And don't stop the sci-fi if you haven't read C.S. Lewis's "Out of the Silent Planet" trilogy.
Then go to his educational stuff.
And if you've never read the Chronicles of Narnia, they are for children and adults the are mature enough to appreaciate them. They are delightful, and every once in a while, my wife and I will read them to each other, the entire set, alternating chapters. (We read a lot of things that way. It is marvelous fun.)
I am compiling a short list of classics that are really enjoyable. Most people have missed them, and have no idea how much pleasre they have missed. The same goes for most classical music, I'm afraid.
But, then, some have told us we don't know what we are missing because we don't watch TV. Ha ha!
Hank
Where to begin. These are all novels, no philosophy (what I read most) and no lectures. Just rich enjoyable lit.)
Silas Marner by George Eliot (Deceptively simple, short, and moving novel by this early women author whose success depended on her using a "male" name.) My wife loved everything she wrote.
Ninety Three by Vicor Hugo A wonderfully told story of the pre-French Revoltuion peiod. As always, these complex plots are simple to follow, but so interesting, and very exciting. Every chapter is an adventure. If you read this one, and enjoy it, please go on to read The Huntchback, and Les Miserable (especially) which have both been destroyed by the film and "musical" industries.
The Idiot by Fyodor Dotoyevsky. Not considered by most "authorities" one of his best, it is one of the easiest to read and most enjoyable of Dostoyevsky's novels. It is full of the most outlandish and humorous characters, which the authorities seem entirely to have missed. Dostoevsky was a thinker, and he will make you think too. Just do not be put off by the Russian names, which sometimes go on for hundreds of syllables. He is very easy to read, and is careful to make sure you know who the characters are. I have enjoyed all of Dostoevsky, and feel very sorry for those who have never really discovered him.
(I happen to love Dostoevsky's , but I believe it requires a peculiar taste in literature to enjoy. Definitely not for everyone.)
The American authors I believe are best and enjoy are few.
Everything by Twain is wonderful, and of course, always enormously entertaining.
John Steinbeck was a marvelous author, but his extreme, almost socialistic views, sometimes come through and spoil the work for me, as in Grapes of Wrath. I loved East of Eden, in spite of the almost unredeemably decadent characters, because he is just a great writer and story teller.
Hemingway is another example of a writer who's success depends more on his writing than on substance. His very studied and meticulously executed writing produces an almost hypnotic affect on the reader. Enjoyed everything he wrote when younger, and with the exception of Across the River and Into the Trees, (which you've probably never heard of, do not enjoy them much today. (Hemingway's personal moral standards were not high, and neither are the moral standards of his characters. He and his characters however, usually had "character", which is also a virtue, and one very much missing today.)
Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea is short, and enjoyed by most people. It is to me an example of a work who's value lies entirely in the writing skill. The story is essentially thin, and a little odd. There is some interesting irony, however.
If you have never read F Scott Fitzgerald, start with some of his short stories. He was a wonderful short story writer, and one of the most hilarious stories I have ever read is "The Camel." He was an excellent writer, and if you like his style, and keep yourself aloof from his "flapper expatriate" viewpoint, he is enjoyable to read.
Here are just a few more classical or semi-classical writers I would suggest you try to read at least one work by just for the enjoyment:
Sir Wlater Scott, any of the Waverly Novels. Ivanhoe is a good start. My wife loved The Bride of Lammermoor, but I think its more because of the Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti, which was based on the Novel. (Wonderful Opera, by the way.)
Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo, for example.
Robert Louis Sstevenson, good adventure, like "Kidnapped", and "Treasure Island." (If you've missed them thinking they were children's books, don't.)
This is actually a very short list, but I hope it might provide a suggestion or two you find interesting. The classics are classics, because they are good. (This is not always true. Next time I'll give you a list of the classics to avoid, because they are bad, and unreadable.)
Hank