In a way, of course, it’s easy to come up with a list of great fiction. There is so much to choose from. And so much of it has been around for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Many of the works on this list have been tested and proven worthy of survival and study by great minds of all ages.
However, we aren’t looking for a list of merely great fiction – we are looking for works that can light up a person’s soul and lead them to mystical glory. Or we, at least, are looking for work that can inspire us to lead a more enlightened life.
And here lies the big problem. Enlightened people – for the most part – go against the flow of society. They challenge authority and the status quo. Enlightened people are dangerous. So books that can lead people to an enlightened state must also be dangerous. Would governments, religious organizations, and powerful people in general allow writings to exist that inspire the common people to think for themselves and seek happiness outside the mainstream?
There is clearly evidence that books of all kinds have been suppressed and destroyed throughout the ages for just this reason. Some obvious examples are the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library discovered in the past century. These works were deliberately hidden away to protect them from destruction by the leaders of society. It is only by chance that they were ever found. How many works have not been found? How many books have been lost forever – their authors killed, their readers persecuted? Book burning and the persecution of writers continue to this day throughout the world. Mass literacy and access to information offer some protection from the abuses of governments and religions – but many illuminated works are still lost every day.
With this in mind is it even possible to have a list of enlightened literature? There are legends, of course, of secret books and whole libraries available only to the initiated few – works that can truly illuminate people’s minds. Some of the books on this list speak of these occult libraries. Others described true illumination coming, not from books, but from the SOURCE of all LIGHT – the Divine.
What we need to rely on is the stupidity and over confidence of the world’s current power brokers. We must believe that they don’t know what to look for and that they believe “lesser” people are incapable of identifying TRUTH. Enlightened ideas are disguised as humor, satire, children’s stories and fantasy. The student of illumination must pick out the great ideas. As the Bible says, “For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
Truly, some of the writers on this list were not aware of their own illumination potential. There might be just one sentence in one book, maybe a paragraph, maybe just a feeling or sensation that seems to arise independently of the words used. We must be like archaeologists searching for a lost civilization in a desert – picking out a bit of pottery here, a scrap of parchment there until we uncover the whole city.
It is quite possible that just reading one or two selections from this list will flood your mind with light. However, it is better to consider enlightenment as a cumulative process. Studying the items on this list and the other lists on the site will be like blowing air on a glowing ember within you until it sparks and bursts into a roaring flame.
All the titles are linked to descriptive pages (so I don’t have to describe them) and over time I will add more personal comments. This list is by no means complete. More items will be added in time. There are online versions of many of the older books and some of the links lead to these. Mostly the links are to summaries and analysis of the works and the authors. Other summaries are also available if you do a search. NOTE: All the poems are linked to online readable sources as well as descriptions and bios of the poets.
FICTION
Aeschylus – Complete Plays
Aesop – Fables
The linked page also offers a more detailed biography of Aesop.
Alcott, Louisa May – Little Women
Andersen, Hans Christian – Fairy Tales
The linked page also offers a more detailed biography of Andersen
Anonymous – The Epic of Gilgamesh
Aristophanes – Complete Plays
Auel, Jean M. – Clan of the Cave bear
Subsequent books in the series seem to go off track for me. But the original novel is quite good.
Austen, Jane – Complete Works
One of our favorite writers and people.
Bach, Richard – Illusions: the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
The link is to a complete pdf copy of the book. Well worth reading.
Bach, Richard – Jonathan Livingston Seagull
The link is to a complete PDF copy of the book. Takes a while to load because of the photographs that form part of the novel. “This is a story for people who follow their dreams and make their own rules; a story that has inspired people for decades.”
This book is worth owning.
Barrie, E.M. – Peter Pan
A complete Ebook version from The Gutenberg Project. It’s a beloved classic for good reason. Wonderful!
Bellow, Saul – Henderson the Rain King
The link is to a great study guide to a fascinating book.
Boccaccio, Giovanni – The Decameron
The link is to one of the many summaries of this classic book. This particular link offers a complete free study package as well. Also available is a complete pdf version of the book.
Boulle, Pierre – Monkey Planet
This is the original of “Planet of the Apes.” Very different from the films. An excerpt from the book is available here.
Bradbury, Ray – Dandelion Wine
Everything by Ray Bradbury is worth reading. These are just some of our favorite stories.
The link is to a wiki article with a detailed, chapter by chapter summary, including spoilers. So, just go out and read the book.
Bradbury, Ray – Fahrenheit 451
Another book you know you should just go out and read. The link is to a detailed wiki page summary.
Bradbury, Ray – I Sing the Body Electric
Originally a Twilight Zone episode written by Bradbury about a child, Agatha, who is unwilling to accept an Electrical (robot) Grandmother as a surrogate for her dead mother, until the Grandmother demonstrates her own immortality., it was made into a great short story, filmed a couple of times and used as the title of a number of songs. The story’s title is based on a poem by Walt Whitman.
