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Don Quixote is a silly and lighthearted novel. At first I was offput but how jarringly longwinded the chapters could be, and how repetitive it felt at times. After a while of digesting it, I've come to appreciate it's irreverency and satire though. It's also one of the only two books to ever make me audibly laugh while reading. However it is a bit tough to recommend, and I would instead direct you towards Gogol's Dead Souls for a nice satirical novel with an underlying message.

A great novel of adventure, reflection, and revenge. I want to particularly emphasize how good the beginning of this book is. Auguste Maquet may be the reason for this spectacular beginning, but nevertheless it excited me and got me wholly invested in the story. I can easily recommend this book, it's fun to read, and you'll get invested in the characters quickly.

One of my favorites; although probably the most difficult I've read. Melville's use of figurative language is paragonic of romanticism, and extremely complex. I highly recommend Power Moby-Dick if you plan to read it. Overall, I'm hesitant to recommend it solely due to it's complexity, but if you can get past that it's a magical read.

A very tragic book that struck me much more than I expected. It's a very funny satire of the poshlost Russian society of the time. It's highly influenced by Don Quixote, and was set up to mimic the journey of Dantes Inferno. The ending is horribly tragic in a meta sense, left unfinished by Gogol. I adore this book, it's severly underrated and emotionally touching.

It's brilliant, and astoundingly introspective. The title doesn't have a direct translation, although it's tempting to just believe it says "The Miserables". This would be an apt title for it however, as it follows the stories of several of societies forgotten and downtrodden. I'm partial to Marius's character, Hugo writes empathetically and thoughtfully his struggles which are widely relatable.