Should I have included Douglas Adams? Probably. I still need to get it down to 5, though, so that wouldn’t really help…
Shakespeare… Well, despite Eric’s objections, you can’t not include Shakespeare, and Twelfth Night is my favourite at the moment. By rights, Shakespeare should have the five spots to himself, but I will impose a rule on myself to choose only one work per author.
Austen… Couldn’t leave her off, either. By and large, the main reason I can think of right now is that she manages to suprise me every time. Even after 20+ readings/listenings (I like audiobooks) of Pride & Prejudice, I still can’t believe how she pulls it off, and I still find new things to marvel at in terms of language, the twist of phrase… I think P&P is still top of my list, though Emma has been edging closer and is likely to overtake in the near future.
Wilde… While trying to decide whether An Ideal Husband or The Importance of Being Earnest was most deserving of the top spot, I realised that by far his best work, in my opinion, is Intentions. Which solved that problem nicely. Intentions contains profound wisdom (or possibly profound nonsense, but it comes down to the same thing, reallY) on art and life, and most of what lies in between.
Cummings… For one, he makes language sing. For two, he speaks truths. For three, he writes amazing novels, too.
And Waugh, I already explained.
So there’s my 5. Could I have 50 instead, please?