Joseph Brodsky’s List of Books You Should Read to Have an Intelligent Conversation

1.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh
by: Anonymous
3.75 avg rating — 114,199 ratings
2.
Sophocles: The Complete Plays
Sophocles: The Complete Plays
by: Sophocles
4.26 avg rating — 5,219 ratings
3.
The Histories
The Histories
by: Herodotus
4.01 avg rating — 54,683 ratings
4.
Metamorphoses
Metamorphoses
by: Ovid
4.10 avg rating — 76,415 ratings
5.
The Prince
The Prince 3.84 avg rating — 371,444 ratings
6.
The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso
The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso 4.08 avg rating — 167,124 ratings
7.
Anthony and Cleopatra
Anthony and Cleopatra 3.71 avg rating — 42,730 ratings
8.
Hamlet
Hamlet 4.03 avg rating — 1,020,263 ratings
9.
Macbeth
Macbeth 3.89 avg rating — 992,224 ratings
10.
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Gargantua and Pantagruel 3.65 avg rating — 16,002 ratings
11.
Don Quixote
Don Quixote 3.91 avg rating — 297,059 ratings
12.
The Song of Roland
The Song of Roland
by: Unknown
3.50 avg rating — 18,743 ratings
13.
Beowulf
Beowulf
by: Unknown
3.50 avg rating — 338,058 ratings
14.
Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver’s Travels 3.59 avg rating — 293,940 ratings
14.
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 3.73 avg rating — 22,671 ratings
16.
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost 3.85 avg rating — 177,972 ratings
17.
The Charterhouse of Parma
The Charterhouse of Parma
by: Stendhal
3.79 avg rating — 19,486 ratings
18.
The Red and the Black
The Red and the Black
by: Stendhal
3.86 avg rating — 81,057 ratings
19.
Les Liaisons dangereuses
Les Liaisons dangereuses 4.05 avg rating — 57,188 ratings
20.
The Possessed
The Possessed 4.30 avg rating — 59,732 ratings
21.
The Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita 4.19 avg rating — 78,230 ratings
22.
The Mahabharata (Mahabharata, #1)
The Mahabharata (Mahabharata, #1) 4.45 avg rating — 907 ratings
22.
The Aeneid
The Aeneid
by: Virgil
3.87 avg rating — 139,153 ratings
24.
Holy Bible: New International Version
Holy Bible: New International Version
by: Anonymous
4.62 avg rating — 94,553 ratings
24.
The Iliad
The Iliad
by: Homer
3.92 avg rating — 494,730 ratings
26.
The Odyssey
The Odyssey
by: Homer
3.82 avg rating — 1,156,794 ratings
27.
The Basic Works of Aristotle
The Basic Works of Aristotle
by: Aristotle
4.24 avg rating — 2,452 ratings
28.
An Anthology of Alexandrian poetry (The Classical world special series) (English and Greek Edition)
An Anthology of Alexandrian poetry (The Classical world special series) (English and Greek Edition) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
29.
The Way Things Are
The Way Things Are
by: Lucretius
3.97 avg rating — 14,247 ratings
30.
Plutarch's Lives
Plutarch's Lives
by: Plutarch
4.16 avg rating — 1,998 ratings
31.
The Annals/The Histories
The Annals/The Histories
by: Tacitus
4.04 avg rating — 358 ratings
32.
Heroides
Heroides
by: Ovid
4.12 avg rating — 3,719 ratings
33.
Ovid's Amores
Ovid's Amores
by: Ovid
3.99 avg rating — 436 ratings
34.
The Twelve Caesars
The Twelve Caesars
by: Suetonius
4.02 avg rating — 22,152 ratings
35.
Meditations
Meditations 4.28 avg rating — 320,832 ratings
36.
The Complete Poems
The Complete Poems
by: Catullus
4.10 avg rating — 11,444 ratings
37.
Horace: Poems; Edited by Paul Quarrie (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)
Horace: Poems; Edited by Paul Quarrie (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)
by: Horatius
3.71 avg rating — 21 ratings
38.
The Discourses
The Discourses
by: Epictetus
4.27 avg rating — 5,537 ratings
39.
The Complete Plays of Aristophanes
The Complete Plays of Aristophanes 4.18 avg rating — 2,840 ratings
40.
Historical Miscellany (Loeb Classical Library, #486)
Historical Miscellany (Loeb Classical Library, #486)
by: Aelian
3.94 avg rating — 48 ratings
41.
Aelian's On the Nature of Animals
Aelian's On the Nature of Animals
by: Aelian
3.66 avg rating — 38 ratings
42.
Byzantine Literature: Suda, Agathias, Gazetteer, Alexander Romance, Chronicle of Monemvasia, Digenes Akritas, Belthandros and Chrysantza
Byzantine Literature: Suda, Agathias, Gazetteer, Alexander Romance, Chronicle of Monemvasia, Digenes Akritas, Belthandros and Chrysantza really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
43.
