Top 10 Greatest Novels of All Time

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  • čas přidán 30. 07. 2024
  • With these works of literature, authors turned inspiration into a lasting legacy. Join www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Greatest Novels of All Time. Click here to subscribe: czcams.com/users/subscription_c... or visit our channel page here: / watchmojo Also, check out our interactive Suggestion Tool at www.WatchMojo.com/suggest :)
    Special thanks to our users MikeyP, serendipity456, Spencer Blyton, Rihards Raudonis, Michael Napoli, Cherrycat, Marlon Jacques, Julia Light, Kevin James Yannutz and Lucas Fuzato for submitting the idea on our Suggestions Page at WatchMojo.com/suggest
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Komentáře • 6K

  • @Snailbarf
    @Snailbarf Před 5 lety +2246

    Let me take a wild guess. Books without movie clips were disqualified.

    • @technoswitch3296
      @technoswitch3296 Před 5 lety +37

      LMAO

    • @warrenpuckett4203
      @warrenpuckett4203 Před 4 lety +5

      I am more into ones like "A Boy and His Dog" from a graphic novel by Harlan Ellison. My kind of comedy.
      I read a lot besides those "recommended" and required for English classes.
      I also read "The Thirty Years that Shook Physics" by Gamov. Of course that was not required or suggested.

    • @ulyssesjoyce7734
      @ulyssesjoyce7734 Před 4 lety +2

      I agree. Movie clips could've been shown now and then, not most of the time..

    • @snoopy8481
      @snoopy8481 Před 4 lety

      😁😁

    • @iseekq
      @iseekq Před 4 lety +3

      MIke MIhaljevich I was thinking the same about their judgement. Why wasn’t The Master and Margarita on the list. An absolute masterpiece and no sign of it. Pfffft!

  • @nicholasreid1836
    @nicholasreid1836 Před 5 lety +1029

    This should really be called "Ten Books Senior American High School Kids Have Heard About [ and probably not actually read]"

    • @RadinV1
      @RadinV1 Před 4 lety +14

      Exactly

    • @mandalorianscum1138
      @mandalorianscum1138 Před 4 lety +15

      Few have read Moby Dick, Anna Karinena or war and peace! Those books can kill you! 😂😂😂 i'm a survivor of all three, but it was a struggle!

    • @lisamichels1825
      @lisamichels1825 Před 4 lety +2

      Ha ha you are correct!

    • @nicholasreid1836
      @nicholasreid1836 Před 4 lety +19

      @@mandalorianscum1138 I have read two of these three masterpieces. Excellent books. One simply has to get used to reading works for grown-ups.

    • @mandalorianscum1138
      @mandalorianscum1138 Před 4 lety +1

      @@nicholasreid1836 i don't read annything else, i love to chalenge myself!

  • @kgpar1960
    @kgpar1960 Před 4 lety +485

    Any attempt to select the top ten novels of all time, without breaking literary works into different categories, is, in my opinion, far too ambitious a quest.

    • @edtheman28
      @edtheman28 Před 4 lety +11

      Indubitably

    • @robertwill23
      @robertwill23 Před 4 lety +2

      What categories are those exactly? You suggest calling War and Peace epic war novel and Catcher in the Rye to b categorized as Bildungsroman Coming of age type? That's too neurotic. It is for genre fiction. Not for literary fiction.

    • @pookypoo1169
      @pookypoo1169 Před 4 lety

      True

    • @jamesalexander5623
      @jamesalexander5623 Před 4 lety

      No .... It's Stewpid!

    • @giahunggiang1797
      @giahunggiang1797 Před 4 lety +1

      A highschool knows "In search of the lost time"? HAHAHAHA xD

  • @robinknight3440
    @robinknight3440 Před 5 lety +338

    There’s no way to sum up the top ten greatest novels of all time. It’s just not possible. There are too many books out there, too many classics especially.

  • @jjjjjjjjjj11ify
    @jjjjjjjjjj11ify Před 8 lety +573

    Everyone is complaining that their favorite book isn't on the list but honestly making a top 10 books of all time list is simply imposible. It should really be top 10 thousand.

    • @paulrichardson5892
      @paulrichardson5892 Před 8 lety +1

      +jjjjjjjjjj11ify i agree.

    • @DevoMaxicus
      @DevoMaxicus Před 8 lety +22

      Surely everyone's own top ten book of all time is a snapshot that won't last long, new books added, older ones remembered after the first list was drawn up, favorite themes and plots and characters shifting as our lives develop. Variety is the spice of life, and man and woman don't live by ten books alone.

    • @milkshakes7758
      @milkshakes7758 Před 8 lety

      exactly

    • @edbarros3504
      @edbarros3504 Před 8 lety +7

      I agree, but this list is horrible

    • @paulrichardson5892
      @paulrichardson5892 Před 8 lety +8

      i agree too. everyone has a different view. I tend to rank the classic books in my top ten. They stand the test of time. Also societal values change fashions come and go. some books are deeper than others, Some are landmarks others are entertainment.My top two ,simply for quality of the prose are war and peace and wuthering heights. many will disagree but for me those rate. good luck with any top ten

  • @nayancat5321
    @nayancat5321 Před 7 lety +196

    Because it's not the greatest novel of all time if it's not made into a movie

    • @spencer1531
      @spencer1531 Před 7 lety +12

      Most classics where adapted to movies. It's not like they are discriminating.

    • @jizanthapus3099
      @jizanthapus3099 Před 7 lety +20

      Nayan D'Souza the Catcher in the rye has never been made into a movie and never will because the author hated movies and refused letting anyone have the rights to it even after he dies.

    • @daynaholgate4839
      @daynaholgate4839 Před 5 lety +2

      Spencer Not every book needs to be a movie 🙄

  • @jinhunterslay1638
    @jinhunterslay1638 Před 5 lety +169

    The Picture of Dorian Gray...

  • @TonyfromBham
    @TonyfromBham Před 6 lety +56

    People too often use “greatest” and “my favorite” interchangeably. These two categories are definitely not synonyms.

  • @jack_amie
    @jack_amie Před 8 lety +449

    The Brothers Karamazov? Not even an honorable mention?

    • @SP990
      @SP990 Před 6 lety +2

      Why do they even try😶

    • @ScottADeJong
      @ScottADeJong Před 6 lety +16

      I was thinking the same thing. I don't know how someone could possibly exclude that from a list of the best/most important novels of all time. I can only imagine they haven't read it.

    • @SuperAngelofglory
      @SuperAngelofglory Před 6 lety +8

      or "Les Miserables"

    • @kathrynhaught630
      @kathrynhaught630 Před 6 lety

      I thought that too.

    • @sonyatnp5778
      @sonyatnp5778 Před 5 lety +13

      as a Russian, I am really impressed that Dostoevsky is so popular. That is great)

  • @iNeologism
    @iNeologism Před 9 lety +132

    I feel like watchmojo produce videos like this to provoke people to click on the video and get views. How can you possibly rank something like this? At LEAST, you can break it down by the decade like you did with the movie list. This is ridiculous.

    • @WatchMojo
      @WatchMojo  Před 9 lety +16

      We ranked dictators. You find THIS ridiculous? ;)
      Signed
      Mr X

    • @sleepful1917
      @sleepful1917 Před 9 lety +1

      WatchMojo.com
      not to mention sandwhiches

    • @interista10100
      @interista10100 Před 9 lety +4

      WatchMojo.com You're right. Basically everything you guys do is idiotic. This is just an example of that.

    • @jqckthewolf1513
      @jqckthewolf1513 Před 9 lety

      LOTR not on this bullshit to the highest degree hang them or at least the hobbit and you signing everything is annoying

    • @NARKISDUDE
      @NARKISDUDE Před 9 lety

      WatchMojo.com hey he just gave you another series.

