Rating of the 100 best books of all time according to Newsweek. Time magazine’s 100 best novels

Newsweek's 100 Best Books in World Literary History

Newsweek's list of the top 100 books is like no other. This is a list of lists. It is based on ten ratings, compiled over the past 20 years according to a variety of criteria. The range is very wide, from books selected by Oprah Winfrey at her Book Club and reading programs from St. John's College, an elite institution in Santa Fe, to 110 must-read books selected by the UK's Daily Telegraph.
Newsweek sought to accommodate a number of factors, including the historical and cultural significance of the book, its relevance and stable popularity. This is not a list of the best books of all times and peoples, but rather the literary “mainstream” of the Western, mainly English-speaking world. The
rating was published in July 2009.
1 War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy, 1869
2 1984, George Orwell, 1949
3 Ulysses, James Joyce, 1922
4 Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov 1955
5 Noise and Fury, William Faulkner, 1929
6 The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, 1952
7 Towards the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf, 1927
8 Iliad and Odyssey, Homer, VIII century BC
9 Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813
10 The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri, 1321
11 The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, 15th century
12 Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift, 1726
13 Middlemarch, George Eliot, 1874
14 And destruction came (in another version of Russian Decay), Chinua Achebe, 1958
15 Catcher in the Rye, Jerome Salinger, 1951
16 Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, 1936
17 One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabrielle Garcia Marquez, 1967
18 The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
19 Catch-22, Joseph Heller, 1961
20 Beloved, Toni Morrison, 1987
21 Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, 1939
22 Midnight Children, Salman Rushdie, 1981
23 Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, 1932
24 Mrs. Deloway, Virginia Woolf, 1925
25 Son of America, Richard Wright, 1940
26 Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835
27 Origin of Species, Charles Darwin, 1859
28 History, Herodotus, 440 BC
29 Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762
30 Capital, Karl Marx, 1867
31 Sovereign, Nicolo Machiavelli, 1532
32 Confessions, Saint Augustine, 4th century
33 Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes, 1651
34 History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, 431 BC
35 The Lord of the Rings, John Ronald Ruel Tolkien, 1954
36 Winnie the Pooh, Alan Alexander Milne, 1926
37 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Clive Staples Lewis, 1950
38 India Trip, E.M. Forster, 1924
39 On the Road, Jack Kerouac, 1957
40 To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
41 Bible.
42 A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962
43 Light in August, William Faulkner, 1932
44 Souls of the Black People, William Edward Burckhardt Dubois, 1903
45 Antoinette (The Wide Sargasso Sea), Jean Rhys, 1966
46 Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert, 1857
47 Lost Paradise, John Milton, 1667
48 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy, 1877
49 Hamlet, William Shakespeare, 1603
50 King Lear, William Shakespeare, 1608
51 Othello, William Shakespeare, 1622
52 Sonnets, William Shakespeare, 1609
53 Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman, 1855
54 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1885
55 Kim, Rudyard Kipling, 1901
56 Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, 1818
57 Solomon's Song, Toni Morrison, 1977
58 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey, 1962
59 For Whom The Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway, 1940
60 Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut, 1969
61 Animal Farm, George Orwell, 1945
62 Lord of the Flies, William Golding, 1954
63 Murder in cold blood, Truman Capote, 1965
64 Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing, 1962
65 In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust, 1913
66 Deep Sleep, Raymond Chandler, 1939
67 When I Was Dying, William Faulkner, 1930
68 The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway, 1926
69 I, Claudius, Robert Graves, 1934
70 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers, 1940
71 Sons and Lovers, D.H. Lawrence, 1913
72 All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren, 1946
73 Go Broadcast From the Mountain, James Baldwin, 1953
74 Charlotte's Web, E.B. White, 1952
75 Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, 1902
76 Night (Yiddish title “And the World Was Silent”), Elie Wiesel, 1958
77 Rabbit, Run, John Updike, 1960
78 Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton, 1920
79 The Case of Portnoy, Philip Roth, 1969
80 American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser, 1925
81 Locust Day, Nathanael West, 1939
82 Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller, 1934
83 The Maltese Falcon, Deschil Hammett, 1930
84 Dark Beginnings, Philip Pullman, 1995
85 Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather, 1927
86 The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud, 1900
87 The Education of Henry Adams, Henry Adams, 1918
88 Quoted by Mao, Mao Zedong, 1964
89 Diversity of Religious Experience, William James, 1902
90 Handful of Fire, 1934, Evelyn Ashes
91 Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
92 A General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, John Maynard Keynes, 1936
93 Lord Jim, Joseph Conrad, 1900
94 Say Goodbye to It All, Robert Graves, 1929
95 Wealthy Society, John Kenneth Galbraith, 1958
96 Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Graham, 1908
97 Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley and Malcolm X, 1965
98 Famous Victorians, Lytton Strachey, 1918
99 The Blossom purple, Alice Walker, 1982
100 World War II, Winston Churchill, 1948

Study Information

Name:

Newsweek's Top 100 Books / Newsweek magazine's 100 best books of all time. Direction of research: Study of cultural processes. Research branch: Literature. Date of research: 2009. Research Organization: Newsweek Magazine.

Newsweek's Top 100 Books – a list of the 100 best books of all time, presented according to the results of research of the American public policy magazine Newsweek. The magazine positions its rating of books as a “list of lists”, as it is composed of ten similar lists of the best books in the world.

The lists of the best books have been selected to reflect the tastes of different readers as widely as possible. Newsweek used its own list of 50 selected works and the following lists:

1. List of “Books of the Century” of the New York Public Library
2. List of Top 100 Books by Modern Library
3. List of 110 best books according to the edition of The Telegraph
4. St John's College Reading List
5. Time's list of the top 100 English-language books from 1923 to the present
6.  Bestseller list of all time English-language “Wikipedia”

The compilers of the rating took into account the influence of books on history, their intellectual contribution to world culture, the actual importance of the work and its popularity among the modern reader. The titles of all the books were entered into a computer database, where they were evaluated according to the system developed by the magazine, which assigned points to the books.

Research results

Below is a ranking table of the list of the 100 best books of all time according to Newsweek magazine.

The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time

British newspaper The Daily Telegraph has thrown a new reading list for book lovers. How much of this have you read?

On June 23, a critically acclaimed list of “The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time” appeared on the British newspaper's website. Our news feeds were immediately full of headlines that Tolstoy's “Anna Karenina” was in third place, and that several other Russian classics were mentioned somewhere in the middle.

I think that this fragmentary information will not be enough for a real book lover, because we love book lists so much.
That is why I have translated the original list for you. The genres there are very different, the books are really good, except that one can argue about their distribution.

So, The Daily Telegraph's 100 Best Novels of All Time, the full version.

A scene from the movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001)

100 John R.R. Tolkien “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-55)

An epic fantasy trilogy in which a hobbit named Frodo leaves home to protect the world from the dark forces by destroying the cursed ring.

99 Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

A story of racial prejudice set in the 1930s in the US state of Alabama and shown through the eyes of a child. The only novel published during the author's lifetime, until Lee's earlier book, Go Set a Watchman, was published in 2015.

