Authors and their works. Best books of all time - ranking
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Many of us from school have remained convinced that for the most part Russian classics are a rather boring and inconceivably prolonged work of several hundred pages about the hardships of life, mental suffering and philosophical searches of the main characters. We have collected Russian classics, which it is impossible not to read to the end.
Anatoly Pristavkin "A golden cloud spent the night"
"A golden cloud spent the night" by Anatoly Pristavkin- a poignant story in its tragedy that happened to the orphans, twin brothers Sashka and Kolka Kuzmins, who were evacuated along with the rest of the pupils orphanage during the war to the Caucasus. It was decided here to establish labor colony for land development. Children turn out to be innocent victims of the government's policy towards the peoples of the Caucasus. This is one of the strongest and most honest stories about military orphans and the deportation of Caucasian peoples. "Golden Cloud Spent the Night" has been translated into 30 languages of the world and is rightfully ranked among the best works of Russian classics. 10th place in our rating.
Boris Pasternak "Doctor Zhivago"
novel Boris Pasternak "Doctor Zhivago" who brought him world renown and the Nobel Prize - in 9th place in the list of the best works of Russian classics. For his novel, Pasternak was sharply criticized by representatives of the country's official literary world. The manuscript of the book was banned from publication, and the writer himself, under pressure, was forced to refuse to present the prestigious award. After the death of Pasternak, it was transferred to his son.
Mikhail Sholokhov "Quiet Don"
The scale and scope of the period of life of the main characters described in it can be compared with "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy. This is an epic story about the life and fate of representatives of the Don Cossacks. The novel covers three most difficult eras of the country: world war, the 1917 revolution and the Civil War. What was happening in the soul of people in those days, what reasons forced relatives and friends to stand on opposite sides of the barricades? The writer tries to answer these questions in one of the best works of Russian classical literature. Quiet Don is on the 8th place in our rating.
Stories by Anton Chekhov
The generally recognized classic of Russian literature, occupy 7th place in our list. One of the most famous playwrights in the world, wrote more than 300 works of different genres and passed away very early, at the age of 44. Chekhov's stories, ironic, funny and eccentric, reflected the realities of the life of that era. They have not lost their relevance now. The peculiarity of it short works- not to answer questions, but to ask the reader.
I. Ilf and E. Petrov "Twelve chairs"
The novels of writers with a wonderful sense of humor I. Ilf and E. Petrov "Twelve Chairs" and "The Golden Calf" are ranked 6th among the best works of Russian classics. After reading them, each reader will understand that classical literature is not only interesting and exciting, but also funny. The adventures of the great strategist Ostap Bender, the protagonist of the books by Ilf and Petrov, will not leave anyone indifferent. Immediately after the first publication, the writers' works were perceived ambiguously in literary circles... But time has shown their artistic value.
In fifth place in our ranking of the best works of Russian classics - "The Gulag Archipelago" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn... It's not only great romance about one of the most difficult and terrible periods in the history of the country - the repressions in the USSR, but also an autobiographical work based on the author's personal experience, as well as letters and memoirs of more than two hundred prisoners of the camps. The release of the novel in the West was accompanied by a loud scandal and the persecution launched against Solzhenitsyn and the rest of the dissidents. The publication of the "GULAG Archipelago" became possible in the USSR only in 1990. The novel is among best books of the century.
Nikolay Gogol "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka"
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is a universally recognized classic of world importance. The culmination of his work is the novel Dead Souls, the second volume of which was destroyed by the author himself. But our rating of the best works of Russian classics includes the first book Gogol - "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka"... It is hard to believe that the stories included in the book and written with sparkling humor were practically the first experience in the writing of Gogol. A flattering review of the work was left by Pushkin, who was sincerely amazed and fascinated by Gogol's stories, written in a lively, poetic language without pretentious pretentiousness and stiffness.
The events described in the book take place in different time periods: in XVII, XVIII XIX centuries.
Fyodor Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment"
novel "Crime and Punishment" by F. M. Dostoevsky ranks third in the list of the best works of Russian classics. He got the status cult book of global importance. This is one of the most frequently screened books. This is not only a deeply philosophical work in which the author poses the problems of moral responsibility, good and evil, but also a psychological drama and a fascinating detective story. The author shows the reader the process of transforming a talented and respectable young man into a killer. He is no less interested in the possibility of atonement for Raskolnikov's guilt.
The great epic novel Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy "War and Peace", the volume of which has terrified schoolchildren for many decades, is actually very interesting. It covers the period of several military campaigns against the strongest France at that time, led by Napoleon Bonaparte. This is one of the brightest examples of the best works of not only Russian, but also world classics. The novel is recognized as one of the most epic works in world literature. Here every reader will find his favorite topic: love, war, courage.
Mikhail Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita"
Topping our list of examples of the best classical literature is a marvelous novel. The author did not have a chance to live to see the publication of his book - it was published 30 years after his death.
The Master and Margarita are so complex work that not a single attempt at film adaptation of the novel was successful. The figures of Woland, the Master and Margarita require filigree precision in rendering their images. Unfortunately, not a single actor has been able to achieve this yet. The film adaptation of the novel by director Vladimir Bortko can be considered the most successful.
Reading time: 26 minutes
The Big Rating magazine offers you the best books of all time in the TOP-20 rating. The list includes world bestsellers of domestic and foreign authors. Something in them clings, not allowing to come off, and each of these works is worth it to be read at least once in a lifetime.
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, nowadays 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 " 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, amassed a fortune and achieved power. But can money and power make a person truly happy? Do not forget about love either ...
We are all accustomed to pirates as terrible and bloodthirsty creatures who commit robberies, rape women and kill everyone who comes their way. Such is the opinion about the representatives of this "profession". In most cases, this is the case. But when there is an exception to the general rule, it is quite interesting. It is precisely such an atypical pirate that is the protagonist of the work of Raphael Sabatini - Peter Blood. The young Irishman, far from piracy, worked in the medical field and was, by the will of fate, drawn into the Monmouth uprising, which flared up at the end of the 17th century in England. Absolutely not involved in the events of the rebellion, Peter Blood, among others, was accused of treason to the monarch and sentenced to death. But luck smiled at the hero when the death sentence was replaced by exile to the southern colonies, where he went in the status of a slave. It is here that the young Blood has to start his career anew, only not as a bachelor of medicine, but as a pirate. Now the hero of the book has one goal - to find freedom again.
