As you have probably gathered, I’m a bit of a nerd. I didn’t graduate from college but I still love to read the classics and I’m slowly making my way through them. I thought I’d put together a quick list that everyone should check out:
The Aeneid by Virgil (translated by Robert Fagles)
I made an effort to read some classical poets and playwrights few years ago. The Aeneid was far and away the most quotable, readable and memorable of all of them. There’s no other way to put: the story is AMAZING. Better than the Odyssey, better than Juvenal’s Satires. Inspiring, beautiful, exciting, and eminently readable, I loved this. I took more notes on it that I have on anything I’ve read in a long time. The story, for those of you who don’t know, is about the founding of Rome. Aeneas, a prince of Troy, escapes the city after the Trojan War and spends nearly a decade wandering, fighting, and trying to fulfill his destiny by making it to Italy. I definitely recommend that anyone trying to read this follow my tricks for reading books above your level (that is, spoil the ending, read the intro, study Wikipedia and Amazon reviews, etc).
Candide by Voltaire
I read this book as I waited for my wedding to start. It might seem like a strange choice, given that it’s a 200 year old book mostly about unimaginable hardship, torture, death and misfortune. Somehow, despite this, the book is a light hearted satire that pokes fun at optimism, philosophy, politics, and power. In the end, Voltaire concludes, all we can do is tend to our own garden. Il faut cultiver nos jardins.
The Epic of Gilgamesh by Unknown
I read this on my honeymoon (probably the only person on the beach reading it, if I had to guess). Especially when I learned after that a new introduction paragraph had been discovered only recently. His tomb may have been found recently too. Imagine if Homer’s works had only been discovered in the mid 1800’s after being lost to history for thousands of years. How crazy would that be? Reading the classic epics can feel like work but there is value in it. These works are timeless and universal. Such a great line
“He will face a battle he knows not, he will ride a road he knows not.”
Epigrams by Martial
These are hilarious. I have one hanging on the gate in front of my house. Martial also served as a partial inspiration for my writing on the Canvas Strategy.
Hamlet by Shakespeare
Philosophy runs through this play–all sorts of great lines. There are gems like “..for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” which I used in my last book and “Beware of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, bear it, that the opposed may beware of thee.” was a favorite of Sherman.
Satires by Juvenal
These are bitter, sarcastic attacks on Rome. They partially inspired my book Trust Me, I’m Lying (Amazon).
I also love Seneca’s plays (Amazon), Joseph Addison’s Cato (Amazon), Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Demosthenes (Amazon) and Cicero’s speeches (Amazon).
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Anyway, you don’t need anymore recommendations from me right now. Start with any of these and you’ll fall down the rabbit hole soon enough. Oh and don’t forget to follow me as I read my way through life with monthly recommendations of books like these, join the 85,000 other subscribers and sign up.
Originally published on Ryan Holiday’s blog.