,

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....
List Challenge
The average Goodreads member has read 10 out of 100 books on this list — how many have you read?
1

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2

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4.19 avg rating — 4,609,560 ratings
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3

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4.27 avg rating — 905,984 ratings
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4.02 avg rating — 953,728 ratings
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4.11 avg rating — 972,745 ratings
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6

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4.09 avg rating — 849,314 ratings
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7

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3.81 avg rating — 1,082,194 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 1,097,984 ratings
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9

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4.37 avg rating — 332,976 ratings
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10

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3.88 avg rating — 851,390 ratings
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11

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3.79 avg rating — 803,686 ratings
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12

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3.80 avg rating — 1,150,568 ratings
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13

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4.16 avg rating — 328,631 ratings
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14

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3.90 avg rating — 271,292 ratings
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15

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3.91 avg rating — 455,769 ratings
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16

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3.70 avg rating — 335,056 ratings
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17

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3.96 avg rating — 326,495 ratings
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18

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4.08 avg rating — 152,921 ratings
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19

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3.54 avg rating — 561,529 ratings
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20

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3.91 avg rating — 219,198 ratings
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21

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3.94 avg rating — 505,356 ratings
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22

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4.29 avg rating — 107,066 ratings
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23

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3.79 avg rating — 307,169 ratings
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24

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3.89 avg rating — 390,345 ratings
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25

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4.03 avg rating — 77,257 ratings
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26

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3.75 avg rating — 128,108 ratings
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27

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3.85 avg rating — 182,266 ratings
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28

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3.72 avg rating — 217,016 ratings
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29

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3.58 avg rating — 274,307 ratings
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30

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3.52 avg rating — 222,023 ratings
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31

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4.21 avg rating — 183,146 ratings
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32

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4.15 avg rating — 200,087 ratings
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33

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4.14 avg rating — 58,157 ratings
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34

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4.28 avg rating — 1,548 ratings
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35

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3.80 avg rating — 183,746 ratings
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36

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3.95 avg rating — 436,288 ratings
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37

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3.85 avg rating — 76,101 ratings
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38

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4.17 avg rating — 290,359 ratings
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39

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3.73 avg rating — 372,496 ratings
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40

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4.42 avg rating — 67,958 ratings
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41

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4.05 avg rating — 51,601 ratings
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42

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4.13 avg rating — 164,614 ratings
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43

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4.02 avg rating — 163,167 ratings
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44

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3.98 avg rating — 123,907 ratings
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45

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3.71 avg rating — 94,679 ratings
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46

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3.76 avg rating — 145,433 ratings
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47

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4.19 avg rating — 42,149 ratings
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48

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3.91 avg rating — 188,078 ratings
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49

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4.12 avg rating — 103,266 ratings
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50

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4.13 avg rating — 49,572 ratings
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51

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4.41 avg rating — 30,787 ratings
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52

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4.19 avg rating — 6,745 ratings
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53

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4.05 avg rating — 56,095 ratings
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54

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3.88 avg rating — 40,077 ratings
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55

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3.98 avg rating — 85,147 ratings
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56

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4.09 avg rating — 71,399 ratings
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57

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3.86 avg rating — 130,418 ratings
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58

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3.94 avg rating — 62,873 ratings
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59

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3.89 avg rating — 1,808,561 ratings
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60

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3.93 avg rating — 76,447 ratings
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61

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4.31 avg rating — 11,220 ratings
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62

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3.87 avg rating — 75,145 ratings
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63

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4.34 avg rating — 26,782 ratings
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64

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3.66 avg rating — 15,321 ratings
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65

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4.38 avg rating — 30,871 ratings
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66

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3.85 avg rating — 59,546 ratings
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67

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3.95 avg rating — 44,107 ratings
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68

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3.83 avg rating — 1,266,392 ratings
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69

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3.98 avg rating — 44,581 ratings
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70

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4.19 avg rating — 30,409 ratings
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71

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4.20 avg rating — 5,048 ratings
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72

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3.64 avg rating — 53,176 ratings
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73

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4.30 avg rating — 52,172 ratings
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74

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4.05 avg rating — 70,713 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 29,758 ratings
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76

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4.15 avg rating — 3,790 ratings
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77

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3.77 avg rating — 23,036 ratings
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78

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4.23 avg rating — 20,341 ratings
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79

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3.73 avg rating — 21,803 ratings
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80

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4.28 avg rating — 8,987 ratings
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81

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4.44 avg rating — 4,055 ratings
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82

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3.80 avg rating — 8,808 ratings
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83

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3.72 avg rating — 29,077 ratings
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84

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3.73 avg rating — 13,374 ratings
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85

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3.81 avg rating — 22,325 ratings
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86

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4.09 avg rating — 28,704 ratings
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87

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4.14 avg rating — 12,462 ratings
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88

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3.86 avg rating — 8,213 ratings
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89

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3.81 avg rating — 16,951 ratings
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90

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3.78 avg rating — 27,021 ratings
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91

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3.91 avg rating — 2,219 ratings
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92

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4.60 avg rating — 5,384 ratings
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93

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4.21 avg rating — 11,152 ratings
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94

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4.28 avg rating — 6,925 ratings
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95

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4.35 avg rating — 3,397 ratings
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96

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3.85 avg rating — 9,821 ratings
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97

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3.94 avg rating — 5,048 ratings
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98

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3.86 avg rating — 1,825 ratings
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99

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4.35 avg rating — 1,931 ratings
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100

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4.40 avg rating — 2,769 ratings
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Get Results & Compare With Friends »




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

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 161 (161 new)


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

Ben 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!)


message 2: by Maxine (new)

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


message 3: by Linda (new)

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


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

Ben 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


message 5: by Linda (new)

Linda 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!


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

David Lentz Superb list of immortal works.


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!


message 8: by Kate (new)

Kate Giever 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.


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

Ben 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!


message 10: by Jain (new)

Jain 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.


message 11: by Ben (new)

Ben 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!


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Removed A Storm of Swords for not being on the original list.


message 13: by Jain (new)

Jain 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


message 14: by Jain (new)

Jain 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.


message 15: by Ben (new)

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


message 16: by Ben (new)

Ben 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.


message 17: by Jain (new)

Jain 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.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 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.


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

Ben 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.


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


message 21: by Juniper (new)

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


message 22: by Ramesh (new)

Ramesh 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?


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

Ben 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


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) 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 :-)


message 25: by David (new)

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


message 26: by Mr.book expert (new)

Mr.book expert PATIL. 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.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) 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.


message 28: by David (new)

David Meijer 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?)


message 29: by Mr.book expert (new)

Mr.book expert PATIL. 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.


message 30: by Mr.book expert (new)

Mr.book expert PATIL. You miss Sherlock Holmes here,don't you?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 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.


message 32: by Bettie (new)

Bettie 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.


message 33: by Mr.book expert (new)

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


message 34: by David (new)

David Meijer 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.


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

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


message 36: by Mr.book expert (new)

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


message 37: by Mr.book expert (new)

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


message 38: by David (new)

David Meijer 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.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 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.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 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.


message 41: by Mr.book expert (new)

Mr.book expert PATIL. Hey David,are you frightened?Why did you change your opinion now?


message 42: by Mr.book expert (new)

Mr.book expert PATIL. I am sure about writer of arabian nights


message 43: by Bettie (new)

Bettie 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


message 44: by David (new)

David Meijer 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.


message 45: by Mr.book expert (new)

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


message 46: by Ben (new)

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


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Good grief; I didn't see it had hit up this one.


message 48: by Loquar (new)

Loquar 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.]


message 49: by Ft (new)

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


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

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) 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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