tier-ranking every classic book (so you know which ones to read)
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
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from charles dickens and jane austen to oscar wilde and sylvia plath, it’s time for the final boss of tier-ranking: rating the classics.
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PART 2 HERE: czcams.com/video/CzMT2PpaGlU/video.html
I know this is your opinion but I think hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy and Fahrenheit 451 should have been much higher
Your taste is literally exquisite☺️☺️
@@fmme4794 if you are talking to me, thank you
man are u sure ur straight
This mf put Dune, Dickens, and Treasure Island in the shit-tier. No need for a part 2.
"Normalise writing prequels to books that you didn't write" it's called fanfiction actually
😂😂
50 Shades of Grey gives me mixed feelings about whether we should normalize publishing it 😬
@@collicou i didnt really understand how it could've been published but like it did things for people and like who are we to judge you know?
@@windstillrises good point, no judgment. It's bad, but entertaining things happen 🤷♀️
@@windstillrises if you mean how could it be published for legal/copyright reasons, Jane Eyre is now in the public domain as the author died over 100 years ago
You should do a tier ranking if easiest to hardest classics to read!! That would be so helpful for so many people- I always get scared before reading a classic as to whether it’s going to be to advance and then put me into a reading slump, so it would definitely be very helpful
Agree!
That's a genius idea!
yessss
Yes! I feel the exact same, so many books I would love to read, but are just too scared to
i second this!!!!
I feel like the ranking is lacking a "meh" category. Because going from "nice classic" to "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy" seems a bit extreme to me xD
I agree to me the bottom two catagories are the same.. the orange should’ve been a meg category.
Clothbound classic is “meh”
But then it wouldn't be zoomer enough!
this guy knows nothing about literature ahhah
It threw me off till I realized this guy probably does not have serious enemies and perhaps wishes people well as a default
The fact Dune and LOTR are bottom on this list just makes me know Jack isn't a fan of those types of genre. No hate. I clicked this video since im looking for book ideas.
He put a ton of sci fi higher up on there
No. I exclusively read Sci-fi and fantasy and I also hated LOTR and I felt alright about Dune but definitely think it’s overhyped. Books are subjective. People just feel afraid to have “wrong” opinions about classics because they’ve been established as the pinnacle of English writing by yt men
@@Sired2Klaus Took a break from an 18 straight Stephen King novel binge, so used to great character development and really getting inside the head of a character, to read LOTR, having never seen the movies. The lack of character development and internal dialogue (Save Samwise) really bored me about LOTR, but I respect it as the very origins of high epic fantasy
@@asherscott3151Oh wow comedy sci fi and *checks notes* 1984 ? Tons of sci fi
@@PsilocybeJedi lol fair enough! What Stephen King book would you recommend for beginners to his work?
"Do you wanna read a book about whale anatomy?"
Yes
"No, me neither"
Well this is off to a good start
Yeah I was like “oh-”😅🤝🥲
There are many benefits to being a marine biologist
I remember my friend saying she enjoyed Moby Dick, but told me it's best to read the first parts rapidly because all it does is talk about whales.
For me, I love science, so I'll try the first part as well.
Everytime someone gives me a reason to not read Moby Dick, it just inspires me more.
got to the part where ishmael goes on a rant about whale classification systems before I stopped reading, maybe I'll go back one day
I live Jack and his amazing jokes and this is by far my favourite ever:
"Daniel Defoe, who is the author, is widley considered to be 'the father of the english novel' and you know what? I think he should've pulled out"
- Jack Edwards (2022)
😂😂 a true Jack classic
This took me out🤣🤣🤣
as an english major who had to read Robinson Crusoe, I agree
I especially enjoyed his cute laugh after he made this genius joke xd
@@maristiller4033 as a fellow English student, I also agree
I always love seeing people rate Lolita because it is definitely one of the most beautiful books I've ever read... that is also extremely fucked up 😂 the only book I love that if anyone's ever like "I hate that book" I'm like alright girl, I get it, I ain't defending its honor or nothin
@@seraphim9333 hello emotionally intelligent internet stranger. Thank you for clarifying the way I enjoy this book
meeee i was reading it and loving how it was written and all of a sudden reminded that i was reading the thoughts of a literal pedophile. absolutely disgusting five stars
It's similar to Fight Club in that they're good stories but it depends on whether or not you relate to the main character...
I remember being so immersed in Lolita that I had a nightmare about it after I finished the book. Still loved it and would read it again.
@@berrylly what? Why would relating to the main character matter at all?
As a lotr lover. This was hard for me to witness 😭 but I loved watching these rankings as a classic books lover.
I think we all know Tolkien's writing style isn't for everyone, you either love it or hate it
@@tatianasalazar4066 can agree. for me it's some sort of magic charm that he puts on me, but. i can understand that it can get repetitive and tiring for others
@@tatianasalazar4066 he probably is one of the most loquacious writers ever , guy was a Oxford teacher and linguistic expert it’s pretty much to beat him in the “write better than him “
Problem with Lord of the Rings is that the Fellowship's first 2-3 books are at their lowest when it comes to density. The plot really picks up later. But the themes and locations are so enchanting I can't fathom why so many people find it boring. I'd read it even if there was 0 plot, just the hobbits traversing Middle-Earth
When the movies first came out, I read The Hobbit, but couldn't make it through Fellowship. Recently I read through the trilogy, couldn't get enough and followed it up with The Silmarillion.
It was like night and day. The narritive and pathos at the climax of Return of the King versus the long, complex summary of thousands of years of events of The Silmarillion.
Yet, I'm in awe at the world building. Tolkien's true legacy is undeniable, fantasy worlds have never been the same.
Jack: " The Picture of Dorian Gray literally invented the plot twist"
The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: "Am I a joke to you?"
The greeks: "Am I a joke to you?"
@@ryangoh3308 half the shit in the bible: are we a joke to you?
I had to reas both of those books for AP Lit this year, and that was the funniest shit I saw all day
@@Mr.Murphy2802 bible has plot twist??
