100 Best Books of All Time: The World Library List

List of 100 best books of all time, as voted on by 100 writers in 54 different countries. List reflects works from multiple countries, cultures and time periods. Compiled in 2002 by Norwegian Book Clubs.

Per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokklubb....

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List Challenge
The average Goodreads member has read 10 out of 100 books on this list — how many have you read?

All Votes

1	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 4.29 avg rating — 4,276,325 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	1984 by George Orwell 4.19 avg rating — 4,609,560 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4.27 avg rating — 905,984 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Hamlet by William Shakespeare 4.02 avg rating — 953,728 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez 4.11 avg rating — 972,745 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 4.09 avg rating — 849,314 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	The Odyssey by Homer 3.81 avg rating — 1,082,194 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	The Stranger by Albert Camus 4.02 avg rating — 1,097,984 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4.37 avg rating — 332,976 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 3.88 avg rating — 851,390 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 3.79 avg rating — 803,686 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 3.80 avg rating — 1,150,568 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 4.16 avg rating — 328,631 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 3.90 avg rating — 271,292 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	The Iliad by Homer 3.91 avg rating — 455,769 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert 3.70 avg rating — 335,056 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	The Trial by Franz Kafka 3.96 avg rating — 326,495 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri 4.08 avg rating — 152,921 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville 3.54 avg rating — 561,529 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	King Lear by William Shakespeare 3.91 avg rating — 219,198 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez 3.94 avg rating — 505,356 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
22	The Complete Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen 4.29 avg rating — 107,066 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 3.79 avg rating — 307,169 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	Othello by William Shakespeare 3.89 avg rating — 390,345 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	The Arabian Nights by Anonymous 4.03 avg rating — 77,257 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	Ulysses by James Joyce 3.75 avg rating — 128,108 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner 3.85 avg rating — 182,266 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1) by Sophocles 3.72 avg rating — 217,016 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift 3.58 avg rating — 274,307 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer 3.52 avg rating — 222,023 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4.21 avg rating — 183,146 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	Pippi Longstocking (Pippi Långstrump, #1) by Astrid Lindgren 4.15 avg rating — 200,087 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
33	Du côté de chez Swann (À la recherche du temps perdu, #1) by Marcel Proust 4.14 avg rating — 58,157 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	The Collected Tales of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe 4.28 avg rating — 1,548 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 3.80 avg rating — 183,746 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	Beloved by Toni Morrison 3.95 avg rating — 436,288 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Faust, First Part by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 3.85 avg rating — 76,101 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	Blindness by José Saramago 4.17 avg rating — 290,359 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1) by Chinua Achebe 3.73 avg rating — 372,496 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges 4.42 avg rating — 67,958 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
41	Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis 4.05 avg rating — 51,601 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
42	The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy 4.13 avg rating — 164,614 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	Middlemarch by George Eliot 4.02 avg rating — 163,167 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
44	Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie 3.98 avg rating — 123,907 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	The Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous 3.71 avg rating — 94,679 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen 3.76 avg rating — 145,433 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
47	Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline 4.19 avg rating — 42,149 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison 3.91 avg rating — 188,078 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
49	Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 4.12 avg rating — 103,266 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann 4.13 avg rating — 49,572 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
51	The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa 4.41 avg rating — 30,787 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil 4.19 avg rating — 6,745 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	Hunger by Knut Hamsun 4.05 avg rating — 56,095 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
54	The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio 3.88 avg rating — 40,077 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
55	Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol 3.98 avg rating — 85,147 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	Metamorphoses by Ovid 4.09 avg rating — 71,399 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	The Aeneid by Virgil 3.86 avg rating — 130,418 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
58	The Castle by Franz Kafka 3.94 avg rating — 62,873 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
59	Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 3.89 avg rating — 1,808,561 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	Medea by Euripides 3.93 avg rating — 76,447 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
61	Mahabharata by Anonymous 4.31 avg rating — 11,220 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
62	The Red and the Black by Stendhal 3.87 avg rating — 75,145 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
63	The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka 4.34 avg rating — 26,782 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
64	Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais 3.66 avg rating — 15,321 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
65	Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov 4.38 avg rating — 30,871 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac 3.85 avg rating — 59,546 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
67	The Tin Drum by Günter Grass 3.95 avg rating — 44,107 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
68	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 3.83 avg rating — 1,266,392 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
69	Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner 3.98 avg rating — 44,581 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
70	Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann 4.19 avg rating — 30,409 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
71	Ramayana by Vālmīki 4.20 avg rating — 5,048 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
72	Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence 3.64 avg rating — 53,176 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
73	Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4.30 avg rating — 52,172 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
74	Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo 4.05 avg rating — 70,713 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
75	Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar 4.23 avg rating — 29,758 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
76	The Book of Job (Pocket Canon) by Anonymous 4.15 avg rating — 3,790 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
77	The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing 3.77 avg rating — 23,036 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
78	The Complete Essays by Michel de Montaigne 4.23 avg rating — 20,341 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
79	The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne 3.73 avg rating — 21,803 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
80	Molloy / Malone Dies / The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett 4.28 avg rating — 8,987 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
81	مثنوی معنوی by Rumi (Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi) 4.44 avg rating — 4,055 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
82	Jacques the Fatalist by Denis Diderot 3.80 avg rating — 8,808 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
83	Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih 3.72 avg rating — 29,077 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
84	The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu 3.73 avg rating — 13,374 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
85	Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert 3.81 avg rating — 22,325 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
86	أولاد حارتنا by Naguib Mahfouz 4.09 avg rating — 28,704 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
87	Independent People by Halldór Laxness 4.14 avg rating — 12,462 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
88	The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata 3.86 avg rating — 8,213 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
89	Nostromo by Joseph Conrad 3.81 avg rating — 16,951 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
90	Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo 3.78 avg rating — 27,021 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
91	Diary of a Madman and Other Stories by Lu Xun 3.91 avg rating — 2,219 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
92	Grande Sertão: Veredas by João Guimarães Rosa 4.60 avg rating — 5,384 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
93	Romancero gitano by Federico García Lorca 4.21 avg rating — 11,152 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
94	History (La Storia, #1-2) by Elsa Morante 4.28 avg rating — 6,925 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
95	Poems of Paul Celan by Paul Celan 4.35 avg rating — 3,397 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
96	Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin 3.85 avg rating — 9,821 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
97	Njal's Saga by Anonymous 3.94 avg rating — 5,048 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
98	The Recognition of Śakuntalā by Kālidāsa 3.86 avg rating — 1,825 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
99	The Orchard: The Bostan Of Saadi Of Shiraz by Saadi 4.35 avg rating — 1,931 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
100	The Poems of Giacomo Leopardi by Giacomo Leopardi 4.40 avg rating — 2,769 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Get Results & Compare With Friends »