  • @saptorshighosh1049
    @saptorshighosh1049 Před 4 lety +75

    It was unfair not including any of Dostoyevsky's works 🤷

    • @weirdguy4948
      @weirdguy4948 Před 3 lety

      Bet you haven’t even read either of them

    • @saptorshighosh1049
      @saptorshighosh1049 Před 3 lety +11

      @@weirdguy4948 i didn't even know I had 25 likes on this one till you made your baseless assumption, thanks man.

    • @josephkoepke1251
      @josephkoepke1251 Před 3 lety +4

      @@saptorshighosh1049 and to put Anna Karenina #1? That book is overrated as hell. Its a culture piece drowned in metaphor. You can identify with Dostoyevsky's Raskolnikov, Alyosha, and the Underground man from Notes from Underground. Those characters were interesting and made you think. I was 200 pages into Anna Karenina and was like "CAN THIS BITCH DIE ALREADY?!" I know I'm smacking a historical "classic" in the face, but Tolstoy couldn't hold a candle to Dostoyevsky.

    • @bugle1100
      @bugle1100 Před 2 měsíci

      Big Dostoevsky fan, but he actually acknowledged Anna Karenina was a great novel. But I don’t see how Crime and Punishment or Brothers Karamazov don’t make the list.

  • @itzSHISS
    @itzSHISS Před 5 lety +51

    Top ten books with movies I can use to keep audience attention

  • @WatchMojo
    @WatchMojo  Před 9 lety +10

    Did you know that all of the newest WatchMojo clips are available for subtitling and captioning? Once English language captions have been added then videos become open to subtitling for over 160 languages! So if you want to make WatchMojo content available to your fellow country people then get started by clicking the settings button on the video and selecting "add subtitles/CC" under the subtitles/CC menu. If you need help getting started, email us at watch [at] watchmojo.com and Check out other videos available for subtitling here: czcams.com/play/PLmZTDWJGfRq04Igqy81cxkIHd9Pa_tL8V.html

  • @Brian_Spellman
    @Brian_Spellman Před 8 lety +500

    Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment deserves a listing.

    • @saulgoodmanbrah
      @saulgoodmanbrah Před 7 lety +3

      Ikr

    • @vozamaraktv-art5595
      @vozamaraktv-art5595 Před 7 lety +14

      So true! Such an unfair list, not even ann honourable mention of Crime and Punishment, but they included Moby Dick? Give me a break!

    • @zanerosenbaum3015
      @zanerosenbaum3015 Před 5 lety +6

      Brother Karamotzov does but not crime and punishment, it offers much less

    • @flavio7180
      @flavio7180 Před 5 lety

      Shine Joy Moby Dick is fantastic, don’t know why you’re mad but I agree other than that.

    • @noahi.1381
      @noahi.1381 Před 5 lety +6

      Well, this video is American

  • @misterpro8738
    @misterpro8738 Před 5 lety +123

    My personal list:
    10- The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
    9- Penpal - Dathan Auerbach
    8- War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
    7- The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
    6- Going Bovine - Libba Bray
    5- The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
    4- To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
    3- 1984 - George Orwell
    2- The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
    1- The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

    • @jackoconnor4303
      @jackoconnor4303 Před 5 lety +2

      Nice list

    • @misterpro8738
      @misterpro8738 Před 5 lety

      Jack O'Connor Thanks

    • @waldoabrysh3913
      @waldoabrysh3913 Před 2 lety +1

      The outsiders should be number one

    • @zebulynnhanson791
      @zebulynnhanson791 Před 2 lety

      💯

    • @conradjones3507
      @conradjones3507 Před 2 lety +4

      10. 1984
      9. The Catcher and the Rye
      8. Of Mice and Men
      7. Grapes of Wrath
      6. Death In the Afternoon
      5. For whom the Bell Tolls
      4. Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe
      3. To Kill a Mockingbird
      2. The Book Thief
      1. East Of Eden
      This is my personal favorites not the best

  • @jpuh4783
    @jpuh4783 Před 6 lety +64

    I thought “The Count of Monte Cristo” would be here.

    • @LivingEpicness1
      @LivingEpicness1 Před 4 lety +2

      My favourite!! The movie didn't do it justice. Wish they do a reboot.

    • @raspberrycrowns9494
      @raspberrycrowns9494 Před 4 lety +2

      Not that famous, I mean I love the book but compared to others in this list it's sort of not that popular ( except for no. 8 I have never heard of that book don't even remember the name )

    • @yelyharmony2047
      @yelyharmony2047 Před 4 lety +6

      @@raspberrycrowns9494 How on Earth "The count of Monte Cristo isn't famous?

    • @raspberrycrowns9494
      @raspberrycrowns9494 Před 4 lety +1

      @@yelyharmony2047 it's one of my favorites but it doesn't get enough recognition like say, Pride and Prejudice

    • @weirdguy4948
      @weirdguy4948 Před 3 lety +1

      @@raspberrycrowns9494 pride and prejudice sucks

  • @VictorWilliams12
    @VictorWilliams12 Před 9 lety +94

    You just called the bible a work of fiction

    • @VictorWilliams12
      @VictorWilliams12 Před 9 lety +4

      Same. But they basically are calling any and all religious literatures fake.

    • @VictorWilliams12
      @VictorWilliams12 Před 9 lety

      ***** time for me to move out of America 😂

    • @VictorWilliams12
      @VictorWilliams12 Před 9 lety

      ***** you're right. 😂 I'm just gonna live a life of a recluse. And disable all CZcams comments

    • @VictorWilliams12
      @VictorWilliams12 Před 9 lety

      Miguel Tejo oops

  • @WatchMojo
    @WatchMojo  Před 9 lety +114

    Everyone, please be aware that we are also working on a list of the Top 10 Novels of the Twentieth Century, so if your favourite novel isn't on this list it might be on that one! Yes, this list did have some novels from the 20th century on it but they also stacked up against novels from other time periods to make our all time list.

  • @ReactarooSkidoo
    @ReactarooSkidoo Před 4 lety +10

    How The Brothers Karamazov wasn't mentioned here is beyond me.

  • @henrydavis8910
    @henrydavis8910 Před 4 lety +26

    Jane Eyre is my favorite classic novel. Not only is it a compelling story, but it is couched in such exquisite prose as to make the vehicle as enjoyable as the journey. Strangely and unfortunately, Bronte's other works were nowhere near as good as this one.

  • @MetaphorInVain
    @MetaphorInVain Před 9 lety +623

    You can't simply do a list like this and not mention Animal Farm...

    • @joewilson2929
      @joewilson2929 Před 9 lety +55

      MetaphorInVain I liked 1984 more but ya. Wheres the Orwell?

    • @blutackguy
      @blutackguy Před 9 lety +6

      YEAH! WHERE'S ANIMAL FARM???!!!

    • @soby26
      @soby26 Před 9 lety +18

      I do agree that Animal Farm is great, but it is more of a novella than a novel.

    • @NightOwlReader2790
      @NightOwlReader2790 Před 9 lety +1

      Implantedclub If that was intend as an insult, I don't think anyone will get offended by that. Animal Farm is a really good book.

    • @plazasta
      @plazasta Před 9 lety +3

      well they mentioned a similar book by the same author (1984)

  • @ruthjohnson4380
    @ruthjohnson4380 Před 8 lety +263

    Top ten novels is like saying " Who is your favorite child?" But I am disappointed that Victor Hugo isn't on the list. Either "Les Miserables" or "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" is a great read. No Bronte on the list, either?

    • @Byakkun06
      @Byakkun06 Před 8 lety +12

      Oh God !!! All those books are from my all time favourite, I didn't think people like you still exist, you saved me, thanks :D

    • @hannahmoran2149
      @hannahmoran2149 Před 8 lety +4

      "Les Miserables" is absolutely in my top 10, maybe even top 5 books of all time. However, I've never actually read "The Brothers Karamozov".