@@frey8893 yeah every good ghost story has a twist
Gotta love the double entendre of “shoot it from a literal canon.”
i… *slow clap*
I know I laughed when he said it
😂😂
What I dont get it
@@tuqaalmanter874 not 100% sure but I think it's "literal canon" as in like an actual canon but also as in to do with literature? Could just be flat out wrong
I think I'm secure enough in my love of Tolkien not to mind that much. Also, I have to admit the series is nearly impossible to read straight through lol
I feel the same way about Dune being launched from the cannon 😢 I'm not mad, I put the book down halfway through and didn't pick it up again for months. But I love the series up until it gets insane. Incidentally I felt the same way about LotR as he did, though 😆
It's good to be secure in what you love and not have to get angry and defensive just because someone disagrees.
I couldn’t put lotr down tbh. I almost failed a high school class bc I just went home and read for hours rather than doing homework
same. I even read it during my classes unless my teachers stopped me@@specialknees6798
It’s not really a series - it’s one novel that the publisher insisted on splitting.
I’ll never forget in 5th grade my dad got my the newly released 3in1 version of Lotr since I “liked fantasy” (Percy Jackson) and he’d seen the movies. love my dad but that book genuinely took me a year to read and a dictionary to understand. Still one of my happiest memories with him though.
It upsets me when people say liking The Catcher in the Rye is a red flag. It's one of my favorite books because of how it describes earlier-20th century NYC and because I feel like J.D. Salinger would have truly understood my pain (especially while I was in college).
You may already know this, but the book unfairly got it's red flag status after a number of murderers (such as John Lennon's) cited this book as their inspiration.
I like the book myself, so it's unfortunate
@@kookiekommenter Yeah, I know. It sucks.
@@sadem1045 Personally, I think that book got me nowhere. But I haven't done any analysis on it. Just felt like a waste of my time. He was going from one place doing nothing to another doing nothing
I was not aware of other red flags. I just took it as being of special interest to self-absorbed jilted-lover types who like to cast themselves as loners. So when someone enjoys a work like that, you wonder a little. Then again, for the life of me I can't understand how any person with any taste whatsoever could possibly find "Dumb and Dumber" comedic genius. I don't ask for much regarding taste. I just think that flick was always objectively cringe-worthy.
But the "Catcher" opinion was kind of the cherry on top for some of us when it came to revealing the sort of person we had putting this vid together, along with preferring to stay at home instead of checking out space, and counting off for period-appropriate language he just didn't like muddling through.
I'm not sure there was much of anything in this vid that helped anyone decide whether to read any of these books, but it seemed to be VERY telling regarding the person doing the reviewing.
@@cobbler88 Professional yapper over here 💀
i love how jack was so traumatized by “jane eyre laid bare” that he can’t go one video without mentioning it 😂😂
😂😂😂
THIS IS SO TRUE AHAH IT COMES UP EVERY TIME
"Oh, here we go... Let's introduce my real enemy: Charles Dickens" is truly a masterpiece of a line
IMO, Charles Dickens stories were made to be adapted, preferably into a normal-length movie. Usually way more watchable than readable.
@@alexanderwill2847 I agree, a 2h 30 min movie would be enough to adapt a book of his
Don't know if it's true or one of those "facts" that gets repeated because everyone wants it to be true but I heard he literally got paid by the word which informed his incredibly dry, unpleasant and verbose writing style.
Mine is Ernest Hemmingway
People hate dickens? I went and devoured Great Expectations!
lotr isn't a walking simulator, it's just such a big journey that tolkein had to make it awful for the reader too (but still my fav book of all time)
Jesus Christ, Moby Dick is such an amazing novel, the whale anatomy bits are part of the experience engrossing you into the books world that Melville was obviously very familiar with. But to each their own.
Exactly how I felt. I know it’s a book I will read multiple times throughout my life cause it’s just a good freaking story. The detail, the drama… it’s one of those books I read slowly because I wanted to savor each line. Ofc, I was initially interested because I heard it goes in depth about the whaling industry. The rest was just a pleasant surprise
Would have tried it had it not appeared on my SAT. I’m forever traumatized now 😂
I agree with the guy in the video. "Call me Ishmael" directly to the epilogue would have been sufficient for me. Laborious to get through. Maybe not reading it in my teens would have helped. I persevered, but wow...lot of time wasted that I can never get back.
@@A_Word_Fitly_Written I don't disagree, even though I loved the book. I would tell someone it mostly just talked about the whaling industry and if that doesn't interest them, they shouldn't read it. That description is actually why I picked it up in the first place. It's not for everyone
@@A_Word_Fitly_Writtenit’s utterly magical, engrossing and funny. The whaling chapters are metaphors and are filled with jokes.
I’d love to hear Jack’s take on what current books he thinks will turn into classics down the road
50 shades of grey
@@billytheripper4 on God no... I don't want future generations to justifiably laugh at our literature tastes
I think these have a good chance of turning into classics: Gone Girl, The Hate U Give, Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Fault in Our Stars, Call Me By Your Name, The Girl on The Train, Perfume, The Little Prince.
Plus The Hunger Games trilogy and all of the Harry Potter books for sure!
I think there are also overwhelmingly young people reading right now so now few number among them might be YA.
Perks of being a wallflower
@@bellacontess5388 Wasn't The Little Prince written in the 1940's though, that's already a classic.
“He should’ve pulled out” literally has me in a chokehold rn 😂😂😂 this is why we love you Jack
i love how he can give an opinion on each book without going into too much detail. Like it makes me want to (not) read the book but doessn't give away the plot. Always a great time coming back to his channel.
The first time I read The Lord of the Rings I thought the same as you, that it was just a bunch of walking. But because my husband loves this book so much I decided to read the series again the following year. It is now one of my favorite books/series and Samwise Gamgee is one of my favorite literary characters of all time. I challenge you to try again, and read all 3 books😊
Our bestie Jack out here doing the hard work so we can make our obnoxiously long tbr longer
gotta appreciate it😌
mine is so scary looking and i havent even read one
I really felt that
True
@@bhuvitaylorsversion7 heyy swiftie
@@cosmic.elixir Heyyy hiiii
Jack Edwards is honestly the only person that can genuinley diss my fave classics and still be sure that I will trust all of his book recomendations.
