Top 100 Books Of All Time
Full list of the 100 best works of fiction, alphabetically by author, as determined from a vote by 100 noted writers from 54 countries as released by the Norwegian Book Clubs. Don Quixote was named as the top book in history but otherwise no ranking was provided
I enjoy perusing lists of good books if you do too check out the link via the Guardian
Some additional lists you'll find interesting
Book Browser for Avid Readers
Modern library 100 best novels
My own list of books I've read since 1980 ranked on a scale of 1-5
The Internet Public Library links to many book lists and don't miss this one,
List of the Best of the Best
update: October 2003 The latest top 100 list from the Guardian Observer
Here are the top ten from that list:
1. Don Quixote Miguel De Cervantes
The story of the gentle knight and his servant Sancho Panza has entranced readers for centuries.
2. Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan
The one with the Slough of Despond and Vanity Fair.
3. Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe
The first English novel.
4. Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift
A wonderful satire that still works for all ages, despite the savagery of Swift's vision.
5. Tom Jones Henry Fielding
The adventures of a high-spirited orphan boy: an unbeatable plot and a lot of sex ending in a blissful marriage.
6. Clarissa Samuel Richardson
One of the longest novels in the English language, but unputdownable.
7. Tristram Shandy Laurence Sterne
One of the first bestsellers, dismissed by Dr Johnson as too fashionable for its own good.
8. Dangerous Liaisons Pierre Choderlos De Laclos
An epistolary novel and a handbook for seducers: foppish, French, and ferocious.
9. Emma Jane Austen
Near impossible choice between this and Pride and Prejudice. But Emma never fails to fascinate and annoy.
10. Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Inspired by spending too much time with Shelley and Byron.
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Comments
Some f*ing poll...they forgot Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities." It was 10,000 times better and more important than crap like "The Tin Drum" or "Beloved" (???they are joking, right???).
In trying to be so "inclusive," they have excluded too many great works that deserve this recognition.
Posted by: Doubting Thomas | May 23, 2002 7:09 AM
I found it odd that "The Count of Monte Cristo", nor "East of Eden" were not on the list. I would choose Charolette;s "Jane Eyre" over her sisters "Wuthering Heights" as well. If Whitman is included for politically correct reasons, then I would like to see Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on Ice" available in the next polling data.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 27, 2003 1:22 AM
Ayn Rand, anyone?
Posted by: anon | October 11, 2003 1:10 PM
"Ayn Rand, anyone?"
No thanks, I just ate.
Posted by: mat | October 14, 2003 7:13 PM
:+)
Posted by: Norm | October 14, 2003 9:28 PM
Why do libertarians and other misanthropes insist on parading their lack of taste by nominating Ayn Rand for every best book honor they can find? Seriously, aside from the politics of her novels (which I think is quite bad), they should barely make it into an American best-of novel list for the 20th century, let alone an all-time list that includes epic poetry, scripture, and other non-novel forms of "fiction".
And speaking of political books, 1984 may be one of the greatest political novels ever, but it really is not in a league with the works of Cervantes, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Goethe. Morrisson is a great great novelist, but even she may be there more out of an Anglophone bias.
Finally, Don Quixote is far and away the best novel ever, sort of the first of its kind and a book that in many ways is even ahead of what is going on today in so-called postmodern fiction. But it should not be given a flat-out best ever award if we are comparing it to poetic works like those of Shakespeare, Dante, Virgil and Homer. Cervantes belongs in their company, but does not tower above any of them.
Posted by: dende blogger | October 14, 2003 11:19 PM
What about Lord of the Rings? An epic novel that combines so many styles.
Posted by: leduke | January 8, 2004 11:16 AM
does anyone know of a list of greatest books where The World According to Garp and the Godfather are listed. Please email me if you do.
Posted by: sean | January 13, 2004 1:23 PM
I'm surprised that I have not heard of many of the books or authors on this list. Either American public schooling has failed me, by not exposing me to the greatest literature of all time, or the people who compiled this list have some other interest in mind.
Posted by: Shelley | April 4, 2004 2:59 PM
A tree grows in brooklyn anyone it's great.
Posted by: Chris Lewis | April 20, 2004 6:00 PM
"I'm surprised that I have not heard of many of the books or authors on this list. Either American public schooling has failed me, by not exposing me to the greatest literature of all time, or the people who compiled this list have some other interest in mind."
A lot of these books aren't taught in high school, either because they're not in English, there isn't the time, or they're just too difficult. I wouldn't give Ulysses or Dostoyevsky to any high schooler, Boccaccio wrote in the Italian equivalent of Middle English, and Lolita would be shouted down by the school board so violently that it might explode. Some of the others have fallen prey to our Eurocentrism... I don't recognize most of the ones from India, China, etc.
Posted by: Kate A. | April 24, 2004 11:44 AM
Orwell, anyone???
Posted by: Ross | May 2, 2004 11:45 PM
Or How 'bout Plato, or Dickens, the list goes on and on... there's much better books out there.
Posted by: Ross Again | May 2, 2004 11:51 PM