98 Rabindranath Tagore House and Peace (1916)

In this story of a clash of cultures from a Nobel Prize winner, a Bengali nobleman leads a happy life until a radical revolutionary appears on the horizon.

97 Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)

Space travel, flavored with real English humor. The hero has to flee the Earth as it is being demolished to make way for the hyperspace highway. Don't panic!

96 Unknown author of A Thousand and One Nights

The new chosen one of the Persian ruler tells him tales to postpone his execution. An incredible collection of old Middle Eastern fairy tales.

Still from the movie “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” (2005)

95 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “The Suffering of Young Werther” (1774)

Werther loves Charlotte, but she – oh, woe! – already engaged. Goethe put his personal story about an affair with a married woman into the book and became famous overnight.

94 Salman Rushdie, Midnight Children (1980)

Magical realism against the backdrop of reflections on the history of India. Book-laureate of the Booker Prize, which later received the Booker Booker (special prize in 2008 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the prize).

93 John Le Carré “Spy, Get Out!” (1974)

The former intelligence officer took on the pseudonym Le Carré and began writing spy novels about Agent George Smiley. The best work about him is called a line from a nursery rhyme, where each word is the codename of a British spy suspected of treason (original title – “Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy”).

92 Stella Gibbons, Cozy Farm (1932)

An ironic parody of the gloomy representatives of the British provincial novel genre.

91 Murasaki Shikibu “The Tale of Genji” (XI century)

The life and love of the emperor's son. And the world's first novel?

Fragment of the poster for the movie “Spy, Get Out!” (2011)

90 Iris Murdoch “Under the Net” (1954)

A philosophical comedic story about the life of a failed writer.

89 Doris Lessing The Golden Notebook (1962)

The writer Anna scribbles thoughts about communism and feminism in five notebooks at once. The author is a 2007 Nobel laureate.

88 Alexander Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” (1825-32)

Passion and pistols in a novel in verse about a failed love that inspired Tchaikovsky's opera. Yes, this is how a British newspaper describes one of the main works of our school literature curriculum.

87 Jack Kerouac, On The Road (1957)

A semi-biographical story about the journey of young beatniks across America. Kerouac printed the first draft of the novel in three sleepless weeks on one 36-meter roll of paper.

86 Honore de Balzac “Father Goriot” (1835)

The book tells about three characters at once – the retired merchant Goriot, the mysterious criminal Vautrin and the ambitious student Rastignac, an antihero whose name has become synonymous with a successful upstart.

The same 36-meter scroll with the novel “On the Road”

85 Stendhal “Red and Black” (1830)

The hero from the lower classes fights against the materialism and hypocrisy of French society.

84 Alexandre Dumas “The Three Musketeers” (1844)

“One for all and all for one” and all that in 17th century France.

83 Emile Zola “Germinal” (1885)

Written to draw public attention to the problem, the novel describes the hungry life of French miners with documentary clarity.

82 Albert Camus The Stranger (1942)

A Frenchman in Algeria kills his Arab friend. Camus turns this story into an existential fable, the significance of which for philosophical literature was defended by the founder of existentialism, Sartre.

81 Umberto Eco “The Name of the Rose” (1980)

An almost detective story set in a 14th century Italian monastery. Eko himself, a previously unknown professor of semantics, was extremely surprised when his book became a bestseller.

Shot from the film “The Name of the Rose” (1986)

80 Peter Carey Oscar and Lucinda (1988)

An unusual love story about a wealthy Australian heiress and a young English priest, which brought Carey the Booker Prize, but was never published in Russian.

79 Jean Rhys “Antoinette” (The Wide Sargasso Sea) (1966)

Postcolonial prequel “Jane Eyre” about the first wife of Mr. Rochester – the same crazy woman in the attic.

78 Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (1865)

Young Alice falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a crazy world of talking animals. The author, whose real name is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a mathematician and decided to joke with logic.

77 Joseph Heller “Amendment-22” (Catch-22) (1961)

Air Force pilot Yossarian drives himself crazy trying to retire during World War II. But trying to evade combat is clear evidence of sanity, right? So he's stuck. The name of Heller's satirical epic has become a household name in the United States and denotes an absurd hopeless situation.

76 Franz Kafka, The Trial (1925)

When K. unexpectedly comes to arrest him, he says that he is innocent. But innocent of what? We will never know this, but the posthumously published novel will make the word “Kafkaesque” synonymous with any hellish bureaucracy.

Shot from the movie “Alice in Wonderland” (2010)

75 Laurie Lee, Cider and Rosie (1959)

The first part of the trilogy, inspired by Lee's childhood in the English village of Gloucester and describing the first romantic encounter of the protagonist with the title character Rosie in the hayloft.

74 R.K. Narayan “Waiting for the Mahatma” (1955)

Indian youth, inspired by Gandhi, change their minds and begin to oppose Britain.

73 Erich Maria Remarque “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1929)

The horrors of the First World War through the eyes of a young German soldier. The book was filmed in 1930, the film won an Oscar, and then was banned – and burned – in Hitler's Germany.

72 Ann Tyler, Lunch at the Homesick Restaurant (1982)

The three siblings suffer differently as a result of the unexplained separation of their parents.

71 Cao Xueqin “Dream in the Red Chamber” (18th century)

An in-depth and multifaceted description of 18th century Chinese society.

Still from the film “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930)

70 Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa “Leopard” (1958)

A fascinating historical novel about Prince Garibaldi, who decided to establish his own order in Sicily with the help of a thousandth detachment.

69 Italo Calvino “If one winter night a traveler …” (1979)

A playful postmodern conundrum about an international book-related scam.

68 James Ballard “Car Crash” (1973)

The popular TV presenter preaches a new way of getting physical pleasure – in a car on the verge of an accident.

67 V.S. Naipaul A Bend in the River (1979)

Nobel laureate novel about the resettlement of the East African aborigine Salim in the heart of Africa. Not published in Russian.

66 Fyodor Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment” (1866)

The student meets the pawnbroker. The student kills the pawnbroker with an ax. Feelings of guilt, nervous breakdown, Siberia, redemption. And again before you is the abstract of the book from the British newspaper that published this rating.

Shot from the series “Crime and Punishment” (2007)

65 Boris Pasternak “Doctor Zhivago” (1957)

The young doctor's romantic idealism has been trampled underfoot by the atrocities of the Russian revolution. (Another translation of the British critics' annotation)

64 Naguib Mahfouz “The Cairo Trilogy” (1956-57)

Three generations of Cairo people from the First World War to the 1952 coup.

63 Robert Louis Stevenson, The Mysterious Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)

Stevenson's clever horror story about a scientist who tries (unsuccessfully) to banish his dark side, which takes possession of him in his sleep.

62 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726)

A parody of the stories of travelers, in which an acute social satire is hidden behind all the giants and midgets.

61 Orkhan Pamuk “My name is Red” (1998)

The artist was killed in Istanbul in 1591. Unusually, everything else we learn from the corpse.

Shot from the film “Gulliver's Journey” (2010)

60 Gabriel García Márquez One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)

Myth and reality magically mingle in this Colombian family saga.

