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
1 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 American English
10 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 British English
14 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy 1877 Russian Russian
15 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck 1939 American English
17 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
19 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner 1929 American English
51 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
64 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
66 Native Son Richard Wright 1940 American English
73 Oedipus the King Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
74 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
77 For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway 1940 American English
78 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
80 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton 1920 American English
81 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
98 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
102 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford 1915 British English
103 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky 1869 Russian Russian
110 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 American English
113 Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry 1947 British English
120 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
123 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
129 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
131 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
133 Rabbit, Run John Updike 1960 American English
138 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak 1957 Russian Russian
143 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton 1905 American English
153 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
155 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
157 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 1946 American English
159 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
175 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
189 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
196 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
204 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
209 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
220 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
224 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
225 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
235 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
237 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
240 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
251 Oblomov Ivan Goncharov 1859 Russian Russian
253 The Epic Of Gilgamesh Unknown -2100 Multiple Akkadian
262 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham 1915 British English
263 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
266 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
270 Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson 1980 American English
295 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
299 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
316 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
323 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
325 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
328 Germinal Émile Zola 1885 French French
341 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
342 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
345 American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 American English
350 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
361 The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy 1878 British English
366 The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
367 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
368 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
380 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen 1938 British, Irish English
381 Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin 1833 Russian Russian
384 Kristin Lavransdatter Sigrid Undset 1920 Norwegian Norwegian
388 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser 1900 American English
395 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
396 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
397 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
404 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
411 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
427 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
437 Prometheus Bound Aeschylus -455 Greek Ancient greek
448 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
454 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison 1970 American English
456 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles 1949 American English
465 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
472 Sophie's Choice William Styron 1979 American English
477 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
478 Passing Nella Larsen 1929 American English
480 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
506 A Death in the Family James Agee 1957 American English
508 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
509 The Radetzky March Joseph Roth 1932 Austrian German
510 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
517 Oroonoko Aphra Behn 1688 British English
524 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
525 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
526 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
529 Another Country James Baldwin 1962 American English
546 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
550 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
551 Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand 1897 French French
553 The Nibelungenlied Unknown 1200 German Middle high german
568 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Canadian English
572 The Street Ann Petry 1946 American English
576 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
577 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
578 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
587 The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1913 American English
588 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
590 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
600 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
601 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
607 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
615 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
619 The Persians Aeschylus -471 Greek Ancient greek
626 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
638 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
649 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
657 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
664 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron 1967 American English
666 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
680 Fortunata and Jacinta Benito Pérez Galdós 1887 Spanish Spanish
696 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Giorgio Bassani 1962 Italian Italian
697 A Separate Peace John Knowles 1959 American English
699 The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion 2005 American English
725 Manon Lescaut Abbe Prevost 1731 French French
737 The History Of Henry Esmond William Makepeace Thackeray 1852 British English