    • @jawharali
      @jawharali Před 8 lety +11

      The Brother Karmazove is the best piece of litrature in human history.

    • @edbarros3504
      @edbarros3504 Před 8 lety +7

      I adore Lolita and To Kill Mockinbird, but I don't think they deserve to be on the list.

    • @SublimeSati
      @SublimeSati Před 8 lety

      The epitome of a Russian Novel. Gotta be in any top 10 list.

  • @slime_entertainment_inc.
    @slime_entertainment_inc. Před 6 lety +297

    The Sound and the Fury
    Ulysses
    Crime and Punishment
    Brothers Karamazov
    The Trial

    • @awhyte55
      @awhyte55 Před 5 lety +10

      Ulysses is suspiciously absent. Crime and Punishment should also be in the Top Ten.

    • @lawrencesumblin3325
      @lawrencesumblin3325 Před 5 lety +2

      Great list.

    • @jamesaritchie1
      @jamesaritchie1 Před 4 lety +1

      Otherwise known as "five books you've never read".

    • @BartasRapowanie
      @BartasRapowanie Před 4 lety +5

      Not a one book by hemingway
      No catch 22
      1984 is a fucking honorable mention
      Also fucking draculla maybe?

    • @Octavio12341000
      @Octavio12341000 Před 4 lety

      Many people have told me that Ulysses is very difficult to read. Is that true?

  • @samaelrising666
    @samaelrising666 Před 6 lety +100

    The Brothers Karamatzov? Hello?!!!

    • @agall1013
      @agall1013 Před 4 lety

      what translation do you recommend??

    • @bbblueblun
      @bbblueblun Před 4 lety +3

      beanie angela Pevear and Volokhonsky are often preferred for Russian translations. I have the Constance one tho.

    • @jonahpoulard7674
      @jonahpoulard7674 Před 4 lety

      @@agall1013 david mcduff for penguin classics was excellent

    • @jedscratchard1204
      @jedscratchard1204 Před 4 lety +1

      greatest novel of all time. Not an exaggeration

  • @scaleofc1966
    @scaleofc1966 Před 7 lety +959

    What did the librarian say to the student?
    Read more

  • @MrKJ444
    @MrKJ444 Před 9 lety +28

    The count of monte Cristo? Les Misarables? All quiet on the western front? A tale of two cities? The lord of the rings as an Honorable mention? What the hell are you guys smoking

    • @lordmaximus5
      @lordmaximus5 Před 9 lety +3

      Ikr

    • @StazoLT
      @StazoLT Před 9 lety

      MrKJ444 All quiet on the western front FTW! And isn't LOTR too complex to be a novel? Idk tho

    • @trey1645
      @trey1645 Před 9 lety

      I'm gonna have to agree with Mr. Poe on this one.

    • @lordmaximus5
      @lordmaximus5 Před 9 lety +2

      legofreak446 poe's poems pwn posers.

    • @mitchlmitten5874
      @mitchlmitten5874 Před 9 lety +1

      I just finished reading Tale of Two Cities. That book was *SO* hard, but *SO* good!

  • @michaelbillypec
    @michaelbillypec Před 6 lety +43

    100 Years of Solitude, most beautiful book I have ever read; Catcher in the Rye is good, but Seymour is better; Gravity's Rainbow is an astonishing work and simply must be read by anyone who cares about literature...

  • @user-uj5tb6pp9s
    @user-uj5tb6pp9s Před 4 lety +40

    This list is very American-inclined , since there is no way novels like Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment , Kafka's The Trial & Camus's The Plague , shouldn't be included in any top ten list.

    • @ChocolatMudBaby
      @ChocolatMudBaby Před 4 lety +2

      Did you watch the video? I guess Tolstoy was American lol

    • @trailmixgang
      @trailmixgang Před 3 lety +2

      You like the Brothers Karamazov too?

    • @edwardelric2905
      @edwardelric2905 Před 2 lety +1

      Just because you don’t like the selection on the list, doesn’t mean the list was American-inclined. There was Tolstoy who is Russian, Proust who is French, and Cervantes who is Spanish.

    • @168Laura
      @168Laura Před 2 lety +1

      I would recommend “Dream of the Red Chamber” by Chinese author Cao Xueqin in mid-18th century to be the top one.

  • @kutluhanbayraktar2614
    @kutluhanbayraktar2614 Před 8 lety +129

    Crime and Punishment

  • @noxwheaties
    @noxwheaties Před 8 lety +163

    Another list without any Dostoyevsky, like really?

    • @dakotanack6453
      @dakotanack6453 Před 8 lety +9

      I was hoping Crime and Punishment would make the list.

    • @TheCriticBoxReviews
      @TheCriticBoxReviews Před 8 lety

      As was I

    • @alekseinilychkirillov8230
      @alekseinilychkirillov8230 Před 8 lety +13

      Oh my... what a shitty list. Allways the same overrated novels like Gatsby, Lolita, Moby Dick, but no "Brothers Karamazov" or "Demons". It´s regrettable.

    • @christina113704
      @christina113704 Před 7 lety

      christiandoritos several authors are like that, but it's generally the older ones that that got paid by the chapter.

    • @elichaitman3294
      @elichaitman3294 Před 2 lety

      @@alekseinilychkirillov8230 Gatsby isn't overrated

  • @mihohirono2697
    @mihohirono2697 Před 4 lety +62

    Dostoevsky, Kafka, and Mann should be listed. Two Tolstoy's are too many.

    • @Dida16
      @Dida16 Před 4 lety +3

      I agree but Tolstoy deserves to be on the list. These 3 writers you mentioned are in my top 5 too! Anyways, I 've seen hundreds of lists, never agreed fully. It's normal. I think this list is kinda the books we should all read before turn 18. Kafka and Mann are mostly understandable to advanced learners and Dostoevsky is a writer that people either love or hate. Imo as said he is a phenomenon.

    • @bbblueblun
      @bbblueblun Před 4 lety

      Tolstoy deserves spots but I personally wish they could’ve included other books, not just obvious classics even non readers will know. yk?

    • @jonahpoulard7674
      @jonahpoulard7674 Před 4 lety

      I would have 2 Tolstoy's and 2 dostoeyevskys

  • @balor325
    @balor325 Před 4 lety +8

    I can't believe none of the books listed have pictures in them

  • @anthonykammas3276
    @anthonykammas3276 Před 6 lety +69

    No Dostoevsky, Faulkner, Joyce??? I would have liked to see The Stranger too... but come on, man, really??? Even Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow? Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain???

    • @lorraineforte9175
      @lorraineforte9175 Před 4 lety +1

      All great,and don't forget Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand was amazing, she changed the way I now see the world.

  • @allanprovost109
    @allanprovost109 Před 8 lety +441

    Whoever made up this list is not as well-read as they think they are.

    • @SouthPark333Gaming
      @SouthPark333Gaming Před 7 lety +27

      agreed, wheres all the doctor who novels?

    • @ianw.5047
      @ianw.5047 Před 7 lety +17

      SouthPark333Gaming fuck. Im laughing because i dont know if your serious. But i have seen the doctor who collection at barns and nobles

    • @webwalker1942
      @webwalker1942 Před 7 lety

      Love Doctor Who but is a TV show not a Book.

    • @letters_from_paradise
      @letters_from_paradise Před 6 lety +2

      bernie b There are books about it, so you obviously don't love it that much.

    • @adamjames6953
      @adamjames6953 Před 6 lety +7

      >"Greatest *Novels*"
      >"Where's Macbeth? Where is the epic of Gilgamesh?"
      C'mon dude think about what you're typing.

  • @thefauxenglishmajor6131
    @thefauxenglishmajor6131 Před 4 lety +1

    thanks! i love that this list is not the "typical" picks! im here to figure out what to read next for my channel!

  • @tn-luna6915
    @tn-luna6915 Před 5 lety +7

    C'mon! Don Quixote is not only "THE most important piece of writing to emerge from Spain's golden age", it is THE most important piece of writing to emerge, period.