Sooner or later, any person wants to take a break from the daily routine, collect things and go on at least a short trip. It is not necessary to undertake an epoch-making ascent of Elbrus or go to the wilds of the Amazon. Sometimes a short boat trip along the river, such as the Thames, is sufficient. Traveling in the company of your closest friends is already more fun, and even more so in the company of a small four-legged companion. The only important condition is strictly male company. This is exactly what the three English bosom friends Harris, Jay and George, who decided to take a break from the bustle of the city, reasoned while drinking tea. But deciding to implement the idea, the gentlemen realized that not everything is so simple as it might seem at first glance. Every little thing, from packing to trying to open canned food, turns into a funny and fun adventure for friends. And the presence in the boat of an extremely energetic fox terrier named Montmorency adds additional sparks of humor to the general fireworks of events. Jerome K. Jerome's novel “Three Men in a Boat, Not including a Dog” contains a lot of funny misunderstandings, funny collisions and comical situations from which our heroes come out, retaining a truly British self-esteem.
One of the most ambitious and undoubtedly the greatest creations of world literature. And although historians and writers have not fully figured out whether Homer really existed or was a collective image, one thing is known for certain - the Iliad is a description of truly grandiose events.
The starting point of the narrative was the strong romantic affection of the Trojan prince Paris, who was kindled with an ardent love for the most beautiful woman of that time - Elena. But the beauty, who reciprocated the young man, at that moment was already tied by the knot with the Spartan king Menelaus. When, inflamed with passion, Paris dared to kidnap his lady of the heart, the enraged husband of Helen declared war on the Three, gathering loyal kings and soldiers under his banner. The scale of the events was so great that even the gods of Olympus did not remain indifferent and took part in the war, predicting the victory of each of the chosen parties. The protracted struggle lasted for many years, reaping an abundant harvest of deaths. Wives remained widows, children - orphans. There is no justifiable justification for any of the wars of mankind, just as there is none for the Trojan War. But the epoch-making of Homer's Iliad has been preserved for many centuries.
A controversial work, perceived by some as the notes of a madman, by others as a philosophical treatise, and by others as a fascinating fairy tale. Alice in Wonderland was written by the English mathematician, poet and writer Charles Dodgson, better known to us as Lewis Carroll. Many decades later, critics can only guess what exactly the author was trying to convey to us by writing such an original work. There is only one way out - to read the novel and put forward your own theory.
The book tells us about a far from stupid, but slightly frivolous, girl Alice, who accidentally met the White Rabbit during her vacation. Noticing his pocket watch, and sensibly judging that rabbits don't have watches, Alice rushes after the White Rabbit in order to find out where he is in such a hurry. In pursuit of the nimble beast, our young adventurer safely falls into the rabbit hole. And now Alice is waiting for real miracles and amazing adventures that defy common sense. Or maybe you shouldn't try to understand everything? After all, you can just plunge into the phantasmagoric world of the White Rabbit smoking caterpillars, Cheshire Cat, the card Queen, visit an unforgettable tea party with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. We assure you will not be bored.
A delightful dystopia, frightening and beautiful at the same time. The author realistically depicts a society with the ideas of hedonism and consumerism flourishing in it. There is no place for love, and sex is just a pleasant pastime. Huxley describes it so emotionally that it’s scary to read, but it’s impossible to tear yourself away from the book. Here people are created in a test tube, and the "manufacturers" initially choose who will be intellectually developed and who will be mentally retarded. Habitual human values like self-development, culture, religion and knowledge are not needed by anyone for nothing and are not at all interesting. People strive only to get pleasure in any way available to them, and enthusiastically waste their invaluable time on uninterrupted rest. Reading "Oh wondrous new world”, You understand that everything described here is pure fiction, from cover to cover, but you never cease to be horrified by the similarity of the events described in the book with the vices of modern society. And this is the whole point of the work.
The outstanding French writer Alexandre Dumas was able to breathe life into a boring and confusing story of battles, intrigues and political games French court. The main characters of Dumas' novel are the three brave musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis, as well as the young Gascon d'Artagnan, who arrived to conquer Paris. An ambitious young man came to the capital from the hinterland and dreams of getting into the service of His Majesty. d'Artagnan is agile, agile, cheerful and noble. But these traits attract not only friends, but also enemies who want to see the young man on their side. Loyal to the king and queen Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan, a life full of conspiracies, intrigues, exploits and fights awaits. And the motto "One for all and all for one" confidently leads the heroes to victory.
The title of the novel is a reference to the song of the Beatles, and the work itself is a demonstration of the complexity, tortuousness and confusion of any person's life path. Murakami clearly showed a wide range of readers that for confusion in decision-making and painful choice of one's own path, it is not necessary to be a great person, because difficulties and trials can fall to the lot of each of us. Among such people is the protagonist of the novel - student Tooru Watanabe. The storyline consists of Tooru's story about his youth spent at the university and the events that happen to him there. life stage... In the course of the story, the hero recalls his best friends Naoko and Kizuki. Tooru will tell about Kizuki's suicide and the rapid development of relations with Naoko. He will remember how the girl went to the clinic for treatment. Will tell about student riots and the girl Midori, shedding color on his gray life.
Unique is the fact that even those of us who have never held this book in our hands are still aware of the plot of this tragic love story of a young man from the Montague family to a girl from the Capulet family. And the phrase: "There is no story sadder in the world than the story of Romeo and Juliet" can be heard even in the texts modern songs... The main characters of the novel were not originally destined to live happily ever after. Both warring families took up arms against their great and pure love. But the difficulties not only did not stop the lovers, but also pushed the representatives of the houses of Montague and Capulet to each other. Although the first meeting lasted only a few moments, it was enough for the young people to realize their desire to be together forever. Their love was so strong that Romeo and Juliet were ready to give their lives for her. And if fate does not allow them to be together in this life, then at least their souls will be reunited in the next world.
A wonderful touching tale of the adventures of a teddy bear. This character, who first appeared in England in the 1920s, is famous around the world today. The story begins with a plush toy - a teddy bear - presented by a young father to a boy Christopher Robin. The child names the toy Winnie, after a live bear living at the London Zoo. Further, father and son have fun by jointly writing stories that could take place in real life with a cute bear Winnie. This is how the bear cub has such friends as: piglet Piglet, kangaroo Kanga and her baby Little Ru, Eeyore donkey, owl, rabbit and many others. Over the years, more than one generation of children has managed to grow up on the stories of the adventures of a funny bear cub - about bees, about the elephant and about Winnie's friends. An important fact remains that the main character of the book does not lose its popularity among modern children. Apparently such a charming little bear as Winnie the Pooh cannot leave anyone indifferent.
The Cleary family chronicles have riveted the close attention of readers at all times. However, different age audiences perceive them far from the same. So young people are more interested in a love storyline, causing sensory experiences about the fate of the main characters with an eternal intrigue - whether they should be together. The younger generation needs bright colors, battles, action and passion. Older readers are interested in the complexities of the characters and relationships of the main characters. This audience is looking for deep meaning in the work, knowing full well that he is not always hiding precisely in the parts containing violent passions and many events.
