No doubt there has been numerous threads like this in the past, and I really enjoyed the Sci-fi’s most influential books thread by Fenris.
However, I think it could never hurt to get more suggestions for great works of art we call literature.
Personally I am drawn towards anything of the epical nature. The bigger than life, with lots of mythology, classical literature references and works of great emotional and intellecual bredth.
For example, some of the books I have read recently that give a good show of what I enjoy are;
*Flowers for Algernon- Keyes : Moving, compelling, a classic in its own right
*Dune- Frank Herbert: Good book, as are the sequels, a bit highbrow, but not so much it is impossible to follow.
*Nightfall- Silverberg&Asimov: written off of the orignal short story, a nice look into the psyches of an alien society confronted with the unknown.
*Stranger in a strange land- Heinlein: Human raised on mars brings the culture to earth and creates a religion: reminiscent of Jesus
*To say nothing of the Dog- Willis: Lots of literary references, some history, and some huge laughs.
*A confederacy of Dunces- Toole : A story of an overly educated ne’er-do-well doing what he seems to do best: torment his mother. Very, very funny.
*Whose song is sung- Schaefer: A story of a midget who travels with Beowulf and witnesses his victory and downfall. (one of the best books I have ever read IMHO)
I could go on, but they are almost exclusivly Sci-Fi or Fantasy with just a few works of fiction intermingled.
So what other books of such epic proportions are out there? Sci-Fi or just plain Literature.
*example- A catcher in the Rye: never read it, heard it was very good. That is all they said though, just very good.
*To kill a mockingbird- I saw the movie along time ago, never read the book, should I?
Tell me about the books you have read, the Classic, bigger than life, Epic works, not just escapist books. (I will be constructing this as a list of books to check out at the library or buy, so make em good. 
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