I would like to recommend 4, the 4 that haunts me.

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Goethe
The Red and the Black by Stendhal
In Search of Lost Time by Proust
Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner

I understand it's a unusual list for a computer nerd, but oh well.

The Red and the Black by Stendhal
In Search of Lost Time by Proust

From Stendhal, I would also recommend The Charterhouse of Parma: http://www.feedbooks.com/discover/view_book/1447

And for those looking for In Search of Lost Time/Remembrance of Things Past for their e-ink readers: http://www.feedbooks.com/list/view/10