In the center of the plot of this story is the large Cleary family, who moved to Australia from New Zealand. McCullough displays the entire palette of goals, motives and actions of each character. But the storyline is firmly tied to the main character novel - Maggie, whose personal life the reader can trace from the age of 4 of the girl until her very death at the age of 58.
Psychiatric hospitals with their inhabitants have always represented a separate world, living according to their own laws and rules. And since you were brought here by the whim of fate, you will have to adapt to the existing order. This unspoken rule is fully extended to the hospital, about which the novel "Over the Cuckoo's Nest" tells. Everything changed with the arrival of a new patient in the mental hospital - Randall Patrick McMurphy. Randall is a cunning criminal who skillfully portrays a madman in order to escape from prison. Having mastered a new place, McMurphy makes acquaintances and begins to communicate with the local guests. Randall is seized by frank horror at the realization that there are absolutely healthy people in the hospital, no more crazy than himself. All of them are in the hospital of their own free will, just trying to hide within its walls from the hardships of the world around them. The patients are also very intimidated by Mildreth Ratched, the local nurse who runs the hospital and does not tolerate disobedience. McMurphy not only declares battle to the local order, but also tries to rescue patients from an unhealthy environment by showing them what a fulfilling life looks like.
IN scary worlds dystopias, described by such literary geniuses as Ray Bradbury, consumerism reigns as the only value of humanity. True, eternal values like knowledge and age-old wisdom, contained in books, are subject to universal censure and even destruction. For keeping the great literary works or just books, people are condemned or sentenced to death. Burning books is becoming commonplace, and most people living in this world are accustomed to this course of things. Those who do not understand the importance of this outlook on life are declared fools by society. The main character of the work, Guy Montag, shared a similar philosophy. He worked as a "fireman" (in the context of this work) and was unshakable in his worldview. But his whole ideology went to hell when Guy met the one who was able to show him the other side of the medal.
Perhaps Ray Bradbury's "451 degrees Fahrenheit" has not lost its relevance today precisely because of the lush heyday of the era of consumerism in modern society. People have a lot to think about.
The ingenious works of Erich Maria Remarque had a great influence on the literary world of Germany. The novel "Three Comrades" immerses its readers throughout life, the depth of thoughts and feelings of people who went through the meat grinder of the First World War and managed to get out of it alive. And the book is not about the victims, but about the people who unleashed this very war. The main character of the novel - Robert Lokamp - tells about the problems and events that concern him. Robbie explains in detail that the most important in a person's life are the people around him. He openly promotes the importance of friendship in relationships. But Robert also emphasizes that even when you are among people who understand and accept you unconditionally, you cannot always count on happiness with certainty. Three Comrades is a book about a “lost generation” of people trying to live in a difficult and controversial era.
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 a unique fairy world 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 is opposed by 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.
In this work, Turgenev not only raised the age-old problem of fathers and children, but also, ahead of the widespread dissemination of the ideas of nihilism in Russia, was able to show the readers an example of an adherent of the movement in the image of Yevgeny Bazarov. It was with this ardent supporter of nihilism that the young son of the landowner Kirsanov Arkady made a strong friendship. Fascinated by the ideas of a new acquaintance, Arkady sincerely accepts all of Bazarov's convictions on faith. The young man even brings a newly-made friend to visit his father and uncle - Pavel Petrovich and Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov. Representatives of the older generation of the family do not perceive the new youth philosophy, considering it overly radical. But Nikolai Petrovich listens to the reflections of the nihilist calmly and with a smile, while Pavel Nikolayevich goes into open conflict with Bazarov. Eugene is firm in his convictions, he is confident in what he needs for life, rejects old principles, not wishing to blindly accept them on faith as people of the older generation do. The steadfastness of Bazarov's views was shaken after meeting the landowner Anna Odintsova, who awakened feelings previously unknown to him in the nihilist.
Although this work of the author is less well known in comparison with "Lolita", it definitely deserves the close attention of readers. In his novel, Nabokov, in his solely characteristic manner, reveals the hidden nature human character and clearly demonstrates the blackness that can hide in the heart of a young and, at first glance, harmless creature. The events of the novel unfold in Germany, where art critic Kretschmar abandons his wife and daughter for the sake of sixteen-year-old Magda, a girl with a dubious biography. The man's love is so strong that even the death of his own daughter in no way overshadowed the ardent passion for Magda. But happy living together was short. The girl meets with the artist Horn, her former lover. Old feelings flare up in them with renewed vigor and the couple begins to meet secretly from Kretschmar, since Magda is still financially dependent on him. For plausibility, Horn appears to Kretschmar as a homosexual. Evil lovers are plotting, mocking Kretschmar, gradually depriving him of his sanity.
The events and actions of the book are presented from the point of view of Holden Confield and are a reflection of the perception of a 16-year-old guy to the reality around him. In his story, Holden talks about the period of his life before he entered the clinic for treatment. The story reveals to the reader the full depth of the hopelessness and experiences of the young man, who remained incomprehensible to the big and cruel world. At the same time, Holden does not fall into philosophical reasoning, does not express value judgments, he simply describes the events that are taking place and tries to understand what can give him a feeling of happiness. So the song he heard little boy about "the way you catch someone in the rye ..." leads Holden to an understanding of the happy moment. But, alas, it is impossible to achieve it, because the reality is completely different.
What do you know about the Green Mile? Do you know what a seemingly simple phrase hides in itself? And here is Paul Edgecomb, who worked as a jail warden long years, it is known for certain about her. Paul is now elderly and weak 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 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.
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 person 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 not dealing with crazy foreigner, but with Satan, who came 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.
Most readable books 2017, list of the best works
In the "NG - ExLibris" issue dated 31.01.2008 under the heading "From the Divine Bottle of Master Francois Rabelais to the scandalous" Blue Salo "by Vladimir Sorokin", a very curious and controversial list of "100 novels, which, according to the editorial staff of" NG-Ex libris "shocked the literary world and influenced the entire culture."
“The millennium has just begun, we can summarize. Including literary ones. The year is also at the very beginning, we bring to your attention a list of the 100 best, in the opinion of the editorial board of NG-EL, novels of all times and peoples.
In the end, why are we worse? English / Americans make their lists of great novels, including either boring modern English fiction, or even more boring but long forgotten English fiction. Adding "for objectivity" a few Russian novels, a few things from world literature. We are also biased, we also include only what we know, what we are sure of - after all, this is precisely our choice. We really want to be objective, but absolute objectivity is impossible in such lists. Although we, of course, have a lot more English-language novels than the English-Russian. We are not touchy. And if we like something, we say - like it.
