,

Please vote for the works you feel represent the best or most important works of literature AROUND THE WORLD! Feel free to add books (please see guidelines below), especially if a culture is underreprested on this list. Thank you!

What belongs on this list:
Major classics, literature, drama and poetry from around the world published prior to 1970. Please add complete unabridged works translated to (if not originally in) English.
Please do not add every book by your favorite author, excellent though they may be. I would like to keep this list diverse and multi-cultural, so please only add or vote for the best works of literature in a given era and culture.

What does NOT belong on this list:
1) Books published after 1969. While any cut-off date can only be arbitrary, to be considered a classic, a work should have stood some test of time.
2) Abridged works.
3) Children’s books. There are many excellent children’s classics, but the focus of this list is on adult literature.
1

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8

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3.91 avg rating — 304,551 ratings
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12

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3.93 avg rating — 5,895,996 ratings
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13

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4.02 avg rating — 4,530,222 ratings
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14

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3.90 avg rating — 1,417,241 ratings
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15

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4.11 avg rating — 518,777 ratings
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16

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4.31 avg rating — 1,255,626 ratings
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17

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4.44 avg rating — 634,576 ratings
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18

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3.99 avg rating — 385,671 ratings
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19

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4.21 avg rating — 842,393 ratings
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20

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4.28 avg rating — 418,553 ratings
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21

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4.04 avg rating — 210,992 ratings
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21

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4.09 avg rating — 126,465 ratings
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23

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3.83 avg rating — 1,188,719 ratings
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24

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3.83 avg rating — 1,335,576 ratings
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25

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3.81 avg rating — 214,132 ratings
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26

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4.10 avg rating — 928,917 ratings
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27

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3.72 avg rating — 14,743 ratings
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28

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3.74 avg rating — 411,691 ratings
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29

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4.01 avg rating — 165,843 ratings
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29

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3.87 avg rating — 943,005 ratings
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31

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4.11 avg rating — 101,492 ratings
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32

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4.04 avg rating — 178,876 ratings
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33

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4.29 avg rating — 1,074,913 ratings
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34

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4.17 avg rating — 404,978 ratings
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35

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3.99 avg rating — 317,534 ratings
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36

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4.02 avg rating — 313,532 ratings
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37

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3.75 avg rating — 118,733 ratings
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38

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4.01 avg rating — 102,820 ratings
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39

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4.03 avg rating — 373,496 ratings
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40

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4.03 avg rating — 81,199 ratings
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41

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3.76 avg rating — 300,898 ratings
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42

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3.53 avg rating — 237,630 ratings
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43

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3.91 avg rating — 1,877,509 ratings
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44

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3.85 avg rating — 539,285 ratings
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45

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3.80 avg rating — 3,883,809 ratings
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46

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3.93 avg rating — 508,225 ratings
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46

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3.88 avg rating — 43,522 ratings
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48

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3.90 avg rating — 2,037,772 ratings
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49

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4.20 avg rating — 2,506 ratings
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49

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4.31 avg rating — 14,448 ratings
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51

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4.15 avg rating — 182,924 ratings
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51

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4.09 avg rating — 727,465 ratings
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53

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4.34 avg rating — 2,714 ratings
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53

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4.21 avg rating — 842,393 ratings
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55

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3.99 avg rating — 2,070,874 ratings
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56

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3.99 avg rating — 119,198 ratings
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57

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4.40 avg rating — 78,842 ratings
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57

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3.69 avg rating — 93,523 ratings
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59

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3.66 avg rating — 30,688 ratings
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60

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3.80 avg rating — 872,324 ratings
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61

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3.86 avg rating — 83,369 ratings
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62

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3.97 avg rating — 43,129 ratings
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62

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4.01 avg rating — 260,425 ratings
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64

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3.97 avg rating — 2,824,328 ratings
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65

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3.88 avg rating — 1,010,938 ratings
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66

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4.20 avg rating — 53,787 ratings
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67

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3.96 avg rating — 94,714 ratings
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68

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3.69 avg rating — 226,939 ratings
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69

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3.94 avg rating — 393,462 ratings
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69

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3.97 avg rating — 165,979 ratings
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71

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4.16 avg rating — 68,160 ratings
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72

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3.68 avg rating — 176,159 ratings
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73

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4.28 avg rating — 106,618 ratings
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73

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3.92 avg rating — 201,744 ratings
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73

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4.15 avg rating — 218,843 ratings
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76

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4.06 avg rating — 2,523 ratings
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76

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4.19 avg rating — 19,838 ratings
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78

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4.04 avg rating — 258,081 ratings
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79

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4.02 avg rating — 10,038 ratings
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80

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3.85 avg rating — 66,773 ratings
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80

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4.23 avg rating — 328,304 ratings
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80

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3.50 avg rating — 345,786 ratings
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83

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4.03 avg rating — 37,727 ratings
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84

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4.30 avg rating — 4,443,810 ratings
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85

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3.98 avg rating — 124,869 ratings
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86

