that really do belong on this list beyond the incredible One Hundred Years of Solitude. I also have a long frustration, not with this list but with all these sorts of lists, that genre fiction is vastly underrepresented. I suspect this is because most of the list makers are not genre readers but I could well be wrong. Anyway, yours is a thoughtful list, it made me consider what I believe makes a book influential, and I genuinely appreciate it. Hmm - perhaps I should clarify “non-Western?” I mean books like: The Mahabarata The Ramayana The Pillow Book The Tale of Genji The Story of the Stone Siddhartha Snow Country The Makioka Sisters Palace Walk (Naguib Mahfouz) Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (Nawal el Saadawi) The Water Margin The Romance of the Three Kingdoms Journey to the West The Dream of the Red Chamber A Fine Balance Malgudi Days The God of Small Things The Lion and the Jewel The Conservationist Sundiata I’ve read some of these (not enough by any means) and I know there are many more. I just think maybe we do ourselves a disservice as readers when we think about “top” or “best” or “most influential” and only think in terms of the books that are generally within our own cultural experience. I struggle with this so it’s top of mind for me. I understand it’s not that way for everyone. It would be the basis for a really fascinating book club though!

@LuvLuke954

2 ай бұрын

Darn it. I almost bought The Mahabharata this very afternoon. I’ll just have to go back to my local book shop tomorrow!! 😊

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

@LuvLuke, Have you read Zac Sitchin's interpretation of the Mahabharata ?

@freudulant

2 ай бұрын

Well they would have to be read widely to be voted the “most influential” or best given these lists are compiled often by votes. Perhaps there should be a Top 100 brilliant but lesser known/underrated books.

@arlissbunny

2 ай бұрын

@freudulant I was attempting to make the point that the language in which the book was initially published is nearly exclusively tilted toward English on lists like this when, in reality, books that have been read by millions more people, in some cases, are left off these kinds of lists on a regular basis. All of the books I listed in my initial comment above are extremely well known and have one or more English translations. As English speakers we are incredibly lucky that so many hugely significant world classics get translated into the language we speak. It’s a richness that I always hope to see reflected in summaries but rarely is that the case.

@barbarapaige4587

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for your suggestions, and I agree about the usefulness and enjoyment of reading about other cultures. A Fine Balance was a great book, which I still think about. Also loved Palace Walk (the first of a trilogy.

I'm so excited for this!!!

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

So was I!😅

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

@TristanandtheClassics, How about a list of those books that we consider "detestable", "unreadable" or plain "rubbush" ?

Impressive video! If I were to leave a book out, I'd pick "Lolita". I would add a book by Jules Verne, probably "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

@nl3064

2 ай бұрын

Boo. Boo on you. Boo. Lolita is a pretty damn good novel (and yes, I will say I say this because I'm a big fan of Nabokov - though my favorite book of his is Pale Fire). Nabokov has some of the best prose of the English language, and definitely deserves a spot - and Lolita, though there are others I liked better, is his most famous example.

Nice list ! I’ll try to read the ones I never read before 😊

I wish more people would read the Bible all the way through. It is unlike any other book ever written. The Brothers Karamazov is sitting on my kitchen table, waiting patiently for me. I'm nervous, but I will be diving into it soon. But first I have to finish my Little Women re-read. I wish more people would read Gone With the Wind. It's one of my favorite books (and films) of all time. I've read it over and over since I was in 8th grade.

@afaqahmad2806

2 ай бұрын

Reading the Bible will really help you through your Brothers Karamazov read, I'll just say that. Dostoevsky loves his scripture.

@jennyaldridge4186

2 ай бұрын

I read Gone with the Wind last month and absolutely loved it. I’ve not seen the film yet so looking forward to that. I’ve found an App that breaks lots of books down into around 15 minute daily chunks and it a great help reading the Bible which js spread over nearly 300 episodes. It’s called Serial Reader.

In search of lost tlme. The theory of everything. No eugene onegin, the good soldier, gorky trilogy etc. Books. Its amazing how much we differ. I read marquez and instantly forgot it.

I have just found your channel....very impressed...wow...and you are so joyous with presenting those glorious books. New subscriber. Thanks for you sharing your love of books

I clutched my pearls when you said Scarlett was the youngest of the sisters. As a girl raised in Georgia…that is close to blasphemy 🤭 I just found your channel this evening while working and love it. Thank you for making such wonderful content.

