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
13 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
50 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
63 Native Son Richard Wright 1940 American English
67 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
71 For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway 1940 American English
74 Oedipus the King Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
75 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
77 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
81 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
82 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton 1920 American English
90 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
97 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
105 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky 1869 Russian Russian
106 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 American English
107 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford 1915 British English
112 Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry 1947 British English
123 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
126 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
133 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
136 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
137 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak 1957 Russian Russian
140 Rabbit, Run John Updike 1960 American English
146 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton 1905 American English
154 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
158 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
161 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 1946 American English
162 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
180 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
192 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
198 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
202 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
212 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
217 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
223 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
226 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
235 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
238 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
242 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
246 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
257 The Epic Of Gilgamesh Unknown -2100 Multiple Akkadian
264 Oblomov Ivan Goncharov 1859 Russian Russian
274 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham 1915 British English
277 Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson 1980 American English
280 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
297 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
302 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
313 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
318 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
323 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
335 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
342 Germinal Émile Zola 1885 French French
349 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
352 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
356 American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 American English
357 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
365 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
368 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
371 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
372 The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy 1878 British English
379 The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
385 Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin 1833 Russian Russian
394 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen 1938 British, Irish English
395 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
397 Kristin Lavransdatter Sigrid Undset 1920 Norwegian Norwegian
401 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser 1900 American English
403 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
409 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
415 Another Country James Baldwin 1962 American English
427 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
431 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
436 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
443 The Radetzky March Joseph Roth 1932 Austrian German
450 Prometheus Bound Aeschylus -455 Greek Ancient greek
452 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
479 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison 1970 American English
481 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles 1949 American English
486 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
487 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
494 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
498 Sophie's Choice William Styron 1979 American English
504 The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion 2005 American English
509 Passing Nella Larsen 1929 American English
521 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
526 A Death in the Family James Agee 1957 American English
533 Oroonoko Aphra Behn 1688 British English
537 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Canadian English
538 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
542 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
544 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
543 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
556 Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand 1897 French French
557 The Nibelungenlied Unknown 1200 German Middle high german
578 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
582 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
584 The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1913 American English
588 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
589 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
594 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
603 The Street Ann Petry 1946 American English
616 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
620 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
621 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
629 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
640 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
643 The Persians Aeschylus -471 Greek Ancient greek
648 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
654 Arrow of God Chinua Achebe 1964 Nigerian English
667 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
679 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
685 Fortunata and Jacinta Benito Pérez Galdós 1887 Spanish Spanish
699 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
702 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron 1967 American English
709 Fateless or Fatelessness Imre Kertész 1975 Hungarian Hungarian
716 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Giorgio Bassani 1962 Italian Italian
717 A Separate Peace John Knowles 1959 American English