People Who Voted On This List (1915)

Ben 1082 books
71 friends

Ellie 11667 books
713 friends

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
366 friends

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3370 books
864 friends

CT 1029 books
188 friends

Jessica 7953 books
1359 friends

Judy 882 books
8 friends

ダニエーレ 631 books
27 friends

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Comments Showing 1-50 of 161 (161 new)

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message 1: by Ben (last edited Mar 21, 2011 06:56AM) (new)

Mar 18, 2011 07:34PM

Something a little different. By surveying writers around the world, this list is not as biased toward Western, 20th century lit as many other lists (including the list of books I have read!)

reply | flag

message 2: by Maxine (new)

Apr 26, 2011 01:00AM

Ah, a real Best Ever list. I was surprised to see how few I have read. Perhaps it's time to remedy that.

reply | flag

message 3: by Linda (new)

Jul 05, 2011 01:11PM

Interesting variety - includes plays, poetry, etc. I like, I like...

reply | flag

message 4: by Ben (last edited Mar 04, 2013 08:28AM) (new)

Jul 09, 2011 11:18AM

Some of the books listed are not the English editions. Translations of each of these below.

مثنوی معنوی = Masnavi by Rumi
أولاد حارتنا= Children of the Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
Romancero Gitano = Gypsy Ballads by Federico García Lorca
Grande Sertão: Veredas = The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by João Guimarães Rosa

reply | flag

message 5: by Linda (new)

Sep 29, 2011 12:55PM

I've read 25 of these, exactly one-fourth, and a few are queued up on my TBR list. I'm pretty satisfied with that!

reply | flag

message 6: by David (last edited Oct 08, 2011 08:00AM) (new)

Oct 08, 2011 07:59AM

Superb list of immortal works.

reply | flag

message 7: by Dr. Zyllihapping (new)

Oct 15, 2011 05:03AM

Dr. Zyllihapping I-Don't-Have-A-Last-Name

David wrote: "Superb list of immortal works."