59 Martin Amis, London Fields (1989)

A failed writer steals the discarded diary of a woman who is plotting her own murder.

58 Roberto Bolaño, The Savage Detectives (1998)

A gang of South American poets travel the world, sleep with each other and challenge critics to a duel. The novel was not published in Russian.

57 Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game (1943)

Intellectuals abandon ordinary life in order to sit in their ivory tower and devote themselves to playing with complex rules at the intersection of mathematics and music. A futuristic parable that is difficult to understand.

56 Gunther Grass “Tin Drum” (1951)

Slightly insane memories of World War II, told by an adult who decided not to grow up and stay in the body of a child. The main text of European magical realism.

Shot from the film “Tin Drum” (1979)

55 V.G. Sebald “Austerlitz” (2001)

Partially autobiographical reminiscences of a Czech historian of life before the Holocaust.

54 Vladimir Nabokov “Lolita” (1955)

The main character's obsession with a prepubescent “nymphet” is complicated by her mother's passion for him. The narrator may be a disgusting character, but his mastery of the word makes him compelling. First published in Paris, Nabokov's dark comic novel caused a scandal – the Home Office ordered customs officials to confiscate any copy that enters the UK. All of the above is again the assessment of British critics.

53 Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale (1985)

After the nuclear war deprived most Americans of the opportunity to have children, women who retained their physiology were enslaved for the purpose of reproduction. It's science fiction and dystopia, but as Atwood pointed out, every violent act in the book has already taken place somewhere in the world.

52 The Catcher in the Rye, Jerome Salinger (1951)

An excluded teenager is going through a difficult period of growing up.

51 Don DeLillo “Underworld” (1997)

From baseball to nuclear waste, all of American life at the end of the 20th century is shown in this non-linear epic told by a businessman serving a prison sentence for murder. The novel was not published in Russian.

Fragment of the poster for the series “The Handmaid's Tale” (2017)

50 Toni Morrison “Sweetheart” (1987)

A brutal journey through the darkest corners of American slavery, based on true events and earned the author a Pulitzer Prize.

49 Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck (1939)

A masterpiece of realism about the search for a better life during the Great Depression in the United States. 1940 Pulitzer Prize Winner.

48 James Baldwin, Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953)

The semi-autobiographical novel explores the role of the Christian church in the African American community of Harlem. Not published in Russian.

47 Milan Kundera “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” (1983)

A doctor with a craving for family infidelities torments his wife against the backdrop of the events of the Prague Spring of 1968.

46 Muriel Spark, Miss Jean Brodie in the Prime (1961)

An anti-fascist novel about how a teacher, who crawls into the affairs of her students, is betrayed by her favorite, who decided to become a nun.

A scene from the film “Grapes of Wrath” (1940)

45 Alain Robbe-Grillet “The Spy” (1955)

Is it true that the watch seller killed the girl on the beach? Who knows.

44 Jean-Paul Sartre Nausea (1938)

“Touchstone” of Sartre's existentialism, which became the most successful work of the writer. The historian is looking for a way to come to terms with himself and his existence.

43 John Updike, Rabbit, Run (1960-2000)

The former high school basketball star is annoyed by his marriage, fatherhood and dreary daily routine. This comic novel has three sequels.

42 Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

A boy, along with an escaped slave, sets out on a makeshift raft on a voyage across the Mississippi. A classic of children's literature that makes great fun of racism and depicts pre-Civil War American society in the South.

41 Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)

“Consultant Detective” Sherlock Holmes is chasing a ghost dog at night in the swamps.

A scene from the film “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles” (1981)

40 Edith Wharton, In the House of Fun (1905)

Lily Bart is too hungry for luxury to marry for love. The scandal and the effect of the sleeping pills are included. Critics compare it to our “Anna Karenina”.

39 Chinua Achebe “And Destruction Came” (1958)

The process of breaking the traditional way of life of the African community and the attempts of the British colonial administration to introduce the original people to the “blessings of civilization” is shown here in a vivid and fascinating form.

38 F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby (1925)

The story of how the mysterious love of a millionaire for a woman with a voice “full of money” gives him trouble.

37 Anthony Trollope The Warden (1855)

A satirical and moralistic novel from the classic of English literature, who, according to critics, “of all the writers of all countries of the world, understands the role of money best of all.” Not published in Russian.

36 Victor Hugo Les Miserables (1862)

A former prisoner (arrested for stealing a loaf of bread) struggles to go over to the side of good, but it ends badly. The book is better than a musical adaptation.

Poster for the movie “Les Miserables” (2012)

35 Kingsley Emis “Lucky Jim” (1954)

A young history teacher on probation argues with his pompous boss, gets drunk and turns on a girlfriend. The rogue anti-hero is based on the poet Philip Larkin.

34 Raymond Chandler, The Eternal Dream (1939)

A classic noir film about a violent crime with a plot so convoluted that even Chandler claimed that he did not understand everything about it.

33 Samuel Richardson “Clarissa” (1748)

One of the first English novels, the adventures of a young lady who is seduced by a brilliant playboy. The narrative in the epistolary genre was not published in Russian.

32 Anthony Powell A Dance to the Music of Time (1951-1975)

Twelve books of the saga about the life of the upper class have not been translated into Russian either.

31 Irene Nemirovski “French Suite” (2004)

Published 60 years after their author died in a German concentration camp, these two short stories show urban and rural life in Nazi-occupied France.

Still from the movie “Atonement” (2007)

30 Ian McEwan “Atonement” (2001)

A new word in the classic English novel, following a student in love from a wealthy house to prison, and then to the front of World War II.

29 Georges Perec “Life: a way of using” (1978)

The puzzle of life in a Parisian tenement, dressed in the form of playful postmodern classics. Each new chapter takes place in a different room of the building.

28 Henry Fielding, The Story of Tom Jones, the Foundling (1749)

The main character, thanks to other people's intrigues and his own rashness, is kicked out of the house, but then he marries a girl who lives next door.

27 Mary Shelley Frankenstein (1818)

The scientist collects a person from the parts of corpses and revives him. Trying to substitute for God has tragic consequences.

26 Elizabeth Gaskell “Cranford” (1853)

Inhabitants of the northern village oppose the social changes that accompanied the industrial revolution.

Shot from the TV series “Cranford” (2007)

25 Wilkie Collins “Moonstone” (1868)

The first, longest and best of contemporary English detective novels in a series of letters and diary entries, recounts the events of the hunt for a missing gem.

24 James Joyce “Ulysses” (1922)

A modernist masterpiece that humorously reinterprets Homer's creation. The novel follows a bored middle-aged student and advertising agent who is wandering around Dublin. This text contains one of the longest sentences in English literature – 4391 words.

23 Gustave Flaubert “Madame Bovary” (1856)

The belief in the beautiful lies of love stories leads the wife of a provincial doctor to a painful ending. Julian Barnes called the book “the greatest novel” ever written.

22 E.M. Forster's “Journey to India” (1924)

The false accusation exposes the racist views of the British government in India. The Englishman Forster himself spent some time in India, where he worked as the secretary of the Maharaja. Last year, the book was finally published in Russian.

21 George Orwell “1984” (1949)

A great dystopia about Big Brother watching you.