Same. I disagree with at least forty percent of his rankings here, but I still can't wait for the next video.
I enjoy the videos but I wouldn't trust his book recommendations because we clearly have very different tastes. I mean, he fawns over "The Song of Achilles" (in other videos), likes "The Alchemist", but disses both "Dune" and "LotR"? Lol. No.
@@damnmamaa i like his recommendations for slice of life and non fiction but I am not taking Science Fiction and Fantasy recommendations from him (those are my most read genres anyway)
@@Niyati99 yeah, I love hearing his thoughts on non fiction and classics even though I don't usually enjoy books from those genres
Honestly, I trust him so much that when he ranked my fav classic at the lowest tier I voluntarily got gaslit. Like “maybe I missed smth, maybe Dune is a shit book.”
I'm all for "everyone has a different opinion and stuff" but having the great Gatsby ahead of crime and punishment or the odyssey and some of the other stuffs is a disgrace
I was baffled when he put the Picture of Dorian Gray above Crime and Punishment. I mean seriously??
agreed, ugh, gatsby
Can't trust someone who doesn't rank crime and punishment in SSSSSSSS tier
I would actually recommend people watch the lotr movies BEFORE they read the books. I loved reading the books as a child and today but I think the only reason that I did was because I was already in love with the story, world, deeper meaning and characters. The books ARE very slow but if you already love the story it's extremely pleasant how long it is because you can linger in that world for far longer than you usually can with most books.
Definitely watch the extended version though, the theatrical release sucks in comparison. It not only cuts out sub-plots but they take random clips out of scenes so the pacing feels rushed to me and doesn't match as well with the gorgeous soundtrack.
Please skip the hobbit films though until you've finished lotr bc they depart waaaay too far from the source material and are quite corny.
These are all just my personal recommendations though;)
I want to get a ranking on how difficult they are to read as well 🤣
Lol I second this
This is such a good idea!! Like have a beginners level, intermediate etc etc- jack please do this
Please!!
Jack please read this!!
yes!! Jack please do this!
During my lit degree we were talking about Lolita in a class and one guy said "I don't get why the narrator likes Lolita so much, she is such a bitch" and the entire class started to agree with him. I thought I had inhaled something and made eye contact with the one guy who wasn't talking and the two of us just stared at each other for a solid 2 minutes in total disbelief as our professor ENCOURAGED them to talk about that point.
WTH 😭 This is surreal
bro???
This is kinda scary 😀
ExCuSe Me?
I bet half of them didn't actually read the story and were just making vapid points piggy backing off of the first guy LMAO
"smarticle particles" cracked me up 😂😂
I thought I was the only one in the world who preferred Emma to Pride & Prejudice, nice to see there's another one 😄
I thought the same thing when he rated Emma at the top. Very happy to see that. I thought it was a great book.
I preferred "Sense and Sensibility" to "Pride and Prejudice."
Thank you, Jack, from Ukraine for this tier list🙂 Was surprised by the amount of brilliant books in the list and with some rankings too😮
I've compiled the text version of the tier list with timestamps. No book is missed unlike other timestamp comments.
*6 out of 5 stars:* "Emma"(2:57), "Picture of Dorian Gray"(6:20), "The Bell Jar"(6:45), "To the Lighthouse"(6:55), "In Cold Blood"(7:35), "Wide Sargasso Sea"(9:34), "The Great Gatsby"(11:03), "A Single Man"(11:22), "Animal Farm"/"1984"(11:58), "The Handmaid's Tale"(12:22)
*i think you dropped something... my jaw:* "Of Mice and Men"(1:50), "Little Women"(7:12), "The Book Thief"(7:23), "To Kill a Mockingbird"(8:20), "Jane Eyre"(8:45), "Frankenstein"(10:04), "Dracula"(11:45), "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"(12:55), "The Odyssey"(13:43), "The Iliad"(13:51), "Beloved"(14:08), "Around the World in 80 Days"(14:56), "Rebecca"(15:22), "Lord of the Flies"(15:42), "Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman"(15:46), "Lolita"(16:01), "Crime and Punishment"(16:37), "Things Fall Apart"(16:54)
*clothbound classic:* "The Catcher in the Rye"(2:39), "Pride and Prejudice"(3:14), "Wuthering Heights"(8:36), "Heart of Darkness"(9:54), "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"(10:30), "Fahrenheit 451"(12:37), "Brave New World"(12:41), "The Scarlet Letter"(14:19), "The Alchemist"(15:25), "Charlotte's Web"(16:19), "Middlemarch"(16:43)
*i wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy:* "Moby Dick"(2:15), "Great Expectations"(5:31)(objectively wrong😃), "A Tale of Two Cities"/"Bleak House"(6:13), "Villette"(9:14), "Life of Pi"(13:03), "Ulysses"(13:20), "The Crying of Lot 49"(14:40), "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"(15:06), "A Farewell to Arms"(15:30)
*shoot it from a literal cannon:* "Moll Flanders"(4:36), "Dune"(10:41), "A Journal of the Plague Year"(11:31), "Treasure Island"(12:44), "The Fellowship of the Ring"(17:07)(how dare you😧)
Wow I came into the comments hoping someone might have done this, and you are truly a lifesaver. I couldn't be bothered to go back and search for each one myself. Thanks friend
I've read like 7 books out of all these books and I am feeling like a whole intellectual
Same I read ten and know the plot of like almost everyone, so I guess I have a degree know
I've read 37...
I’ve read three 👍
@@EmiliaLou an absolute intellectual. I think we can all agree everybody who watches Jack is smart now with some bad puns 😂
Idk why people treat every tier list as though it should be objective and factual. Opinions differ, Jack explained his super well and concisely, great video.
Yes, but that's the fun of discussing it. You can disagree and maybe sway somebody to your side, or at the very least have an enjoyable conversation about the books you care about.
