OK, it is the very personal question - but you can lie

.
To get it started I will name my personal milestones:
All the work of Stanislaw Lem: because of what he said about reality of human beings in this world/universe.
Catch22 by Joseph Heller: because of what he said about what war is all about for us chickens.
There are those very talented writers, who see more than we do at the moment and you have recognized it: name them, please.