Still from the film “Madame Bovary” (2014)

20 Lawrence Stern, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759)

Some contemporaries thought that Stern's vulgar experimental novel was not destined to linger in literary history for long. Ha! Centuries later, Tristram's attempt to tell his life story (he gets distracted in the middle of every third sentence) still makes readers laugh.

19 H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds (1897)

Bloodthirsty Martian invaders are trying to destroy the Earth. Orson Welles' radio adaptation was so successful that (so the story goes) American listeners thought the planet was indeed invaded by aliens.

18 Evelyn Waugh “Sensation” (1938)

An unlucky young reporter is mistakenly sent to a war-torn African country. It turns out a journalistic farce.

17 Thomas Hardy “Tess of the D'Urberville Family” (1892)

A provincial drama about gender double standards. The subtitle is “A Pure Woman Truly Depicted.”

16 Graham Greene “Brighton Candy” (1938)

A vicious sociopath is poisoning the life of the local community, but who's to blame?

Still from the film “War of the Worlds” (2005)

15 P.G. Woodhouse “The Worcesters' Family Honor” (1938)

One of the many wonderful humorous stories about how the real English butler Jeeves manipulates the young aristocrat Worcester and his friends.

14 Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights (1847)

A gloomy love story between a commoner Heathcliff and the owner's daughter Katie. Published under a pseudonym, this novel was the only work of Emily Brontë, who died a year after its publication.

13 Charles Dickens “David Copperfield” (1850)

Dickens's half-autobiographical parenting novel is full of all sorts of characters and talks about duty and deceit.

12 Daniel Defoe “Robinson Crusoe” (1719)

The slave trader is shipwrecked, but finds God – and an aborigine to accompany him – on a desert island.

11 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Elizabeth does not like the haughty Mr. Darcy, and he does not seem to be too attracted to her. Of course, they will soon fall in love – but what are they to do with her terrible family?

Shot from the series “Pride and Prejudice” (1995)

10 Miguel de Cervantes “Don Quixote” (1605)

A cheating novel about an elderly gentleman who, after reading romance novels, decides to become a knight in shining armor. To this day, we call him by the name of incorrigible idealists.

9 Virginia Woolf “Mrs. Dalloway” (1925)

Another masterpiece of modernism, written in the form of a stream of consciousness, tells the story of a heroine who, during a party, hears that a stranger has taken his own life, and finds it strangely inspiring.

8 J.M. Coetzee “Disgrace” (1999)

An English professor in post-apartheid South Africa loses everything after seducing a female student. This political allegory won the Booker Prize.

7 Charlotte Brontë “Jane Eyre” (1847)

Mr. Rochester wants to marry poor, undervalued teacher Jane. Illegal – he is already married, as we spoiled above (see paragraph 79).

6 Marcel Proust “In Search of Lost Time” (1871-1922)

A seven-volume autobiographical meditation featuring the most famous lemon pie in literary history.

Shot from the TV series “Jane Eyre” (2006)

5 Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902)

“The conquest of the land,” writes Konrad, “is not very beautiful.” The captain of the steamer Marlowe realizes this himself during a trip to the Congo for the sake of meeting with a deranged ivory merchant. Francis Ford Coppola moved the plot of the book into the sixties and to Vietnam. This is how the film “Apocalypse Now” appeared.

4 Henry James Portrait of a Woman (1881)

The American heiress in Europe “offends her fate” by marrying an egotist with a desire for adultery.

3 Leo Tolstoy “Anna Karenina” (1878)

The very sensational news with which this material began. By the way, have you noticed that there is no “War and Peace”? ..

2 German Melvill “Mobi Dick” (1851)

The possessed captain Ahab seeks revenge on the white whale that ate his leg. Revenge stretches over 900 pages. It is believed that the author's deep understanding of human nature compensates for the lengthy descriptions of harpoons and other things.

1 George Eliot “Middlemarch” (1871-72)

“One of the few English novels written for adults,” said Virginia Woolf when she praised this detailed portrait of life in a fictional 19th century English town.

TIME magazine's top 100 books

Critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo have selected the 100 best English-language works from 1923 to the present day.

1 “A Trip to India” (1924) Forster Edward Morgan

2 American Tragedy (1925) Theodore Dreiser

 3. The Great Gatsby (1925) Francis Fitzgerald

4 Mrs Dalloway (1925) Virginia Woolf

5 “Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises)” (1926) Ernest Hemingway