Exactly! Habdmaids tale is probably the worst on the list but he put it on the top because he is a feminist lol
He explained super well his limitations as a reader.
I think the thing is that people, for certain classics expect objectivity. Like yes, it's not your favourite, but still doesn't deserve to go in the bottom because how well it is written and the story. In Italy we have an author that I hate with a passion, like literally, I wanted to throw away his book as soon as I finished reading it for school. But if someone asked me to rate Italians romances? His book is going to the top. It is well written and serves the purpose that the author wanted, plus it is important for the modern language. Even if I personally don't like it, I can't bring myself to say it's a bad book.
@@Lola-kh9cs Very well said.
Your take on Dune shattered the credible of the entire ranking
No kidding. I was listening to this to build my list of books I might want, but there's a few of his takes that are just... bad.
I saw this video in summer, and I was just searching for Dune on bookfair, but there weren't copies of the 1st book. Finally i got it a few months later and now revisiting the video, I just need to finish it to see why he said that.
Not really, just an opinion.
Same with lotr...
He is into the small introspective side of humans not the grantiture, philosophical and historical elements presented in Dune or LOTR which is totally fine.
However I feel like for somebody writing a PhD in literature he should be a little bit more aware about his own perspectives. Dune isn't about the characters and their interactions.
Great Expectations was ROBBED. My first Dickens book; I was so surprised how well his humor and style holds up today. When I expected a sludge to read through, I was shocked to find a book that seemed like it could've been released 20 years ago instead of over 100 (although some of the language definitely is of its time).
Loved the story, the nuanced characters, and what the book says about young love, appreciating what you have, class divide, and finding happiness.
Absolutely couldn’t put it down - I found it the easiest classic to read all round tbh
This guy's a walking cookie cut millennial. Do you seriously think he has the literary maturity to appreciate the actual classics?
@@him050he isn’t even a millennial? Also, not everyone likes classics, and if you do it doesn’t make you better than anyone else
Bro. I was so into classic literature when I was 16-19 years old, but going into uni ruined it for me because none of my professors wanted their students to have a different opinion than what they had. There was no room to formulate your own perspective on a novel, it was just "listen to what I say and then spit it out". I switched my major from English to Psychology (no regrets, I'm a psychologist assistant now and I love it). But this video makes me want to sit down and read every single one of these books again. It's like I'm back in my youth. Great video
Oh gosh what a terrible professor he is
That's awful. I was an English major too, and only my Victorian literature professor was like this. But she was ancient, I think she actually lived through the Victorian Age herself.
They've moved the age down now, opinion crushing starts in secondary school.
I had to read Things Fall Apart twice. The first time was in high school and I didn't agree Okonkwo was a tragic hero; my teacher made me rewrite the essay against everything I had wrote. I highlighted this point in college when it was part of our required reading and explained this caused me to have a bias against it; the teacher gave me an A in the class overall so I guess I explained my point.
I know why in high school teachers must teach the way they do but the way my teacher brought it up was certainly about her opinion. Our education system is built for factory workers, cogs in a machine. I am sorry going to university wasn't the enlightenment and free-thought forum it should be.
Oh, and I never thought of doing English as a degree; this was news to my parents who seemed to think so until my junior/senior year. I told them I didn't know what I would do with an English degree. I wanted to be a physical therapist.
It's funny, I got my bachelor's degree in psychology but now I'm considering getting an MFA in creative writing so we almost did the opposite. Though I'm more into writing than reading...still.
"Daniel Defoe is widely considered the father of the English novel, and you know what I think he should've pulled out" RUTHLESS, I literally chocked hearing this
Gatbsy is a slay. Also The Book Thief definitely deserves a really high ranking I loved ittt :) thanks for the tierlist I’m planning on reading a lot of these
the man puts a self help book above literally anything
“One does not simply bottom tier LOTR” - J.R.R Tolkien
(probably)
"Authority has not been given to you to deny..." that this one of the best books ever written.
*cries in Elven language*
Indeed.
I was like: " _How dare thee! Imrid amrâd ursul!_ "
(Ok, maybe that last bit was a bit too much)
i have found my people
"Jane Austin put her whole Austussy into this book" I fucking cackled out loud on the train 😂
Stop cuz he’s right
I'm currently reading Emma, and it's so shocking to me how much I like it over Pride and Prejudice. 😂
His indifference to Wuthering Heights...my jaw was on the floor.
“You know what, I think he should’ve pulled out”, I genuinely almost choked on my lunch lol
Oh my god same I was SHOOK 😂😂
Brilliant line!
It's not original though....heard it before...probably copied from the same places I've heard it
The “he should have pulled out” literally had me dead 💀
SAME
i had to pause the video i couldn't stop laughing 😭
I actually choked from laughter 😭
I’m happy this was overall such a positive video, it’s always a bummer when people devalue classic books, esp those you loved. But I am surprised Tolstoy wasn’t on this list!
If I had to pick my favourite on this list, among the books I've actually read, it'd be Animal Farm. It moved me to laughter and to tears. I read it in a couple of hours.
Jack: Do you want to read a book all about whale anatomy?
Me with the whale being my favourite living creature ever: Oooh hell yeah
Jack: Me neither...
Me: oh
LMFAO 😭
You ever been cornered at a party by some guy rambling on about everything? That's Moby Dick. If you're patient enough, drops of wisdom fall through though. Loved it myself.
I adore whales too ^_^ But I've always been intimidated by Moby Dick. I'm worried it'll be too much jargon. And scared of its length too. Is it worth reading?
@@itll_be_owlright I'll probably re-read it at some point. Didn't seem difficult in terms of language. Only in terms of "I wonder when we'll get back to the storyline." In all fairness, it does depict life at sea quite well. If you're an adventurous, yet patient soul, you'll probably love it. Plus the chapters are really short and easy to digest. Having said all that, it did take me 3 shots to get past the first few chapters.
@@AlexHamelMusic Ok thanks 😊
"there's two things I don't wanna hear about: capitalism and children." mood jack. very much same.