Your book explanations are so clear. I'm currently reading Crime and Punishment, can't put it down :)

Gulliver’s Travels has been on my list to read for some time after reading Jane Eyre and finding out that it was one her favorite books.

'David Copperfield' - "...my favourite child".- Charles Dickens.

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

My second favourite child because my favourite is Pip 😊

@58angieb

2 ай бұрын

@@apollonia6656 the quote is from Charles Dickens himself. He once said that David Copperfield was, "my favourite child".

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

I did not disagree with Charles Dickens personal view that it was his favourite child, BUT personally speaking Copperfield is my second favourite because my first favourite is Pip. 😊

What a terrific video, thank you!

Great job on this video

Wow so glad that David Copperfield made this list!! Those characters that you mentioned! Oh my goodness the way Dickens described all of them! Just pure perfection! Simply amazing!

I think a list like this can omit Bible, Illiad, and Odyssey, and Divine Comedy as they are in their own class. Otherwise omitting Paradise Lost would be unthinkable. I'd also recommend including only one work per author, as a reader who likes the one work would be incented to look for others. I don't believe David Copperfield is less of a work than Great expectations, or War and Peace vs. Anna Karenina. I've read 27 on the list. Of these, one's I was not a fan of include Sound and the Fury and Middlemarch.

Solid list, Tristan!

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

It's not the list that I would have made myself, but it is strong.

@cynthiabrown5456

2 ай бұрын

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 We all want to see the list you make yourself. This was such a fun one! Thank you!

50 greatest books…jeez, I’ve been stuck reading Ulysses for 4 years now and still not done with it!

I feel accomplished. I've read most of these. One list will never please everyone , but I would say it is pretty comprehensive!

I’m happy you included The Divine Comedy, a book largely overlooked for its appeal, humor and greatness. Recently, I visited Italy 🇮🇹 where Alighieri is cherished.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to reading "The Invisible Man."

One Hundred Years of Solitude is on my TBR cart and I hope to get to it this year!! Some of my favorites are in the top 10 but I’m missing Little Women and The Scarlet Letter 😆

@cynthiabrown5456

2 ай бұрын

It's exquisite! Hope you love it as much as I did!

@LibrariesandLattes

2 ай бұрын

@@cynthiabrown5456 excited to hopefully get to it soon!!

Thank you for your list review,!

@apollonia6656

Ай бұрын

The Red and the Black is very Machiavellian.

I absolutely love this channel

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

Thank you so much. That's so kind of you and makes the effort worth while.😀❤️

Gone with the wind is my absolute favorite book of all time I was excited to see it on this list!!

Best part of every Friday 😊

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

Thanks, Severian. That means a lot, especially after having to re-edit and upload this video after a lip-sync issue. Took 5 hours. 😀🥵

@severianthefool7233

2 ай бұрын

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Oh no! Get some sleep my friend! It must be close to 3am in your neck of the woods

@Yesica1993

2 ай бұрын

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Yikes! Thanks for all your work!

Absolom, Absolom was one of the most challenging novels I have ever read. Whole chapters pass where I didnt really understand what I wasreading. Prefer As I Lay Dying.

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

Faulkner can be a beast. I've not read As I Lay Dying.😀👍

@wcwright44

2 ай бұрын

As I Lay Dying is worth a read and yes, Faulkner is a beast…well put.

@charlesbehlen6225

2 ай бұрын

For a challenging but rewarding read, try INTRUDER IN THE DUST. For a far less challenging but equally rewarding read, try LIGHT IN AUGUST.

You might be interested in the German silent film version of "Hamlet" from 1921. For the most part, it follows the play fairly closely, but the big difference is that Hamlet is born a girl and raised as a boy. Throughout most of the movie, only Hamlet's mother and Hamlet herself know the big secret which only is revealed when Horatio embraces her after she loses the swordfight with Laertes. [Hamlet's father knows but is soon murdered by Claudius.] An American named Edward Vining wrote that all the mysteries of Hamlet's behavior could be cleared up if we believe that Hamlet is really a woman, and a German film director and a Danish actress Asta Nielsen followed up on this idea. It does take a willing suspension of disbelief since Hamlet in the movie is so feminine looking, but this secret that is maintained throughout the film creates a tension that is not released until the final minutes. It also creates sympathy for Hamlet since she cannot behave like a woman (she covers up her passion for Horatio) and has so much trouble acting like a man.