 6. “To the Lighthouse” (1927) Virginia Woolf

7 Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) by Will Cather

8 King Louis Saint Bridge (1927) Thornton Wilder

9 Bloody Harvest (1929) Hammett Dashill

10 Noise and Fury (1929) William Faulkner

11 Light in August (1932) William Faulkner

12 Handful of Ashes (1934) Evelyn Waugh

13 I, Claudius (1934) Robert Graves

14 Tropic of Cancer (1934) Henry Miller

15 Call It Sleep (1935) Henry Roth

16 Gone With the Wind (1936) Margaret Mitchell

17 Their Eyes Have Seen God (1937) Zora Neil Hurston

18 About Waterfowl (1938) Flann O'Brien

19 Power and Glory (1939) Graham Greene

20 The Grapes of Wrath (1939) John Steinbeck

21 Deep Sleep (1939) Chandler Raymond

22 Locust Day (1939) Nathanael West

23 Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940) Carson McCullers

24 The Man Who Loved Children (1940) Christina Steed

25 Son of America (1940) Richard Wright

26 A Date in Samarra (1943) John O'Hara

27 Love (1945) Henry Greene

28 Farewell Berlin (1946) Christopher Isherwood

29 “Animal Farm” George Orwell

30 Return to Brideshead (1946) Evelyn Waugh

31 All the King's Men (1946) Warren Robert

32 At the Base of the Volcano (1947) by Lauri Malcolm

33 “1924” (1948) George Oreell

34 The Heart of the Thing (1948) Graham Greene

35 Under Cover of Heaven (1949) Paul Bowles

36 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) Lewis Clive

37 “Above the Poop in the Rye” (1951) Selinger Jerome

38 “Dance to the Music of Time” (12 volume cycle) (1951) Anthony Powell

39 “The Invisible Man” (1952) Ralph Ellison

40 “The Adventures of Oggy March” (1953) Sol Bellow

41 “Go Broadcast from the Mountain” (1953) James Baldwin

42 Under the Net (1954) Iris Murdoch

43 “The Lord of the Rings” Tolkien John

44 “Lucky Jim” (1954) Kingsley Emis

 45. Lord of the Flies (1954) William Golding

46 Confessions (1955) William Gaddis

47 Lolita (1955) Vladimir Nabokov

48 The Helper (1957) Bernard Malamud

49 On the Road (1957) Jack Kerouac

50 Death in the Family (1958) James Agee

51 Death of the Heart (1958) Elizabeth Bowen

52 “And Destruction Came” (1959) Chinua Achebe

53 Naked Lunch (1959) William Burroughs

54 The Datura Merchant (1960) John Barth

To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) Harper Lee

56 Rabbit Run (1960) John Updike

57 Road to Change (1961) Richard Yates

58 Catch 22 (1961) Joseph Heller

59 “The Cinema Goer” (1961) Walker Percy

60 Miss Jean Brodie in the Prime (1961) Muriel Spark

61 The Golden Notebook (1962) by Doris Lessing

62 “Over the Cuckoo's Nest” (1962) Ken Kesey

63 “Pale Flame” (1962) Vladimir Nabokov

64 “Home for Mr. Biswas” (1962) Naipaul Vidiadhar

 65. A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess

66 “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (1964) John Le Caret

67 The Duke (1964) Saul Bellow

68 Painted Bird (1965) Jerzy Kosinski

69 “Lot 49 Shouts Out” (1966) Thomas Pynchon

70 Antoinette (Broad Sargasso Sea) (1966) Jean Rhys

71 “Confessions of Nat Turner” (1967) William Styron

72 The Tailor's Case (1969) Philip Roth

73 Ubik (1969) Philip Kindred Dick

Slaughterhouse Five: Children's Crusade (1969) Kurt Vonnegut

75 “The French Lieutenant's Mistress” (1969) John Fowles

76 Take It As It Is (1970) Joan Didion

77 Deliverance (1970) James Dickey

78 “Are you here, God? It's Me, Margaret “(1970) Judy Bloom

79 Gravity's Rainbow (1973) Thomas Pynchon

80 Dogs of War (1974) Robert Stone

Ragtime (1975) Doctorow Edgar

82 Falconer (1977) John Cheever

83 “Children of Midnight” (1981) Salman Rushdie

84 Household (1981) Marilyn Robinson

85 Neuromancer (1984) William Gibson

86 Money (1984) Martin Amis

87 White Noise (1985) DeLillo Don

88 Watchmen (comic) (1986) Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons

89 Bloody Meridian (1986) Cormac McCarthy

90 “Sports Journalist” (1986) Richard Ford

91 “Possess” (1990) Antonia Bayette

92 Avalanche (1992) Neil Stevenson

93 Endless Joke (1996) David Foster Wallace

94 “Sweetheart” (1997) Toni Morrison

95 American Pastoral (1997) Philip Roth

 96. White Teeth (2000) by Zadie Smith

97 The Blind Killer (2000) Margaret Atwood

98 Amendments (2001) Jonathan Franzen

99 Atonement (2002) Ian McEwan

100 Don't Let Me Go (2005) Kazuo Ieiguro

I have read 15 books, and all of them did not leave me indifferent.

I plan to read some of the proposed list, but I have not even heard of many of them.

The best books of all time

Family sagas, books about the hardships of war, science fiction and fantasy, love stories, detective stories, ancient philosophical works and plays are waiting for you. Many authors are familiar to you from school years, some books could be recommended by parents or older sisters. Did you not heed their advice? It's time to fix it!
The genius and influence on world culture of the selected works cannot be overestimated. Confirmation is the fact that many of the books on the list received prestigious awards in the world of literature and inspired directors to create film masterpieces. For example, such books include the novel by the American Margaret Mitchell “Gone with the Wind”, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. And his film adaptation (directed by Victor Fleming, 1939) received 8 Oscar statuettes. Based on Leo Tolstoy's main novel, War and Peace, four films and two mini-series have been filmed. The role of Natasha Rostova at different times was played by our compatriot Lyudmila Savelyeva (directed by S. Bondarchuk, 1965), world star Audrey Hepburn (directed by K. Vidor, 1956) and young Lily James (directed by T. Harper, 2016). The Soviet film received an Oscar in the nomination for the best film in a foreign language. Impressive
Some of the works on the list were written hundreds of years ago – don't let the figure scare you – they have not lost their relevance in modern life. Sometimes it is useful to open a book and find yourself in a different era to find out that at all times people have been bothered by the same problems that we face now. At all times, people are tormented by temptations, fears, doubts, and we dream of winning someone's heart. The result of such a literary journey, in any case, will be positive. Try it!
Sit back and open up something you haven't read, or refresh your memory of long-familiar books. Perhaps a new reading will give you unexpected ideas and worldly wisdom.

• Monday starts on Saturday …

  Arkady and Boris Strugatsky …

  A masterpiece of Russian fiction !!! The stories of the junior researcher Alexander Privalov, shining with humor, have become a reference book for many generations of Russian readers. And even now, decades later, the story “Monday begins on Saturday”, which has long since become a “national treasure”

• Green Mile…

  Stephen King …

  The sinister horror film by Stephen King, which has become one of the most successful works of the master of the genre. Every day, a warden at Cold Mountain Prison oversees a breeding ground of horror and vice. Here, everyone has committed disgusting atrocities.

• Singing in the thorns …

  Colin McCullough …

  A gripping family saga, a poignant story of unparalleled love that lasts a lifetime – Colin McCullough's novel rightfully received worldwide recognition, and the brilliant 1983 film adaptation made it even more popular.

• Jane Eyre …

  Charlotte Bronte…

  For a very strict 19th century, the novel “Jane Eyre” was incredibly bold, especially since the author was a woman. Without pathos, accurately and truthfully, Charlotte Brontë wrote the life story of a girl.

• Murder on Morgue Street …

  Edgar Allan Poe …

  If you want to meet the predecessor of the famous Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and other outstanding detectives, it's time to discover Murder on the Rue Morgue by Edgar Alan Poe. 

• Vanity Fair…

  William Thackeray …

  Vanity Fair is a classic novel about the era of the Napoleonic Wars, where the reader is presented with a vivid panorama of the life of England in the early 19th century.

• Pride and Prejudice…

  Jane Austen…

  A classic of English literature, a must-read book, Pride and Prejudice has long been one of the world's most outstanding novels.

• Gone With the Wind. Volume 1 …

  Margaret Mitchell…

  According to legend, the creation of Gone with the Wind began with Margaret Mitchell writing the main phrase of the last chapter: “Scarlett could not understand one of her beloved men and now she lost both of them.”

• American tragedy…

  Theodore Dreiser…

  The novel “American Tragedy” is the pinnacle of the work of the outstanding American writer Theodore Dreiser. He said: “Nobody creates tragedies – life creates them.

• Collected Works. Owner…

  John Galsworthy …

  The Forsyte Saga by the famous English writer J. Galsworthy (1867 – 1933) is an epic about the fate of the English bourgeois family, which is a realistic picture of the mores of the Victorian era.

Top 100 books

Books are one of the greatest legacies of humanity. And if before the invention of printing books were available only to a select caste of people, then books began to spread everywhere. In each new generation, talented writers were born who created world masterpieces of literature.

Great works have come down to us, but we read the classics less and less. Literary portal Buklya presents to your attention the 100 best books of all times and peoples, which must be read. In this list you will find not only classics, but also modern books that have left their mark on history quite recently.

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1 The Master and Margarita

A novel that does not fit into the usual literary framework. This story combines philosophy and everyday life, theology and fantasy, mysticism and realism, mysticism and lyrics. And all these components are intertwined with skillful hands into an integral and vivid story that can turn your world upside down. And yes, this is Buckley's favorite book!