Bradbury, Ray – Something Wicked this way Comes
Bradbury, Ray – The Autumn People
Bradbury, Ray – The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray – The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray (editor) – The Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories
Bradbury, Ray (editor) – Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow
Bronte, Charlotte – Jane Eyre
An online version is available here from the Gutenberg Project
Bronte, Emily – Wuthering Heights
One of the greatest novels, ever – the link is to a site that gives you everything you want to know about the book including an online pdf version.
Brown, Margaret Wise – Goodnight Moon
Yeah, it’s a children’s book – Just go read it (and look at the pictures).
Burgess, Anthony – A Clockwork Orange
Definitely NOT a children’s book.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson – A Little Princess: Being the Whole Story of Sara Crewe Now Told for the First Time/
Another children’s book – so called – Burnett is saying a lot more in his books than the movie versions would have you believe.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson – The Lost Prince
Wiki page is short. The whole book is available online here.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson – The Secret Garden
Burroughs, Edgar Rice – Tarzan the Ape Man
Burroughs, William S. – Naked Lunch
Camus, Albert – The Fall
Camus, Albert – The Plague
Camus, Albert – The Stranger
Cao Xueqin – Dream of the Red Chamber
Carroll, Lewis – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Carroll, Lewis – Through the Looking- Glass, and What Alice Found There
Cervantes, Miguel de – Don Quixote
Chambers, Robert W. – The King in Yellow
Chaucer, Geoffrey – The Canterbury Tales
Clarke, Arthur C. – 2001 a Space Odyssey
Clarke, Arthur C. – Childhood’s End
Clarke, Arthur C. – Rendezvous With Rama
Coelho, Paolo – The Alchemist
Collodi, Carlo – The Adventures of Pinocchio
Conrad, Joseph – An Outcast of the Islands
The wikipedia link is very short. This is only Conrad’s second novel but it already shows elements of his genius. A full text of the novel is available here.
Conrad, Joseph – Heart of Darkness
Much more information is available for Heart of Darkness – Conrad’s most famous book.
Conrad, Joseph – Lord Jim
Conrad, Joseph – Nostromo
Conrad, Joseph – The Secret Agent
Conrad, Joseph – The Secret Sharer
Crowley, Aleister – Moonchild
Aleister Crowley, “the Wickedest Man in the World,” is known mainly for his contributions to ceremonial magic and religion. But he was also an accomplished poet, novelist and dramatist.
Crowley, Aleister – The Simon Iff Stories and Other Works
The character of Simon Iff featured in Moonchild is a magician, psychologist and psychic detective. Fun and insightful stories of an unusual man’s adventures.
Dahl, Roald – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Another so-called children’s book that is so much more.
Dante – La Vita Nuova
Brilliant and beautiful book – much more accessible than the better known Divine Comedy.
Dante – The Divine Comedy
Absolute classic of Medieval spiritual literature. Demonstrates in a powerful way the journey of enlightenment.
Dazai, Osamu – No Longer Human
Defoe, Daniel – Robinson Crusoe
You know the story – but do you know the book? Worth a read or even two.
Dickens, Charles – A Tale of Two Cities
Dickens is legendary. These are just some of the most accessible books.
Dickens, Charles – David Copperfield
Dickens, Charles – Great Expectations
Dickens, Charles – Little Dorrit
Dickens, Charles – Oliver Twist
Dickens, Charles – The Old Curiosity Shop
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor – Complete Works
Even at his worst, in bad translations, he is still better than everyone else. His books are rough going, packed with themes and insights that dazzle the mind. He is worth every minute you spend with him.
Dumas, Alexander – The Count of Monte Cristo
Eco, Umberto – Foucalt’s Pendulum
Eco, Umberto – The Name of the Rose
Eliot, George – Complete Works
There are only 7 novels and they are all excellent.
Ende, Michael – The Neverending Story
Another children’s book that is more than it seems.
Euripides – Complete Plays
Fortune, Dion – Moon Magic
Known mostly as a teacher of occult arts, her novels offer the reader a rare and authentic glimpse of the world beyond the material. One of our favorites.
Fortune, Dion – The Sea Priestess
Fowles, John – The Magus
Gaarder, Jostein – Sophie’s World
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel – Complete works
Especially: Innocent Erendira and Other Stories, Leaf Storm and Other Stories, No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories, and the classic One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gay, John – The Beggar’s Opera and Companion Pieces
Gibran, Khalil – The Prophet
Beautiful, inspirational book – now available as a pdf file here.