Of course, the novels of living (or recently deceased) authors are closer to us, more understandable, therefore there are more of them than we should. We would have written our list 100 years ago, probably would have included Artsybashev, Veltman, Chernyshevsky, Pisemsky, Krestovsky, Leskov and Merezhkovsky (they should be included now, but their stories and stories, like many others not included, perhaps all -so better), etc. Of course, many were not included. Those without which literature is unthinkable. Ivan Bunin, for example. Or Edgar Poe. Or Anton Chekhov. Or Knut Hamsun, the author of many great novels. But his best work - "Hunger" - a story! A similar story, by the way, is with Yuz Aleshkovsky. He has novels, but his "business cards" - "Disguise" and "Nikolai Nikolaevich" - are stories, if they were three times wrong!
Others, on the contrary, entered "by pull." For example, Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" is a poem, but the author called his work "a novel in verse." So it's a novel. On the other hand, both Gogol's Dead Souls and Erofeev's Moscow-Petushki, according to the authors, are poems. Yes, poems. But if these are not novels, then what are novels? What are Sergey Minaev and Oksana Robski writing? So our position is not a contradiction, it is dialectics, our editorial arbitrariness.
Despite the exceptional prevalence of the genre of the novel, its boundaries are still not clearly defined. Most literary scholars believe that the genre of large narrative works called the novel originated in Western European literature of the 12th – 13th centuries, when the literary work of the third estate began to take shape with the trading bourgeoisie at its head. As a result of this, the genre of the novel came to replace the heroic epic and legend-legend that prevailed in ancient and feudal-knightly literature. It is not for nothing that Hegel called the novel a "bourgeois epic." That is why you will not find Apuleius' Golden Ass or Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parsifal on our list. An exception is made only for the creations of Rabelais and Cervantes, which can be considered embryonic novels, or proto-romances.
We repeat: this is exclusively our choice, subjective and biased. We, as is customary, included some in vain, while others, on the contrary, were unfairly ignored. Make up your own version. The one who does nothing is not mistaken.
You can see the list itself in today's issue of NG-EL. With brief comments. We have arranged the novels in chronological order (either by the time of writing, or by the date of the first publication).
"100 novels, which, according to the editorial staff of" NG - Ex libris ", shocked the literary world and influenced the entire culture"
1. Francois Rabelais. Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-1553).
Extravaganza of mental health, rude and kind jokes, a parody of parodies, a catalog of everything. How many centuries have passed and nothing has changed.
2. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" (1605-1615).
A parody that has survived the parodied works for many centuries. A comic character who has become a tragic and household name.
3. Daniel Defoe. “The life and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for twenty-eight years all alone on an uninhabited island off the coast of America near the mouth of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown by a shipwreck, during which the entire crew of the ship died except him; describing his unexpected release by the pirates, written by himself ”(1719).
Extremely accurate embodiment in the artistic form of the ideas of humanism of the Renaissance. Fictionalized proof that an individual is of independent value.
4. Jonathan Swift. "Travels of Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships" (1726).
The biography of a person who faced incredible forms of intelligent life - midgets, giants, intelligent horses - and who found not only a common language with them, but also many common features with his fellow tribesmen.
5. Abbot Prevost. "History of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut" (1731).
In fact, "Manon ..." is a story, an inserted chapter in the multivolume novel "Notes of a Noble Man Who Retired from the World." But it was this plug-in chapter that became the masterpiece. love story, which amazed not so much his contemporaries as his descendants, a masterpiece that overshadowed everything else written by Prevost.
6. Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The Suffering of Young Werther (1774).
They say that in the 18th century, young people committed suicide after reading this novel. And today the story of a vulnerable person, unable to defend his "I" in the face of hostile reality, leaves no one indifferent.
7. Lawrence Stern. The Life and Beliefs of Tristram Shandy (1759-1767).
A charming game of nothing and never. Subtle postmodernism, a fun and easy fight between the witty and the risky. The whole text is on the verge, from here, from the opinions of gentleman Shandy, not only Sasha Sokolov, not only Bitov, but even Sigismund Krzhizhanovsky, alas, a storyteller, not a novelist, arose.
8. Choderlos de Laclos. "Dangerous Liaisons" (1782).
A moralistic novel in letters from the life of the courtly 18th century. Vice weaves cunning intrigues, forcing one to exclaim: “O times! About morals! " However, virtue still triumphs.
9. Marquis de Sade. "120 days of Sodom" (1785).
The first in the history of world literature computer game with cut off parts of bodies and souls of doll characters, multi-level cutter-choke-burner. Plus black-black humor in a black-black room on a black-black night. Scary, already horror.
10. Jan Pototsky. "The manuscript found in Zaragoza" (1804).
Labyrinth-like novel-box in short stories. The reader gets from one story to another, not having time to catch his breath, and there are only 66 of them. Amazing Adventures, dramatic events and mysticism of the highest standard.
11. Mary Shelley. "Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus" (1818).
A gothic story that released a whole "brood" of themes and characters, later picked up by many and exploited to this day. Among them are an artificial person, a creator responsible for his work, and a tragically lonely monster.
12. Charles Maturin. "Melmoth the Wanderer" (1820).
A true gothic novel full of mystery and horror. Paraphrase on the theme of the Eternal Jew Ahasuerus and the Seville Seducer Don Juan. And also a novel of temptations, varied and irresistible.
13. Honore de Balzac. " Pebbled leather"(1831).
The scariest novel by Balzac, the first and best TV series writer to date. "Shagreen Skin" is also a part of his big series, just a piece less and less, I really don't want to finish reading, but it is already irresistibly drawn into the abyss.
14. Victor Hugo. Notre Dame Cathedral (1831).
An apology for romance and social justice based on the material of the French Middle Ages, which still has a lot of fans - at least in the form of a musical of the same name.
15. Stendhal. "Red and Black" (1830-1831).
Dostoevsky made from this - from the newspaper crime chronicle- a tendentious accusatory pamphlet with philosophy. Stendhal came out love story where everyone is to blame, everyone is sorry, and most importantly - the passion!
16. Alexander Pushkin. Eugene Onegin (1823-1833).
A novel in verse. The story of love and life of a "superfluous person" and an encyclopedia of Russian life, which we know from school thanks to the criticism of Belinsky.
17. Alfred de Musset. "Confession of the Son of the Century" (1836).
"A Hero of Our Time", written by Eduard Limonov, only without swearing and loving African Americans. Lovingness, however, is enough here, full of melancholy, despair and self-pity, but there is also a sober calculation. I'm the last bastard, he says lyrical hero... And he is absolutely right.
