Since everybody is giving you reading lists, I thought I might try the opposite - a subjective view of alleged 'must reads' that have disappointed me.

Milton - Paradise Lost Almost unreadable. Dr Johnson (in his Lives of the poets) succinctly says that the poem is one you are glad to have read, but also glad never to have to read again.

Thank heavens I'm not the only one who felt that way! On the subject of "must read" books, I've always liked the quote attributed to a Professor of Literature who was giving his reason for not having read War and Peace: "It's one of those books you have to read before you die. Therefore, the longer I put off reading it, the longer I live."