The Greatest Drama 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 488 '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
7 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
18 The Stranger Albert Camus 1942 French French
20 The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky 1880 Russian Russian
24 Middlemarch George Eliot 1871 British English
30 Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë 1847 British English
63 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
70 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
76 Oedipus the King Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
80 Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1936 American English
84 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
86 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
104 The Color Purple Alice Walker 1982 American English
111 Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish French
122 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
123 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh 1945 British English
129 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
131 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
143 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
146 Steppenwolf Hermann Hesse 1927 German German
149 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 American English
151 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
155 Rabbit, Run John Updike 1960 American English
156 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
179 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
181 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens 1843 British English
195 Bonjour Tristesse Francoise Sagan 1954 French French
196 Atonement Ian McEwan 2001 British English
198 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro 1989 British English
202 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
210 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon 2000 American English
212 The Life of Samuel Johnson James Boswell 1791 British English
221 A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 1859 British English
224 The Tempest William Shakespeare 1623 British English
225 East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952 American English
230 The Stand Stephen King 1978 American English
235 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
238 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
242 The World According to Garp John Irving 1978 American English
243 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
247 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
254 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
266 Independent People Halldor Laxness 1934 Icelandic Icelandic
284 Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis 1954 British English
288 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
313 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men James Agee 1941 American English
317 La Celestina Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
322 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
326 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy 1997 Indian English
330 The Old Wives' Tale Arnold Bennett 1908 British English
342 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
352 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett 1911 British English
356 The Razor's Edge W. Somerset Maugham 1944 British English
361 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides 2002 American English
363 I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith 1948 British English
365 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien 1990 American English
374 Go Tell it on the Mountain James Baldwin 1953 American English
383 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
397 The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan 1989 American English
399 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
421 Roots Alex Haley 1976 American English
431 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
438 Fortunata and Jacinta Benito Pérez Galdós 1887 Spanish Spanish
439 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
466 Richard III William Shakespeare 1592 British English
502 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
513 Rabbit Redux John Updike 1971 American English
526 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
551 My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante 2011 Italian Italian
553 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini 2003 Afghan English
561 A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving 1989 American English
563 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
571 Rabbit Is Rich John Updike 1981 American English
573 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
578 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
585 The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough 1977 Australian English
587 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
588 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
607 Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy 1874 British English
612 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth 1993 Indian English
613 Underworld Don DeLillo 1997 American English
618 Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga 1988 Zimbabwean English
624 The Book Thief Markus Zusak 2005 German English
630 If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem William Faulkner 1939 American English
641 Love Medicine Louise Erdrich 1984 American English
656 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
659 High Fidelity Nick Hornby 1995 British English
660 The Outsiders S. E. Hinton 1967 American English
662 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
667 The Shipping News Annie Proulx 1993 American English
674 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
677 Nada Carmen Laforet 1944 Spanish Spanish
680 Life Is a Dream Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1635 Spanish Spanish
681 The Red Room August Strindberg 1879 Swedish Swedish
682 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
689 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
697 The Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst 2004 British English
735 Them Joyce Carol Oates 1969 American English
743 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
747 The Dwarf Par Lagerkvist 1944 Swedish Swedish
757 Woman at Point Zero Nawal El Saadawi 1975 Egyptian Arabic
760 Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov 1897 Russian Russian
780 Tales of the City Armistead Maupin 1978 American English
784 The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri 2003 American English
787 Stoner John Williams 1965 American English
793 Rabbit at Rest John Updike 1990 American English
810 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
812 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
811 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
841 Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006 Nigerian English
858 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
863 The Goldfinch Donna Tartt 2013 American English
872 The Hive Camilo José Cela 1951 Spanish Spanish
882 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
883 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
888 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
914 Selected Essays of T. S. Eliot T. S. Eliot 1932 British English