Each writer had to select his or her own list of ten books.
The books selected by this process and listed here are not ranked or categorized in any way; the organizers have stated that "they are all on an equal footing," with the exception of Don Quixote which was given the distinction "best literary work ever written." The following list organizes the works alphabetically by author.[1]
| Title |
Author |
Year |
Country |
Language |
| Things Fall Apart |
Achebe, ChinuaChinua Achebe |
70031958000000000001958 |
Nigeria |
English |
| Fairy tales |
Andersen, Hans ChristianHans Christian Andersen |
70031835000000000001835–37 |
Denmark |
Danish |
| The Divine Comedy |
Alighieri, DanteDante Alighieri |
70031265000000000001265–1321 |
Italy |
Italian |
| Epic of Gilgamesh |
Anonymous |
299683000000000000018th – 17th century BCE |
Sumer and Akkadian Empire |
Akkadian |
| Book of Job |
Anonymous |
29975000000000000006th – 4th century BCE |
Achaemenid Empire |
Hebrew |
| One Thousand and One Nights |
Anonymous |
7002700000000000000700–1500 |
India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt |
Persian |
| Njál's Saga |
Anonymous |
700312000000000000013th century |
Iceland |
Old Norse |
| Pride and Prejudice |
Austen, JaneJane Austen |
70031813000000000001813 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Le Père Goriot |
de Balzac, HonoréHonoré de Balzac |
70031835000000000001835 |
France |
French |
| Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, a trilogy |
Beckett, SamuelSamuel Beckett |
70031951000000000001951–53 |
Republic of Ireland |
French, English |
| The Decameron |
Boccaccio, GiovanniGiovanni Boccaccio |
70031349000000000001349–53 |
Ravenna |
Italian |
| Ficciones |
Borges, Jorge LuisJorge Luis Borges |
70031944000000000001944–86 |
Argentina |
Spanish |
| Wuthering Heights |
Brontë, EmilyEmily Brontë |
70031847000000000001847 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| The Stranger |
Camus, AlbertAlbert Camus |
70031942000000000001942 |
Algeria, French Empire |
French |
| Poems |
Celan, PaulPaul Celan |
70031952000000000001952 |
Romania, France |
German |
| Journey to the End of the Night |
Céline, Louis-FerdinandLouis-Ferdinand Céline |
70031932000000000001932 |
France |
French |
| Don Quixote |
Cervantes, Miguel deMiguel de Cervantes |
70031605000000000001605 (part 1), 1615 (part 2) |
Spain |
Spanish |
| The Canterbury Tales |
Chaucer, GeoffreyGeoffrey Chaucer |
700313000000000000014th century |
England |
English |
| Stories |
Chekhov, AntonAnton Chekhov |
70031886000000000001886 |
Russia |
Russian |
| Nostromo |
Conrad, JosephJoseph Conrad |
70031904000000000001904 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Great Expectations |
Dickens, CharlesCharles Dickens |
70031861000000000001861 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Jacques the Fatalist |
Diderot, DenisDenis Diderot |
70031796000000000001796 |
France |
French |
| Berlin Alexanderplatz |
Döblin, AlfredAlfred Döblin |
70031929000000000001929 |
Germany |
German |
| Crime and Punishment |
Dostoevsky, FyodorFyodor Dostoevsky |
70031866000000000001866 |