Then immediately puts Animal Farm at the top of the list lmao
😂😂 agreed
@@bendover7841 Wait, is animal farm about capitalism? I haven't read it but I always thought it was about revolution leading to totalitarianism or something.
@@SuperShado101 It was anti-socialism/anti-communism. It has underlying themes about how communism is just a guise for establishing corrupt dictatorships under the false promise of equality. It was essentially a mockery of the Soviet Union. Hence the "All animals are equal but some are more equal than others."
@@bendover7841 So it's basically what I thought it was. I'm not sure if it could be considered anti-socialist specifically though. My impression of Orwell is that he's (rightfully) very critical of the soviet union and other states despite the fact that he disagrees with capitalism. He seems pretty interesting, so his books are definitely on my list.
You have no idea how happy it makes me to see EMMA in the 6 out 5 category. It's my favourite Austen book and I think it usually gets overlooked.
I love how enthusiastic you get about your faves, and how you can perfectly encapsulate spirit of this books in one world.
Same here for LORT and Dickens so you can hide behind me while the crowd shows with pitchforks. But I also like the empathy you show while taking about books you don't appreciate. It's a good look for us - book readers - that the journey differs for everybody.
I'd place them similarly to you except I don't care for The Great Gatsby (because we in Poland have The Doll probably) and for The Bell Jar (might have been too young). Would switch them for Farenheit and the Hitchhiker's Guide but other than that, basically place by place. The only book I haven't even heard of is 49..sth sth...
Thanks for the list, cheers.
'Alice and Dracula is not a duo you can imagine' JACK, HONEY. THOSE TWO WOULD BE ABSOLUTE BESTIES IF THEY MET
I need this crossover
Totally agree. Especially after reading an Alice retelling that got really dark.
Half of me is like “oh no” and the other half wants to write the fanfiction already
@@simplesimply3753 Can you please tell me what is the title of that book? If Dorothy going to the dark side was awesome I bet that one is really good. I would totally read and Alice + Dracula book!
“Miss Charlotte just decided to flex her duolingo streak” 😭😭😆😆😆😆
This was so enjoyable. Thank you
I wanna be this guy's friend. I know nothing about classic literature, yet this whole video had me engaged and i couldnt stop smiling at his way of talking
i am so tired of people putting Jane Austen in the lower tier. So what if it's simple comedy of manners? the simplicity is what makes them so iconic and witty.
THIS! AND THEY’RE FUNNY
Can you imagine that some people uhm actually find it boring?
@@sunrisesilence yeah, but also I feel like some people ignore the fun parts bcs they already have an idea, I know people who said they hated a book of hers bcs it was boring but hadn’t even read it
@@Dustyspeccs well obviously you should never say something like this if you haven't read the book you're talking about. Its just about P&P that I didn't understand the hype at all and no, I couldn't find it funny
@@sunrisesilence yeah that’s fine! I guess I’m defensive because I thought it was really boring before I read it and in the first half but I ended up loving it 😂
Jack, you took the words right out of my mouth. 1984 is literally THE book that made me fall in love with reading, literature, and understand the impact words have on our human psyche collective. Animal farm soon followed. I went from not caring about reading, almost disliking it because I found it to be boring , to absolutely loving it. 1984 really changed my life.
Literally same here! I love 1984 so much.
literally same i didn’t know it was a common experience
it’s always interesting to hear which books pull people into the lit world. I totally get why it could be 1984 that did it, it definitely sucked me in.
I liked the themes in 1984 but the way Winston descriped Julia just often made me wanna not finish it
When those transitions are so smoothly said from book to book 🤣 only Jack, only Jack 😂
It's super interesting to watch videos like this because a person's taste in literature is extremely indicative of what they're like as a person. And this list tells me you're a great person to talk to, though as a fantasy and sci-fi lover, I disagree on several points, of course. However, we started very strong. Emma at the top sold me immediately.
Moral of the Story: We’re all incorporating ‘Smarticles Particles’ as a part of our collective lexicon.
Absolutely 😂
when he said it i genuinely thought damn i want to start using that too ahaha
@@ros.an. ikr 🤠🤠 also hey army 💜
@@urlocalhuman.ahahah heyyyyy ;))
I won’t tell you to give lotr another shot, but I wouldn’t say it’s overhyped! Tolkien completely defined the fantasy world as we know it today. His rendition of elves, dwarves, wizards and haflings are today accepted as canon. And though I agree that his storytelling was lackluster, his worldbuilding skills are jaw dropping.
I agree, he was literally the father of fantasy!
and the movies too are amazing
This is all well and good, but great worldbuilding alone doesn't make a good book. Hell of a nice dnd campaign though.
100% - the world building is stunning and I love The Hobbit, but for me personally the first LOTR book just wasn’t it, all subjective though
I also dissagree that the storytelling is a weak point. Sure it’s straight forward and you can kinda tell how it’s going to play out at the very end, but that’s pretty standard for myths and legends. Like the Odyssey is obviously going to end with Odysseus coming home. The Aeneid is going to end with Aeneas laying the groundwork for what is to become Rome, So you know the minute he meets Dido that it isn’t going to work out. The fact that Tolkien has a framework like that as well strengthens the mythlike quality of the story. It’s a feature not a bug. Now it’s ok if that’s not your thing obviously you don’t have to like it, but just be aware that it is intentional. Of course it wouldn’t have worked without the prose and poems and other history and culture invented to go along with it which is why it works.
"it's just a bunch of creatures walking" is cracking me up rn
Dune and LoTR were books that brought me into the reading space, I don't know where I would be without them. I do prefer older classics though; Hawthrone, Austen and Poe being toward the top of the list. Putting LoTR near the bottom just leaves me puzzled, I get it, opinions and all, but it just feels in err.
None of us could stop at ‘Austussy’. Our collective reaction was: “I know he did not -“
I thought it was just me! 😂
sometimes i find myself taking jack's opinions on books as gospel, then i remember that he hates dune and i'm like "oh right youtubers are regular flawed people 😔" still have love for u tho jack!!
