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
18 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner 1929 American English
51 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
63 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
68 Native Son Richard Wright 1940 American English
71 Oedipus the King Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
72 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
73 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
75 For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway 1940 American English
77 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton 1920 American English
85 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
90 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
95 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford 1915 British English
97 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky 1869 Russian Russian
105 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
108 Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry 1947 British English
115 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 American English
117 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
123 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
130 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
139 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
141 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak 1957 Russian Russian
144 Rabbit, Run John Updike 1960 American English
150 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton 1905 American English
157 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
161 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
164 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 1946 American English
166 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
177 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
183 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
196 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
199 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
202 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
218 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
223 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
231 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
234 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
243 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
250 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
253 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
264 The Epic Of Gilgamesh Unknown -2100 Multiple Akkadian
271 Oblomov Ivan Goncharov 1859 Russian Russian
281 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
282 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham 1915 British English
286 Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson 1980 American English
289 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
305 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
310 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
322 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
329 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
332 The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
336 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
338 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
347 Kristin Lavransdatter Sigrid Undset 1920 Norwegian Norwegian
354 Germinal Émile Zola 1885 French French
359 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
362 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
365 The Radetzky March Joseph Roth 1932 Austrian German
367 American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 American English
368 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
375 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
380 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
381 The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy 1878 British English
392 Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin 1833 Russian Russian
400 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen 1938 British, Irish English
401 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
406 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser 1900 American English
408 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
414 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
420 Another Country James Baldwin 1962 American English
433 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
437 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
443 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
457 Prometheus Bound Aeschylus -455 Greek Ancient greek
459 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
460 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
465 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
488 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison 1970 American English
489 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles 1949 American English
494 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
495 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
502 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
506 Sophie's Choice William Styron 1979 American English
514 The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion 2005 American English
518 Fortunata and Jacinta Benito Pérez Galdós 1887 Spanish Spanish
522 Passing Nella Larsen 1929 American English
533 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
536 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
542 A Death in the Family James Agee 1957 American English
549 Oroonoko Aphra Behn 1688 British English
553 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Canadian English
554 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
557 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
558 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
559 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
571 Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand 1897 French French
572 The Nibelungenlied Unknown 1200 German Middle high german
590 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
594 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
596 The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1913 American English
605 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
614 The Street Ann Petry 1946 American English
627 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
631 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
632 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
639 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
650 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
653 The Persians Aeschylus -471 Greek Ancient greek
656 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
657 Richard III William Shakespeare 1592 British English
663 Arrow of God Chinua Achebe 1964 Nigerian English
677 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
688 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
712 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron 1967 American English
716 Life Is a Dream Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1635 Spanish Spanish
720 Fateless or Fatelessness Imre Kertész 1975 Hungarian Hungarian