Fragments
Fragments 4.18 avg rating — 7,705 ratings
44.
Confessions
Confessions 3.99 avg rating — 71,280 ratings
45.
Summa Theologica
Summa Theologica 4.13 avg rating — 4,053 ratings
46.
The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi
The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,690 ratings
47.
Cento Novelle (Classic Reprint)
Cento Novelle (Classic Reprint) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
48.
Iceland Saga
Iceland Saga 4.02 avg rating — 62 ratings
49.
Henry V
Henry V 3.85 avg rating — 52,297 ratings
50.
The Essays
The Essays 3.81 avg rating — 4,475 ratings
51.
Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings
Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings 3.80 avg rating — 760 ratings
52.
The Essential Works of John Calvin: The Institutes of the Christian Religion and 11 Other Commentaries and Works
The Essential Works of John Calvin: The Institutes of the Christian Religion and 11 Other Commentaries and Works 3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings
53.
The Complete Essays
The Complete Essays 4.23 avg rating — 21,557 ratings
54.
Discourse on Method and Related Writings
Discourse on Method and Related Writings 3.75 avg rating — 418 ratings
55.
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini 3.98 avg rating — 3,496 ratings
56.
The Education of Henry Adams
The Education of Henry Adams 3.63 avg rating — 4,868 ratings
57.
Leviathan
Leviathan 3.70 avg rating — 51,362 ratings
58.
Pensées
Pensées 3.94 avg rating — 14,065 ratings
59.
The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose
The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose 4.25 avg rating — 3,811 ratings
60.
The Complete Poems
The Complete Poems 3.99 avg rating — 1,732 ratings
61.
The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert 4.15 avg rating — 642 ratings
62.
The English Poems Of Richard Crashaw
The English Poems Of Richard Crashaw 4.05 avg rating — 22 ratings
63.
A Theologico-Political Treatise
A Theologico-Political Treatise 4.09 avg rating — 4,970 ratings
64.
The Life of Henry Brulard
The Life of Henry Brulard
by: Stendhal
3.79 avg rating — 316 ratings
65.
Persian Letters
Persian Letters 3.64 avg rating — 7,954 ratings
66.
Discourse on Metaphysics and the Monadology
Discourse on Metaphysics and the Monadology 3.61 avg rating — 446 ratings
67.
Second Treatise of Government
Second Treatise of Government 3.78 avg rating — 23,639 ratings
68.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations 3.88 avg rating — 34,382 ratings
69.
A Treatise of Human Nature
A Treatise of Human Nature 3.95 avg rating — 12,539 ratings
70.
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers 4.10 avg rating — 41,560 ratings
71.
Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason 3.96 avg rating — 40,924 ratings
72.
Fear and Trembling
Fear and Trembling really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 29,962 ratings
73.
Either/Or: A Fragment of Life
Either/Or: A Fragment of Life 4.16 avg rating — 9,943 ratings
74.
Philosophical Fragments/Johannes Climacus
Philosophical Fragments/Johannes Climacus 4.09 avg rating — 2,328 ratings
75.
Notes from Underground
Notes from Underground 4.17 avg rating — 209,319 ratings
76.
Democracy in America
Democracy in America 4.05 avg rating — 26,629 ratings
77.
Faust
Faust 3.90 avg rating — 48,400 ratings
78.
Italian Journey
Italian Journey 3.83 avg rating — 1,963 ratings
79.
Letters from Russia
Letters from Russia 4.09 avg rating — 440 ratings
80.
Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature
Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature 4.29 avg rating — 3,679 ratings
81.
History of the Conquest of Mexico
History of the Conquest of Mexico 4.17 avg rating — 768 ratings
82.
The Labyrinth of Solitude
The Labyrinth of Solitude 4.10 avg rating — 14,443 ratings
83.
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
The Logic of Scientific Discovery 4.03 avg rating — 5,360 ratings
84.
The Open Society and Its Enemies
The Open Society and Its Enemies 4.22 avg rating — 2,503 ratings
85.
Crowds and Power
Crowds and Power 4.07 avg rating — 2,054 ratings
86.
Poetics
Poetics
by: Aristotle
3.83 avg rating — 28,477 ratings
87.
De Anima
De Anima
by: Aristotle
4.03 avg rating — 6,551 ratings
88.
Physics
Physics
by: Aristotle
3.98 avg rating — 4,370 ratings
89.
The Nicomachean Ethics
The Nicomachean Ethics
by: Aristotle
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 57,320 ratings
90.
Hippolytus
Hippolytus
by: Euripides
3.81 avg rating — 6,809 ratings
91.
Euripides Bacchantes
Euripides Bacchantes
by: Euripides
3.93 avg rating — 24,377 ratings
92.
Electra
Electra
by: Euripides
3.95 avg rating — 8,157 ratings
93.
The Phoenician Women
The Phoenician Women
by: Euripides
3.71 avg rating — 756 ratings