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
2092 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2093 Mourning Becomes Electra Eugene O'Neill 1931 American English
2095 Derborence Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1934 Swiss French
2122 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare 1623 British English
2178 Old People And The Things That Pass Louis Couperus 1906 Dutch Dutch
2188 No One Writes to the Colonel Gabriel García Márquez 1961 Colombian Spanish
2191 Les Tragiques Agrippa d'Aubigné 1616 French French
2200 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
2201 Death Of A Hero Richard Aldington 1929 British English
2208 Waiting Ha Jin 1999 Chinese English
2209 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2259 Pale Horse, Pale Rider Katherine Anne Porter 1939 American English
2261 Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara 1934 American English
2262 The Iceman Cometh Eugene O'Neill 1946 American English
2266 The Murderess Alexandros Papadiamantis 1903 Greek Greek
2269 The Jewel In The Crown Paul Scott 1966 British English
2275 Hedda Gabler Henrik Ibsen 1890 Norwegian Norwegian
2282 Boris Godunov Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2289 Dancer From The Dance Andrew Holleran 1978 American English
2290 The White Guard Mikhail Bulgakov 1925 Russian Russian
2303 Ironweed William Kennedy 1983 American English
2313 Room At The Top John Braine 1957 British English
2314 The Left-Handed Woman Peter Handke 1976 Austrian German
2318 To The End Of The Land David Grossman 2008 Israeli Hebrew
2335 Moderato Cantabile Marguerite Duras 1958 French French
2339 The Pearl John Steinbeck 1947 American English
2343 Mastro Don Gesualdo Giovanni Verga 1889 Italian Italian
2345 Small Things Like These Claire Keegan 2021 Irish English
2397 Maurice Guest Henry Handel Richardson 1908 Australian English
2399 Plumb Maurice Gee 1978 New Zealand English
2411 The Joys Of Motherhood Buchi Emecheta 1979 Nigerian English
2429 A View From The Bridge Arthur Miller 1955 American English
2448 The Rector's Daughter F. M. Mayor 1924 British English
2451 Henry V William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2456 By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
2474 Fall On Your Knees Ann-Marie MacDonald 1996 Canadian English
2508 Mrs. Bridge Evan S. Connell 1959 American English
2518 Hippolytus Euripides -428 Greek Ancient greek
2550 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2549 The Thinking Reed Rebecca West 1936 British English
2557 Keep the Aspidistra Flying George Orwell 1936 British English
2565 The Family Of Pascual Duarte Camilo José Cela 1942 Spanish Spanish
2584 Dawn Octavia E. Butler 1987 American English
2589 Hamnet Maggie O'Farrell 2020 Irish English
2604 The Wars Timothy Findley 1977 Canadian English
2609 The Gambler Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
2613 The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2620 To Live Yu Hua 1993 Chinese Chinese
2636 An American Marriage Tayari Jones 2018 American English
2650 The House of Scorta Laurent Gaudé 2004 French French
2654 The Skeleton Amrita Pritam 1950 Indian Punjabi
2675 The Mountain Lion Jean Stafford 1947 American English
2685 Selected Plays of Henrick Ibsen Henrik Ibsen 1900 Norwegian Norwegian
2707 The Works Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
2715 Coriolanus William Shakespeare 1608 British English
2720 Richard Ii William Shakespeare 1595 British English
2727 Last Poems A. E. Housman 1922 British English
2730 Overcoat Nikolai Gogol 1842 Russian Russian
2738 Look Back In Anger John Osborne 1956 British English
2744 Ved Vejen Herman Bang 1886 Danish Danish
2802 Collected Plays Of Euripides Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
2841 The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence 1964 Canadian English
2893 The Caretaker Harold Pinter 1960 British English
2900 A Private Affair Beppe Fenoglio 1963 Italian Italian
2905 Zofloya Charlotte Dacre 1806 British English
2911 Ruth Elizabeth Gaskell 1853 British English
2930 The Waiting Years Fumiko Enchi 1957 Japanese Japanese
2959 The Lower Depths Maxim Gorky 1902 Russian Russian
3042 East Lynne Ellen Wood 1861 British English
3101 Diary Of A Mad Old Man Junichiro Tanizaki 1961 Japanese Japanese
3106 Alcestis Euripides -438 Greek Ancient greek
3120 The Mortal Wound Raffaele La Capria 1961 Italian Italian
3132 The Man Who Loved Dogs Leonardo Padura 2009 Cuban Spanish
3142 The Shrinking Man Richard Matheson 1956 American English
3252 Endless Love Scott Spencer 1979 American English
3265 The Days Of Abandonment Elena Ferrante 2002 Italian Italian
3270 The Twins Tessa De Loo 1993 Dutch Dutch
3276 The Complete Plays of Jean Racine Jean Racine 1677 French French
3292 Bérénice Jean Racine 1670 French French
3303 The Cocktail Party T. S. Eliot 1950 British English
3324 King Lear of the Steppes Ivan Turgenev 1870 Russian Russian
3324 By the Open Sea August Strindberg 1890 Swedish Swedish
3324 Compassion Benito Pérez Galdós 1897 Spanish Spanish
3324 Life and Death of Harriett Frean May Sinclair 1922 British English
3324 The Green Hat Michael Arlen 1924 British English
3324 Retreat Without Song Shahan Shahnur 1929 Armenian Armenian
3324 The Harvesters Cesare Pavese 1941 Italian Unknown
3324 Back Henry Green 1946 British English
3324 House in the Uplands Erskine Caldwell 1946 American English
3324 Forever a Stranger Hella S. Haasse 1949 Dutch Dutch
3376 Le Cid Pierre Corneille 1637 French French
3377 Ordinary People Judith Guest 1976 American English
3391 Los Gozos Y Las Sombras Gonzalo Torrente Ballester 1957 Spanish Spanish
3418 Plays Pierre Corneille 1641 French French
3459 The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams 1944 American English
3486 The Fault in Our Stars John Green 2012 American English
3527 All My Puny Sorrows Miriam Toews 2014 Canadian English
3563 Charming Billy Alice McDermott 1998 American English
3587 The Complete Writings of Alfred de Musset Alfred de Musset 1907 French French
3592 Legends of The Fall Jim Harrison 1979 American English
3602 Human Acts Han Kang 2014 Korean Korean
3610 Winter's Bone Daniel Woodrell 2006 American English
3638 Krambambuli Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 1901 Austrian German
3638 Schach Von Wuthenow Theodor Fontane 1883 German German
3638 The Poor Musician Franz Grillparzer 1848 Austrian German
3638 The Criminal Of Lost Honor Friedrich Schiller 1786 German German
3638 Cavalleria Rusticana Giovanni Verga 1896 Italian Italian
3638 Everyman Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1911 Austrian German
3808 Hotel du Lac Anita Brookner 1984 British English
3813 Henry IV, Part II William Shakespeare 1600 British English
3841 All Our Yesterdays Natalia Ginzburg 1952 Italian Italian
3872 The Beautiful and Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald 1922 American English
3885 Collected Plays John Millington Synge 1935 Irish English
3892 Aline Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1905 French French
3899 Terug Tot Ina Damman Simon Vestdijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
3901 Canne Al Vento Grazia Deledda 1913 Italian Italian
3918 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
3929 A Posthumous Confession Marcellus Emants 1894 Dutch Dutch
3938 All The World's Mornings Pascal Quignard 1991 French French
3954 Η κάθοδος των εννιά Thanassis Valtinos 1963 Greek Greek