,

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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13

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14

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15

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4.11 avg rating — 523,238 ratings
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16

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4.31 avg rating — 1,259,789 ratings
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17

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4.44 avg rating — 650,188 ratings
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18

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3.99 avg rating — 389,518 ratings
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19

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4.21 avg rating — 847,404 ratings
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20

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4.28 avg rating — 426,181 ratings
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21

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4.04 avg rating — 212,015 ratings
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21

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4.09 avg rating — 128,532 ratings
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23

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3.83 avg rating — 1,203,279 ratings
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24

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3.83 avg rating — 1,341,136 ratings
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25

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3.81 avg rating — 216,787 ratings
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26

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4.10 avg rating — 938,868 ratings
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27

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3.72 avg rating — 14,883 ratings
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28

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3.75 avg rating — 415,360 ratings
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29

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4.01 avg rating — 166,916 ratings
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29

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3.87 avg rating — 952,574 ratings
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31

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4.11 avg rating — 101,946 ratings
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32

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4.04 avg rating — 180,370 ratings
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33

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4.29 avg rating — 1,095,737 ratings
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34

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4.17 avg rating — 407,815 ratings
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35

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3.99 avg rating — 320,063 ratings
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36

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4.02 avg rating — 318,321 ratings
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37

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3.76 avg rating — 120,042 ratings
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38

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4.01 avg rating — 103,574 ratings
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39

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4.03 avg rating — 374,989 ratings
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40

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4.03 avg rating — 82,157 ratings
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41

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3.76 avg rating — 303,458 ratings
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42

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3.53 avg rating — 238,746 ratings
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43

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3.91 avg rating — 1,916,429 ratings
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44

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3.85 avg rating — 543,711 ratings
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45

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3.80 avg rating — 3,916,591 ratings
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46

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3.93 avg rating — 513,817 ratings
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46

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3.88 avg rating — 43,816 ratings
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48

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3.90 avg rating — 2,150,325 ratings
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49

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4.20 avg rating — 2,531 ratings
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49

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4.31 avg rating — 14,699 ratings
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51

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4.15 avg rating — 184,415 ratings
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51

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4.09 avg rating — 734,677 ratings
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53

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4.34 avg rating — 2,783 ratings
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53

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4.21 avg rating — 847,404 ratings
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55

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3.98 avg rating — 2,092,458 ratings
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56

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3.99 avg rating — 120,112 ratings
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57

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4.40 avg rating — 80,012 ratings
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57

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3.69 avg rating — 94,224 ratings
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59

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3.66 avg rating — 31,222 ratings
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60

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3.80 avg rating — 878,489 ratings
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61

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3.86 avg rating — 84,317 ratings
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62

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3.97 avg rating — 43,619 ratings
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62

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4.01 avg rating — 261,522 ratings
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64

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3.97 avg rating — 2,868,044 ratings
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65

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3.88 avg rating — 1,017,038 ratings
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66

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4.20 avg rating — 54,264 ratings
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67

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3.96 avg rating — 95,212 ratings
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68

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3.69 avg rating — 228,662 ratings
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69

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3.94 avg rating — 400,438 ratings
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69

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3.97 avg rating — 167,194 ratings
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71

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4.16 avg rating — 68,998 ratings
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72

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3.69 avg rating — 178,404 ratings
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73

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4.29 avg rating — 106,881 ratings
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73

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3.92 avg rating — 203,017 ratings
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73

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4.15 avg rating — 224,956 ratings
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76

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4.05 avg rating — 2,558 ratings
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76

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4.19 avg rating — 19,900 ratings
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78

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4.05 avg rating — 260,395 ratings
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79

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4.02 avg rating — 10,185 ratings
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80

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3.85 avg rating — 67,488 ratings
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80

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4.23 avg rating — 330,988 ratings
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80

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3.50 avg rating — 349,623 ratings
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83

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4.03 avg rating — 37,881 ratings
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84

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4.30 avg rating — 4,485,182 ratings
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85

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3.98 avg rating — 125,933 ratings
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86

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4.37 avg rating — 6,749 ratings
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87

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4.16 avg rating — 61,865 ratings
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88

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4.41 avg rating — 3,174,452 ratings
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89

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4.37 avg rating — 889,935 ratings
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90

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4.05 avg rating — 350 ratings
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91

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3.82 avg rating — 147 ratings
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92

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4.07 avg rating — 178,126 ratings
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93

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4.24 avg rating — 73,554 ratings
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94

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3.81 avg rating — 1,324,754 ratings
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95

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3.70 avg rating — 74,471 ratings
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95

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4.62 avg rating — 6,438 ratings
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97

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3.98 avg rating — 52,112 ratings
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97

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4.03 avg rating — 1,000,425 ratings
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99

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4.34 avg rating — 260,894 ratings
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99

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4.04 avg rating — 43,275 ratings
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331 books · 51 voters · list created October 17th, 2018 by Erin (votes) .
46 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Erin 2885 books
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Luke 6007 books
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Fiona 1683 books
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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 06:24PM) (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 07:21PM) (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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