18. Charles Dickens. "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" (1837).
Surprisingly funny and positive work of the English classic. All old England, all the best that was in it, was embodied in the image of a noble, good-natured and optimistic old man - Mr. Pickwick.
19. Mikhail Lermontov. "A Hero of Our Time" (1840).
The story of a "superfluous person" who nevertheless became, or rather, precisely for this reason, an example to follow for many generations of pale young men.
20. Nikolai Gogol. Dead Souls (1842).
It is difficult to find a larger-scale picture of Russian life at its deepest, mystical level. Moreover, it was written with such a combination of humor and tragedy. In her heroes, they see both accurate portraits painted from life, and images of evil spirits weighing down the nation.
21. Alexandre Dumas. The Three Musketeers (1844).
One of the most famous historical adventure novels - the encyclopedia French life era of Louis XIII. Musketeer heroes - romantics, revelers and duelists - are still the idols of young men of primary school age.
22. William Thackeray. Vanity Fair (1846).
Satire, only satire, no humor. Everyone is against everyone, snobs sit on snobs and accuse each other of snobbery. Some contemporaries laughed because they did not know that they were laughing at themselves. Now they also laugh, and also because they do not know that time has changed, not people.
23. Herman Melville. Moby Dick (1851).
A parable novel about American whalers and the consequences of being obsessed with one unrealizable desire that completely enslaves a person.
24. Gustave Flaubert. Madame Bovary (1856).
A novel that ended up in the dock in the form of a magazine publication - for insulting morality. The heroine, who sacrificed love for family ties and reputation, is drawn to be called French Karenina, but “Madame” was ahead of “Anna” by more than twenty years.
25. Ivan Goncharov. Oblomov (1859).
The most Russian hero of the most Russian novel about Russian life. There is nothing more beautiful and destructive than Oblomovism.
26. Ivan Turgenev. Fathers and Sons (1862).
Anti-nihilistic satire, which became a revolutionary guide to action, then satire again, will soon be a guide again. And so on endlessly. Because Enyusha Bazarov is eternal.
27. Mine Reid. The Headless Horseman (1865).
The most gentle, the most American, the most romantic of all American novels. Because, probably, it was written by a Briton who was really in love with Texas. He scares us, but we are not afraid, for this we love him even more.
28. Fyodor Dostoevsky. "Crime and Punishment" (1866).
A novel of contrasts. Rodi Raskolnikov's Napoleonic plans lead him to the most vulgar crime. No scope, no grandeur - only abomination, dirt and an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Even stolen goods he cannot use.
29. Leo Tolstoy. "War and Peace" (1867-1869).
War, peace and the inhabited universe of the human spirit. An epic about any war, about any love, about any society, about any time, about any people.
30. Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Idiot (1868-1869).
Trying to create an image positively wonderful person, which can be considered the only successful one. And that Prince Myshkin is an idiot is just normal. As well as the fact that everything ends in failure.
31. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Venus in Furs (1870).
The work on the eroticization of suffering, begun by Turgenev, was continued by his Austrian admirer. In Russia, where suffering belongs to “the most important, most fundamental spiritual needs” (according to Fyodor Dostoevsky), the novel is of unremitting interest.
32. Fyodor Dostoevsky. Demons (1871-1872).
About Russian revolutionaries - atheists and nihilists - of the second half of the 19th century. Prophecy and warning, which, alas, were not heeded. And besides, murder, suicide, quirks of love and passion.
33. Mark Twain. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) / The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).
A novel from two books. The forerunner of postmodernism: the same events are shown through the eyes of two boys - younger (Tom) and older (Huck).
34. Leo Tolstoy. Anna Karenina (1878).
A violent love story, a married woman's rebellion, her struggle and defeat. Under the wheels of the train. Even militant feminists cry.
35. Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Brothers Karamazov (1879-1880).
Parricide, in which - one way or another - all the sons of Fyodor Karamazov are involved. Freud read and invented the Oedipus complex. For Russians, the main thing is: is there God and the immortality of the soul? If there is, then not everything is allowed, and if not, then I'm sorry.
36. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. "Gentlemen Golovlevs" (1880-1883).
The pinnacle of the literary activity of the toughest Russian satirist of the 19th century, the final sentence to the serf system. An unusually embossed image of an ugly family - people distorted by a combination of physiological and social conditions.
37. Oscar Wilde. "Portrait of Dorian Gray" (1891).
A magical, fabulous, wonderful, touching and airy story of the rapid transformation of a young scoundrel into an old bastard.
38. Herbert Wells. The Time Machine (1895).
One of the pillars of modern social fiction. He was the first to demonstrate that it is possible to move back and forth in time, and also that the light genre is capable of raising very serious problems.
39. Bram Stoker. Dracula (1897).
A bridge between the measured Victorian literature and the energetic adventure prose of the twentieth century. A work that first turned a petty Orthodox prince, balancing between Islamic Turkey and Catholic Germany, into the embodiment of absolute Evil, and then made him a movie star.
40. Jack London. "Sea Wolf" (1904).
Sea romance is just the backdrop for the portrait of Captain Larson, an amazing personality that combines brute strength and philosophical thought... Later, such people became heroes of the songs of Vladimir Vysotsky.
41. Fedor Sologub. The Little Devil (1905).
The most realistic thing in all decadent literature. The story of what envy, anger and ultimate selfishness lead to.
42. Andrey Bely. Petersburg (1913-1914).
A novel in verse, written in prose. Besides, about terrorists and Russian statehood.
43. Gustav Meyrink. Golem (1914).
A mesmerizing occult novel, the action of which takes place on the verge of reality and dream, the dark streets of the Prague ghetto and the intricate labyrinths of the author's consciousness.
44. Evgeny Zamyatin. "We" (1921).
An ideal totalitarian state seen through the eyes of a mathematician. Literary proof that social harmony cannot be tested with algebra.
45. James Joyce. Ulysses (1922).
A novel labyrinth, from which no one has yet managed to get out alive. Not a single literary Theseus, not a single literary Minotaur, not a single literary Daedalus.
46. Ilya Ehrenburg. The Extraordinary Adventures of Julio Jurenito (1922).
Satire, in which the 20th century is displayed as the protagonist of Julio Jurenito. A book, some of the pages of which turned out to be prophetic.
47. Yaroslav Hasek. "Adventures of the gallant soldier Schweik during the World War" (1921-1923).
Common sense during the plague. A hero who is declared an idiot for being the only normal one. The funniest book about the war.
