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
2091 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2092 Mourning Becomes Electra Eugene O'Neill 1931 American English
2094 Derborence Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1934 Swiss French
2121 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare 1623 British English
2177 Old People And The Things That Pass Louis Couperus 1906 Dutch Dutch
2187 No One Writes to the Colonel Gabriel García Márquez 1961 Colombian Spanish
2190 Les Tragiques Agrippa d'Aubigné 1616 French French
2199 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
2200 Death Of A Hero Richard Aldington 1929 British English
2207 Waiting Ha Jin 1999 Chinese English
2208 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2258 Pale Horse, Pale Rider Katherine Anne Porter 1939 American English
2261 Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara 1934 American English
2260 The Iceman Cometh Eugene O'Neill 1946 American English
2265 The Murderess Alexandros Papadiamantis 1903 Greek Greek
2268 The Jewel In The Crown Paul Scott 1966 British English
2274 Hedda Gabler Henrik Ibsen 1890 Norwegian Norwegian
2281 Boris Godunov Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2288 Dancer From The Dance Andrew Holleran 1978 American English
2289 The White Guard Mikhail Bulgakov 1925 Russian Russian
2302 Ironweed William Kennedy 1983 American English
2312 Room At The Top John Braine 1957 British English
2313 The Left-Handed Woman Peter Handke 1976 Austrian German
2317 To The End Of The Land David Grossman 2008 Israeli Hebrew
2333 Moderato Cantabile Marguerite Duras 1958 French French
2337 The Pearl John Steinbeck 1947 American English
2341 Mastro Don Gesualdo Giovanni Verga 1889 Italian Italian
2343 Small Things Like These Claire Keegan 2021 Irish English
2395 Maurice Guest Henry Handel Richardson 1908 Australian English
2397 Plumb Maurice Gee 1978 New Zealand English
2409 The Joys Of Motherhood Buchi Emecheta 1979 Nigerian English
2427 A View From The Bridge Arthur Miller 1955 American English
2446 The Rector's Daughter F. M. Mayor 1924 British English
2449 Henry V William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2454 By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
2472 Fall On Your Knees Ann-Marie MacDonald 1996 Canadian English
2506 Mrs. Bridge Evan S. Connell 1959 American English
2516 Hippolytus Euripides -428 Greek Ancient greek
2547 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2546 The Thinking Reed Rebecca West 1936 British English
2557 Keep the Aspidistra Flying George Orwell 1936 British English
2564 The Family Of Pascual Duarte Camilo José Cela 1942 Spanish Spanish
2583 Dawn Octavia E. Butler 1987 American English
2588 Hamnet Maggie O'Farrell 2020 Irish English
2603 The Wars Timothy Findley 1977 Canadian English
2608 The Gambler Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
2614 The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2619 To Live Yu Hua 1993 Chinese Chinese
2635 An American Marriage Tayari Jones 2018 American English
2649 The House of Scorta Laurent Gaudé 2004 French French
2653 The Skeleton Amrita Pritam 1950 Indian Punjabi
2674 The Mountain Lion Jean Stafford 1947 American English
2684 Selected Plays of Henrick Ibsen Henrik Ibsen 1900 Norwegian Norwegian
2706 The Works Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
2714 Coriolanus William Shakespeare 1608 British English
2719 Richard Ii William Shakespeare 1595 British English
2726 Last Poems A. E. Housman 1922 British English
2729 Overcoat Nikolai Gogol 1842 Russian Russian
2737 Look Back In Anger John Osborne 1956 British English
2743 Ved Vejen Herman Bang 1886 Danish Danish
2800 Collected Plays Of Euripides Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
2838 The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence 1964 Canadian English
2891 The Caretaker Harold Pinter 1960 British English
2898 A Private Affair Beppe Fenoglio 1963 Italian Italian
2903 Zofloya Charlotte Dacre 1806 British English
2909 Ruth Elizabeth Gaskell 1853 British English
2928 The Waiting Years Fumiko Enchi 1957 Japanese Japanese
2957 The Lower Depths Maxim Gorky 1902 Russian Russian
3039 East Lynne Ellen Wood 1861 British English
3100 Diary Of A Mad Old Man Junichiro Tanizaki 1961 Japanese Japanese
3105 Alcestis Euripides -438 Greek Ancient greek
3119 The Mortal Wound Raffaele La Capria 1961 Italian Italian
3131 The Man Who Loved Dogs Leonardo Padura 2009 Cuban Spanish
3141 The Shrinking Man Richard Matheson 1956 American English
3251 Endless Love Scott Spencer 1979 American English
3264 The Days Of Abandonment Elena Ferrante 2002 Italian Italian
3269 The Twins Tessa De Loo 1993 Dutch Dutch
3275 The Complete Plays of Jean Racine Jean Racine 1677 French French
3291 Bérénice Jean Racine 1670 French French
3302 The Cocktail Party T. S. Eliot 1950 British English
3303 Titus Andronicus William Shakespeare 1594 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
3809 Hotel du Lac Anita Brookner 1984 British English
3814 Henry IV, Part II William Shakespeare 1600 British English
3842 All Our Yesterdays Natalia Ginzburg 1952 Italian Italian
3873 The Beautiful and Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald 1922 American English
3886 Collected Plays John Millington Synge 1935 Irish English
3893 Aline Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1905 French French
3900 Terug Tot Ina Damman Simon Vestdijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
3902 Canne Al Vento Grazia Deledda 1913 Italian Italian
3919 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
3930 A Posthumous Confession Marcellus Emants 1894 Dutch Dutch
3937 All The World's Mornings Pascal Quignard 1991 French French