,

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

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,010,752 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.29 avg rating — 4,733,984 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,296,835 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.17 avg rating — 362,233 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,037,751 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.13 avg rating — 1,840,106 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.12 avg rating — 1,091,067 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.91 avg rating — 302,329 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,363,235 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,365,654 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.09 avg rating — 907,563 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.93 avg rating — 5,834,277 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.01 avg rating — 4,468,205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,390,124 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.11 avg rating — 514,475 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,252,209 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.44 avg rating — 623,979 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.99 avg rating — 383,056 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.21 avg rating — 838,739 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.28 avg rating — 413,172 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.04 avg rating — 210,186 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.09 avg rating — 125,046 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,177,226 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,331,389 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.81 avg rating — 212,197 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.10 avg rating — 921,114 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.72 avg rating — 14,627 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.74 avg rating — 408,973 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.01 avg rating — 164,933 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.87 avg rating — 935,350 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.11 avg rating — 100,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.04 avg rating — 177,714 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.28 avg rating — 1,058,087 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.17 avg rating — 402,555 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.99 avg rating — 315,635 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.02 avg rating — 309,548 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.75 avg rating — 117,024 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.01 avg rating — 102,255 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.03 avg rating — 372,209 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.03 avg rating — 80,935 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.76 avg rating — 298,767 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.52 avg rating — 236,618 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,840,131 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.85 avg rating — 535,959 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.80 avg rating — 3,854,713 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.93 avg rating — 504,045 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.88 avg rating — 43,246 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,005,941 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.20 avg rating — 2,474 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.31 avg rating — 14,268 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.15 avg rating — 181,946 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.09 avg rating — 721,987 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.34 avg rating — 2,674 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.21 avg rating — 838,739 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.99 avg rating — 2,052,860 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.99 avg rating — 118,479 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.40 avg rating — 77,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.69 avg rating — 93,025 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.66 avg rating — 30,253 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.80 avg rating — 867,241 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.86 avg rating — 82,639 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.97 avg rating — 42,774 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.01 avg rating — 259,602 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,786,329 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,005,944 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.19 avg rating — 53,404 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.96 avg rating — 94,369 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.69 avg rating — 225,514 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.94 avg rating — 388,033 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.97 avg rating — 165,130 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.16 avg rating — 67,638 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.68 avg rating — 174,454 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.28 avg rating — 106,387 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.92 avg rating — 200,866 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.15 avg rating — 214,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.06 avg rating — 2,507 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.19 avg rating — 19,787 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.04 avg rating — 256,538 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.02 avg rating — 9,821 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.85 avg rating — 66,229 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.23 avg rating — 325,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.50 avg rating — 343,403 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.03 avg rating — 37,606 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.30 avg rating — 4,410,782 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.98 avg rating — 124,083 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.37 avg rating — 6,579 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.15 avg rating — 61,164 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.40 avg rating — 3,108,763 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.37 avg rating — 858,801 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.05 avg rating — 345 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.83 avg rating — 144 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.07 avg rating — 173,810 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.24 avg rating — 72,628 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.81 avg rating — 1,293,754 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.71 avg rating — 71,228 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
4.62 avg rating — 6,225 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.97 avg rating — 51,260 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.03 avg rating — 985,270 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.34 avg rating — 242,441 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.04 avg rating — 41,233 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
331 books · 50 voters · list created October 17th, 2018 by Erin (votes) .
44 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Erin 2880 books
104 friends
Luke 6007 books
50 friends
Alice 592 books
323 friends
siriusedward 5651 books
69 friends
Fiona 1655 books
242 friends
Sue 3098 books
438 friends
Paul 1003 books
44 friends
Rayroy 1454 books
308 friends

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.


back to top



Related News

As you might expect, we are book people here at Goodreads World Headquarters—rather intense book people, actually. And when the holidays roll...

Anyone can add books to this list.