2 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

A book from the school curriculum that is difficult to understand in tender adolescence. The writer showed the duality of the human soul, when black is intertwined with white. The story of Raskolnikov, who is experiencing an internal struggle.

3 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A small story, which contains a huge life meaning. A story that makes you look at familiar things in a different way.

4 Heart of a Dog Mikhail Bulgakov

A surprisingly subtle and sarcastic story about people and their vices. The story is about an experiment that proved that it is possible to make a person out of an animal, but it is impossible to deduce an “animal” from a person.

5 Three Comrades Erich Maria Remarque

It is impossible to tell what this novel is about. The novel needs to be read, and then the understanding will come that this is not just a story, but a confession. Confession of love, friendship, pain. A story of despair and struggle.

6 Catcher in the Rye by Jerome Salinger

The story of a teenager who shows with his own eyes his perception of the world, a point of outlook, a renunciation of the usual principles and foundations of the morality of society, which do not fit into its individual framework.

7 Hero of Our Time Mikhail Lermontov

A lyric-psychological novel that tells about a person with a complex character. The author shows it from different angles. And the broken chronology of events makes you completely immerse yourself in the narrative.

8 The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan Doyle

Legendary investigations of the great detective Sherlock, which reveal the meanness of the human soul. Stories told by friend and assistant detective Dr. Watson.

9 Portrait of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde

A story about self-love, selfishness and a strong soul. A story that clearly shows what can happen to a human soul tormented by vices.

10 The Lord of the Rings John Ronald Ruel Tolkien

A fantastic trilogy about people and non-humans who fell under the rule of the Ring of Omnipotence and its ruler Sauron. The story is about those who are ready to sacrifice the most precious things and even their lives for the sake of friendship and the salvation of the world.

11 The Godfather Mario Puzo

A novel about one of the most powerful mafia families in America of the last century – the Corleone family. A lot of people know the movie, so it's time to get down to reading.

12 Arc de Triomphe Erich Maria Remarque

After the First World War, many emigrants ended up in France. Among them is the talented German surgeon Ravik. This is the story of his life and love against the background of the war he experienced.

13 Dead Souls Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

The history of the Russian soul and stupidity. And the author's amazing style and language makes the proposals sparkle with colors and shades that fully reveal the history of our people.

14 The Thorn Birds by Colin McCullough

A stunning novel that tells not only about the love of a man and a woman and difficult relationships, but also about feelings for the family, for their native places and nature.

15 Storm PassEmily Bronte

A family lives in a secluded estate with a tense atmosphere in the house. Difficult relationships are deeply rooted in the past. The story of Heathcliff and Catherine will not leave indifferent any reader.

16 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque

A book about the war on behalf of a common soldier. The book is about how war breaks and maims the souls of innocent people.

17 DemianGerman Hesse

The book simply turns all ideas about life. After reading it, it is already impossible to get rid of the feeling that you have become one step closer to something incredible. This book has answers to many questions.

18 The Green Mile Stephen King

Paul Edgecomb is a former prison officer who served on the death row. It tells the story of the life of death row men who were destined to walk the Green Mile.

19 Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez

Words are superfluous here. In this novel, the life of each hero is permeated with loneliness, however, like the town where these people live.

20 Notre Dame Cathedral Victor Hugo

Paris of the 15th century. On the one hand, it is full of greatness, and on the other, it looks like a cesspool. Against the backdrop of historical events, a love story unfolds – Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Claude Frollo.

21 Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe

Diary of a sailor who was wrecked and lived alone on the island for 28 years. He had to endure too many trials.

22 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

A strange and mysterious story about a girl who, in pursuit of a white rabbit, finds herself in a different and wonderful world.

23 For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

There is war on the pages of the book, but even in a world full of pain and fear, there is a place for beauty. A wonderful feeling called love that makes us stronger.

24 Martin Eden Jack London

What can love do? Martin's love for the beautiful Ruth made him fight. He overcame many obstacles to become something bigger. The story of the spiritual development and formation of the personality.

25 Monday starts on Saturday Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Fantastic and captivating fairy tale in which magic is intertwined with reality.

26 We are Evgeny Zamyatin

The novel is a dystopia, which describes an ideal society where there is no personal opinion, and everything happens on schedule. But even in such a society there is a place for free-thinkers.

27 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway

Frederick volunteered to go to war, where he became a doctor. In the sanitary section, where even the air is saturated with death, love is born.

28 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak

The beginning of the twentieth century. The Russian Empire has already embarked on the path of revolutions. The story of the life of the intelligentsia of that time, as well as the book, raises questions of religion and touches on the mystery of life and death.

29 Camera Obscura Vladimir Nabokov

A cautionary tale about people who betrayed their ideals. The book is about how bright and beautiful feelings evolve into something dark and disgusting.

30 Faust Johann Wolfgang Goethe

The greatest work that draws into the story of Faust, who sold his soul to the Devil. Reading this book, you can walk the path of knowing life.

31 Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

The work consists of three parts. First, we go to Hell, to counter all 9 circles. Then Purgatory awaits us, after passing which you can atone for your sins. And only after reaching the top you can get to Paradise.

32 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess

Not the most pleasant story, but it shows the human nature. A story about how you can make an obedient and silent doll out of any person.

33 Chapaev and Emptiness Viktor Pelevin

A complex story that is difficult to understand the first time. A story about the life of a decadent poet who is looking for his own path, and Chapaev leads Peter to enlightenment.

34 Lord of the Flies by William Golding

What will happen to the children if they are all alone? Children have a subtle nature, which is quite prone to vices. And lovely kind children turn into real monsters.

35 PlagueAlbert Camus

What happens if you read this book? All ideas about life and death will change in a diametrical way. The book captures and does not let go to the last line.

36 Shogun James Clavell

The story of an English sailor who, by the will of fate, ended up in Japan. An epic novel, where there are historical realities, intrigues, adventures and secrets.

37 The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury

A collection of fantastic stories about the life of people on Mars. They almost destroyed the earth, but what awaits another planet?

38 Solaris Stanislav Lem

This planet has an Ocean. He is alive and he has a mind. The challenge for researchers is to transfer knowledge to the ocean. And he will help make their dreams come true …

39 Steppenwolf Hermann Hesse

The book is about an internal crisis that can happen to anyone. Internal devastation can destroy a person, if one day on the way you do not meet a person who will give you just one book …

40 The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Plunge into the world of sensations and feelings of the libertine Tomas, who is used to changing women, so that no one dares to take his freedom.

41 Foam days Boris Vian

Each of the group of friends has its own destiny. Everything goes easy and simple. Friendship. Love. Conversations. But one event can change everything and destroy the usual life.

42 The Wasp Factory Ian Banks

Frank tells the story of his childhood and describes the present. He has his own world, which can collapse at any moment. Unexpected plot turning points give a special flavor to the whole story.

43 The World Through Garp's Eyes John Irving

This book raises the themes of family, childhood, friendship, love, betrayal and betrayal. This is the world in which we live with all the problems and shortcomings.

44 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje

This book contains many topics – war, death, love, betrayal. But the main leitmotif is loneliness, which can take on a variety of forms.

45 Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell

No words are needed here. Everyone knows this story of love, struggle and will.