Gide, Andre – The Counterfeiters
Gide, Andre – The Immoralist
Goethe, Johann – Faust Part I and II
Goethe, Johann – The Sorrows of Young Werther
Golding, William – Darkness Visible
Golding, William – Lord of the Flies
Golding, William – The Scorpion God
Grahame, Kenneth – The Wind in the Willows
Another children’s book that’s not. Complete e-copy available here.
Graves, Robert – Claudius the God
Graves, Robert – I, Claudius
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm – Collected Tales
There are many online versions of the books – because the stories are so great.
Haggard, H. Rider – She
Another favorite.
Heinlein, Robert – Stranger in a Strange Land
Another favorite. A fairy tale for adults in the space age. Brilliant.
Heller, Joseph – Catch-22
This is where the highly usable expression came from.
Hemingway, Ernest – The Old Man and the Sea
You might as well just read ALL of Hemingway – but this novel really pushes the enlightenment themes we are looking for.
Hesse, Hermann – Demian
Please just go ahead and read, and re-read, everything you can by Hesse. The books listed here are particular favorites.
Hesse, Hermann – Journey to the East
A classically oriented forerunner of “the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and all the Da Vinci Code type stuff about secret societies.
Hesse, Hermann – Narcissus and Goldmund
Hesse, Hermann – Siddhartha
Hesse is a library of enlightenment all to himself.
Hesse, Hermann – Steppenwolf
Hesse, Hermann – The Complete Fairy Tales
Just the story titles should make you want to read this.
Hesse, Hermann – The Glass Bead Game
Also called Magister Ludi — master of the game (school) — Hesse IS a master.
Homer – The Iliad
The link is to one of the many, many summaries of this book. It is, of course, also available online in many translations. Why so much info? Simple. This is the greatest book ever written. Almost 3000 years old and still nothing has been written that is better than this epic. It is a book that must be read.
Homer – The Odyssey
A good, fun, adventure story. Not as good as the Iliad, but people are always making references to the story. The recent movie, O Brother Where Art Thou? was loosely based on the Odyssey.
Huxley, Aldous – Brave New World
Irving, John – The World According to Garp
Jackson, Shirley – The Lottery and Other Stories
Love Shirley Jackson.
Jackson, Shirley – We Have always Lived in the Castle
One of the best novels, and characters, ever. A great favorite.
Janowitz, Tama – Slaves of New York
Better than the critics say. Certainly WAAAAY better than the movie.
Johnson, Ben – The Alchemist
Classic play by someone with some real knowledge of alchemy and the world.
Johnson, Ben – Volpone, or The Fox
Still funny and relevant.
Joyce, James – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
You either already know about Joyce or you should go out immediately and find out about him. This wikipedia page is weak but it will give you a start. You have to read this book and Ulysses – it’s compulsory.
Joyce, James – Ulysses
Juster, Norton – The Phantom Tollbooth
Kafka, Franz – Complete Works
Definitely a favorite.
Kipling, Rudyard – Captains Courageous
You know his name – now read his books. A bio and many online works available here.
Kipling, Rudyard – Just So Stories
Kipling, Rudyard – Kim
Kipling, Rudyard – The Jungle Book
Kipling, Rudyard – The Man who would be King
Kipling, Rudyard – The Phantom Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales
Kipling, Rudyard – The Second Jungle Book
L’Engle, Madelaine – A Wrinkle in Time
according to the American Library Association’s Banned Books website, Wrinkle was one of the top 25 most-attacked books of the 1990s. Found out why.
Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng – The Plum in the Golden Vase
Leiber, Fritz – Conjure Wife
Lessing, Doris – Briefing for a Descent into Hell
She wrote a lot that should also be on this list (see the home page of this link). Read as much as you can.
Lewis, C.S. – The Chronicles of Narnia
Again, much, much more than a children’s book.
Lewis, Matthew – The Monk
London, Jack – Call of the Wild
London, Jack – The Sea Wolf
Lovecraft, H.P. – Collected Works
A favorite.
Luo Guanzhong – Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The classic novel not the game.
Maggin, Eliot S. – Superman: Last Son of Krypton
Maguire, Gregory – Wicked!
Mann, Thomas – Death in Venice
Mann, Thomas – Mario and the Magician
Mann, Thomas – The Magic Mountain
Marlowe, Christopher – Doctor Faustus
Marlowe, Christopher – Tamburlaine the Great
Melville, Herman – Moby Dick
Miller, Henry – The Rosy Crucifixion Trilogy
Miller, Henry – Tropic of Cancer
Miller, Henry – Tropic of Capricorn
O’Dell, Scott – Island of the Blue Dolphins
Love this book.
Orwell, George – 1984
A must read to understand the world.
Orwell, George – Animal Farm
Poe, Edgar Allen – Collected Works
A favorite author.
Potter, Beatrix – The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The book examines philosophical questions about life.