The way this person talks about one of the greatest sci-fi books truly hurts my brain, but as he said its his opinion
People who hate Moby Dick are people who shouldn't be trusted
grateful for the other books Dune inspired, but that book is not for me 💀💀💀
And lotr
Why are you booing him? He's right.
The Count Of Monte Christo is my favorite book ever
Still waiting for a list that has this book on it
I was so happy when all my favorite ones where in “I think you dropped something… my jaw” and all the ones I’ve been telling myself to read are in the top tier
"This is a book for people who are unstable." Yes, correct.
I literally cannot fathom your Lord of the Rings rating, everything else fair enough, but I TRUSTED YOU!
So did I :((( my heart aches right now
Imagine if he read Hobbit though
same! like you can't tell me the writting wasn't good? the writing is literally what made this book so popular!
I have to agree with him, I felt like Tolkien was trying to strangle me with his writing. His extremely long descriptions of trees made me so bored I had to stop. Maybe I'll give it another go one day but that day is far far away.
Every single rating is questionable.
Fahrenheit 451 is one of the books I reread so much. I really love how I can contemplate so much about life by reading it. But agree with your 6 of 5 list. They're genius. I haven't read some of them but I definitely will.
I just remember when reading Pride and Prejudice there wasnt a single character that was introduced that wasnt important. No throwaway characters or plot lines, and I really enjoyed that. I dont know of i would keep it where it is or put it a tier higher, just because not a single line wasted my time
What do you mean “wasted”? you’re talking about a book not the stockmarket
I agree! Austen's writing is beautiful yet succinct and not at all pretentious. I love how accessible it feels.
Pride and Prejudice is in my top 5 fave books of all time. 🫶
I agree! 🙂 It’s one of the reasons it’s my favorite of Jane Austen, it is very satisfying. Especially when learning more about the norms and social rules of that time, the actions of the characters and their interactions make even more sense!
The best of Austen, with Persuasion.
“This is a book for people who are unstable.”
I love how I instantly knew that it was The Bell Jar. It’s definitely not something to read if you’re feeling bummed already, lmao.
weirdly enough, I find myself going back to Plath and Anne Sexton when I’m at my worst moments. I only read the Bell Jar when I’m at rock bottom. That and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. For me it helps to know I’m not alone but I can for sure see how it would also have the effect of making one feel worse.
@@ashlynw.7291 You caught me
I read this as a bipolar academic who loves poetry, like Plath. It just comforts me when I’m depressed
Yes I read that in yr10 wand found out a lot about the world 😆
I am so glad that Dracula and Frankenstein received yet another good review. I am reading Dracula right now for the first time and I am so excited about it! I recently read A Christmas Carol and really enjoyed it. I recently bought Great Expectations...so we will see if I agree with your ranking of it! LOL I do know he is famous for his run-on scentences. LOL
Alice not being top tier is truly a crime 😂 few things are as iconic to me 👻
My older teen read this book as a younger child, and it remains his favorite book. I agree it was ranked low.
The Book Thief is legitimately one of my favorite books of all time.
The only book I've ever read that had me sobbing by the end. Like, full on ugly crying to the point where I had a hard time reading the words on the page.
I just finished reading The Book Thief for Summer reading, and I can say with total confidence that it is the only piece of media to ever make me cry.
Absolutely amazing book. In my top 5 ever
@@Ashtonyss Only book to make me cry man tears while reading..one of my favs.. went in completely blind.. being a WWII buff made it icing on the cake. I really want to read it again lol
I agree, one of the very few books that has made me proper cry, and I just wish I could read it again for the first time.
1:48 - of mice and men
2:13 - moby dick
2:38 - the catcher in the rye
2:55 - emma
3:12 - pride and prejudice
4:35 - moll flanders
5:30 - great expectations
6:12 - a tale of two cities, bleak house
6:22 - the picture of dorian gray
6:45 - the bell jar
6:55 - to the lighthouse
7:13 - little women
7:23 - the book thief
7:36 - in cold blood
8:24 - to kill a mockingbird
8:36 - wuthering heights
8:51 - jane eyre
9:16 - villette
9:34 - wide sargasso sea
9:54 - heart of darkness
10:04 - frankenstein
10:30 - the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy
10:42 - dune
11:04 - the great gatsby
11:22 - a single man
11:30 - a journal of the plague year
11:44 - dracula
11:58 - animal farm, 1984
12:23 - the handmaid’s tale
12:37 - fahrenheit 451, brave new world
12:44 - treasure island
12:54 - alice’s adventures in wonderland
13:03 - life of pi
13:20 - ulysses
13:44 - the odyssey
13:53 - the iliad
14:08 - beloved
14:19 - the scarlet letter
14:41 - the crying of lot 49
14:47 - around the world in eighty days
15:05 - twenty thousand leagues under the sea
15:21 - rebecca
15:25 - the alchemist
15:42 - lord of the flies, tess of the d’urbervilles
15:50 - a farewell to arms
16:01 - lolita
16:19 - charlotte’s web
16:37 - crime and punishment
16:42 - middlemarch
16:54 - things fall apart
17:09 - lord of the rings (sorry jack)
thank you so much
@@sofiacorreia206 you are very welcome :)
A Life savior right there.
You are God sent 😭
Thank you 🙏🏼
Hitchikers guide to the galaxy and the Watchmen are two books that I have debated for years over which one is my favorite book of all time.
I subbed and liked when you talked about orwell and animal farm because after i read that i feel even more in love with books
My opinion on a book literally changes once Jack rates it so lets hope little women, the great gatsby and the book thief get good ratings or i’ll cry
i agree. but ill love great gatsby regardless of what jack says
The Great Gatsby and Little Women have 5 stars on his Storygraph, so I think he loves them :)
literally!
don’t let anyone influence your opinion on anything…it’s how YOU feel about it not anyone else
Spoiler alert but you're good 😂
This tier-list definitely shows your preferences for a very particular type of literature. Not that it's a bad thing. But putting Dune/LotR and books like them at the bottom is definitely a taste thing I feel, rather than a quality of writing thing. Meanwhile I found 'Emma' remarkably... okay?