  • @TheZavinskiStories
    @TheZavinskiStories Před 9 lety +142

    I know this list must have been hard to make, but Charles Dickens is seriously only an honorable mention?! The man practically gave birth to the modern novel! A Tale of Two Cities is my favorite novel of all time personally. And no Steinbeck either? Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath are masterpieces! And, also, Crime and Punishment deserves a high spot on this list. Talk about a novel with an incredibly thought-provoking social conscience and profundity. And lastly, I was forced to read Madame Bovary in tenth grade, and after reading a bunch of classic literature, I can firmly say that that sad excuse for a book is by far the worst thing I've ever read. I've never hated a character more than I have Bovary herself. She's a disgrace to female characters in literature throughout all time. That book's story isn't even that good. The cyanide-induced suicide at the end was my favorite part for a reason.

    • @seventeencents
      @seventeencents Před 9 lety +4

      I totally agree. A Tale of Two Cities is too good to not make a list like this, I mean the iconic opening lines were literally paraphrased to describe what a different book on this list touched on! I also agree that no Steinbeck or Crime and Punishment is sort of surprising. Perhaps instead of two Tolstoy's they could've made room for one of these?

    • @TheZavinskiStories
      @TheZavinskiStories Před 9 lety +1

      Sean O'Sullivan I agree! They should have had the one novel per author role. While I do love Great Expectations, I just find AToTC a lot more fun and impactful to read.

    • @seventeencents
      @seventeencents Před 9 lety +1

      EZ64 Yeah it would be a little difficult to narrow down a Dickens to just the one, but my personal favorite was always AToTC and I feel like the list is incomplete without at least one. Then again the same argument could be made for likely Orwell and Steinbeck and plenty of others so I don't exactly envy whoever had to make the final call on this list.

    • @TheZavinskiStories
      @TheZavinskiStories Před 9 lety

      Sean O'Sullivan Yeah, had to be one of their harder ones to compile.

    • @Templedelagloire
      @Templedelagloire Před 9 lety +5

      I agree but I think Dickens' real masterpiece is bleak house

  • @frankieslittlemonster132
    @frankieslittlemonster132 Před 7 lety +147

    Alice in Wonderland? 1984? Crime and Punishment?

    • @wunderkind7762
      @wunderkind7762 Před 7 lety +8

      FrankiesLittleMonster Now that I have heard 1984 does not make the list makes me die a little inside.....

    • @nikolavideomaker
      @nikolavideomaker Před 6 lety +6

      It is on the list... 1984

    • @craftpaint1644
      @craftpaint1644 Před 6 lety +3

      Alice and Wonderland is just a weird batch of ridiculous.

    • @---ck2vv
      @---ck2vv Před 5 lety +1

      Greg Espinoza That is YOUR opinion.

  • @jonathanfesmiresteampunkau6983

    Wow, Tolkien and Dickens get only an honorable mention? And Catcher in the Rye is on this list at all? Just wow.

  • @chuckaudio3191
    @chuckaudio3191 Před 6 lety +115

    What about "Lord of the Flies" or "Fahrenheit 451"?

    • @rancor4513
      @rancor4513 Před 4 lety +1

      That's not really a novel

    • @chuckaudio3191
      @chuckaudio3191 Před 4 lety

      @@rancor4513 Oxford dictionary definition of novel: "a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism." Which one does not qualify?

    • @williamfinch1548
      @williamfinch1548 Před 4 lety +4

      Fahrenheit 451 is massively overrated

    • @chuckaudio3191
      @chuckaudio3191 Před 4 lety

      @@williamfinch1548 What was your least favorite part?

    • @doncorleone7482
      @doncorleone7482 Před 4 lety +2

      I enjoyed reading Fahrenhiet 451 , great book
      And my some must read would be
      Brothers Karamazov
      Crime and punishment
      Ramayana
      1984
      Ulysses

  • @odinson99m
    @odinson99m Před 6 lety +324

    Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula deserve Honorable Mentions. They are every bit as iconic and culturally important as any book on this list.

    • @user-mc1ir2ri9i
      @user-mc1ir2ri9i Před 6 lety +5

      Frankenstein sucked bro, what a drag to get through

    • @johnreremoana9564
      @johnreremoana9564 Před 6 lety +13

      H.G.Wells: 'The War Of The Worlds' and 'The Time Machine', and most probably 'The Invisible Man'.

    • @kennybuxton3974
      @kennybuxton3974 Před 6 lety +10

      Honestly Frankenstein is a masterpiece but its extremely well.known so people will assume you're not well read, whereas something like lord of the flies, which in my opinion is a classic is still well known and commonly assigned in schools. So no I don't think Frankenstein should be on the last but perhaps something like far from the madding crowd or jude the obscure (both by British novelist and poet, Thomas hardy, who is my favourite writer)

    • @divisdecos5271
      @divisdecos5271 Před 5 lety +5

      odinson99m Dracula doesnt deserve a spot but Frankenstein sure does. We read that in English 4 during my senior year in high school

    • @howie9751
      @howie9751 Před 4 lety +3

      @@divisdecos5271 I disagree. Dracula was a great novel and better than Frankenstein.

  • @lucascarvalho8215
    @lucascarvalho8215 Před 6 lety +91

    Fyodor dostoevsky, Balzac, Gogol?

    • @zofiar4753
      @zofiar4753 Před 4 lety +6

      Don't expect WatchMojo to actually know something about literature.

    • @jedscratchard1204
      @jedscratchard1204 Před 4 lety +7

      facts how do you have a top 10 list and not include dostoyevsky

  • @albertnash888
    @albertnash888 Před 2 lety +4

    One of the best things about these beloved novels as that even though the acclaimed authors who wrote them are long gone, but the stories are immortal and continue to delight and inspire readers to this very day.

  • @basmeisters3
    @basmeisters3 Před 4 lety

    As your list progressed, I was wondering what might be your #1. And I guessed it right! These kind of lists are always open for debate, but you sure mentioned some of the great works of literature. Thanks for that.

  • @user-vt1ix6tn8f
    @user-vt1ix6tn8f Před 6 lety +301

    George Orwell’s “1984” novel should be in the top ten.

  • @dark1951
    @dark1951 Před 8 lety +45

    No Dosteyevski ? YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME !!!!!

    • @robertd2558
      @robertd2558 Před 6 lety

      I know, can you believe it!? How can a list of the top 10 greatest novels NOT include the famous (in your mind) Russian writer "Dosteyevski"? It's a trevesti.

    • @ferchavez7292
      @ferchavez7292 Před 6 lety

      i mean, literally taste might be subjective, but are you saying Dosteyevski isn't famous? C'mon!

  • @ventureonic3149
    @ventureonic3149 Před 5 lety +48

    I'm not satisfied with the list as it doesn't include "One Hundred Years Of Solitude" even in the honourable mentions.

    • @yazmorales9015
      @yazmorales9015 Před 4 lety +3

      Venture Onic maybe they only included books that were adapted to movies

    • @ventureonic3149
      @ventureonic3149 Před 4 lety +1

      @@yazmorales9015 I realized that some weeks ago.😅

    • @ludwigvansolo1999
      @ludwigvansolo1999 Před 4 lety +1

      One hundred years of solitude is top tier. The best multigenerational novel of all time

  • @cocotaveras8975
    @cocotaveras8975 Před 4 lety +23

    How is 1984 only an honorable mention! I mean seriously, it was a literary masterpiece and should of been placed on the actual list itself!

  • @unkeptmoss3285
    @unkeptmoss3285 Před 9 lety +115

    I'm so glad the hunger games didn't make the list!

    • @joeylafrond2472
      @joeylafrond2472 Před 9 lety +8

      Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss makes me want to stay away from the movies too.

