3.98 avg rating — 2,062,679 ratings

"While this might not be the most important book on the list from a literary standpoint, it points to the future of our civilization in a way more troubling than even 1984: not that we'll be ruled in a dystopian dictatorship, but that we'll surrender ourselves to a life or superficial ease."

3.70 avg rating — 3,178,000 ratings

"‘Lord of the Flies’ is one of the great cautionary tales about what can happen when the constraints of civilization are removed."

3.83 avg rating — 75,793 ratings

"I would suggest starting Hardy with Tess of the D'Urbervilles or perhaps The Return of the Native (I think his tragic heroines make the reading a bit more approachable), but Jude is definitely among his best, as is The Mayor of Casterbridge."

4.13 avg rating — 1,856,117 ratings

"Like the near-contemporary Heart of Darkness (which, stunningly, isn't on the list) and the later Lord of the Flies, Wilde explores how people react when the moral constraints of civilization are removed. It is very easy reading, but ultimately not quite as good as those other two."