48. Mikhail Bulgakov. The White Guard (1924).
The sinking ship of the past is nothing and no one can save. The more tempting is the toy house, where real soldiers who have lost the war against their people will be really killed.
49. Thomas Mann. The Magic Mountain (1924).
There was a war tomorrow. Only the First World War. And indeed - the Magic Mountain. Up there, where there are mountains, you want to sit out, escape from the plague (any, it is about the same at all times and in all countries), but you just can't. The magic doesn't work, they are already waiting downstairs, and they have very good arguments.
50. Franz Kafka. The Process (1925).
One of the most complex and multifaceted novels of the 20th century, giving rise to hundreds of mutually exclusive interpretations in the entire range from an entertainingly told dream to an allegory of a metaphysical search for God.
51. Francis Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby (1925).
A novel from the American "Jazz Age" era. Literary critics are still arguing: whether the author buried the great American dream in it, or simply regrets the eternal delay of the present day, sandwiched between the memory of the past and the romantic promise of the future.
52. Alexander Green. Running on the Waves (1928).
A beautiful-hearted romantic extravaganza that has already helped a generation of young people and girls to survive puberty and gain faith in Goodness and Light and in their own higher destiny.
53. Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov. "Twelve Chairs" (1928).
Dodgy novel of the era of building socialism with the main character-adventurer Ostap Bender. Satire on Soviet society in the 1920s was on the verge of anti-Sovietism, fortunately, almost unnoticed by the censors of those years.
54. Andrey Platonov. Chevengur (1927-1929).
The history of building communism in a single village. Perhaps the most disturbing novel about the explosion of messianic and eschatological sentiments in the early post-revolutionary years.
55. William Faulkner. "Noise and Fury" (1929).
The humble charm of the magical American South. Legends, fairy tales, myths. They do not let go, they still haunt the Americans, because they have to be afraid of the past. Faulkner invents the American Zurbagan, only there one can be saved.
56. Ernest Hemingway. "A Farewell to Arms!" (1929).
Military prose, overseas military prose... War without war, world without peace, people without faces and eyes, but with glasses. The glasses are full, but they drink slowly because the dead don't get drunk.
57. Louis Ferdinand Celine. Journey to the End of the Night (1932).
Stylish and sophisticated chernukha. Without hope. Slums, poverty, war, filth, and no skylight, no ray, one dark kingdom. Even the corpses are not visible. But they are, the journey must continue while Charon is having fun. Especially for tolerant optimists.
58. Aldous Huxley. Brave New World (1932).
Interpreters argue: is this utopia or dystopia? Be that as it may, Huxley succeeded in anticipating the blessings and plagues of the modern "consumer society."
59. Lao She. "Notes on the Cat City" (1933).
Cats have nothing to do with it. Even foxes, traditional for the Chinese, have nothing to do with it either. This is the power, it is the plainclothes readers who come and knock on the door. It starts out cheerfully and allegorically, and ends with a Chinese torture chamber. Very beautiful, very exotic, you just want to howl and growl, not meow.
60. Henry Miller. The Tropic of Cancer (1934).
The groan and howl of a male, longing for cities and years. The most physiologically crude poem in prose.
61. Maxim Gorky. The Life of Klim Samgin (1925-1936).
Almost an epic, a political leaflet written almost in poetry, the agony of the intelligentsia at the beginning of the century - relevant both at the end and in the middle.
62. Margaret Mitchell. " gone With the Wind"(1936).
Harmonious combination of female prose with an epic picture American life during the Civil War of the North and South; deservedly became a bestseller.
63. Erich Maria Remarque. Three Comrades (1936-1937).
One of the most famous novels on the topic of the "lost generation". People who have gone through the crucible of war cannot escape the ghosts of the past, but it was the military brotherhood that rallied the three comrades.
64. Vladimir Nabokov. The Gift (1938-1939).
A piercing theme of exile: a Russian emigrant lives in Berlin, writes poetry and loves Zina, and Zina loves him. The famous IV chapter is the biography of Chernyshevsky, the best of all. The author himself said: "The Gift" is not about Zina, but about Russian literature.
65. Mikhail Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita (1929-1940).
A unique synthesis of satire, mystery and love story, created from a dualistic perspective. A hymn to free creativity, for which it will certainly be rewarded - even after death.
66. Mikhail Sholokhov. Quiet Don (1927-1940).
Cossack "War and Peace". The war during the Civil War and the peace that we will destroy to the ground, so that later nothing and never again will be built. The novel dies near the end of the novel, an amazing case in literature.
67. Robert Musil. "A Man Without Properties" (1930-1943).
For many years, Musil adjusted one to the other, polished lines to the limit. It is not surprising that the filigree novel remained unfinished.
68. Hermann Hesse. The Glass Bead Game (1943).
A philosophical utopia written in the midst of the worst war of the 20th century. Anticipated all the main features and theoretical constructions of the postmodern era.
69. Veniamin Kaverin. "Two Captains" (1938-1944).
A book that called on Soviet youth to "fight and seek, find and not give up." However, the romance of distant wanderings and scientific research captivates and attracts to this day.
70. Boris Vian. "Foam of Days" (1946).
The graceful French Harms, ironist and postmodernist, dumped all contemporary culture in feathers and diamonds. The culture cannot be washed up to this day.
71. Thomas Mann. Doctor Faustus (1947).
Composer Adrian Leverkühn sold his soul to the devil. And he began to compose magnificent, but terrifying music, where hellish laughter and a pure children's choir sound. Its fate reflects the fate of the German nation, which succumbed to the temptation of Nazism.
72. Albert Camus... The Plague (1947).
The novel is a metaphor about the "plague of the 20th century" and the role that the invasion of evil plays in the existential awakening of man.
73. George Orwell. 1984 (1949).
A dystopia, permeated by the latent fear of Western society before the Soviet state and pessimism regarding the human ability to resist social evil.
74. Jerome D. Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye (1951).
A touching teenager Holden Caulfield who does not want (and cannot) be like everyone else. It was for this that everyone immediately fell in love with him. Both in America and in Russia.
75. Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 (1953).
A dystopia that has come true long ago. Books are not burned now, they are simply not read. We switched to other media. Bradbury, who always wrote about the village (well, let it be Martian or some other, but still - a village), is especially furious here. And absolutely right in his rage.
76. John R.R. Tolkien. "The Lord of the Rings" (1954-1955).
A three-volume saga-tale about the struggle between Good and Evil in a fictional world, which most accurately reflected the aspirations of the people of the twentieth century. Made millions of readers worry about the fate of the gnomes, elves and fur-legged hobbits, as for their fellow tribesmen. Formed the fantasy genre and spawned many imitators.
77. Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita (1955; 1967, Russian version).
