@Cheshire_Ocelot one of the "must read" as I have seen lately it's Hamlet, which I never read. Does it really worthy at my age?
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@anokasion almost anything by Shakespeare is worth reading, but Hamlet is among his best. With all of his plays, I’d recommend finding a performance of it, since he intended them to be seen, not just read. When I was working through a bunch of his plays several years ago, I was able to find a lot of filmed stage versions on YouTube.
What I’ve done in the past is watch one of those videos, then read a copy for a closer reading.
@Cheshire_Ocelot thanks; does this apply to Dante's Inferno, too?
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2@anokasion the Divine Comedy is the greatest work of literature, so yes. I’d say that, the Iliad and Odyssey, and a sampling of Shakespeare as the most essential works of the Western literary canon.
In English, I’ve read Mandelbaum’s translation and some of Esolen’s; both are really good. It’s a dense work, but translator’s notes should help you out. There’s also the Digital Dante project if you really want to be serious about it, but this might be overkill for a first reading: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/
Also, make sure you also read Purgatorio and Paradiso. It’s a single cohesive work, so you need all three to get the full experience.
@Cheshire_Ocelot @anokasion the Ciardi translation is pretty good as well