46 451 degrees on FarenheytuRэy Brэdbery

Books are our future, and what will happen if they are replaced by TV and one opinion? The answer to this question is given by a writer who was ahead of his time.

47 Perfume. The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

The story of a crazy genius. His whole life is in smells. He will go to great lengths to create the perfect scent.

48 1984 George Orwell

Three totalitarian states where even thoughts are controlled. A world of hate, but there are people who can still resist the system.

49 White Fang Jack London

Alaska, late 19th century. The era of the gold rush. And among human greed lives a wolf named White Fang.

50 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen

The Bennett family has only daughters, and a distant relative is the heir. And as soon as the head of the family dies, young girls will be left with nothing.

51 12 chairs Evgeny Petrov and Ilya Ilf

Who does not know Ostap Bender and Kisa Vorobyaninov and their eternal failures, which are associated with the search for ill-fated diamonds.

52 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky

Prince Myshkin is another hero of the author who has been brought to absurd perfection.

53 Jane Air Charlotte Bronte

Jane became an orphan early, and life in her aunt's house was far from happy. And love for a strict and sullen man is far from a romantic story.

54 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

A small story from the life of the most ordinary person. But reading this work, you penetrate into an amazing world that is full of emotions.

55 The Great Gatsby Francis Scott Fitzgerald

A great romance that is filled with feelings. On the pages of the book, the beginning of the 20th century awaits, when people were full of illusions and hopes. This story is about life values ​​and true love.

56 The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas

We are all familiar with the adventures of d'Artagnan and his closest friends. The book is about friendship, honor, devotion, loyalty and love. And of course, like other works of the author, it was not without intrigue.

57 Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

This story will be told by a patient in a psychiatric hospital. Patrick McMurphy goes to prison, to the psychiatric ward. But some people think that he is just pretending to be sick.

58 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

The work tells about the life of little Jean-Louise and her close people. There are no unexpected plot twists, but the author describes simple truths that for many remain incomprehensible.

59 Les Miserables Victor Hugo

The novel describes the life of a fugitive convict who is hiding from the authorities. After fleeing, he had to endure many hardships, but he was able to change his life. But the police inspector Javert is ready to go to great lengths to catch the criminal.

60 The Man Who Laughs Victor Hugo

The philosopher actor met a disfigured boy and a blind girl on his way. He takes them under his wing. Against the background of physical disabilities, the perfection and purity of souls is clearly visible. It is also a great contrast to the life of the aristocracy.

61 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov

The novel draws on its unhealthy web of passions and unhealthy love. The main characters are gradually going crazy, subject to their base desires, like their whole world around them. This book will definitely not have a happy ending.

62 Roadside Picnic Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

A fantastic tale that describes the life of the stalker Redrick Shewhart, who extracts extraterrestrial artifacts from anomalous Zones on Earth.

63 Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach

Even a simple seagull can get tired of the gray life, and the routine is boring. And then Seagull devotes his life to a dream. The seagull gives all its soul on the way to the cherished goal.

64 Empire of Angels Bernard Werber

Michel went to the court of the archangels, where he has to go through the soul weighing procedure. After the trial, he is faced with a choice – to go to earth in a new incarnation or to become an angel. The path of an angel is not easy, like the life of mere mortals.

65 Gadfly Ethel Lilian Voynich

A story about freedom, duty and honor. And also about different types of love. In the first case, it is the love of a father for his son, which has gone through many trials and will pass through generations. In the second case, it is love between a man and a woman, which looks like a fire, then it goes out, then it flares up again.

66 The Collector John Fowles

He is a simple town hall servant, lonely and lost. He has a passion for collecting butterflies. But one day he wanted a girl in his collection who conquered his soul.

67 Ivanhoe Walter Scott

The novel's narration will take readers into the distant past. During the time of Richard the Lionheart and the first crusades. This is one of the first historical novels that everyone should read.

68 Reader Bernhard Schlink

There are a lot of unanswered questions in the book. The book makes you think and analyze not only what is happening on the pages, but also your life. This is a story about love and betrayal that will not leave anyone indifferent.

69 Atlas squared his shoulders. Aine Rand Trilogy

Socialists come to power and set a course for equal opportunities. The authorities believe that the talented and the wealthy should improve the well-being of others. But instead of a happy future, the familiar world is plunging into chaos.

70 Franz Kafka Castle

This is a real dream that scares you with its realism and does not let you out of its embrace, even when you open your eyes.

71 TheaterSomerset Maugham

The story of an actress who has worked in the theater all her life. And what is reality for her, playing on stage or playing in life? How many roles do you have to play every day?

72 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The novel is a dystopia. The novel is a satire. A world where Henry Ford became a god, and the beginning of time is considered the creation of the first Ford T car. People are simply raised, and they do not know anything about feelings.

73 Name of the Rose: Umberto Eco

This is a multifaceted novel, where, against the background of the Middle Ages and religion, many storylines are intertwined, which are closely intertwined.

74 Labyrinths ExoMax Fry

This is a lot of amazing and very interesting fantastic stories about the detective Max Fry, who lives and works in the city of Eho. This series will be interesting for both children and adults.

75 Stranger Albert Camus

Meursault lives a detached life. One gets the impression that his life does not belong to him at all. Everything is indifferent to him and even his actions are saturated with loneliness and renunciation of life.

76 Burden of Human Passion by Somerset Maugham

Philip's life story. He is an orphan and throughout his life he not only searches for the meaning of life, but also for himself. And the main thing is to understand the surrounding world and people.

77 On the Needles of Irwin Welsh

The story of friends who once discovered drugs and euphoria. Each character is unusual and quite clever. They appreciated life and friendship, but exactly until the moment when heroin came to the fore.

78 Moby DickGerman Melville

Ahab, the captain of a whaling ship, made it his life's goal to take revenge on a whale named Moby Dick. Vit kill too many lives to keep him alive. But as soon as the captain begins the hunt, mysterious and sometimes terrible events begin to take place on his ship.

79 Amendment-22Josef Heller

One of the best books on World War II. In it, the author was able to show the senselessness of war and the monstrous absurdity of the state machine.

80 Noise and Fury by William Faulkner

Four characters, each of whom tells his own version of events. And in order to understand what is at stake, you need to read to the end, where the puzzles will form a single picture of life and secret desires.

81 UlyssesJames Joyce

This is the story of one day of the protagonist Leo Bloom, without embellishment, and as it is. His work in a publishing house, coffee breaks, Dublin streets and much more. Ulysses is the best example of a stream of consciousness.

82 Harry Potter J.K. Rowling

All 7 books need to be read and re-read. The best story for all generations that teaches courage, love and friendship.

83 Chronicles of AmberRoger Iron

A classic of the fantasy genre. The chronicles are divided into two volumes of 5 books. In this cycle, you can find travel in space and time, wars, intrigue, betrayal, as well as loyalty and courage.

84 Saga of the Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

One of the best fantasy series. The series includes 8 books, while the last one is “Season of Thunderstorms” is better to read after the first or second book. This is a story about the Witcher and his adventures, his life and love, and also about the girl Ciri, who can change the world.

