The Greatest Drama and Fiction 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 465 '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
6 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
9 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy 1877 Russian Russian
11 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 British English
12 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 1869 Russian Russian
15 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 1813 British English
17 The Stranger Albert Camus 1942 French French
20 The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky 1880 Russian Russian
23 Middlemarch George Eliot 1871 British English
30 Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë 1847 British English
62 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
71 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
75 Oedipus the King Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
78 Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1936 American English
85 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
87 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
120 The Color Purple Alice Walker 1982 American English
114 Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish French
119 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
121 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh 1945 British English
126 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
138 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
151 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
141 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
142 Rabbit, Run John Updike 1960 American English
143 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
144 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 American English
152 Steppenwolf Hermann Hesse 1927 German German
176 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
177 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens 1843 British English
200 Atonement Ian McEwan 2001 British English
193 Bonjour Tristesse Francoise Sagan 1954 French French
197 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
217 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro 1989 British English
210 The Tempest William Shakespeare 1623 British English
228 The Stand Stephen King 1978 American English
221 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon 2000 American English
216 A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 1859 British English
236 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
230 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
254 The World According to Garp John Irving 1978 American English
237 East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952 American English
238 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
240 Independent People Halldor Laxness 1934 Icelandic Icelandic
245 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
252 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
281 Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis 1954 British English
290 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
302 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
308 La Celestina Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
319 The Old Wives' Tale Arnold Bennett 1908 British English
346 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy 1997 Indian English
329 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
339 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett 1911 British English
371 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides 2002 American English
388 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien 1990 American English
354 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
359 Go Tell it on the Mountain James Baldwin 1953 American English
413 I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith 1948 British English
402 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
384 The Razor's Edge W. Somerset Maugham 1944 British English
418 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
425 Fortunata and Jacinta Benito Pérez Galdós 1887 Spanish Spanish
428 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
483 The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan 1989 American English
453 Richard III William Shakespeare 1592 British English
462 Rabbit Redux John Updike 1971 American English
532 Roots Alex Haley 1976 American English
487 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
505 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
538 Rabbit Is Rich John Updike 1981 American English
584 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini 2003 Afghan English
550 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
562 A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving 1989 American English
570 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
571 The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough 1977 Australian English
646 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
592 Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy 1874 British English
598 Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga 1988 Zimbabwean English
601 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
676 Underworld Don DeLillo 1997 American English
645 My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante 2011 Italian Italian
610 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
612 If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem William Faulkner 1939 American English
616 The Book Thief Markus Zusak 2005 German English
620 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth 1993 Indian English
627 Love Medicine Louise Erdrich 1984 American English
636 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
639 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
653 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
658 The Red Room August Strindberg 1879 Swedish Swedish
659 Nada Carmen Laforet 1944 Spanish Spanish
661 Life Is a Dream Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1635 Spanish Spanish
664 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
666 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
674 The Shipping News Annie Proulx 1993 American English
703 The Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst 2004 British English
870 The Outsiders S. E. Hinton 1967 American English
715 Them Joyce Carol Oates 1969 American English
723 The Dwarf Par Lagerkvist 1944 Swedish Swedish
828 High Fidelity Nick Hornby 1995 British English
730 Rabbit at Rest John Updike 1990 American English
734 Woman at Point Zero Nawal El Saadawi 1975 Egyptian Arabic
738 Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov 1897 Russian Russian
772 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
787 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
788 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
789 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
830 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
831 Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006 Nigerian English
834 The Hive Camilo José Cela 1951 Spanish Spanish
848 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
849 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
938 The Goldfinch Donna Tartt 2013 American English
856 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
975 The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri 2003 American English
892 Peyton Place Grace Metalious 1956 American English
902 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
1123 The Women of Brewster Place Gloria Naylor 1982 American English
909 Lysistrata Aristophanes -411 Greek Ancient greek
914 A Kestrel for a Knave Barry Hines 1968 British English