The Greatest Tragedy Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
2 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 American English
12 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
19 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner 1929 American English
23 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
48 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
66 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
73 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
80 For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway 1940 American English
86 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
95 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton 1920 American English
96 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
103 Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry 1947 British English
104 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
111 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
113 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford 1915 British English
114 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
115 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky 1869 Russian Russian
119 American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 American English
129 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
131 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 American English
132 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak 1957 Russian Russian
134 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
139 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
141 Rabbit, Run John Updike 1960 American English
154 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 1946 American English
169 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
170 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
181 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
182 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
187 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
191 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton 1905 American English
214 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
221 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
223 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
237 Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson 1980 American English
241 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
250 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
251 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
264 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
266 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
273 The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion 2005 American English
275 The Epic Of Gilgamesh Unknown -2100 Multiple Akkadian
288 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
299 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
318 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
331 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
339 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
340 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
348 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
352 Oblomov Ivan Goncharov 1859 Russian Russian
356 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
359 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
376 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
389 Germinal Émile Zola 1885 French French
400 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
401 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
402 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
409 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
419 Sophie's Choice William Styron 1979 American English
424 The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
428 Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin 1833 Russian Russian
429 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
451 Kristin Lavransdatter Sigrid Undset 1920 Norwegian Norwegian
456 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
457 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
461 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham 1915 British English
477 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
482 The Human Stain Philip Roth 2000 American English
484 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
491 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
504 The Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst 2004 British English
516 Another Country James Baldwin 1962 American English
522 A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara 2015 American English
531 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles 1949 American English
533 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
545 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
553 Prometheus Bound Aeschylus -455 Greek Ancient greek
556 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Canadian English
559 A Death in the Family James Agee 1957 American English
564 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
572 The Radetzky March Joseph Roth 1932 Austrian German
576 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
583 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
584 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold 2002 American English
587 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
591 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
594 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
619 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen 1938 British, Irish English
621 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
634 The Fault in Our Stars John Green 2012 American English
635 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
636 The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides 1993 American English
638 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser 1900 American English
639 The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy 1878 British English
647 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
648 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
648 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
648 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
659 A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley 1991 American English
663 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
676 Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand 1897 French French
681 The Persians Aeschylus -471 Greek Ancient greek
685 Arrow of God Chinua Achebe 1964 Nigerian English
698 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
701 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
714 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
736 The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1913 American English
743 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison 1970 American English
748 Nectar in a Sieve Kamala Markandaya 1954 Indian English
775 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
781 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
784 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
806 Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami 1987 Japanese Japanese
813 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
817 A Separate Peace John Knowles 1959 American English
822 Fateless or Fatelessness Imre Kertész 1975 Hungarian Hungarian