Russia |
Russian |
| The Idiot |
Dostoevsky, FyodorFyodor Dostoevsky |
70031869000000000001869 |
Russia |
Russian |
| The Possessed |
Dostoevsky, FyodorFyodor Dostoevsky |
70031872000000000001872 |
Russia |
Russian |
| The Brothers Karamazov |
Dostoevsky, FyodorFyodor Dostoevsky |
70031880000000000001880 |
Russia |
Russian |
| Middlemarch |
Eliot, GeorgeGeorge Eliot |
70031871000000000001871 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Invisible Man |
Ellison, RalphRalph Ellison |
70031952000000000001952 |
United States |
English |
| Medea |
Euripides |
2997569000000000000431 BCE |
Athens |
Classical Greek |
| Absalom, Absalom! |
Faulkner, WilliamWilliam Faulkner |
70031936000000000001936 |
United States |
English |
| The Sound and the Fury |
Faulkner, WilliamWilliam Faulkner |
70031929000000000001929 |
United States |
English |
| Madame Bovary |
Flaubert, GustaveGustave Flaubert |
70031857000000000001857 |
France |
French |
| Sentimental Education |
Flaubert, GustaveGustave Flaubert |
70031869000000000001869 |
France |
French |
| Gypsy Ballads |
Lorca, Federico GarcíaFederico García Lorca |
70031928000000000001928 |
Spain |
Spanish |
| One Hundred Years of Solitude |
Márquez, Gabriel GarcíaGabriel García Márquez |
70031967000000000001967 |
Colombia |
Spanish |
| Love in the Time of Cholera |
Márquez, Gabriel GarcíaGabriel García Márquez |
70031985000000000001985 |
Colombia |
Spanish |
| Faust |
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang vonJohann Wolfgang von Goethe |
70031832000000000001832 |
Saxe-Weimar |
German |
| Dead Souls |
Gogol, NikolaiNikolai Gogol |
70031842000000000001842 |
Russia |
Russian |
| The Tin Drum |
Grass, GünterGünter Grass |
70031959000000000001959 |
Germany |
German |
| The Devil to Pay in the Backlands |
Guimarães Rosa, JoãoJoão Guimarães Rosa |
70031956000000000001956 |
Brazil |
Portuguese |
| Hunger |
Hamsun, KnutKnut Hamsun |
70031890000000000001890 |
Norway |
Norwegian |
| The Old Man and the Sea |
Hemingway, ErnestErnest Hemingway |
70031952000000000001952 |
United States |
English |
| Iliad |
Homer |
2997150000000000000850–750 BCE |
Possibly Smyrna |
Classical Greek |
| Odyssey |
Homer |
29973000000000000008th century BCE |
Possibly Smyrna |
Classical Greek |
| A Doll's House |
Ibsen, HenrikHenrik Ibsen |
70031879000000000001879 |
Norway |
Norwegian |
| Ulysses |
Joyce, JamesJames Joyce |
70031922000000000001922 |
Irish Free State |
English |
| Stories |
Kafka, FranzFranz Kafka |
70031924000000000001924 |
Austria |
German |
| The Trial |
Kafka, FranzFranz Kafka |
70031925000000000001925 |
Austria |
German |
| The Castle |
Kafka, FranzFranz Kafka |
70031926000000000001926 |
Austria |
German |
| Shakuntala |
Kālidāsa |
29999000000000000001st century BCE – 4th century CE |
India |
Sanskrit |
| The Sound of the Mountain |
Kawabata, YasunariYasunari Kawabata |
70031954000000000001954 |
Japan |
Japanese |
| Zorba the Greek |
Kazantzakis, NikosNikos Kazantzakis |
70031946000000000001946 |
Greece |
Greek |
| Sons and Lovers |
Lawrence, D. H.D. H. Lawrence |