I knew Dune and LOTR's ranking would trigger the "I love hard magic systems 🥵" crowd. Like, if they were placed higher would you consider this was an objective, non-"taste thing"?
@@franciscofarias6385 yes? I'm not a fan of romance novels, doesn't mean I don't acknowledge Pride and Prejudice as one of the all-time best books. I get that it's easy to pick on genre fiction because it's not for everyone, but both LotR and Dune are objectively good books, and to say you don't like them is going to boil down to your attitudes toward sci fi and fantasy as a whole.
@@sbel6626 lmaoooo now if I don't like Dune it's because I'm biased against sci-fi... my dude, come back here when you left high school, how about it?
@@franciscofarias6385 Maybe learn what hard magic systems are before talking about them, given neither Dune nor LoTR have one.
@@franciscofarias6385 Saying you're a sci-fi fan and don't like Dune is like saying you're a horror movie fan and not liking the Exorcist, or saying you're a jazz fan and not liking Thelonious Monk. It's not impossible, it's just a little weird.
As a LotR lover this really shocked me...
Like I've spent years studying the world J.R.R. Tolkien has built and it's beautiful! The languages he created are incredible and fantastic and I wish I could be this genius...
Also Dune is a very nice book!
But I respect your opinion, have a great day
I love LOTR!!! the first hooks went slow for but when I hit the part about Lothlorian, the descriptions of it captivated me, read the second one much quicker and the third in just a very few days. I would think with Jack's interest in moral subjects, he would've liked it, but to each theri own. I think the second and third go by faster. It's meant to be a beautiful journey, and I loved going on that journey with the Fellowship 💜💙
Hey Jack great video! Very educational. Keep it up buddy 😊
11:16 “At one point I even wrote a whole essay on the semi-colons in this book.”
I was with you until you mentioned “semi-colons”.
I still don't know how to use them
@@leahdietrich6442 charles dickens uses them artfully.
@@leahdietrich6442 I don't really know how to explain it lol but I'll try using examples.
The letter's contents near made her heart stop, it read: *Look outside- or don't*. (A colon is kind of used to present a list of some sort, in a way)
The letter's contents near made her heart stop; her hands flicked open the page, reading *look outside- or don't*. (Two points slapped together but you don't want to add an "and" or such) (made her heart stop and her hands flicked open the page~)
The “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy” has some of the best books in existence
I am judging this dude harshly for his treatment of Moby Dick.
Same with shoot it with a cannon. Lol
Contentious things are rarely considered mediocre by anybody.
@@vitriolicAmaranth fair, and the tier name implies difficulty, which a lot of those books have
Dune being down there just like invalidated his opinon for me, and I’ve read the other, like book thief, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, being my favorites, but those do not stack up to Dune, how can it be so low like at least in the cloth bound classic section like at least
Thank you so much for the recommendations! I'm about to get my Masters in English Literature with a focus on Victorian Literature so this was so great!
I'm genuinely shocked that you graduated from grade school, there is absolutely no way you went to uni, incredibly daft analysis good sir.
“Daft” Gurl get out
You should do a tier ranking video of “modern classics” that would be so cool!
Hey if you don't mind can you tell me what is considered to be modern classic?
yes!!
Do you mean 21st century? Some of these books seem modern to me: Beloved, Handmaids Tale, and Hitchhikers Guide are not exactly ancient.
see classics by definition are works that have stood the test of time, so modern classics don't really exist, they're just famous books, who knows what will happen to them in 2222
@@user-tv8qo7mv8g Maybe they mean 20th or 21st century books alone.
The Tiers are named so brilliantly! I love all of them.
He truly does the lords work 😂
it’s definitely a little slow afterwards but the fact you didn’t finish fellowship explains a lot. i had to skip chapters and just read the sparknotes for fellowship between when they leave bree and arrive at rivendell. it’s much better after that point.
animal farm being in the highest tier explains why I'm so sceptical with literature channels
I read the classics because... they're the classics. But I'm finally ready to admit that the writing can be so Ye Olde that it just goes over my head. And that makes me appreciate my teacher in school who got us all discussing the meaning of each paragraph, chapter, sentence, so we could see the power and beauty in the writing.
The kindle definition finction definitely got me over the “Ye Olde’” language and even made me appreciate the beauty of it so far
@@jarx7500 true. i’m glad they save the words you look up as flash cards, too. and some of my downloads have little links that’ll explain some of the references of time as well, it makes it much easier to enjoy.
Ive always read the classics ever since i was little and i love them lol i mainly read them like your reason lol cuz their the classics but thered also somethibg beautiful and vintage abt the writting and how timeless they are...i also feel like in todays society that classics r hidden gems as contemporary literature grows..
When you said Hitchhiker's Guide was one of the only sci-fi books you enjoyed I knew I was ready for a gut punch when you rated Dune
Facts it’s straight up disrespectful he put it that low lol. God the whole series is amazing.
@@njm2699 I fully agree
He put Dickens very low, what can you expect?
To be fair, Hitchhiker’s guide is almost 100% comedy. I read it so fast and it was such a quick read I forgot it even was sci-fi. I don’t think they should be in the same category at all.
HGTTG is more... pastiche of sci-fi than sci-fi itself. So I get why it's a book people who generally don't like sci-fi would warm more to.
Thanks! I wrote a few new titles on my TBR list and have also taken a few off thanks to this video! 🤚
More fun facts about In Cold Blood: when they took the actors who played the killers to the prison and the guards were genuinely shocked at the resemblance.
ALSO: my great grandpa was sorta involved with their execution. He used to preach up at the prison they were in and was asked to be there for their execution. I forgot why but I think it’d something to do with him being a preacher or one of them being religious. Unfortunately, one of their necks didn’t break on the way down so for 45 minutes he had to watch one of them swing, choking on their own breath, and he couldn’t leave because he needed to witness and confirm the deaths.