    • @zclan4130
      @zclan4130 Před 9 lety +2

      The hunger games trilogy is great, but these are completely different books

    • @Melchiorblade7
      @Melchiorblade7 Před 9 lety

      Zach Clanton Serious question. As someone who loves dystopian fiction such as Brave New World and 1984 to name a few, is Hunger Games a pretty good read? Or is it almost as bad as Twilight or other cash ins?

    • @zclan4130
      @zclan4130 Před 9 lety +1

      ***** there is a lot of character development through out the beginning and then when the hunger games starts you wont be able to stop reading. it just receives a lot of criticism because for some reason people hate to see things succeed

    • @Melchiorblade7
      @Melchiorblade7 Před 9 lety

      Ciaran Hufsky I just read Ayn Rand's Anthem after much delay. One of the most passionate dystopian narratives praising individualism I've read. Truly remarkable. Thanks for the suggestion btw, I'll look into Running Man.

  • @GoblinsAreReal
    @GoblinsAreReal Před 6 lety +103

    Tale of Two Cities? Of Mice and Men?

    • @adrianbooklecter7545
      @adrianbooklecter7545 Před 4 lety +1

      ikr where is omam and animal farm

    • @francisbennett3054
      @francisbennett3054 Před 4 lety +4

      Of Mice and Men is a novella not a novel

    • @adrianbooklecter7545
      @adrianbooklecter7545 Před 4 lety

      @@francisbennett3054 no it's not

    • @francisbennett3054
      @francisbennett3054 Před 4 lety +4

      @@adrianbooklecter7545 If you would take the 5 seconds needed to Google it, you would see that of Mice and Men is in fact a novella.

    • @adrianbooklecter7545
      @adrianbooklecter7545 Před 4 lety +1

      @@francisbennett3054 the first edition wrote below the title: A novel
      So it was meant to be one, it doesn't matter it's length, it's like Animal Farm

  • @Arya-zb6ui
    @Arya-zb6ui Před 5 lety +13

    What about the picture of Dorian Gray

  • @christinacarter6410
    @christinacarter6410 Před 5 lety +19

    Wow ! Not a single Jane Austen book on the list. And what about Thomas Hardy with Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

    • @johnjohnson4628
      @johnjohnson4628 Před 4 lety

      Of all the authors of prescribed texts for my high school and university studies, Thomas Hardy is the most vividly remembered regardless of whether or not he should be considered a great novelist. Jude the Obscure and Tess of the d'Urbervilles had a massive emotional and moral impact on me. Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice will also always be remembered for their impact.
      Admittedly, it's pretty futile making a list of the 10 greatest novels. Many English-speaking nationalities would not even know anything about great Asian authors through the centuries. As for more contemporary writers, we shouldn't be intimidated in acknowledging somebody like Stephen King or Margaret Atwood just because they are popular. They should make the top 500 list!

    • @lorraineforte9175
      @lorraineforte9175 Před 4 lety +1

      Love Thomas Hardy,have you read Jude The Obscure? It made me cry

    • @chloeauil4027
      @chloeauil4027 Před 4 lety

      Tess of the d'Urbervilles is amazing. This book brought me to love classic literature.

    • @bugfeet73
      @bugfeet73 Před 3 lety

      This one SHOULD be required reading in High School!

  • @yahiaham6774
    @yahiaham6774 Před 8 lety +104

    da fuck ?? where is Crime and Punishment ?

  • @greghufton6561
    @greghufton6561 Před 8 lety +279

    The way she pronounced Karenina made me cringe. Also, the lack of Fyodor Dostoevsky on this last made me cringe

    • @nottomrowntree5013
      @nottomrowntree5013 Před 8 lety +6

      I am fairly certain that's the correct pronunciation

    • @MalharetasLair
      @MalharetasLair Před 8 lety +7

      +nottomrowntree No it's not. The way she pronounces it sounds weird because one part of the name's all jumbled and then long vowels seem to pop up at random places. And I'm a native russian speaker, by the way. I totally get where T-o-lstoy is coming from in terms of a stress, though, because it's much easier for english-speakers to say it that way than it is to articulate Tolst-o-y as his actual last name was (not to mention that the name's "Lev" not "Leo" but let's leave that for translators' consciense to bear;) )
      On a side note, I'm fairly sure that her french pronunciation isn't that accurate either... Oh, those vowels!..
      I'm not the one to judge, certainly, but why go out of your way trying to sound like you know some language or other when you clearly don't? It only leads people to think you're all bragging, condescending, and just generally a know-it-all... which is a confusing choice for the image to say the least.
      P.S. I sincerely apologise to those who got offended by either the point I made or grammar/spelling/odd sentence structure. As you could've guessed by now (insert an eye-roll), english is not my first language and it's not even the second one so bear with me. Although I am a not-so-soon-to-be translator so that's something.

    • @MalharetasLair
      @MalharetasLair Před 8 lety +1

      +Fantastic Bookworm See? That's ^ what they call "holier-than-thou" attitude. ;D

    • @edbarros3504
      @edbarros3504 Před 8 lety +12

      It is the worst top 10 of all time.

    • @Shinjin666
      @Shinjin666 Před 7 lety +4

      Greg Hufton ikr? Where the fuck Dostoevsky?!

  • @ThatReadingGuy28
    @ThatReadingGuy28 Před 5 lety +32

    Fahrenheit 451, Crime and Punishment, The Grapes of Wrath, Brave New World all need a mention

  • @PerpetualSolivagant
    @PerpetualSolivagant Před 4 lety

    I spent a lot of time compiling a list of world greatest literary works, not limited to novels, and made a video about it. It includes 55 five literary works from 35 countries. It is nice to see there are some overlaps between your list and mine.

  • @JamesTheEpicGamer
    @JamesTheEpicGamer Před 9 lety +26

    WHERE THE FUCK IS WHERES WALDO?!

  • @rifway22
    @rifway22 Před 9 lety +69

    where the fuck is ulysses?? it should easily be number 1 but its not even in the honorable mention here

    • @chandlersanchez4559
      @chandlersanchez4559 Před 9 lety +1

      Ulysses is a poem.....

    • @TheStephano619
      @TheStephano619 Před 9 lety +19

      Chandler Sanchez Ulysses is a novel.

    • @Templedelagloire
      @Templedelagloire Před 9 lety +2

      Chandler Sanchez lol no

    • @chandlersanchez4559
      @chandlersanchez4559 Před 9 lety +2

      +Stephano619 Templedelagloire
      It's clsssified as an "epic poem," like the divine comedy by Dante. Just because it's long doesn't make it a book.

    • @MrAlanSnackbar
      @MrAlanSnackbar Před 9 lety +9

      Chandler Sanchez You have the Ulysses, written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which is a poem. But you have also Ulysses, which is a novel, written by James Joyce... So you both are correct :p

  • @Alexander-tj2dn
    @Alexander-tj2dn Před 4 lety +5

    The magic mountain, Hundred years of solitud, The Stranger, Hunger, On the road, Ulyses, Tropic of cancer.

  • @andyiswonderful
    @andyiswonderful Před 4 lety +41

    I've read 7 of these, and most of the runner ups. I was disappointed in Catcher in the Rye. Kept hearing about how wonderful it was.
    No Victor Hugo? No Dostoyevsky? No Dickens?

    • @karmaking1263
      @karmaking1263 Před 4 lety

      andyiswonderful if you read it again you will love it

    • @lesliematteis8010
      @lesliematteis8010 Před 4 lety

      andyiswonderful Great Expectations is by Charles Dickens

    • @andyiswonderful
      @andyiswonderful Před 4 lety

      @@lesliematteis8010 oops. My Alzhiemers. I read that in high school.

  • @johncha96
    @johncha96 Před 9 lety +32

    Why the fuck was Lord of The Rings not on the list J. R. R. Tolkien formed high fantasy as we know it today its one of the most influential and best selling novels of all time,

    • @Templedelagloire
      @Templedelagloire Před 9 lety

      why should it be?

