The Definitive List of 100 Classic Novels to Read Before You Die
And 25 Classics You Can Skip
Several weeks ago, I stumbled on an article by Stephen Thomas that made me absolutely lose my mind. Thomas, who describes himself as a “center-left literary thinker,” put together a list of 75 classic books that he categorizes as “good” and 25 classic books that he categorizes as “bad.” As one might expect from an author who makes several identity-based disclaimers before putting forth his picks, the list commits egregious sins such as categorizing works by William Faulkner under the “bad” category and works by James Baldwin under the “good” category. Because this list will circulate the Internet and lead many people astray, I must immediately save the general populace from living with the impression that The Handmaid’s Tale is a better book than The Master and Margarita—a grave error that might absolutely ruin your entire intellectual life. So, instead, I present the definitive list of 100 classics to read before you die—written by someone with a brain.
Listen—I have no doubt that Thomas is well-read. But given the overwhelming presence of leftist thinkers in the literary world, recent lists of the great classics have been hijacked by identity considerations and often privilege certain themes over others. And I am almost certain that a list that places Baldwin over Faulkner is motivated by themes rather than objective literary quality—The Sound and the Fury is a masterpiece; Giovanni’s Room is a terrible book.
Because I have made it my mission to write about great literature without such biases, a more objective list is in order.
I do generally try my best to respect different people’s opinions on literature because the field is by nature subjective, but I did absolutely lose my mind with the degradation of my favorite author—William Faulkner—and the classification of The Idiot as middling in quality, so in this particular case, I reserve the right to launch an ad hominem attack. You do not touch Faulkner (again—it is likely that he was placed in the “bad” category more for certain political views that he held than the quality of his work—and as readers of Pens and Poison know, these sorts of politically motivated judgements drive me absolutely mad). In any case, sir, I mean this with all due respect, but I have little patience for someone who attacks Faulkner and venerates Baldwin, so I will be going at this with maximal aggression.
N.B. My picks are ranked in no particular order (because you really should read all of them) and are meant to present a broad array of books to read before you die—and books that you can probably avoid.
I tried (and failed miserably) not to repeat authors on the list, but some authors are just so good (or so bad) as to merit two or even three mentions (Dostoyevsky took up four slots—oops). I have kept this particular list to novels or broader works of fiction in novelistic form (hence why Shakespeare is absent—otherwise he and several other poets and playwrights would, of course, make appearances).
Yes—I have read every single book on this list. I am sure there are a few additional books that I would add that I have not yet read, but I have read the vast majority of the great classics at this point, so I suspect that there are only a few that may be missing.
Without further ado—Liza’s expert judgement on the great classic works of literature.
100 Books to Read Before You Die
The Master and Margarita
Crime and Punishment
The Brothers Karamazov
The Idiot
Notes from the Underground
Anna Karenina
War and Peace
Middlemarch
Daniel Deronda
Jane Eyre
Vanity Fair
The Way We Live Now
Bleak House
David Copperfield
Great Expectations
Madame Bovary
The Red and the Black
Far from the Madding Crowd
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Portrait of a Lady
The Stranger
Wuthering Heights
The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling
The Sound and Fury
Absalom, Absalom!
As I Lay Dying
Heart of Darkness
Lolita
Pale Fire
The Sun Also Rises
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Beware of Pity
Chess Story
Doctor Faustus (Mann)
The Magic Mountain
Death in Venice
Swann’s Way
White Noise
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Catcher in the Rye
Franny and Zooey
The Great Gatsby
Tender is the Night
East of Eden
Grapes of Wrath
American Pastoral
Portnoy’s Complaint
Darkness at Noon
Brideshead Revisited
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Age of Innocence
The House of Mirth
Ethan Frome
Brave New World
1984
Animal Farm
The Bell Jar
Dead Souls
The Count of Monte Cristo
Gone With the Wind
A Clockwork Orange
Of Human Bondage
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Forsyte Saga
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Pride and Prejudice
Emma
The Metamorphosis
Moby Dick
A Separate Peace
Fahrenheit 451
Woman in White
The New York Trilogy
Catch-22
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Little Prince
The Adventures of Augie March
Ulysses
Don Quixote
The Decameron
The Screwtape Letters
All Quiet on the Western Front
Dracula
Les Misérables
Doctor Zhivago
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Siddhartha
A Room with a View
Night
Frankenstein
In Cold Blood
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
The Immoralist
The Golovlyov Family
Stoner
Life and Fate
Ficciones
25 Classic Novels You Can Skip
Giovanni’s Room1
The Handmaid’s Tale
Mansfield Park
Père Goriot
North and South
Three Lives
Mrs. Dalloway
To the Lighthouse2
Beloved
Song of Solomon
Sula3
The Crying of Lot 49
The Awakening
Walden
Candide
The Alchemist
Finnegans Wake
The Yellow Wallpaper
Play It As It Lays
The Turn of the Screw
Never Let Me Go
The Rainbow
Babbitt
Blood Meridian
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
If you would like to contest my list—and call me an ignoramus and a dullard in the process—I readily accept the challenge and invite you to create your own definitive book ranking. Until then, I will operate under the assumption that this is the best list that you will ever find.
You can also fight it out in the comments, but that is less interesting.
I will be writing a follow-up article explaining why James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Virginia Woolf suck (hint—they tackle particularist rather than universal themes).
Thanks to Stephen Thomas for the inspiration in the work below.
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Giovanni’s Room is legitimately the worst book I have ever read, and I read a lot. Would anyone read this book if it were not about a man of a certain race and a certain sexuality? The answer is no.
Virginia Woolf sucks, and I will die on this hill.
Toni Morrison somehow manages to suck more than Virginia Woolf, and I will also die on this hill.
Can’t believe I read this until the point where she says Toni Morrison, Baldwin and Virginia Woolf suck… only commenting this to point out that anyone who argues that a book about the particularities of experience cannot be universal is inherently operating from a racist/sexist/ableist (all the ‘ist’ basically) standpoint. Middlemarch, Gone with the wind and Madam Bovary (all great books) are ALSO about particular experiences albeit white ones.
Smacks of arrogance- there are many choices I agree with, some I don't, but to claim you have identified an objective list of the 100 greatest literary works is hubris.