Agreed, it's a great list! Especially because it has "Pippi Longstocking"..........now that book should be on more "best books" lists like this one!

reply | flag

message 8: by Kate (new)

Jun 11, 2012 07:07PM

I would agree that Pippi Longstocking should be on more lists. It was the book that made me feel like having an adventure was a good thing.

reply | flag

message 9: by Ben (last edited Jun 24, 2012 07:34AM) (new)

Jun 24, 2012 07:03AM

There are a couple of errors on this list that can't be deleted without also deleting everyone who voted for them. So I will clarify here:

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust should be In Search of Lost Time by the same author.

Franz Kafka's The Castle by David Fishelson should be The Castle by Franz Kafka.

Sorry for the confusion!

reply | flag

message 10: by Jain (new)

Aug 08, 2012 06:36PM

The Swann's Way/In Search of Lost Time error doesn't seem at all problematic to me; many Listopia lists follow the convention of the first book in a series standing for the series as a whole.

The Franz Kafka's The Castle mistake seems much worse, though: a different author's adaptation of a work is very different from the work itself. There are only three voters (besides you) who've voted for The Castle so far. I'd argue that correcting that mistake--and perhaps sending the other three voters a private message letting them know of the correction and inviting them to revote on this list?--might even make the final order of the list more accurate in the end, since who knows how many voters aren't reading your clarifying comment and, in their confusion, are choosing to not vote for the work when they might if it were listed correctly.

reply | flag

message 11: by Ben (new)

Aug 11, 2012 10:12AM

Jain wrote: "The Swann's Way/In Search of Lost Time error doesn't seem at all problematic to me; many Listopia lists follow the convention of the first book in a series standing for the series as a whole.

The ..."

Jain wrote: "The Swann's Way/In Search of Lost Time error doesn't seem at all problematic to me; many Listopia lists follow the convention of the first book in a series standing for the series as a whole.

The ..."

Good idea! That's what I'm going to do. Thanks for the suggestion!

reply | flag

message 12: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (new)

Nov 20, 2012 01:47PM

Removed A Storm of Swords for not being on the original list.

reply | flag

message 13: by Jain (new)

Nov 30, 2012 08:23PM

Removed the following books for not being on the original list: For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Fall, The Glass Menagerie, White Fang, Sophie's World, Animal Farm, Les Miserables, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, The Little Prince, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Brave New World, A Farewell to Arms, Antigone

reply | flag

message 14: by Jain (new)

Nov 30, 2012 08:29PM

Removed In Search of Lost Time per the list creator's instruction to not add books to the list. That particular series is already represented on the list by the first volume, Swann's Way.

reply | flag

message 15: by Ben (new)

Dec 01, 2012 10:30AM

Thank you Jain and TA for helping to keep this list clean!

reply | flag

message 16: by Ben (new)

Dec 01, 2012 10:32AM

Re: In Search of Lost Time, I had originally added it to the list but at some point, it was auto-changed to Swann's Way. I don't think there's a way to change it back, so now Swann's Way represents the entire 7-volume work.

reply | flag

message 17: by Jain (new)

Dec 01, 2012 01:07PM

Ben wrote: "I had originally added it to the list but at some point, it was auto-changed to Swann's Way."

I can't be certain, but I'd guess that the auto-change occurred as a multi-step process: 1) a voter added Swann's Way to the list; 2) a librarian did an automated search for duplicate volumes on the list to clean it up; 3) the Goodreads database happened to interpret In Search of Lost Time and Swann's Way as different editions of the same volume and combined them into the most popular (most frequently rated) of the two, i.e. Swann's Way.

And, yeah, unfortunately there's no way to switch the work represented on this list back to In Search of Lost Time without losing the votes currently attached to Swann's Way.

reply | flag

message 18: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (new)

Dec 01, 2012 01:36PM

For the omnibus edition of In Search of Lost Time to have been replaced by Swanns Way, the two books would have had to be actually combined PRIOR to whatever merge happened during a potential clean-up for duplicates ... The system only recognizes duplicate editions that are combined with each other.

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message 19: by Ben (last edited Dec 01, 2012 01:40PM) (new)

Dec 01, 2012 01:40PM

Themis-Athena wrote: "For the omnibus edition of In Search of Lost Time to have been replaced by Swanns Way, the two books would have had to be actually combined PRIOR to whatever merge happened during a potential clean..."

I don't know what happened... just one day I came to this list, and there was Swann's Way instead of In Search of Lost Time.

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message 20: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (new)

Dec 01, 2012 03:05PM

I checked -- somebody actually DID combine the omnibus volume editions with the editions of Swann's Way. (Sigh.) I disentangled them again.

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message 21: by Juniper (new)

Jan 22, 2013 10:29AM

FINALLY! A list that covers the best novels from corners all over earth. Just what I have been looking for.