    • @johncha96
      @johncha96 Před 9 lety +4

      Templedelagloire As I've said its formed high fantasy as we know it, Everything Fantasy has been based of Tolkien universe and it "is one of the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150 million copies sold" So the real question is why the fuck isn't it on the list

    • @Templedelagloire
      @Templedelagloire Před 9 lety

      ***** neither of those reasons - influential to its genre and best-selling - are good enough to make it one of the best novels of all time

    • @MrCanadaben
      @MrCanadaben Před 9 lety

      Templedelagloire
      But since they have "invented" words that now are in the Oxford dictionary and have a huuuge fanbase (talking about the books, not the films) amongst all ages and both genders it should be on this list. And it is considered one of the best novels of all time

    • @TheStephano619
      @TheStephano619 Před 9 lety

      Not everyone is a fat geek that says Lord of The Rings is the best best selling book of all time.

  • @DoctorXander
    @DoctorXander Před 9 lety +401

    Great Gatsby and Huckleberry Finn make the top 10 while Lord of the Rings, Frankenstein, and Paradise Lost don't.
    Please Watchmojo, stick to Movies, TV and Video Games.

    • @Templedelagloire
      @Templedelagloire Před 9 lety +30

      what's wrong with gatsby?

    • @WatchMojo
      @WatchMojo  Před 9 lety +143

      DoctorXander Paradise Lost is an epic poem homie.
      Signed,
      KG

    • @DoctorXander
      @DoctorXander Před 9 lety +22

      WatchMojo.com Touché

    • @DoctorXander
      @DoctorXander Před 9 lety +11

      Templedelagloire It's not a bad book, but I don't think it even compares to LOTR

    • @gab_gallard
      @gab_gallard Před 9 lety +11

      Frankenstein is great, but maybe too generic as a horror-sci-fi novel, and technically LOTR is not a novel, but a high fantasy legendarium.

  • @giovannyespinoza7162
    @giovannyespinoza7162 Před 5 lety +21

    Gone With the Wind
    Rebecca
    Drácula
    Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus

    • @lorraineforte9175
      @lorraineforte9175 Před 4 lety +1

      Gone With The Wind,I consider a soap opera read,certainly not literature.

    • @gailjarvis2592
      @gailjarvis2592 Před 4 lety

      Gone With the Wind should have been included in place of To Kill a Mockingbird which was a politically-correct choice.

  • @jaekim2554
    @jaekim2554 Před 5 lety +7

    My favorite books of all time are 1. Notes from Underground by Dostoyevski 2. The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie by Agota Kristof and 3. No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. My point is this is a rather subjective matter.

  • @user-ep4jo1ev3j
    @user-ep4jo1ev3j Před 8 lety +66

    Lolita. Lolita. But wait Lolita wasn't a young tempress... she was the victim of HH

    • @marvelgirl68
      @marvelgirl68 Před 8 lety

      What's HH?

    • @gabrielle9893
      @gabrielle9893 Před 7 lety +3

      Victoria Godwin yeah. I'm so fucking pissed about their description. They obviously only saw the 1962 adaptation of the novel.

    • @Nullifidian
      @Nullifidian Před 6 lety +1

      No, edenstore, you've confused the narcissistic, self-justifying narrative of the pedophile with the point of the book. The actual point of the book is that Humbert Humbert is a delusional idiot who is chasing after his vanished youth and his childhood girlfriend, imposing that psychosexual dynamic onto his relationship with Dolores, and ruining her life in the process. It's just too evident that Humbert Humbert and Dolores have nothing in common and that he's only convinced himself that she is the love of his life merely because she's there at the right age and thus she becomes a stand-in for Annabel. It's a satire on a superficial American culture that is stuck in a perpetual adolescence.
      This is like reading Michel Houellebecq's _Submission_ and coming away with the notion that the message of the novel is that Sharia law is totally awesome merely because the main character finds himself settling in quite happily to the new arrangement, out of an excess of pathetic, 21st century European anomie which makes any ethical system seem better than none. Both are acidly funny satires if you don't fall into the trap of seeing things through the narrator's eyes.

    • @terilefevers6189
      @terilefevers6189 Před 6 lety

      Victoria Godwin exactly

  • @kieransageant
    @kieransageant Před 9 lety +35

    I've read none of these books and I disagree

  • @derekroberts6654
    @derekroberts6654 Před 5 lety +10

    I’m surprised no one ever attempted to make a movie adaptation of “Catcher In The Rye”.

    • @HAL-vm3wn
      @HAL-vm3wn Před 4 lety

      Oh, Billy Wilder once wanted to

    • @Foxy-ve1oh
      @Foxy-ve1oh Před 4 lety

      Derek Roberts it would probably ruin it. The catcher in the rye is a beautiful book by itself it doesn't need a movie to go with it

    • @shreyankarki4455
      @shreyankarki4455 Před 4 lety

      That's because its illegal

    • @Foxy-ve1oh
      @Foxy-ve1oh Před 4 lety

      Shreyan Karki why is it illegal?

    • @shreyankarki4455
      @shreyankarki4455 Před 4 lety +2

      @@Foxy-ve1oh Salinger refused to sell the movie rights or something like that

  • @user-db4sq6mr2e
    @user-db4sq6mr2e Před 5 lety +4

    Crime and Punishment?
    Animal farm?
    Dandelion wine?
    100 years of solitude?

  • @HansLandaNaranja
    @HansLandaNaranja Před 8 lety +36

    Don Quixote number 9? No Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Goethe? This list is horrible :s

    • @Elldorado12
      @Elldorado12 Před 8 lety +2

      +Hans Landa I'm currently reading "The count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas, amazing, just amazing...

    • @antonwooldridge2233
      @antonwooldridge2233 Před 8 lety +1

      +Hans Landa Hemingway, Steinbeck... the list goes on.

    • @antonwooldridge2233
      @antonwooldridge2233 Před 8 lety +1

      +Anton Wooldridge Vonnegut...

    • @TrueOTFitness
      @TrueOTFitness Před 8 lety

      +Outhmane Rassili Great choice!

  • @LuckyGuu
    @LuckyGuu Před 8 lety +247

    1984, George Orwell

  • @bobvonbuelow9983
    @bobvonbuelow9983 Před 4 lety +2

    I'll take this as a recommended reading list. I've read about half of these and will consider the others. As for my favorite 'reads' they are On The Road and The Virginian (short and easy)

  • @heatherallingham7120
    @heatherallingham7120 Před 5 lety +8

    Not even an honourable mention for "One Hundred Years of Solitude"?

    • @phillip9227
      @phillip9227 Před 4 lety

      Exactly, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a masterpiece.

    • @darrellrees4371
      @darrellrees4371 Před 4 lety

      I also was expecting at least one twentieth century Latin American piece.

  • @gantzisballs
    @gantzisballs Před 9 lety +29

    Wow! That may have been the worst list Mojo has ever made! This list was voted on by barely literate American 3rd graders based on what they had to read in school. If you went ANYWHERE outside the US and mention Huck Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Catcher in the Rye in the top 1,000 let alone top 10 novels of all time, you will get fucking slapped for your stupidity. Those novels SUCK! They are D-tier literature at best! You included a few novels that actually deserved to be there, but in the wrong order. Here is what a respectable top 10 list would look like: 1. Don Quixote 2. The Brothers Karamazov 3. War and Peace 4. Romance of the Three Kingdoms 5. Crime and Punishment 6. Tale of Genji 7. Ulysses 8. Anna Karenina 9. Les Misrables 10. The Count of Monte Cristo A perfect list? No, because there is no such thing as an objectively perfect list of great books, but a list that was created by someone above a 4th grade US education.

    • @holytyler6524
      @holytyler6524 Před 9 lety +26

      Thank you for your totally unbiased and objective opinion.