I've read 31 of these, so not too shabby. Several I thought should have been way higher, but so many greats on here and several I still plan to read.

I love this video. It is a wonderful guide to excellent literature. I have read probable about 60% of the books. I have decided to not read Lolita as I am disgusted by its theme. I have tried three times to read Ulysses but alas I just can't seem to get through it. I would like to see 'The Count of Monte Cristo' on the list.

I'm perhaps in the minority but I'd pick East of Eden over Grapes of Wrath (or actually put both books on the list). More controversially I'd pick Animal Farm over 1984 for the reasons given in CS Lewis's review of Orwell.

I love Pope so will be up for a read of his translation this year.he is hard , but as you said "well worth it". I was surprised t how many of these books I had read, including the Invisible Man. I have had two goes at Midnight's Children when I was working, now I an retired I have more time and perhaps I should maybe try again. I was surprised that Middlemarch was below Conrad. Conrad is a great writer, but better than George Eliot?

Excellent information.

Great video, thanks, Tristan. I thought The Old Man and the Sea, by Hemingway,would be on the list.

Wonderful, wonderful as always! I would take out Middlemarch, which I found dull and dreary, and replace it with Silas Marner -a much more readable, entertaining and moving story by the same author.

@chelled.4622

2 ай бұрын

Agreed

It’s very interesting reading everyone’s comments. Certainly there are a few here I did not like much (and others loved) and some I loved (that others seem to passionately hate!). I do agree it would be really interesting to compile a list of non-Western writers. It would provide a fantastic way to explore more of the literature of Africa, Asia and perhaps South America.

You are an immensely intelligent man. Thank you for your wonderful knowledge.

I like "Lolita." Even better, "Ada, or Ardor: a Family Chronicle," also by Nabokov. Thanks, Tristan.

It's great that you included Ulysses, even though (or perhaps because of) its infamous complexity. I was curious about it years ago, and a writer was interviewed about the classics, and he said that it drew its structure and themes from Homer's Odyssey. Well, I had to read the Odyssey as a sort of sociocultural roadmap, which was an education in itself. As for Don Quixote, I recommend the Tobias Smollett translation.

I think the most famous place Gulliver visits is Japan :) Actually I didn't rank Catch 22 as one of the best books I ever ead, because of countless repetitions. How many times can you read that doctor saw naked Yossarian on a tree? :) This is an extended novella, and I would probably enjoy the original more

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

I got bored with Catch 22 a d never thought it would turn up here !

It's amazing to me how you can give little snippets of each of these books! 📚 I've only read 12 on this list 🙄 and I strongly disagree with the placement of some; I mean how could they put The Great Gatsby ahead of The Divine Comedy or Frankenstein and where's The Count of Monte Cristo?! 🤓 I don't get it, but it's an interesting list, thank you for sharing.

Enjoyed the video sir

I love the discussion and has rekindled my interest in the classics in literature. I would also suggest for others trying anything from CS Lewis., any

A very good list although I do have some gripes about the placements of the books but no matter. A bit sad to not see any genre defining classics apart from Lord of Rings for Fantasy but it is understandable. I think in the 50-100 part, some of the brilliant French writings by Victor Hugo and Dumas would be present. Also, maybe the foundational classics of Horror(Dracula), Sci-fi(Wells and Verne), Mystery(Arthur Conan Doyle)etc would also be represented for being a gateway to the wonderful world of lit especially for those whose second or third language is English and I will always credit these genre classics for my Mphil Eng Lit!

No Les Miserables? That is a bit of a rather IMMENSE oversight! Wow.

@tristanandtheclassics6538

2 ай бұрын

I think it was further down the list in the 100-50 category. Like you, I think it should be much higher than that.😀❤️👍

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

Lower down the list ? 😮😥 Les Miserables should be in the top ten.

Hi tristan would you explain how To the Lighthouse was a response to The Odyssey someday? My book group just discussed To the Lighthouse and its relationship to The Odyssey wasn’t brought up. Thank you!

If youve knocked this off without notes you sir are a genius. Impressive

Cant believe Picture of Dorian Gray was not on the list at all ... still enjoyed it and I always love the audience comments and suggestions.

@apollonia6656

2 ай бұрын

Wilde's novel deserved a second reading and that is what I did over the weekend. No TV....peace and quiet with my book 😊 Next ? Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), but whether I can finish it in before attempting the brick-sized books on my TBR list at the end of the week is another matter !