85 Father GoriotOnore de Balzac

An amazing story about the boundless and sacrificial love of a father for children. About love that has never been mutual. About the love that killed Goriot's father.

86 Tin Drum Gunther Grass

The story is about a boy named Oskar Macerat, who refuses to grow up in protest since the National Socialists came to power in Germany. Thus, he expresses his protest against the changes in German society.

87 Tomorrow Was the War Boris Vasiliev

A poignant tale of war. About true love for parents, friends, and the Motherland. This story must be read in order to feel the entire emotional component of this story.

88 Red and Black

The story of Julien Sorel and the soul, in which there is a confrontation between two feelings: passion and ambition. These two feelings are so intertwined that it is often impossible to distinguish between them.

89 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy

An epic novel that describes an entire era, delving into the historical realities and the artistic world of that time. War will be replaced by peace, and the peaceful life of the characters depends on the war. Many heroes with unique characters.

90 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert

This story is recognized as the greatest work of world literature. Emma Bovary dreams of a beautiful social life, but her husband, a provincial doctor, cannot satisfy her needs. She finds lovers, but can they fulfill Madame Bovary's dream?

91 Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk

No matter how scolded the work of this author, it cannot be denied that his book “Fight Club” is one of the symbols of our generation. This is a story about people who decided to change this dirty world. A story about a man who was able to resist the system.

92 Book Thief Markus Zusak

Winter Germany in 1939, when Death gets too much work, and in six months the work will increase significantly. A story about Liesel, about fanatical Germans, about a Jewish brawler, about thefts and the power of words.

93 Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin

The novel in verse tells a story about the fate of the noble intelligentsia with their vices and selfishness. And in the center of the story is a love story without a happy ending.

94 A Song of Ice and Fire by George Martin

A fantastic story about another world ruled by kings and dragons. Love, betrayal, intrigue, war and death, and all for the sake of power.

95 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

History of the past, present and future. Stories of people from different times. But these stories make up a single picture of our entire world.

96 The Dark Tower (book series) Stephen King

Fantastic cycle of novels of the lord of horror. In this series, genres are intertwined. Horror, western, science fiction and other genres are closely associated in the books. This is the story of the shooter Roland looking for the Dark Tower.

97 Norwegian Forest Haruki Murakami

A story about human destinies in Japan in the 60s of the twentieth century. The story of human loss. Memories of Tooru, which will introduce the reader to different people and their stories.

98 Martian Andy Weir

By chance, the astronaut is left alone at the space base on Mars. He has a limited amount of resources, but he has no connection with people. But he does not give up, he believes that they will return for him.

99 Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev

This is a novel about the confrontation between two generations, about their differences and rejection of ideas. The novel's ideas easily fit modern realities.

100 Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett

An amazing play where everyone defines Godot's mysterious personality for himself. The author makes it possible to find the answer to the question “who is he?” A specific person? Strong personality? Collective image? Or God?

Francis Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”

The great American writer Francis Fitzgerald touched upon the most relevant topics of the dashing 1920s in his novel. Despite the chronological remoteness of the events described in the book, today many find the novel close to themselves in spirit. Fitzgerald was the first of the US prose writers to announce to the world the beginning of a new century – the “age of jazz” and spoke on behalf of the “lost generation.” Reading the novel “The Great Gatsby” you seem to plunge into the era of jazz music and “dry law”. Using the example of the protagonist, Fitzgerald demonstrates the life path of those rich people who rose from the bottom thanks to bootlegging. The author shows his admiration for these individuals, but at the same time condemns their moral foundations and principles. The protagonist of the novel personifies the “American dream” of that time – he is a true darling of fate, made a fortune for himself and achieved power. But can money and power make a person truly happy? Don't forget about love either.

Stephen King “The Green Mile”

What do you know about the Green Mile? Do you know what a seemingly simple phrase hides in itself? But Paul Edgecombe, who worked as a warden in the prison for many years, knows for sure about her. Paul is now an elderly and frail old man living out his days in a nursing home. He tells his friend about his work in Block E of Cold Mountain Prison, which has become the last refuge for sentenced criminals. Here those who were awaited by the electric chair lived their final hours. The path to the place of execution of the suicide bomber passed through a corridor with a green-colored floor. Thanks to this, the last path of the suicide bomber was called the “green mile”. Over the long years of his service in prison, Paul Edgecomb lost the habit of being surprised at anything and completely stopped believing in miracles. Paul realizes the full depth of his delusions after the appearance of the defendant John Coffey. This man is accused of murdering and raping little girls, but the catch is that Paul does not believe in Coffey's involvement in the terrible crimes. After all, the new prisoner has an incredible gift – he heals anyone with his touch.

Mikhail Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”

Moscow in the 1930s. On the Patriarch's Ponds, two writers are leisurely strolling, conducting a conversation about the reliability of the existence of Jesus Christ. Their discussion was unexpectedly interrupted by a mysterious man who calls himself a foreigner, but at the same time fluently speaks Russian. The stranger confidently declares that Jesus lived, and also begins to talk about his personal presence during his conversation with Pontius Pilate. The writers are very skeptical about the story, considering the stranger crazy. Only they did not suspect that they were dealing not with a crazy foreigner, but with Satan, who was on a visit to Moscow. And when a person of this magnitude decides to honor the city with his presence, there will certainly be surprises.

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov's work masterfully intertwines: mysticism and religion, the life of Muscovites and the relationship between Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate, ordinary people in general and the mood of each character individually.

John Tolkien “The Lord of the Rings”

With his epoch-making and thunderous fantasy novel, John Tolkien opened a new round of literary fashion for works about elves, hobbits, wise and powerful kings, great wizards, goblins and fire-breathing dragons. And although the first time “The Lord of the Rings” was published in the distant 1950s, readers have not lost interest in him to this day. Fans not only do not stop re-reading Tolkien's work over and over again, but also revisit the films of Peter Jackson, and also play games that have managed to recreate the unique fairy-tale world of the writer. The novel deals with the Ring of Omnipotence and the irreconcilable thousand-year war waged around it for the right to possession. The young hobbit Frodo must travel through hostile Mordor to the fiery Mountain of Destiny in order to destroy the Ring. On a difficult journey, Frodo is supported by friends (gnomes, people, elves) and opposes the evil Sauron, eager to get back his Ring and gain world domination. The plot of “The Lord of the Rings” attracts the reader with its unique atmosphere, allowing him to plunge headlong into the world of elves, gnomes, hobbits, wizards and evil lords.

Sources and useful links on the topic: https://pikabu.ru/story/100_luchshikh_knig_v_istorii_mirovoy_literaturyi_po_versii_newsweek_1446887 https://gtmarket.ru/ratings/newsweeks-top-100-books/newsweeks-top-100-books-info https: // zen.yandex.ru/media/knigovod/100-velichaishih-romanov-vseh-vremen–5b2f0a3e0c35da00a9c80fa9 https://bookmix.ru/blogs/note.phtml?id=17684 https://MyBook.ru/sets/6277- luchshie-knigi-vseh-vremen / https://buklya.com/top-100-knig https://BigRating.ru/luchshie-knigi-vsex-vremen-top-10/