70031913000000000001913 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Independent People |
Laxness, HalldórHalldór Laxness |
70031934000000000001934–35 |
Iceland |
Icelandic |
| Poems |
Leopardi, GiacomoGiacomo Leopardi |
70031818000000000001818 |
Italy |
Italian |
| The Golden Notebook |
Lessing, DorisDoris Lessing |
70031962000000000001962 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Pippi Longstocking |
Lindgren, AstridAstrid Lindgren |
70031945000000000001945 |
Sweden |
Swedish |
| A Madman's Diary |
Xun, LuLu Xun |
70031918000000000001918 |
China |
Chinese |
| Children of Gebelawi |
Mahfouz, NaguibNaguib Mahfouz |
70031959000000000001959 |
Egypt |
Arabic |
| Buddenbrooks |
Mann, ThomasThomas Mann |
70031901000000000001901 |
Germany |
German |
| The Magic Mountain |
Mann, ThomasThomas Mann |
70031924000000000001924 |
Germany |
German |
| Moby-Dick |
Melville, HermanHerman Melville |
70031851000000000001851 |
United States |
English |
| Essays |
Montaigne, Michel deMichel de Montaigne |
70031595000000000001595 |
France |
French |
| History |
Morante, ElsaElsa Morante |
70031974000000000001974 |
Italy |
Italian |
| Beloved |
Morrison, ToniToni Morrison |
70031987000000000001987 |
United States |
English |
| The Tale of Genji |
Shikibu, MurasakiMurasaki Shikibu |
700310000000000000011th century |
Japan |
Japanese |
| The Man Without Qualities |
Musil, RobertRobert Musil |
70031930000000000001930–32 |
Austria |
German |
| Lolita |
Nabokov, VladimirVladimir Nabokov |
70031955000000000001955 |
Russia/United States |
English |
| Nineteen Eighty-Four |
Orwell, GeorgeGeorge Orwell |
70031949000000000001949 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Metamorphoses |
Ovid |
70001000000000000001st century CE |
Roman Empire |
Classical Latin |
| The Book of Disquiet |
Pessoa, FernandoFernando Pessoa |
70031928000000000001928 |
Portugal |
Portuguese |
| Tales |
Poe, Edgar AllanEdgar Allan Poe |
700318000000000000019th century |
United States |
English |
| In Search of Lost Time |
Proust, MarcelMarcel Proust |
70031913000000000001913–27 |
France |
French |
| The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel |
Rabelais, FrançoisFrançois Rabelais |
70031532000000000001532–34 |
France |
French |
| Pedro Páramo |
Rulfo, JuanJuan Rulfo |
70031955000000000001955 |
Mexico |
Spanish |
| Masnavi |
Rumi |
70031258000000000001258–73 |
Persia, Mongol Empire |
Persian |
| Midnight's Children |
Rushdie, SalmanSalman Rushdie |
70031981000000000001981 |
United Kingdom, India |
English |
| Bostan |
Saadi |
70031257000000000001257 |
Persia, Mongol Empire |
Persian |
| Season of Migration to the North |
Salih, TayebTayeb Salih |
70031966000000000001966 |
Sudan |
Arabic |
| Blindness |
Saramago, JoséJosé Saramago |
70031995000000000001995 |
Portugal |
Portuguese |
| Hamlet |
Shakespeare, WilliamWilliam Shakespeare |
70031603000000000001603 |
England |
English |
| King Lear |
Shakespeare, WilliamWilliam Shakespeare |
70031608000000000001608 |
England |
English |
| Othello |
Shakespeare, WilliamWilliam Shakespeare |
70031609000000000001609 |
England |
English |
| Oedipus the King |
Sophocles |