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message 22: by Ramesh (new)

Mar 10, 2013 06:53AM

Thank you for compiling a Best Books list that isn't all English and American. On the other hand, are there books from Africa, Asia and South America the moderators would recommend?

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message 23: by Ben (last edited Mar 11, 2013 10:09AM) (new)

Mar 11, 2013 10:07AM

Ramesh wrote: "Thank you for compiling a Best Books list that isn't all English and American. On the other hand, are there books from Africa, Asia and South America the moderators would recommend?"

There are books from each of these continents on the list. I've listed what I think are all of them below, as well as the country of origin for each.

Things Fall Apart, Nigeria
One Thousand and One Nights, India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt
Ficciones, Argentina
The Stranger, Algeria
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Colombia
Love in the Time of Cholera, Colombia
Shakuntala, India
A Madman's Diary, China
Children of the Alley, Egypt
The Tale of Genji, Japan
Masnavi, Persia/Iran
Midnight's Children, India
Bostan of Saadi, Persia/Iran
Season of Migration to the North, Sudan
Mahabharata, India
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, Brazil
Epic of Gilgamesh, Sumer and Akkadian Empire/Modern-day Iraq
Book of Job, Achaemenid Empire/Modern-day Israel
The Sound of the Mountain, Japan
Ramayana, India

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message 24: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (new)

Apr 24, 2013 01:36AM

Maxine wrote: "Ah, a real Best Ever list. I was surprised to see how few I have read. Perhaps it's time to remedy that."

With me it was the opposite. I was surprised to see how many I'd read :-)

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message 25: by David (new)

May 02, 2013 01:20PM

please delete the wrong books. whoever added them: learn reading!

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message 26: by Mr.book expert (new)

May 31, 2013 01:27AM

HOW CAN THE LIST CREATOR FORGOT HARRY POTTER SERIES,LORD OF THE RINGS TRIOLOGY & TWILIGHT SAGA?YOU HAVE TO DELETE SOME USELESS BOOKS FROM LIST.OTHERWISE IT IS GREAT LIST.

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message 27: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (new)

May 31, 2013 08:29AM

Mr. wrote: "HOW CAN THE LIST CREATOR FORGOT HARRY POTTER SERIES,LORD OF THE RINGS TRIOLOGY & TWILIGHT SAGA?YOU HAVE TO DELETE SOME USELESS BOOKS FROM LIST.OTHERWISE IT IS GREAT LIST."

It clearly says "...voted on by 100 writers in 54 different countries. List reflects works from multiple countries, cultures and time periods. Compiled in 2002 by Norwegian Book Clubs. So you can hardly 'blame' the creator of the Listopia.

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message 28: by David (new)

May 31, 2013 05:04PM

Mr. wrote: "HOW CAN THE LIST CREATOR FORGOT HARRY POTTER SERIES,LORD OF THE RINGS TRIOLOGY & TWILIGHT SAGA?YOU HAVE TO DELETE SOME USELESS BOOKS FROM LIST.OTHERWISE IT IS GREAT LIST."

this list is not about the most popular books at the end of the 20thcentury, but the BEST (read: quality) of all times. maybe you think again about how the books you named qualify in this regard. (LotR might be close, but twilight? seriously?)

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message 29: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 04, 2013 01:53AM

HEY MR.DAVID AND BOOK LOVING LADY,IF LOTR IS CLOSE,THEN WHY NOT HARRY POTTER AND TWILIGHT?I AM SORRY FOR ASKING THAT LOTR SHOULD BE THERE.(CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXIVITY AT FIRST TIME?)BUT HARRY POTTER MUST AND MUST BE THERE.

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message 30: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 04, 2013 02:12AM

You miss Sherlock Holmes here,don't you?

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message 31: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Jun 04, 2013 08:16AM

You seem to keep thinking that we here on Listopia made the original list. Take it up with the Norwegian Book Club.

Also, no need to shout, as I don't think any of us are deaf.

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message 32: by Bettie (new)

Jun 04, 2013 08:46AM

Susanna wrote: "You seem to keep thinking that we here on Listopia made the original list. Take it up with the Norwegian Book Club.

Also, no need to shout, as I don't think any of us are deaf."

Profile seems to suggest that no books read/currently reading.

Join up to shout?

Maybe it is just the films he/she is alluding to.

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message 33: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 04, 2013 09:12AM

I am sorry,I was just saying that the books should be there.Otherwise its great list.