Pynchon, Thomas – Crying of Lot 49
Pynchon, Thomas – Gravity’s Rainbow
Pynchon, Thomas – V
Rabelais, Francois – The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel
Complete text with illustrations Available from the Gutenberg Project here.
Rand, Ayn – Atlas Shrugged
A favorite.
Rand, Ayn – The Fountainhead
Rowling, J.K. – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
First of the franchise and the most enlightening.
Ruiz Zafron, Carlos – The Shadow of the Wind
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de – The Little Prince
Salinger, J.D. – The Catcher in the Rye
Shakespeare – Complete Works
He is the best and simply must be read by everyone.
Shaw, George Bernard – Androcles and the Lion
Shaw inspired a lot of great writers and wrote a lot of great plays. This is just a list of the most accessible and thematically most enlightened.
Shaw, George Bernard – Arms and the Man
Shaw, George Bernard – Major Barbara
Shaw, George Bernard – Man and Superman
Shaw, George Bernard – Pygmalion
Shaw, George Bernard – Saint Joan
Shelly, Mary – Frankenstein
Subtitled “the modern Prometheus” the book brought a fire to human consciousness. Forget the movies – read the book.
Shi Nai,an – Water Margin
Sophocles – Complete Plays
Southern, Terry – The Magic Christian
Spyri, Johanna – Heidi
Steinbeck, John – Of Mice and Men
Stevenson, Robert Lewis – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson had a lot of great stories to tell – this is one of the most unusual.
Swift, Jonathan – A Modest Proposal
Read everything by Swift – He is classic and modern at the same time. Satire at its best.
Swift, Jonathan – A Tale of a Tub
Swift, Jonathan – Gulliver’s Travels
Tolkien, J.R.R. – Lord of the Rings
Have to include Tolkien in this list – for the books NOT the movies.
Tolkien, J.R.R. – The Hobbit
More accessible than Lord of the Rings and more fun.
Tolstoy, Leo – Anna Karenina
Tolstoy was a mystic and a genius – a difficult writer but should be read forever. These are some of his more readable books.
Tolstoy, Leo – Resurrection
Tolstoy, Leo – The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Tolstoy, Leo – War and Peace
Twain, Mark – Huckleberry Finn
Twain is mostly known as a humorist – sometimes as a children’s writer – yet with this book he became one of most controversial American writers. Huckleberry Finn is always being banned somewhere – even today.
Valmiki – Ramayana
An inspirational classic for thousands of years.
Verne, Jules – 20,000 Leagues Under theSea
Verne is a master story teller and Captain Nemo is one of the greatest characters in literature. Read all Verne’s books, starting with these.
Verne, Jules – A Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Verne, Jules – Around the World in Eighty Days
Vidal, Gore – Creation
An adventure novel that surveys the ancient world and its emerging religions.
Virgil – Aeneid
Kind of a sequel to the Iliad but not as good. It’s Rome’s national origin epic.
Voltaire – Candide
Voltaire was the enlightened intellectual of his generation and this is his satirical masterpiece.
Vonnegut, Kurt – Breakfast of Champions
Vonnegut’s earlier books are amazing. They combine science fiction, history, anthropology, social criticism and especially humor. If you read these titles you might just become hooked on his style – and that’s ok.
Vonnegut, Kurt – Cat’s Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt – God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Vonnegut, Kurt – Mother Night
Vonnegut, Kurt – Player Piano
Vonnegut, Kurt – Slaughterhouse Five
Vonnegut, Kurt – The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt – Welcome to the Monkey House
Vyasa – The Mahabharata
The great Indian epic. One of its chapters is the famous Bhagavad Gita. You will probably never read the entire book – it is huge – but there are many condensed versions.
Wells, H.G. – In the Days of the Comet
Besides being one of the fathers of Sci-fi, Wells was a scientist, historian, and social commentator. His books reveal his vast learning and even after more than100 years his stories are still relevant.
Wells, H.G. – The Invisible Man
Wells, H.G. – The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G. – The Shape of Things to Come
Wells, H.G. – The Time Machine
Wells, H.G. – The War of the Worlds
White, E.B. – Charlotte’s Web
Wilde, Oscar – The Picture of Dorian Gray
A favorite.
Williams, Margery – The Velveteen Rabbit
How to become real.
Wilson, Robert Anton – Masks of the Illuminati
Robert Anton Wilson was all about illumination. If you want a new viewpoint on the world around you, and beyond you, just read his books.All the links are to his website so please explore that site thoroughly.
Wilson, Robert Anton – Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogy
Wilson, Robert Anton – The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles
Wilson, Robert Anton – The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Wu Cheng’en – Journey to the West
Wyndham, John – Day of the Triffids
Wyndham, John – The Chrysalids
Wyndham, John – The Kraken Wakes
Wyndham, John – The Midwich Cuckoos
SELECT POEMS