A shocking but literary sophisticated story about a grown man's criminal passion for a youngster. However, lust here in a strange way turns into love and tenderness. A lot of touching and funny.
78. Boris Pasternak. Doctor Zhivago (1945-1955).
A novel by a genius poet, a novel that won the Nobel Prize for Literature, a novel that killed a poet - physically killed.
79. Jack Kerouac. "On the Road" (1957).
One of the cult compositions of the beatnik culture. The poetics of the American freeway in all its crude charm. A hipster chase that ends in nothing. But it's interesting to chase.
80. William Burroughs. Naked Lunch (1959).
Another cult piece of the beatnik culture. Homosexuality, perversion, glitches and other horrors. Interzone, inhabited by secret agents, mad doctors and all kinds of mutants. But in general - a hysterical rhapsode, repulsive and bewitching.
81. Vitold Gombrowicz. "Pornography" (1960).
Despite the fact that the provocative title does not correspond to the content, none of those who mastered this sensually-metaphysical novel were disappointed.
82. Kobo Abe... The Woman in the Sands (1962).
Russian melancholy without Russian open spaces. Escape vertically. From skyscrapers to a sand pit. Escape without the right to return, without the right to stop, without the right to rest, without any rights whatsoever. A woman can only cover with sand, only fall asleep. Which she does. The escape is considered successful: the escapee was not found.
83. Julio Cortazar. The Classics Game (1963).
A novel woven from novels. Interactive games, call, mister reader, live, I will do as you say. Latin Americans love to play, they are very reckless. This romance is a gamble literary games in a big way. Some are winning.
84. Nikolay Nosov. "Dunno on the Moon" (1964-1965).
The novel is a fairy tale. Only there are very few fairy tales here, but a lot of funny and scary ones. The most accurate, the most come true dystopia of the twentieth century. And now this book is still coming true and coming true.
85. John Fowles. The Magus (1965).
The life and terrifying adventures of the soul and meaning of modern Robinson Crusoe on, alas, an inhabited island of continuous nightmares. No one will ever forgive anyone and anything.
86. Gabriel García Márquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967).
The story of the fictional city of Macondo is full of drama, founded by a passionate tyrant leader interested in the mystical secrets of the universe. A mirror that reflects the real history of Colombia.
87. Philip K. Dick. "Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep" (1968).
A work that asked the question "Are we who we think we are, and is reality as our eyes see it?" It made serious philosophers and culturologists turn to science fiction and at the same time infected several generations of writers and filmmakers with specific paranoia.
88. Yuri Mamleev. "Rods" (1968).
A metaphysical novel about a mysterious esoteric circle whose members different ways trying to escape from the ordinary world to the beyond.
89. Alexander Solzhenitsyn. "In the first circle" (1968).
A novel about a "good" camp, a novel about something that, it would seem, is not so scary, which is probably why it acts so strongly. In a complete nightmare, you no longer feel anything, but here - when "you can live" - here you understand that there is no life and cannot be. The novel is not even devoid of humorous scenes, and this also makes it even stronger. Let's not forget that the circle may be the first one, but it is not a lifeline, but one of the circles of the Kolyma hell.
90. Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse Five, or Children's Crusade (1969).
A funny and crazy novel in a schizophrenic-telegraphic style. 1945 American and British bombing of Dresden, aliens dragging Billy Pilgrim to the planet Tralfamador. And "deeds like this," uttered every time someone dies.
91. Venedikt Erofeev. "Moscow-Petushki" (1970).
An underground encyclopedia of Russian spiritual life in the second half of the twentieth century. A funny and tragic Bible of a dervish, an alcoholic and a passion-bearer - who is closer to who.
92. Sasha Sokolov. School for Fools (1976).
One of those rare novels in which not what is more important, but how. The main character is by no means a schizophrenic boy, but the language is complex, metaphorical, musical.
93. Andrey Bitov. " Pushkin house"(1971).
About the charming conformist, philologist Leva Odoevtsev, who leaves the vile "soviet" 1960s in the golden XIX century, so as not to get dirty. Truly an encyclopedia Soviet life, an organic part of which is the great Russian literature.
94. Eduard Limonov. "It's me - Eddie" (1979).
A confession novel that became one of the most shocking books of its time due to the author's utmost frankness.
95. Vasily Aksenov. "Crimea Island" (1979).
The Taiwanese version of Russian history: the Bolsheviks did not get the Crimea in the Civil. The plot is fantastic, but the feelings and actions of the characters are real. And noble ones. For which they have to pay very dearly.
96. Milan Kundera. " Unbearable lightness being "(1984).
Intimate life against the backdrop of political cataclysms. And the conclusion is that any choice is unimportant, "what happened once might not have happened at all."
97. Vladimir Voinovich. "Moscow 2042" (1987).
The most sophisticated work of the writer. Four utopias inserted into each other like nesting dolls. Chronotope tricks and other fun. And also - the most eccentric manifestations of the Russian mentality in all its glory.
98. Vladimir Sorokin. "Novel" (1994).
The book is primarily for writers. The novel, the hero of "Roman", arrives in a typically Russian village, where he lives a typical village life - everything is like in the realistic novels of the 19th century. But the ending - a special one, Sorokin's one - symbolizes the end of traditional novel thinking.
99. Victor Pelevin. Chapaev and Emptiness (1996).
Buddhist thriller, mystical thriller about two eras (1918 and 1990s). Which of the epochs is real is unknown, and it does not matter. A keen sense of life in different dimensions, flavored with trademark irony. Sometimes it is even breathtaking. Scary and fun.
100. Vladimir Sorokin. Blue Lard (1999).
The most scandalous novel by this author. Stormy plot, whirlpool of events. A mesmerizing play with the language - like in a symphony. Chinaized Russia of the future, Stalin and Hitler in the past, and much more. But in general, when you finish reading, it breaks down to tears.
Books are one of greatest legacies 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 100 of the best books of all times and peoples, which must be read. In this list you will find not only classical works, but also modern books that have left their mark on history quite recently.
1 Mikhail Bulgakov
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 a whole and bright history that can turn your world upside down. And yes, this is Buckley's favorite book!
2
Fedor 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
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
Michael 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 man out of an animal, but it is impossible to deduce an "animal" from a man.
5
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
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
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
Arthur 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
Oscar 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
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
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
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 backdrop of the war he experienced.
13
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
The history of the Russian soul and stupidity. And the amazing style and language of the author makes the proposals sparkle with colors and shades that fully reveal the history of our people.
14
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
Emily Brontë
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
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
Hermann Hesse
The book simply turns over all ideas about life. After reading it, it is no longer possible to get rid of the feeling that you have become one step closer to something incredible. This book has answers to many questions.
