The Greatest Tragedy Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
2 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 American English
11 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 British English
14 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy 1877 Russian Russian
16 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck 1939 American English
19 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
20 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner 1929 American English
55 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
66 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
69 Native Son Richard Wright 1940 American English
76 Oedipus the King Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
80 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
82 For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway 1940 American English
85 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
88 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton 1920 American English
89 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
98 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
103 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
106 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky 1869 Russian Russian
110 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford 1915 British English
113 Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry 1947 British English
116 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 American English
127 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
128 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak 1957 Russian Russian
129 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
131 Rabbit, Run John Updike 1960 American English
143 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
151 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
153 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton 1905 American English
162 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
164 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 1946 American English
169 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
172 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
194 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
207 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
213 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
216 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
218 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
228 Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson 1980 American English
234 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
243 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
245 American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 American English
246 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
249 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
252 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
258 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
266 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
269 The Epic Of Gilgamesh Unknown -2100 Multiple Akkadian
270 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
275 Oblomov Ivan Goncharov 1859 Russian Russian
280 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham 1915 British English
285 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
320 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
333 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
336 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
338 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
341 Germinal Émile Zola 1885 French French
347 Sophie's Choice William Styron 1979 American English
350 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
353 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
372 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
377 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
380 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
384 Kristin Lavransdatter Sigrid Undset 1920 Norwegian Norwegian
386 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
389 The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
391 The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy 1878 British English
399 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
402 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen 1938 British, Irish English
409 Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin 1833 Russian Russian
420 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
423 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser 1900 American English
437 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
448 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
452 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
464 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
466 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison 1970 American English
481 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
489 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles 1949 American English
493 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
499 Prometheus Bound Aeschylus -455 Greek Ancient greek
517 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
528 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
539 The Radetzky March Joseph Roth 1932 Austrian German
543 Another Country James Baldwin 1962 American English
544 Passing Nella Larsen 1929 American English
555 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
561 Oroonoko Aphra Behn 1688 British English
566 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Canadian English
571 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
577 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
593 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
594 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
596 A Death in the Family James Agee 1957 American English
612 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
611 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
613 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
617 The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion 2005 American English
623 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
624 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
630 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
632 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
634 The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1913 American English
635 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
637 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
639 Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand 1897 French French
641 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
649 A Separate Peace John Knowles 1959 American English
656 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
675 History Elsa Morante 1974 Italian Italian
676 Fateless or Fatelessness Imre Kertész 1975 Hungarian Hungarian
679 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
683 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
684 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
686 The Street Ann Petry 1946 American English
707 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Giorgio Bassani 1962 Italian Italian
708 A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley 1991 American English
709 The Nibelungenlied Unknown 1200 German Middle high german
721 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
730 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
743 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron 1967 American English