2997570000000000000430 BCE |
Athens |
Classical Greek |
| The Red and the Black |
Stendhal |
70031830000000000001830 |
France |
French |
| Tristram Shandy |
Sterne, LaurenceLaurence Sterne |
70031760000000000001760 |
England |
English |
| Confessions of Zeno |
Svevo, ItaloItalo Svevo |
70031923000000000001923 |
Italy |
Italian |
| Gulliver's Travels |
Swift, JonathanJonathan Swift |
70031726000000000001726 |
Ireland |
English |
| War and Peace |
Tolstoy, LeoLeo Tolstoy |
70031865000000000001865–1869 |
Russia |
Russian |
| Anna Karenina |
Tolstoy, LeoLeo Tolstoy |
70031877000000000001877 |
Russia |
Russian |
| The Death of Ivan Ilyich |
Tolstoy, LeoLeo Tolstoy |
70031886000000000001886 |
Russia |
Russian |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
Twain, MarkMark Twain |
70031884000000000001884 |
United States |
English |
| Ramayana |
Valmiki |
29978000000000000003rd century BCE – 3rd century CE |
India |
Sanskrit |
| Aeneid |
Virgil |
299871000000000000029–19 BCE |
Roman Empire |
Classical Latin |
| Mahabharata |
Vyasa |
29977000000000000004th century BCE – 4th century CE |
India |
Sanskrit |
| Leaves of Grass |
Whitman, WaltWalt Whitman |
70031855000000000001855 |
United States |
English |
| Mrs Dalloway |
Woolf, VirginiaVirginia Woolf |
70031925000000000001925 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| To the Lighthouse |
Woolf, VirginiaVirginia Woolf |
70031927000000000001927 |
United Kingdom |
English |
| Memoirs of Hadrian |
Yourcenar, MargueriteMarguerite Yourcenar |
70031951000000000001951 |
France |
French |
| Name |
Country |
| Aitmatov, ChinghizChinghiz Aitmatov |
Kyrgyzstan |
| Altan, AhmetAhmet Altan |
Turkey |
| Appelfeld, AharonAharon Appelfeld |
Israel |
| Auster, PaulPaul Auster |
United States |
| Azúa, Félix deFélix de Azúa |
Spain |
| Barnes, JulianJulian Barnes |
United Kingdom |
| Behbahani, SiminSimin Behbahani |
Iran |
| Bly, RobertRobert Bly |
United States |
| Brink, AndréAndré Brink |
South Africa |
| Brøgger, SuzanneSuzanne Brøgger |
Denmark |
| Byatt, A. S.A. S. Byatt |
United Kingdom |
| Carey, PeterPeter Carey |
Australia |
| Cerda, MarthaMartha Cerda |
Mexico |
| Chang, JungJung Chang |
China/United Kingdom |
| Condé, MaryseMaryse Condé |
France |
| Couto, MiaMia Couto |
Mozambique |
| Crace, JimJim Crace |
United Kingdom |
| Danticat, EdwidgeEdwidge Danticat |
Haiti |
| Dao, BeiBei Dao |
China |
| Djebar, AssiaAssia Djebar |
Algeria |
| Dowlatabadi, MahmoudMahmoud Dowlatabadi |
Iran |
| Echenoz, JeanJean Echenoz |
France |
| Ekman, KerstinKerstin Ekman |
Sweden |
| Englander, NathanNathan Englander |
United States |
| Enzensberger, Hans MagnusHans Magnus Enzensberger |
Germany |
| Estévez, EmilioEmilio Estévez |
Cuba |
| Farah, NuruddinNuruddin Farah |
Somalia |
| Fløgstad, KjartanKjartan Fløgstad |
Norway |
| Fosse, JonJon Fosse |
Norway |
| Frame, JanetJanet Frame |
New Zealand |
| French, MarilynMarilyn French |
United States |
| Fuentes, CarlosCarlos Fuentes |
Mexico |
| Ghazzawi, IzzatIzzat Ghazzawi |
Palestine |
| Ghosh, AmitavAmitav Ghosh |
India |
| Gimferrer, PerePere Gimferrer |
Spain |