18
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.
20
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Boris Pasternak
The beginning of the twentieth century. 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
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
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
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
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
Victor 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
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
Albert Camus
36
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
46
Ray Bradbury
Books are our future, but 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
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
Jack London
Alaska, late 19th century. The era of the gold rush. And among human greed lives a wolf named White Fang.
50
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
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
Fedor Dostoevsky
53
Charlotte Brontë
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
Ernest Hemingway
A little story from the life of himself an ordinary person... But reading this work, you penetrate into an amazing world that is full of emotions.
55
Francis Scott Fitzgerald
A great romance that is filled with feelings. The beginning of the 20th century awaits on the pages of the book, when people were full of illusions and hopes. This story is about life values and true love.
56
Alexandr Duma
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
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.
59
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 do anything to catch the criminal.
60
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
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. There will definitely not be a happy ending in this book.
62
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A fantastic tale that describes the life of the stalker Redrick Shewhart, who from anomalous zones extraterrestrial artifacts are mined on Earth.
63
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
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
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
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
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
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
Ayn Rand
Socialists come to power and set a course for equal opportunities. The authorities believe that the talented and the wealthy should improve the welfare of others. But instead of a happy future, the familiar world is plunging into chaos.
71
Somerset 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
Aldous Huxley
The novel is a dystopia. The novel is a satire. The world where Henry Ford became a god, and the creation of the first Ford T car is considered the beginning of time. People are simply raised, and they do not know anything about feelings.
75
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
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 world around and people.
77
Irwin Welch
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
Herman 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
Joseph 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
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.
82
Joanne Rowling
83
Roger Zelazny
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
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
Honore de Balzac
An amazing story about the boundless and sacrificial love of a father for his children. About love that has never been mutual. About the love that killed Goriot's father.
86
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
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
Stendhal
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 tell the difference between them.
89
Lev Tolstoy
An epic novel that describes an entire era, delving into historical realities and art world 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 acquaint the reader with by different people and their stories.
98
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.
100
Samuel Beckett
An amazing play, where everyone defines the mysterious personality of Godot 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?
I would like to include many more books in this top. Therefore, dear readers, write in the comments about those books that you think are the best. We will add books to the top and with your help we will expand it to the 1000 best books of all times and peoples.
Of all the works of world literature, one could easily make a list of hundreds or even a thousand of the best. Some of them are obligatory for studying at school, you get to know other authors in your conscious life, and sometimes you carry your favorite works throughout your life. Every year there are new books written by no less talented authors, many of them are successfully filmed, and it seems that printed editions are a thing of the past. But, despite this, the best works of world literature remain always interesting and relevant for the modern reader.
Today this novel could be called feminine, if not for the skill and special ironic syllable of the author. Jane Austen very accurately conveys the entire atmosphere that reigned at that time in aristocratic English society. The book touches upon such problems that remain relevant always: upbringing, marriage, morality, education. The novel, published only 15 years after writing, completes the top 10 best works of world literature.
Thanks to the novel, the reader manages to plunge into the era that took root in the United States after the First World War. This piece of world literature describes not only the fun and carefree life of wealthy American youth, but also its other side. The author shows that the main character of the novel, Jay Gatsby, wasted his abilities and irrepressible energy on empty goals: a smart life and a stupid spoiled woman. The book gained particular popularity in the 50s of the last century. In many English-speaking countries of the world, the work is included in the course of literature, compulsory for study.
The book is based on the history of the relationship between an adult man in love and twelve year old girl... The immoral lifestyle of the protagonist Humbert and young Lolita does not bring them happiness and leads to a tragic ending. The work was successfully filmed several times and to this day is considered one of the best in world literature. The scandalous novel, which simultaneously with the problems brought the author fame and prosperity, in different years was banned from publication in France, England, South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand.
This is one of the best works not only in literature, but also in world drama. The plot of the play includes tragic story Danish prince who wants to take revenge on his uncle for the murder of the king's father. The first staging of the work on stage dates back to 1600. The shadow of Hamlet's father was played by Shakespeare himself. The tragedy has been translated into Russian alone more than 30 times. IN different countries the world, the work is sold and popular, both in theatrical performances and on the screen.
The author in his philosophical and psychological romance touches upon the issues of good and evil, freedom, morality and responsibility. The protagonist of the work, Rodion Raskolnikov, commits murder for the sake of possible wealth, but the pangs of conscience begin to haunt him. The poor student first hides his profit, and then confesses to the crime. Raskolnikov was sentenced to eight years of hard labor, to serve which his beloved Sonya Marmeladova comes to help him. This work is required for study in the school literature course.
The second work of the ancient Greek poet Homer, written in the 8th century BC, laid the foundation for all world literature. The work tells about life mythical hero Odysseus, who returns after the Trojan War to Ithaca, where his wife Penelope is waiting for him. On the way, the hero-navigator is warned of dangers, but an irresistible desire to be at home with his family, as well as intelligence, prudence, resourcefulness, cunning help him to emerge victorious in battles and return to his wife. Over the years, Homer's poem was recognized as the best among other works of world literature.
The main work of the life of a modernist writer is a seven-volume epic, called one of the best works of the 20th century. All the novels in the cycle are semi-autobiographical. The prototypes of the heroes were people from the real environment of the writer. All volumes were published in France from 1913 to 1927, the last three of them were published after the death of the author. The work is considered a classic of French literature, and has been translated into several languages of the world.
One of the key works of the era of realism was first published in France in 1856. A feature of the novel is the use of elements of literary naturalism in its writing. The author so clearly traced all the details in the appearance and character of people that there were no good characters left in his work. According to most modern publications, Madame Bovary is one of the three best in world literature. This was also noted by I.S. Turgenev, who was an admirer of the work of the realist prose writer Gustave Flaubert.
An epic novel by the great Russian writer L.N. Tolstoy from the moment of its first publication to this day is considered a masterpiece of world literature. The book is striking in its scale. The work shows the life of different strata of Russian society in the era Napoleonic Wars 1905-1912. The author, as an expert on the psychology of his people, was able to accurately reflect these features in the character and behavior of his heroes. It is known that the handwritten text of the novel is more than 5 thousand pages. The work "War and Peace" has been translated into different languages of the world and has been filmed more than 10 times.
The work topping the list is considered a bestseller in world literature. The main character of the novel, created by the Spanish writer, has become the prototype of the works of other authors more than once. The personality of Don Quixote has always been under close scrutiny and study of literary scholars, philosophers, classics of world literature and critics. Cervantes' presentation of the adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza was filmed more than 50 times, and a virtual museum was even opened in Moscow in honor of the protagonist.