    • @holytyler6524
      @holytyler6524 Před 9 lety +4

      Get it? You're stupid. I'm calling you stupid. Stupid.

    • @gantzisballs
      @gantzisballs Před 9 lety +2

      Holy Tyler I will not engage in a literary argument with a 12 year old. Instead I ask a question: Can you tell me how to join the Lollypop Guild?

    • @Cole_McWilliams
      @Cole_McWilliams Před 9 lety +6

      gantzisballs I was going to try to argue, but then I saw your queston to Tyler and I laughed my ass off xD

    • @Fash0da
      @Fash0da Před 9 lety +1

      Actually,none of the books mentioned in WatchMojo's list are American. I'm assuming we're not qualifying British and American literature as the same thing just because they had the same base language. Huck Finn was based on an American issue so I'm not shocked it's not widely popular it places that aren't America.

  • @Mmora6
    @Mmora6 Před 7 lety +174

    100 years of solitude?

  • @georgeferreira124
    @georgeferreira124 Před 6 lety +5

    L' estranger (The Outsider) by Albert Camus. Demian by Herman Hesse.

  • @steveb2343
    @steveb2343 Před 5 lety +27

    Lord of the flies. Becomes more and more relevant all the time...

    • @johndee1653
      @johndee1653 Před 4 lety

      I disagree , Google the Tongan boys who were marooned on an island for over a year in very similar circumstances to the novel . The outcome was very different and very positive . Real life circumstances that make the novel seem somewhat irrelevant .

    • @h_curly6384
      @h_curly6384 Před 3 lety +2

      It’s always been relavant

  • @jedscratchard1204
    @jedscratchard1204 Před 6 lety +295

    You can't have a top 10 novels of all time list and not even mention Dostoyevsky. Crime and Punishment is definitely top 10, and The Brothers Karamazov is worthy of greatest book ever written. All these novels on this are super overrated: The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird. Come on now. These books don't hang a lantern on Dostoyevsky.

    • @michaelngolding478
      @michaelngolding478 Před 5 lety +12

      Absolutely. Also, what about Faulkner and Thomas Mann?

    • @Fantumh
      @Fantumh Před 5 lety +19

      I love the writing style of The Great Gatsby, but it's not a particularly great book. The Catcher in the Rye is way overrated, and is quite juvenile. To Kill a Mockingbird is quite good, but not top 10 ever good.

    • @hannejeppesen2887
      @hannejeppesen2887 Před 5 lety +8

      The Catcher in the Rye might be overrated, but I believe it was the first of the kind. Portraying teen age anxiety and angst, I read it when I was about 16-17 as a teen ager in Denmark in the early sixties, and I loved it. I believe it is a very important book, although to my disappointment my daughter who was born in 1980 did not like it at all.

    • @Fantumh
      @Fantumh Před 5 lety +3

      @@hannejeppesen2887 Oh, I read Catcher when I was younger and loved it, no doubt about it. I tried to reread it later on and just found the book way too juvenile and frankly a little obnoxious. It is a very important book and quite a good book, but it's still way overrated. It's too bad Salinger never was able to follow it up with more mature works, but then maybe he didn't have it in him. (Or else he just never showed the world.)

    • @hannejeppesen2887
      @hannejeppesen2887 Před 5 lety +3

      @@Fantumh I tried to read some of Salinger's other work, but the writing could not hold my attention. I grew up in Denmark and was a teenager in the early sixties, I was probably about 16-17 years old when I read Catcher in the Rye, in Danish. When I came to the US as an au pair 22 years old, I had Catcher in the Rye with me. I had only had about 2 years or less of English in school, but living in the US and watching TV and mixing with young people my age (dating) I learned English fairly fast, also took night classes, it wasn't long before I could read Catcher in the Rye in English, it helped I had my Danish version. By the way about the same time Denmark had 2 famous authors who also published books about coming of age, the confusing, sex etc. Both was a little more edgy than Salinger's and one was quite dark, but still a great book.

  • @ChristalJ
    @ChristalJ Před 9 lety +274

    What about Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey?

  • @michaeltheophilus5260
    @michaeltheophilus5260 Před 4 lety +10

    What about Hemingway..

    • @reginawhitlock4227
      @reginawhitlock4227 Před 4 lety

      JANE AUSTEN??????? Read Catcher in the Rye when I was a teenager; and eh.

  • @kevinpaz1055
    @kevinpaz1055 Před 5 lety

    I removed reading this line from a book, “ But it started off like “when I was 17 and thought ________ , I left everything behind and in a moment lost everything I love“
    Please help me find the full thing/book I can’t find it.

  • @mf12060825
    @mf12060825 Před 7 lety +23

    what about the Bronte's or Austen or Dickens or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?!? how was this list complied?

  • @szabogergely5235
    @szabogergely5235 Před 9 lety +23

    This list is definately made by white American arts college students

    • @tiltiktekwani7562
      @tiltiktekwani7562 Před 9 lety

      Szabó Gergely I know, right? I was expecting more lit-nerds raging, tho.

    • @LouBoogaloo
      @LouBoogaloo Před 9 lety +5

      Canadians...they are Canadians. With a predominant list of British, French and Russian books.

    • @fartvader84yearsago8
      @fartvader84yearsago8 Před 9 lety

      Luis Montano except that the "predominant" is a group of countries not just one, 40% of the books are american and the other 60% is between other nations...

    • @CanadianMuffin
      @CanadianMuffin Před 9 lety

      Why the fuck does it even matter if they're American? That is like saying, I don't like China because there's too many Chinese people there.

    • @fartvader84yearsago8
      @fartvader84yearsago8 Před 9 lety +1

      but they are Canadian, just like you muffin...

  • @ramonarambha1768
    @ramonarambha1768 Před 6 lety +10

    "Grapes of Wrath"❤

    • @seanross353
      @seanross353 Před 3 lety +2

      Yes! I stumbled upon this video and knew the comments would have lots of great books not in the list but I couldn't see anyone mentioning my all time favourite book, Grapes of Wrath. So glad someone else thinks the same.

  • @VampiraVonGhoulscout
    @VampiraVonGhoulscout Před 4 lety +6

    "Dad, where does John Lennon live?"
    "John Lennon's dead, Butters."
    "Aww...dangit..."

    • @ANDROLOMA
      @ANDROLOMA Před 4 lety +1

      John Lennon died for our sins.

  • @alicetucker8863
    @alicetucker8863 Před 9 lety +18

    I've read The Catcher In The Rye and I still don't understand why it's such a classic

    • @theoracle7148
      @theoracle7148 Před 2 lety +4

      Because it captures everything.

    • @morganclare4704
      @morganclare4704 Před 2 lety

      COULDN'T AGREE MORE! CHEERS

    • @jmsl910
      @jmsl910 Před rokem

      i think it requires a certain mindset. it's very dark. it's okay if it's not your cup of tea. i'd encourage you to pick it up again in a few years... i hope you will

    • @ultimatelv27
      @ultimatelv27 Před rokem

      I don't know why it's consider a classic but I keep reading it multiple times. lol

  •  Před 9 lety +14

    The absence of Crime and Punishment is criminal... *ba dum tss*

    • @NarminStaley
      @NarminStaley Před 9 lety +5

      or the brothers karamavoz..

    •  Před 9 lety

      yes

  • @user-mh2cc4jf3f
    @user-mh2cc4jf3f Před 5 lety +5

    M. Bulgakov's novel "the Master and Margarita" is a very bright and optimistic . The main characters in it are love and creativity as the main exponents of the forces of Good on earth. That is why, perhaps, I advise everyone to read this work. The novel is mystical, exciting and life-affirming, as it raises such issues that have always worried man: good and evil, courage and cowardice, unbelief and faith, creative and free personality, lies and truth, indifference and love, the problem of power, the theme of personal responsibility and personal destiny. Critics have made an analogy of Bulgakov's novel and the history of Faust, only in the "Master and Margarita" the situation is presented in an inverted form. Faust sold his soul to the devil and betrayed the love of Marguerite for the sake thirst for knowledge, and in the novel Bulgakov Margarita makes a deal with the devil for the love of the Master.