| Gordimer, NadineNadine Gordimer |
South Africa |
| Grossman, DavidDavid Grossman |
Israel |
| Guðmundsson, Einar MárEinar Már Guðmundsson |
Iceland |
| Heaney, SeamusSeamus Heaney |
Ireland |
| Hein, ChristophChristoph Hein |
Germany |
| Hemon, AleksandarAleksandar Hemon |
Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| Hoffman, AliceAlice Hoffman |
United States |
| Hove, ChenjeraiChenjerai Hove |
Zimbabwe |
| Ibrahim, SonallahSonallah Ibrahim |
Egypt |
| Irving, JohnJohn Irving |
United States |
| Jersild, P. C.P. C. Jersild |
Sweden |
| Kemal, YasarYasar Kemal |
Turkey |
| Kjærstad, JanJan Kjærstad |
Norway |
| Kundera, MilanMilan Kundera |
Czech Republic/France |
| Lander, LeenaLeena Lander |
Finland |
| le Carré, JohnJohn le Carré |
United Kingdom |
| Lenz, SiegfriedSiegfried Lenz |
Germany |
| Lessing, DorisDoris Lessing |
United Kingdom |
| Lindgren, AstridAstrid Lindgren |
Sweden |
| Luik, ViiviViivi Luik |
Estonia |
| Maalouf, AminAmin Maalouf |
Lebanon/France |
| Magris, ClaudioClaudio Magris |
Italy |
| Mailer, NormanNorman Mailer |
United States |
| Martínez, Tomás EloyTomás Eloy Martínez |
Argentina |
| McCourt, FrankFrank McCourt |
Ireland/United States |
| Mehta, GitaGita Mehta |
India |
| Miranda, AnaAna Miranda |
Brazil |
| Mistry, RohintonRohinton Mistry |
India/Canada |
| Munif, Abdel RahmanAbdel Rahman Munif |
Saudi-Arabia |
| Müller, HertaHerta Müller |
Romania |
| Naipaul, V. S.V. S. Naipaul |
Trinidad/United Kingdom |
| Nooteboom, CeesCees Nooteboom |
Netherlands |
| Okri, BenBen Okri |
Nigeria/United Kingdom |
| Pamuk, OrhanOrhan Pamuk |
Turkey |
| Paretsky, SaraSara Paretsky |
United States |
| Phillips, Jayne AnneJayne Anne Phillips |
United States |
| Rasputin, ValentinValentin Rasputin |
Russia |
| Ribeiro, João UbaldoJoão Ubaldo Ribeiro |
Brazil |
| Robbe-Grillet, AlainAlain Robbe-Grillet |
France |
| Rushdie, SalmanSalman Rushdie |
India/United Kingdom |
| Saadawi, Nawal ElNawal El Saadawi |
Egypt |
| al-Shaykh, HananHanan al-Shaykh |
Lebanon |
| Sirees, NihadNihad Sirees |
Syria |
| Sonnevi, GöranGöran Sonnevi |
Sweden |
| Sontag, SusanSusan Sontag |
United States |
| Soyinka, WoleWole Soyinka |
Nigeria |
| Späth, GeroldGerold Späth |
Switzerland |
| Swift, GrahamGraham Swift |
United Kingdom |
| Tabucchi, AntonioAntonio Tabucchi |
Italy |
| al-Tikerly, FouadFouad al-Tikerly |
Iraq |
| Thomas, D. M.D. M. Thomas |
United Kingdom |
| Thorpe, AdamAdam Thorpe |
United Kingdom |
| Thorup, KirstenKirsten Thorup |
Denmark |
| Tkachenko, AleksandrAleksandr Tkachenko |
Russia |
| Toer, Pramoedya AnantaPramoedya Ananta Toer |
Indonesia |
| Tokarczuk, OlgaOlga Tokarczuk |
Poland |
| Tournier, MichelMichel Tournier |
France |
| Toussaint, Jean-PhilippeJean-Philippe Toussaint |
Belgium |
| Uzun, MehmedMehmed Uzun |
Turkey |
| Valkeapää, Nils-AslakNils-Aslak Valkeapää |
Sápmi |
| Vassilikos, VassilisVassilis Vassilikos |
Greece |
| Vera, YvonneYvonne Vera |
Zimbabwe |
| Weldon, FayFay Weldon |
United Kingdom |
| Wolf, ChristaChrista Wolf |
Germany |
| Yehoshua, A. B.A. B. Yehoshua |
Israel |
| Zariâb, SpôjmaïSpôjmaï Zariâb |
Afghanistan |