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message 34: by David (new)

Jun 04, 2013 01:02PM

Mr.book expert wrote: "HEY MR.DAVID AND BOOK LOVING LADY,IF LOTR IS CLOSE,THEN WHY NOT HARRY POTTER AND TWILIGHT?I AM SORRY FOR ASKING THAT LOTR SHOULD BE THERE.(CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXIVITY AT FIRST TIME?)BUT HAR..."
most experts of literature would surely not regard twilight as a work of exceeding or even average quality. it belongs to the fastfoodsection.

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message 35: by Mr.book expert (last edited Jun 05, 2013 12:09AM) (new)

Jun 04, 2013 09:38PM

Ok,David you are right then,Twilight sucks.Now you feel better or not,hmm.....?

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message 36: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 05, 2013 12:13AM

Ramayana is not from any William Buck,its writer was Walmiki,nearly 2000 years ago.William buck only translate it.

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message 37: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 05, 2013 12:20AM

Writer of Arabian nights was HAROON-AL-RASHID an arab emperor.

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message 38: by David (new)

Jun 06, 2013 03:20PM

Mr.book expert wrote: "Ok,David you are right then,Twilight sucks.Now you feel better or not,hmm.....?"
actually trolling makes me sad, mostly. if you cant see how a cheap novel starring sparkling vampires didnt make it to a list of the hundred best books of millenia of human writing and storytelling, too bad. but im sure twilight is really masterpiece of language, character and plot only left out because the list was finished before the series came out.

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message 39: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Jun 06, 2013 09:38PM

Mr.book expert wrote: "Ramayana is not from any William Buck,its writer was Walmiki,nearly 2000 years ago.William buck only translate it."

Sometimes the names of translators get put first, in the author slot. This is a known database problem.

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message 40: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Jun 06, 2013 09:39PM

Mr.book expert wrote: "Writer of Arabian nights was HAROON-AL-RASHID an arab emperor."

Take it up at the GR Librarians group. I believe they will disagree with you.

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message 41: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 14, 2013 08:16AM

Hey David,are you frightened?Why did you change your opinion now?

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message 42: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 14, 2013 08:17AM

I am sure about writer of arabian nights

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message 43: by Bettie (new)

Jun 14, 2013 08:19AM

Mr.book expert wrote: "I am sure about writer of arabian nights"

*sigh*

From wiki: The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, South Asia and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian folklore and literature. In particular, many tales were originally folk stories from the Caliphate era, while others, especially the frame story, are most probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work Hazār Afsān (Persian: هزار افسان‎, lit. A Thousand Tales) which in turn relied partly on Indian elements

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message 44: by David (new)

Jun 14, 2013 02:30PM

Mr.book expert wrote: "Hey David,are you frightened?Why did you change your opinion now?"
yes, you frighten me. this statement is (like the last one) without any sarcasm. really. i wonder why you havent added any books yet.

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message 45: by Mr.book expert (new)

Jun 15, 2013 12:46AM

Oh no,Bettie,the stories are folk stories,but they are submitted and written in form of book by Haroon-al-Rashid.

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message 46: by Ben (new)

Jul 10, 2013 09:14AM

Isn't It Pretty To Think So and all of its sock-puppet advocates have been deleted from this list.

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message 47: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Jul 10, 2013 11:48AM

Good grief; I didn't see it had hit up this one.

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message 48: by Loquar (new)

Oct 07, 2013 04:09AM

Almas Muertas, surprisingly comprised. The waves deserves more credit. El tristram es la bomba, Ensayo sobre la ceguera no vale nada; some people keep loyal to Rulfo (I do); I don't see Rayuela. To refer El Extranjero to Algerie is dishonest. No sé donde les febrican la cabeza a los noruegos estos, pero de la poesía española rescatar el Romancero Gitano es agraviar la poesía y sacarle los colores al propio Fede, que no estimaba mucho ese libro (al menos, desigual.) [Pero, oiga, si quieren meter a jarri pottas, o al señor de los membrillos, hácese la luz.]

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message 49: by Ft (new)

Nov 02, 2013 08:49AM

it had pippi longstocking but it didn't have any book of roald dahl!!!!!too stupid

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message 50: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jan 23, 2017 11:37PM) (new)

Nov 03, 2013 11:58PM

On this list were four books bij J.R.R. Tolkien which did not belong here, as they are not on the original list, see Wikipedia's Bokklubben World Library. The books were added to this list as numbers 101, 102, 103 1nd 104, even though it cleary says at the top "This is a pre-established list.PLEASE DO NOT ADD ANY BOOKS TO THE LIST".
I have taken the liberty of removing the four books by Tolkien. The list now consists of the original 100 books again.

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