Ivanhoe

A classic! I had read "Ivanhoe" back in middle school and didn't really appreciate it for the gem that it is. The Michael Page narration is delightful and expertly draws out some of the wit that is easily lost when reading rather than listening. I hadn't remembered Ivanhoe as a particularly funny book, but the dry humor of Page's narration is absolutely hilarious. Sure, it's a bit wordy, the language is tough, and it suffers from the prejudices of its time (1820), but overall Ivanhoe is a masterpiece and one of the cleverest books I've read in a long time.