  • @jitinninan5932
    @jitinninan5932 Před 7 měsíci +3

    I am glad that my second favourite writer Leo Tolstoy is in this top 10 greatest novels of all time. According to my opinion Crime and punishment by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky is also one of the best novels of all time.

  • @godriczimmerman
    @godriczimmerman Před 9 lety +389

    Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby ahead of Don Quixote? No Dickens? Madame Bovary no.2? This is the worst list i've seen yet.

    • @ItinerantIntrovert
      @ItinerantIntrovert Před 8 lety +7

      +godriczimmerman Opinion.

    • @godriczimmerman
      @godriczimmerman Před 8 lety +16

      Kyle Witzen Yes, my opinion. Thank you for stating the obvious. It's simply an opinion, but one that i can argue pretty strongly for, if you wish to. But then again, it's not really just my opinion, but one that, i'm sure, is shared by many others. Have you read Dickens greatest novels? Have you read Don Quixote? and you still think that Catcher in the Rye is better art? One of the top 10 literary achievements in history?

    • @ItinerantIntrovert
      @ItinerantIntrovert Před 8 lety

      I have written my own list in the comment section, it is in the public domain, fit for your dismissal.

    • @helenzoramthangi2815
      @helenzoramthangi2815 Před 8 lety

      look at the inspiration scale its not that bad though l didi not agree to all the list too

    • @MisterCharlton
      @MisterCharlton Před 8 lety +5

      +godriczimmerman CitR is number one for me. I hold it close to my heart.

  • @amc82770
    @amc82770 Před 6 lety +19

    I thought all those books are good, but my favorite is "The Sun Also Rises"

  • @lilbambi159
    @lilbambi159 Před 5 lety +4

    It is perfectly understood the great influence of Russian literature and the great impact it has on these dates, but something that I disagree is that there are better works compared to Nabokov and Lolita, nobody says it is bad because it is not, but does not deserve to be located in the top taking into account that no mention was made to Hemingway or Kafka.

  • @travisg9294
    @travisg9294 Před 3 lety +2

    Women in Love by DH Lawrence should be in the top 10. The book is so psychologically penetrative and real! The style is fluid and amazing! A Passage to India by EM Forester should also be in here! I have read and reread all the novels listed in this video, also.

  • @TS50ER
    @TS50ER Před 8 lety +28

    1: The Brothers Karamazov
    2: The Count of Monte Cristo
    3: Le Miserables
    4: Bleak House
    5: Under The Volcano
    6: Brideshead Revisited
    7: Father Goriot
    8: The Tale of Peter Rabbit
    9: Noddy Goes to Toyland
    10: Zuleika Dobson
    11: Coming Up For Air
    12: The Master and Margarita
    13: The Red and The Black
    14: Catch 22
    Honorable Mentions: Stranger in a Strange Land, Dead Souls, Heart of a Dog, The Bridge of San Luis Ray, Villette, and many many more...

    • @sheilabloom6735
      @sheilabloom6735 Před 8 lety +1

      Bleak House, of course. In my opinion', Dickens' greatest with its scathing indictment of the law. Jarndyce v. Jarndyce.

    • @iminthemomentru3003
      @iminthemomentru3003 Před 8 lety +4

      Catcher in the rye isn't in your top 14? Just because of the concepts.A Judge cop etc or a love are just a bunch of phonies. A false front or a delusion of what you think you know? No one will ever know anyone.It's Fight club,Donnie Darko,Powder,A clockwork orange,lolita and Nietzsche IQ all rolled into one
      Book

    • @robertd2558
      @robertd2558 Před 6 lety

      Actually, you already have four Honourable Mentions in your top "ten" list. So I suppose you mean "MORE Honourable Mentions"?

    • @kimmy4156
      @kimmy4156 Před 6 lety

      Omg love Count of Monte Cristo❤️❤️❤️

    • @ariqsetyawan4993
      @ariqsetyawan4993 Před 2 lety +1

      gud

  • @nyabondo1
    @nyabondo1 Před 8 lety +16

    the Picture of Dorian Gray

    • @maxlusaya3597
      @maxlusaya3597 Před 6 lety

      I read and liked this book of Oscar Wilde very much

    • @craftpaint1644
      @craftpaint1644 Před 6 lety

      People need to read it because movies screw it up every time.

    • @Octavio12341000
      @Octavio12341000 Před 4 lety

      Total Masterpiece.
      Also Mauppassant is amazing. Try his short stories

  • @ulyssesjoyce7734
    @ulyssesjoyce7734 Před 4 lety

    Ulysses, Pride and Prejudice, Tristram Shandy, The Sound and the Fury, To the Lighthouse, The Trial, Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, The Sun Also Rises, The Magic Mountain, The Stranger, Things Fall Apart, Middlemarch, and more such deserve a place in this list more than some novels presented here. Even Alice's Adventure in Wonderland is worth mentioning despite being a children's book.

  • @ahmeat5494
    @ahmeat5494 Před 4 lety +7

    My favorite book, of course, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
    best book ever, in my opinion...

  • @williamcalvert6162
    @williamcalvert6162 Před 8 lety +37

    Would it be considered too artsy-fartsy to mention Ulysses by James Joyce?

    • @sab85ful
      @sab85ful Před 8 lety +1

      That's why I don't think it made a top ten list. Same with most of the novels I enjoy lol.

    • @Nullifidian
      @Nullifidian Před 6 lety

      +Alexander Riley Perhaps, but _The Catcher in the Rye_ is also polarizing for those who have read it and that didn't stop it from getting mentioned. Holden Caulfield is literary Marmite. (Personally, I hated him and the book when I had to read it in high school. And if it doesn't click with you in high school, then it never will.)

    • @giraffesinspandex
      @giraffesinspandex Před 6 lety

      ulysses belong here

    • @johnwatters3431
      @johnwatters3431 Před 6 lety

      Yes.

    • @giraffesinspandex
      @giraffesinspandex Před 6 lety

      it's not artsy fartsy - ulysses is talked about more than it's read. it's penetrable - finnigans wake is unreadable. quite literally. i believe the two have been confused with each other. ...ulysses is not artsy fartsy & if you can not read it then it's on you. ...ulysses belongs.

  • @raphaelbruckner1599
    @raphaelbruckner1599 Před 8 lety +5

    The list should be named: Top 10 Most Influential Novels of Western Culture.
    (even then, it is not really accurate)
    Anyway it should include:
    1. Shadow Over Innsmouth/ anything from H.P Lovecraft (created the horror-genre)
    2. The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien (created the high-fantasy-genre)
    3. Ulysses - James Joyce (extreme variety of narrative)
    4. Pride and Prejudice/ anything from Jane Austen (feministic literature)
    5. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (created the speculative fiction)
    6. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe (marked generations)
    7. Unlce Tom's Cabin - Harriet Stowe (opened discussion about slavery)
    8. Dracula - Bram Stoker (first big novel where media are important)
    9. Germinal - Emile Zola (opened discussion about exploitation)
    10. The Stranger - Albert Camus (opened discussion about immigration)

    • @168Laura
      @168Laura Před 2 lety

      Totally agreed. I would recommend “Dream of the Red Chamber” by Chinese author Cao Xueqin in mid-18th century to be the top one.

  • @OrcmanRepugnant
    @OrcmanRepugnant Před 4 lety

    There's a book called The Road to Los Angeles by John Fante that totally out does Catcher in the Rye for youthful angst. It was written in the 1930'3 but apparently not published until the 80's.

  • @adagiobreeze8493
    @adagiobreeze8493 Před 4 lety +5

    Gone with the Wind and 100 years of Solitude