Specifically:
Water Margin
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Journey to the West
Dream of the Red Chamber
They are referenced in everything in asian media and there a bajillion tv/movie adaptations of them but they are relatively unknown in the west.
Water Margin[0] came to UK on TV in the early 80s from Japanese TV. Gained quite a following.
Journey to the West came to the UK as Monkey[1] (again a Japanese adaptation) around the same time. It was the most ridiculous, weird thing on TV. Most people at school were addicted to it. It became a cult classic. Sadly Saiyuki 2 never made it to the UK.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Margin_(1973_TV_seri... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_(TV_series)
About these 4 books, are there any translations or Kindle versions you recommend?