Stephen Fry Odyssey's Reading List

"Jo, the crossing sweeper in "Bleak House," is the character who has the most powerful effect on me whenever I return to that peerless book."

"Tom Buchanan in "The Great Gatsby" stands out. There are so many Tom Buchanans in the world now. Running it."

"One must always have a P.G. Wodehouse and an Agatha Christie in the pile — currently "Uncle Fred in the Springtime""

"One must always have a P.G. Wodehouse and an Agatha Christie in the pile — currently "Uncle Fred in the Springtime" and "Mrs. McGinty's Dead.""

"Stefan Zweig's "Erasmus of Rotterdam." Reading it now is like listening to two prophets who have foreseen the disruptions and upheavals of our age. Chilling and thrilling."

"I reread "Howards End" recently for perhaps the tenth time. It's incredible to me how Forster can change register, from lightly comic to almost theologically declarative, from delicate to grand."

"Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," perhaps? Yes, I'll choose that."

""Seven Men," by Max Beerbohm."