Now that I'm reading Wilde: What's the most significant work of literary fiction I haven't yet read?

As noted in an earlier post, I'd considered Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) as the most significant work of literary fiction that I hadn't read; now I'm 3/4 of the way through the novel - so what replaces it on the list? Before even taking on that question, a few points: There are a vast # of books that I've "read," but so long ago - sometimes even 50 years! - that I remember little or nothing about them (though they're still part of my consciousness, as are all experiences whether we remember them or not, right?). Second, I take "credit" for a # of significant, even great, books that I started but just could not or chose not to finish, notably: The Old Testament, Canterbury Tales, Gravity's Rainbow, Finnegans Wake, Man Without Qualities. That said, here are a few of the other significant works of literary fiction that I haven't (yet) read: 

Balzac. Unless I want to take "credit" for reading some of the "Comedie Humain," I'd have to say I've never read Lost Illusions and probably won't.
Twain. At one point in my life I went through virtually all of Twain's works; I have a pretty full collection. Oddly, I had, and read, all of the major novels, but I didn't have a copy of Connecticut Yankee so I didn't read it and to this day still haven't, for some reason.
Nobel Prize Winners. Not all books by all Nobel winners are necessarily "significant," and some have obviously faded in significance over time, one of which is Pearl Buck's The Good Earth. Still, it was a major work in its time and one I haven't read and probably never will.
Historically significant fiction. One novel that had a huge impact on American life in the 19th century was Uncle Tom's Cabin. Is it worth reading today as anything other than a curiosity? I don't know; never read it.
Mega-best-sellers of our time: I guess you'd have to say that the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are significant literary works and that have shaped the literary taste of millions. Haven't read them, though (did read The Hobbit).
Scifi, which remains a blank spot for me, w/ a few exceptions. Some would put Bradbury and Philip Dick on lists of significant literary authors, but I've read little or nothing of their work. 
Great works of Asian and African fiction? I know I've missed many, but I know little about these fields. 
And probably the book I would now consider the most significant literary fiction I've never read: Richardson's Clarissa, considered one of the foundational works of the novel in English. It's now on my list!



To order a copy of "25 Posts from Elliot's Reading: Selections from the first 2,500 blog entries," click here.