Books are responsible for a large part of who I am today. Not textbooks or self help books. Just fiction. I grew up literally devouring books daily. I'll maybe post a seperate post exploring why I chose that particular form of escapism.
This post I plan to list books I consider masterpieces. I'll keep coming back here and updating it. With new gems as I discover them and if I remember books that I forgot to add here. I also hope to eventually review all of these books.
Before I get to the list, let me tell you a story. I once got really infuriated when a close friend of mine disagreed with my claim that Kokoro connect is a masterpiece of an anime. The best anime I watched. Its my personal favorite. I was confused and angry at the idea you could disagree with this claim. Does he think he knows me, better than I know myself?
After some delibration we both realised that the disagreement was semantic in nature. He had this idea that "masterpiece" and "best" were objective labels. That to claim it was my favorite I needed to defend its art, plot line, story, coherence, depth of characters etc. While I was talking from a subjective viewpoint. It was the show that gave me the most pleasure, rocked my world, really resonated with me. I did not analyse it and give it points on different criteria and then conclude it was the best.
Now my point is that this list of books is my personal favorites, many of them might be tropey, unrealistic, making use of overused stereotypes etc. But I loved them. The whole point of this is to find others who also share similar tastes as me, maybe point them to a few obscure pieces of art. I am always afraid if I will end up dying without knowing gems like these existed.
You can find comprehensive lists over at Goodreads.
In no particular order,
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Three Musketeers
War and Peace
Gone with the Wind
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow
Kane and Abel
The Inheritance Cycle
The Kingkiller Chronicle
Millennium Series
Mother of Learning
Master of the Game
Angels & Demons
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria
