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I am on a mission to read and reread classic literature. I searched far and wide for a decent book list but all seem incomplete to me. Please add your favorite classic books to the list.
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| 1 |
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Pride and Prejudice
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4.29 avg rating — 4,752,751 ratings
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| 2 |
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Jane Eyre
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4.16 avg rating — 2,305,407 ratings
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| 3 |
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1984
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4.20 avg rating — 5,393,402 ratings
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| 4 |
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The Count of Monte Cristo
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4.32 avg rating — 1,014,985 ratings
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| 5 |
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Little Women (Little Women, #1)
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4.17 avg rating — 2,438,859 ratings
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| 6 |
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Wuthering Heights
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3.90 avg rating — 2,020,531 ratings
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| 7 |
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Frankenstein
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3.90 avg rating — 1,861,401 ratings
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| 8 |
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The Great Gatsby
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3.93 avg rating — 5,857,445 ratings
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| 9 |
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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4.26 avg rating — 6,821,948 ratings
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| 10 |
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Sense and Sensibility
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4.09 avg rating — 1,287,958 ratings
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| 11 |
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The Odyssey
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3.83 avg rating — 1,181,946 ratings
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| 12 |
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A Tale of Two Cities
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3.88 avg rating — 1,008,106 ratings
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| 13 |
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Great Expectations
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3.80 avg rating — 869,346 ratings
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| 14 |
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Brave New World
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3.99 avg rating — 2,060,626 ratings
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| 15 |
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Animal Farm
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4.02 avg rating — 4,493,160 ratings
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| 16 |
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Adventures of Tom and Huck, #2)
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3.83 avg rating — 1,333,440 ratings
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| 17 |
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Dracula
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4.02 avg rating — 1,462,224 ratings
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| 18 |
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Hamlet
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4.03 avg rating — 1,042,291 ratings
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| 19 |
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Fahrenheit 451
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3.97 avg rating — 2,802,135 ratings
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| 20 |
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Emma
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4.05 avg rating — 974,666 ratings
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| 21 |
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The Canterbury Tales
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3.53 avg rating — 237,135 ratings
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| 22 |
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Anna Karenina
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4.10 avg rating — 924,465 ratings
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| 23 |
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The Catcher in the Rye
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3.80 avg rating — 3,866,200 ratings
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| 24 |
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Romeo and Juliet
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3.74 avg rating — 2,806,286 ratings
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| 25 |
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Persuasion
by
4.15 avg rating — 770,536 ratings
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| 26 |
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The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
by
4.30 avg rating — 4,425,019 ratings
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| 27 |
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Rebecca
by
4.25 avg rating — 713,531 ratings
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| 28 |
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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass
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4.06 avg rating — 606,285 ratings
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| 29 |
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The Scarlet Letter
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3.44 avg rating — 914,295 ratings
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| 30 |
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Gone with the Wind
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4.31 avg rating — 1,253,630 ratings
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| 31 |
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Les Misérables
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4.21 avg rating — 839,869 ratings
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| 32 |
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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3.94 avg rating — 575,993 ratings
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| 33 |
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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4.13 avg rating — 1,852,709 ratings
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| 34 |
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War and Peace
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4.17 avg rating — 363,490 ratings
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| 35 |
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The Iliad
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3.93 avg rating — 505,996 ratings
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| 36 |
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Crime and Punishment
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4.29 avg rating — 1,065,768 ratings
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| 37 |
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Beowulf
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3.50 avg rating — 344,479 ratings
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| 38 |
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The Complete Tales and Poems
by
4.40 avg rating — 294,887 ratings
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| 39 |
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The Three Musketeers
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4.10 avg rating — 345,575 ratings
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| 40 |
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Macbeth
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3.89 avg rating — 1,012,591 ratings
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| 41 |
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Oliver Twist
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3.88 avg rating — 425,716 ratings
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| 42 |
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Moby-Dick or, The Whale
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3.56 avg rating — 612,754 ratings
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| 43 |
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Mansfield Park
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3.86 avg rating — 377,972 ratings
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| 44 |
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The Grapes of Wrath
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4.03 avg rating — 988,346 ratings
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| 45 |
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
by
3.89 avg rating — 275,139 ratings
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| 46 |
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The Republic
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3.97 avg rating — 224,606 ratings
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| 47 |
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Catch-22
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3.99 avg rating — 883,465 ratings
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| 48 |
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Madame Bovary
by
3.71 avg rating — 372,300 ratings
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| 49 |
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The Brothers Karamazov
by
4.39 avg rating — 382,035 ratings
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| 50 |
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The Lord of the Rings
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4.54 avg rating — 727,144 ratings
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| 51 |
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King Lear
by
3.91 avg rating — 236,383 ratings
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| 52 |
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David Copperfield
by
4.04 avg rating — 257,260 ratings
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| 53 |
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Northanger Abbey
by
3.85 avg rating — 450,257 ratings
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| 54 |
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Don Quixote
by
3.91 avg rating — 303,461 ratings
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| 55 |
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
by
4.24 avg rating — 3,125,758 ratings
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| 56 |
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The Time Machine
by
3.89 avg rating — 562,035 ratings
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| 57 |
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Lord of the Flies
by
3.70 avg rating — 3,175,139 ratings
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| 58 |
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Journey to the Center of the Earth
by
3.85 avg rating — 223,492 ratings
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| 59 |
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Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)
by
4.33 avg rating — 1,104,437 ratings
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| 60 |
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Of Mice and Men
by
3.89 avg rating — 2,809,768 ratings
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| 61 |
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The Moonstone
by
3.91 avg rating — 98,523 ratings
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| 62 |
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Tess of the D’Urbervilles
by
3.84 avg rating — 301,518 ratings
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| 63 |
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Gulliver’s Travels
by
3.59 avg rating — 297,693 ratings
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| 64 |
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The Man Without Qualities
by
4.19 avg rating — 7,354 ratings
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| 65 |
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The Crucible
by
3.61 avg rating — 461,415 ratings
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| 66 |
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Candide
by
3.76 avg rating — 299,788 ratings
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| 67 |
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The Metamorphosis
by
3.90 avg rating — 1,402,204 ratings
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| 68 |
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The Phantom of the Opera
by
3.96 avg rating — 275,082 ratings
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| 69 |
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Vanity Fair
by
3.81 avg rating — 132,880 ratings
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| 70 |
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The Mayor of Casterbridge
by
3.86 avg rating — 65,889 ratings
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| 71 |
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Ivanhoe
by
3.76 avg rating — 98,823 ratings
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| 72 |
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J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
by
4.62 avg rating — 143,525 ratings
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| 73 |
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Treasure Island
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3.85 avg rating — 537,537 ratings
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| 74 |
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The War of the Worlds
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3.83 avg rating — 347,771 ratings
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| 75 |
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Jude the Obscure
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3.83 avg rating — 75,743 ratings
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| 76 |
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East of Eden
by
4.44 avg rating — 628,943 ratings
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| 77 |
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The Age of Innocence
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3.97 avg rating — 194,491 ratings
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| 78 |
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Robinson Crusoe
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3.68 avg rating — 329,900 ratings
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| 79 |
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Bleak House
by
4.02 avg rating — 113,727 ratings
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| 80 |
|
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 508,400 ratings
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| 80 |
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The Secret Garden
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4.17 avg rating — 1,286,789 ratings
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| 82 |
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Paradise Lost
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3.85 avg rating — 181,371 ratings
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| 83 |
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The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso
by
4.08 avg rating — 171,073 ratings
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| 84 |
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Aesop’s Fables
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4.05 avg rating — 129,422 ratings
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| 85 |
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Cry, the Beloved Country
by
3.93 avg rating — 79,337 ratings
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| 86 |
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The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings
by
4.19 avg rating — 244,470 ratings
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| 87 |
|
The Histories
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4.01 avg rating — 55,347 ratings
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| 87 |
|
The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #6)
by
4.05 avg rating — 600,698 ratings
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| 89 |
|
Their Eyes Were Watching God
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3.99 avg rating — 384,288 ratings
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| 90 |
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The House of Mirth
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3.98 avg rating — 105,416 ratings
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| 91 |
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The Pilgrim's Progress
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4.07 avg rating — 157,672 ratings
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| 92 |
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The Woman in White
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4.01 avg rating — 165,415 ratings
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| 93 |
|
Alice in Wonderland
by
Jane Carruth (Adapted By)
4.03 avg rating — 396,605 ratings
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| 94 |
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The Aeneid
by
3.87 avg rating — 142,598 ratings
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| 95 |
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Lolita
by
3.87 avg rating — 938,665 ratings
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| 96 |
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The Little Prince
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4.33 avg rating — 2,446,062 ratings
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| 97 |
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A Christmas Carol
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4.09 avg rating — 918,006 ratings
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| 98 |
|
The Giver (The Giver, #1)
by
Lois Lowry (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 2,785,016 ratings
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| 99 |
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Julius Caesar
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3.71 avg rating — 218,375 ratings
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| 100 |
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Heart of Darkness
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3.43 avg rating — 555,404 ratings
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634 books ·
522 voters ·
list created June 21st, 2008
by Crystal.
Tags:
classic, literature
Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)
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message 1:
by
Tamora
(new)
Apr 04, 2009 11:38AM
I'm just clicking on what I've read, not on what I liked. When you're dealing with books like these, that generally drop into everyone's life before they're 20, what you like and what you don't like is highly individual. I don't think you can really go by the opinion of the next person, because you're all forming your opinions. I liked TARZAN, but had no interest in CHARLOTTE'S WEB. My classmates had spasms over CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, so much so that I never told them that I kinda liked it. They were okay with THE SCARLET LETTER, which made me crazy. You really have to try the books that our parents, teachers, and peers think are probably classic, and decide for yourself if they're good reads as far as you're concerned!
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I would just like to say that I believe 'Les Miserables' by Victor Hugo is the best book on this list. And nooooo, I'm not basing it on the hit musical (even though I love that as well), because it did get a lot wrong. I'm currently reading A Tale of 2 Cities, nad let me say I've made a lot of connections to Les Miserables. It's just an amzing and epic Book!
I agree with Tamora, There are several books i've been told are must reads by people who don't read much themselves. I have been disappointed in many of them most books are classics because they've been around forever and a day. Much of the language is outdated and stale. occasionally you do stumble upon a book with a plot that holds up but it is a rare find. That being said, I loved Scarlett Letter and The hunchback of Notra Dame but found Pride and Prejudice tedious at best shallow and mindless at worst
i just discovered my interest in reading so i've read only a few. i just finished che's book on social revolution. so far from what i've read dracula is the best they describe the events as if one was there. my second best is lady chaterley's lover
This is a great list! I have this sort of mission too, although I gotta find a good library to hold all of these books. Too bad I don't have it in the area, or money to but some..
@CrystalI've tried adding other books than then ones originally written in English, apart from voting for the ones already on the list I mean, as there are so many great classics worth reading. All of which are available in English translations, by the way. Books I've added are, for instance, Alle fabels, Lustgebed, Avondgezichten, Het hoofdkussenboek, Het boek van Dede Korkoet, Nibelungenlied, De ring van de duif, Het boek der koningen, De rozentuin and Rubaiyat, to name just a few.
By the way, 'Classics' = 'Modern Classics' too? As there are plenty of those on your list.
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