Here in Greece obviously we are been taught these books, the Iliad and the Odyssey but unfortunately these amazing books we have to read them in ancient greek to translate them also as homework and then analyze every sentence or paragraph. The stories then lose the charm which is a shame because these are the most famous pieces of greek literature but in school it's just "read them to get good grades" :/
Uhh, what? We're not taught Ulysses, and neither the Odyssey nor the Iliad are taught in ancient greek. There are places where pieces the original text are presented next to the translation, but we're mostly asked to write long boring essays on why Odysseus farts in line 34 of rhaspody δ.
But I do agree that it kills the interest in those two. For anyone who was forced to read a book in 7th grade and now hate it on principle, it's exactly that. The odyssey, the iliad and antigone are all dead to me for the foreseeable future.
@@kateb1761 by taught i meant what you said with the og translations and then analyze it xd but the main problem is that yes these books are detailed and not for everyone but netherless it's a part of our history and the books only wanted us to learn some parts to get good grades
I'm from the Netherlands and I had Ancient Greek (and Latin) classes for 6 years. In my final year, we read the Odyssey. My personal impression is that I enjoyed the texts we translated a lot more specifically because successfully translating a passage and thereby unlocking its contents added a lot of satisfaction that one doesn't get when reading something in translation.
Here in Italy we have to study them as well (since I did only Latin and not ancient Greek I didn't have to translate them) and we have to analyse and study every single thing, and we couldn't even discuss it much, we just had to memorize it. It makes you interested in the Greek mythology and history, but not in reading the actual books. Now that I'm
In university I decided to read them again, and damn I totally fell in love. It's a shame sometimes school really knows how to kill the passion
@@Lola-kh9cs al liceo classico mi hanno ammazzato la voglia di leggere, punto ahahahaha comunque verissimo
I cannot believe The Alchemist got a higher shelf than LoTR! Jack, you're insane at times!
Right 😂
I wish I could like lotr, it was hard for me to even listen to it as an audiobook :( the movies are fantastic though lol
@@frenchrulesall The heart of Lord of the Rings is perfectly encapsulated in the line from the book: "All that is gold does not glitter". After watching this video, I can tell that Jack Edwards enjoys a good Sunday afternoon read with a brilliant book with enchanting characters that won't let you put it down. There is nothing wrong with that, but LOTR books are an entirely different type of novel. First, it's built as an unbiased factual retelling of events similar to a history book . Unlike a history book, we as readers are often up close and personal with the characters, seeing their feelings and intentions, yet the unbiased factual style remains. The reading may feel slow and undramatic scene by scene, but it is only when we connect the parts to the larger quest that the depth of the novel begins to shine. A nearly hopeless quest that will determine the fate of the world in either success or failure. A quest that demands courage, companionship, hope and sacrifice from its "everyday folk", who are the heroes of the story. These virtuous themes are the hidden gold that is in every page of the book. Yet it is only when we connect these themes to the quests in our own lives that we truly arrive to the heart of LOTR. For while the brilliance of the world-building in LOTR, which it can be argued is perhaps the greatest in all of modern literature in terms of scale and detail is truly exceptional, it is in the end only a vessel for Tolkein to share his insight in the human condition and the quests that each of us are on through our lives. In that sense, the reader has compassion on the characters with the depths of compassion for oneself and the lessons taught go far beyond a Sunday reading and can be carried with the reader for the rest of their lives.
Both LOTR and Dune are at his bottom list. Let's not forget that Dune and LOTR are the foundations of modern sci fi and modern fantasy respectively.
@@kushalrijal9453 true but he also ranked Around the World in 80 Days pretty highly and jules Verne is the father of science fiction. I personally didn't care for Dune either, but I love lotr
What would be cool is if you took excerpts of some of your favorite books and you explain why it speaks to you and then you do it for stuff like dune. I may not read all of these books but to hear you talk about the prose and such would be really fun. Im new to your channel so forgie me if im commiting some crazy faux pas because this content im asking for is already available lol.
I love how it went from Lolita to Charlotte’s Web in one swoop
“The Fellowship of the Ring” is mostly just set up and WorldBuilding for the next two books. “The Lord of the Rings” was intended to be read as one novel. “The Two Towers” is incredible so I would definitely give it a read when you find the time.
Both Two Towers and Return of the King were incredible IMO. The section with the Ents was so much better in the book than in the movies.
The chapter with the Ents is my favorite chapter from the three books.
I didn't know that I could have favorite chapters in books but this one just did something to me. It's a masterpiece.
@@tina9866 I'm reading everything Tolkien just before the Amazon Rings of Power disaster premiers...just to remind myself that we will always have those wonderful books.
@@carlosbranca8080 have you read the unfinished tales? I just did because of rings of power...I wanted to see more of what Tolkien said about the second age. So much interesting stuff happened, but instead amazon is going to show us how warrior galdrahil fights her Orc Chieftain brother.....why spend billions on buying writes to a property if you arent going to tell the story you are buying?
@@mike-mz6yz Yes, but years ago, that's why I am reading everything Tolkien pretty soon. And yes, a sad state of affairs right now. Creative bankruptcy and some people bound to destroy or corrupt everything we hold dear. They cannot create anything of value, and what is worst apparently they don't read either. There are dozens of fantasy, sci fi and horror books and series that are pretty diverse in every sense they want, but no, they have to ruin an established and beloved work of art and pissed off the fans, they do that on purpose.
you put "emma" in the 6 out of 5 stars category, so i'm gonna just agree with everything else you say because YES BITCH give "emma" the love it fucking deserves
okay and now you put oscar wilde and sylvia plath in there too? girl, i literally clapped
so you are emma, and you want some love?
SO TRUE
- A girl partially named after Emma from the novel
Right?? I can’t believe Emma isn’t talked about like P&P is, because seriously, I think it’s really Austen’s best. I fucking love Emma.
You talk like an adolescent who discovered TikTok 2 weeks ago @@pureheartbadass
I have a lot of classic books in my library, I kind of need a break in between but I managed to finish “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde and honestly, once you get to the middle it’s quite interesting
For my freshman year book report, I had to choose from a list and all the books i wanted were gone so I chose Tess of the D'Ubervilles, absolutely amazing. Definitely recommend listening rather than reading cause old English is hard man!