/lit/ - Literature

Has anyone done this? I feel as though it'd be the best possible way to truly understand the development of western civilization. Obviously one would have to limit one's scope to a particular region or language. I'm thinking of the following schema:
-Begin with thorough understanding of the Greeks, Romans, and the Bible
-Start at the year 1500, selecting 5-10 works from Wikipedia's list of books published in each year
-Balance selections between philosophy, poetry, current affairs and fiction
-Supplement as needed with broad historical reading for context
-Try to get through one year every month

I figure this project would take a couple decades but surely it would provide a more lucid look at history than any amount of historical material could provide.

>>12522474
>>12522474
be a gentleman and get TRISTRAM SHANDY

>>10751744
Player of Games

>>10751813
The Kalevala

This may not be very literary, but I wonder if anyone else here shares my interest in the diaries of early explorers. There's no better way to feel like you're witnessing firsthand the unfolding of history.
I've spent the past few months delving into this genre. I'd appreciate more recommendations Here are a few I've enjoyed:
Diary format:
>Narrative of an expedition to explore the river Zaire by J.K. Tuckey
Skin-crawling account of a doomed expedition up the Congo. Eye-opening insight into the cutting-edge methods of science in 1816. Published posthumously, as hardly any of the crew survived. One learns that Conrad did not exaggerate in his depictions of the region.
>Sir George Grey's journals of discovery in Australia
Fun narrative of survival (following a shipwreck the men are put to work sucking water out of sandstone and spitting it into a communal receptacle for drinking). The author is very self-aware, comparing himself to a character in an adventure novel
>Travels in West Africa by Mary Kingsley
Not exploration in the conventional sense, but I include it because in its time it was a never-before-heard perspective on Colonial Africa; an educated feminist explores a setting created by bigoted men

Narrative format:
>The Fearful Void, Geoffrey Moorhouse
Story of the author's failed adventure in the Sahara. Interesting from a logistical point of view to see how he prepares, and why he fails
>Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger
Story of the exploration of the last piece of (non-Arctic) unmapped land on earth. Interesting look at the last gasp of the pre-modern era.
>Beasts, Men, and Gods by Ferdinand Ossendowski
As much a story of survival as of exploration. Depending on how much is true, this must be one of the most astonishing journeys ever undertaken