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4.37 avg rating — 6,651 ratings
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87

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4.16 avg rating — 61,457 ratings
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88

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4.41 avg rating — 3,139,856 ratings
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89

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4.37 avg rating — 872,710 ratings
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90

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4.04 avg rating — 348 ratings
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91

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3.82 avg rating — 146 ratings
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92

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4.07 avg rating — 175,843 ratings
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93

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4.24 avg rating — 73,020 ratings
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94

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3.81 avg rating — 1,307,991 ratings
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95

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3.71 avg rating — 72,666 ratings
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95

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4.62 avg rating — 6,329 ratings
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97

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3.98 avg rating — 51,616 ratings
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97

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4.03 avg rating — 992,087 ratings
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99

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4.34 avg rating — 249,784 ratings
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99

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4.04 avg rating — 42,053 ratings
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331 books · 50 voters · list created October 17th, 2018 by Erin (votes) .
45 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Erin 2884 books
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Luke 5990 books
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Alice 592 books
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siriusedward 5674 books
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Fiona 1668 books
241 friends
Sue 3106 books
438 friends
Paul 1003 books
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Rayroy 1454 books
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More voters…


Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Luke (new)

Luke Great list. Would Memoirs of Hadrian count as transcultural fiction?


message 2: by Erin (new)

Erin Aubrey wrote: "Great list. Would Memoirs of Hadrian count as transcultural fiction?"

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this or if there is another term that would be more appropriate... The cut-off date makes the prohibition irrelevant for the two examples, but I don’t know if there are older books that are similar... Would it be appropriate to define culture more broadly as in both the subject and author of Memoirs of Hadrian are of Western culture?


message 3: by Luke (new)

Luke Erin wrote: "Aubrey wrote: "Great list. Would Memoirs of Hadrian count as transcultural fiction?"

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this or if there is another term that would be m..."


It seems both examples you cite fall under Orientalism, so if that's what you're trying to avoid, 'Memoirs of Hadrian' would work. I just don't want to steer your list in a direction you don't like.


message 4: by Erin (new)

Erin Aubrey wrote: "Erin wrote: "Aubrey wrote: "Great list. Would Memoirs of Hadrian count as transcultural fiction?"

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this or if there is another term th..."


I appreciate it! 😊 I had included that prohibition after seeing too many lists of “books around the world” that are mostly written by western writers instead of actually from the culture and see Memoirs of a Geisha on lists professing to be classics while none of the many excellent books by Japanese authors are included! It is not only Orientalism but those were the books I knew of and, I confess, become inordinately indignant when I see them listed among “classics.” 😅 I looked around and I think that the cut-off date of 1970 excludes most such books so I removed the separate prohibition.


message 5: by Luke (new)

Luke That's a fair choice to make. Also, what I think happened was I added MoH, removed it and asked you whether it belonged when I thought about the transcultural rule, and then responded to your comment without knowing that you had added it instead. It probably made it seem like I was questioning your decisions instead of my own. Confusing stuff. Anyway, glad all that's worked out.


message 6: by Erin (new)

Erin Aubrey wrote: "That's a fair choice to make. Also, what I think happened was I added MoH, removed it and asked you whether it belonged when I thought about the transcultural rule, and then responded to your comme..."

Not at all! No worries! And regardless, I welcome discussion and suggestions for improvement! 😊


message 7: by Darren (new)

Darren Hi Erin - are you wanting people to just add books directly to this list? or would you rather we make suggestions in these messages and you add them yourself?


message 8: by Erin (last edited Oct 20, 2018 09:24AM) (new)

Erin Darren wrote: "Hi Erin - are you wanting people to just add books directly to this list? or would you rather we make suggestions in these messages and you add them yourself?"

By all means, feel free to add books! I only request that people not add more than one book per author. Thank you! 😁


message 9: by Darren (new)

Darren ok so I added:
Beowulf: A Verse Translation
They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by João Guimarães Rosa
Hunger by Knut Hamsun
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Howards End by E.M. Forster
hope they're all ok :o)


message 10: by Erin (new)

Erin Darren wrote: "ok so I added:
Beowulf: A Verse Translation
They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
The Devil to Pay i..."


Thank you! Several of those I was considering adding myself and I had never heard of They Were Counted — added to my TBR shelf! 😁


message 11: by Erin (last edited Jun 04, 2020 10:21AM) (new)

Erin Could a GoodReads librarian please combine or remove the duplicate of Les Misérables? It is currently at both positions 35 and 76.

There are also two editions of Their Eyes Were Watching God at 8 and 128 and The Odyssey at 24 and 253.


message 12: by Blake Hundley (new)

Blake Hundley I would add Henry Miller's "Tropic of Capricorn"
And perhaps "Diary of a Drug Fiend" Crowley
I swear I didn't see "Moby Dick" anywhere on the list. This seems criminal.


message 13: by Blake Hundley (new)

Blake Hundley And I agree with Darren on the "All Quiet on the Western Front" addition.


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