Never read any of them. Got close to finishing Moby Dick, but, failed.
In my opinion, there are very VERY few books that just have to be read.
For me, the Bible is one.
Others:
Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, Lord of the Rings, Shelby Foote’s Civil War (perhaps the best non-fiction novel ever), Stephen King’s The Stand and I can’t thing of anything else.
People disdain Stephen King, but, he can really tell a story. He has the knack for getting you to care about a character like a friend, just before they are horribly killed. Too bad he is a jerk in real life.
I’ve read Faulkner, and I know there are good stories there, but, just can’t get through them. Hemingway is a bore. Thomas Hardy and Henry James have great stories, but are too wordy, I get the CD and have them read to me. Must reads? Not really.
I read Foundation as a teenager along with every other SF book I could find, even L. Ron Hubbard and the execrable double novels, the short pulp stuff that you read one story then turn it over and read the other one.
I love the Bible and have read it through three times. Now passages seem to happen to me daily whether on this board or in other books I’m reading. But you should totally read Paradise Lost. I actually listened to it and I hated the first few chapters but once I got into the rhythm of the prose I grew to love it. I highly recommend it.