The 10 Greatest Books of All Time - My List
McEvoy’s greatest-books list is personal, not definitive: he values books he can reread endlessly and that offer lasting companionship, beauty, and insight.
- Judge books by both literary influence and personal meaning; formative reading experiences shape a personal canon.
- Use rereadability as a practical test: choose books that keep yielding new meanings over time.
- His top 10, in order: The Bible; Shakespeare’s complete works; Montaigne’s Essays; Proust’s In Search of Lost Time; Moby-Dick; Chaucer’s complete works; Don Quixote; Finnegans Wake; Bloom’s poetry anthology; The Tale of Genji.
The notes capture the criteria and full list; the video mainly adds personal anecdotes about each choice. · Best for: Readers building a personal classics list or looking for ideas for rereading.
Benjamin McEvoy explains why no ranking can be fully objective, then shares his personal top 10 based largely on rereadability, personal connection, and the depth of meaning he finds in each work. He also discusses books that nearly made the list and how a desert-island reading list would differ.
How to define the greatest books0:00
- Literary greatness can involve influence and other quality markers, but readers also bring subjective experience.
- Formative life experiences shape personal canons; McEvoy prioritizes books that remain rewarding on rereading.
- A desert-island list would favor length, depth, and variety, so it would differ from this personal ranking.
Desert-island alternatives and honorable mentions5:04
- He names The Arabian Nights, Balzac’s The Human Comedy, War and Peace, Dream of the Red Chamber, and the complete works of several authors as tempting choices.
- He would also want dictionaries and resources for learning the original languages.
- He values major nonfiction too, citing Aquinas, Euclid, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and Schopenhauer.
Personal choices just outside the top 1013:16
- Other meaningful works include The Wind in the Willows, Homer’s epics, Les Misérables, The Lord of the Rings, Dostoevsky, Austen, and manga series.
- He favors works that offer friendship, humor, comfort, emotional renewal, or personal connection.
Ranks 10–717:58
- 10. The Tale of Genji: a vast, tender narrative of yearning, court life, and impermanence.
- 9. Harold Bloom’s poetry anthology: a collection that lets him revisit many poets alongside Bloom’s commentary.
- 8. Finnegans Wake: difficult, playful language and layered meanings make it rewarding to revisit.
- 7. Don Quixote: comic, absurd adventures built around the friendship of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
Ranks 6–429:32
- 6. The Riverside Chaucer: he values Chaucer’s humor, characters, frame narrative, and role in establishing English literary tradition.
- 5. Moby-Dick: a funny, poetic sea narrative whose friendship and language reward close rereading.
- 4. In Search of Lost Time: a long, richly detailed work that can offer companionship and, for him, emotional support.
Ranks 3–141:33
- 3. Montaigne’s Essays: reflections on the human condition, mortality, and how to live; he calls them ideal for rereading.
- 2. Shakespeare’s complete works: a foundation for understanding character and much of the literary tradition.
- 1. The Bible: a library of genres and a foundational influence on Western literature, with aesthetic and spiritual value for him.
Closing reflection51:38
- He invites viewers to share books that matter personally to them, not just books considered influential.
- He sees discussion of literature as a way to explore shared human concerns across differences.
Tools & resources mentioned
- Harold Bloom poetry anthology — poetry selections with commentary.
- Masterpiece Library of Short Stories — a collection he uses for a daily short-story reading and journaling project.
- The Riverside Chaucer — edition containing Chaucer’s complete works.
- King James Bible — the translation he praises for its language.
- Ascension Press reading schedule — daily plan he follows for reading through the Bible.
Notes are AI-generated from the video's transcript and may miss nuance.