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Dec 28, 2021 · Of the more than 1,300 books nominated, 65 percent were nominated by only one person. And only 31 percent nominated a book that made it to our list of 25 finalists. Here are some titles that...
- Ancient Civilizations
- Post-Classical Literature
- Literature in The Modern Age
- Contemporary Literature
1. The Story of Sinuhe by Unknown
More than three thousand years before the Bard was born, the Egyptian Shakespeare wrote the Hathor worshipper’s answer to Hamlet — and we don’t even know their name. Anonymously authored, the elegant and haunting Story of Sinuhehas been hailed as ancient Egypt’s best. This epic poem follows the titular Sinuhe, an official who goes AWOL when he gets some explosive intel about the assassination of his king. His new life in Canaan brings him glorious victories, a high-society marriage, and honor...
2. Epic of Gilgamesh by Sin-liqe-unninni
This four thousand year-old page-turner flies under the radar compared to high school staples like the Odyssey, but the Epic of Gilgameshis nothing short of, well, epic. It’s a must-read whether you love the redemptive power of a good bromance or have a taste for quirky math (the titular Gilgamesh is one-third moral and two-thirds divine)! Our genetically improbable protagonist begins the story as a a king who brutalizes his people — in other words, a true antihero. He rules over the city of...
3. The Odyssey by Homer
Speaking of the Odyssey, this timeless classic has it all: the heart-racing thrills of an adventure story and the psychological drama of a family saga. The Ithacan king Odysseus has spent the past ten years in Troy, fighting a war he never wanted to fight. Now that the enemy has been duly routed, it’s finally, finally time to go home. Too bad the journey back to Ithaca isn’t going to be smooth sailing because Poseidon is less than pleased with Odysseus after a certain… tragic incident involvi...
11. One Thousand and One Nights by Unknown
This collection of Arabic-language folk tales shows the transformative power of a good cliffhanger — used right, it can apparently save your life! Over the course of, well, a thousand and one nights, the quick-witted storyteller Scheherazade (the latest in a long succession of King Shahryar’s unfortunate brides) draws on her imagination to stave off death. Embittered by a previous wife’s infidelity, King Shahryar has been marrying a new one every night — only to put her to death the next morn...
12. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
Often touted as the first psychological novel, The Tale of Genji was ahead of its time. Written by a pseudonymous noblewoman in the Japanese court, it follows the political and amorous (mis)adventures of a young official. Genji, the “shining” youth at the heart of the tale, was born to one of the emperor’s most beloved consorts. But with no place for him in the line of succession, he’s forced to make his way through life using his astonishing good looks and supernatural charm. Things could be...
14. Lais by Marie de France
If you’ve ever wanted to live out a courtly romance or daydreamed about saving lives as a dragon-slaying knight, you can thank Marie. This 12th-century poet — the first woman in French history to write verse — virtually invented chivalry through her Lais. Though we sadly don’t even know her real name today, we doknow that her view of romance was subtle and even sometimes sinister — never sappy. In these twelve short narrative poems, werewolves suffer heartbreak, vassals betray their lords, an...
26. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
In a rebellious act that has inspired the wanderlust of many, Robinson Crusoedenies the stability of life in England to travel the world. Thankfully, his colonial adventures feature encounters foreign to modern travellers: slave trades, cannibalism, and shipwrecks on foreign islands. Through this flurry of events, Crusoe comes to appreciate his own upbringing and culture more. First published under the pseudonym Robinson Crusoe, Defoe’s vivid narration fooled many of its contemporary readers...
27. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
If Robinson Crusoeis a novel packed with optimism about human discovery and development, Gulliver's Travelsis a dark parody of that. Protagonist Lemuel Gulliver sets sail several times and stumbles upon four different societies: one of peculiar little people, one of benevolent giants, one of madly scientific people, and one of magical talking horses. Each society has some sort of drawback that reflects an aspect of English society during Swift’s time — some are blindly adhering to nonsensical...
28. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Widely considered to be one of the earliest English comic novels, Tom Jonesis also an elaborate bildungsroman detailing the upbringing of the titular Tom. Born to an unwed mother and raised by the kindhearted squire Allworthy, Tom grows into a spirited but similarly compassionate young man, eventually falling in love with a neighboring squire’s daughter, Sophia. But after being foiled by a rival for her affections, Tom sets off on a series of adventures through England that are equal parts th...
69. Native Son by Richard Wright
Some books are so powerful that you can hardly bear to look at them. Richard Wright’s Native Sonis one of them. Set in Chicago in the 1930s,Native Sonis a brutally barefaced examination of institutionalized racism in America. At its heart is Bigger Thomas: a black man who, driven to desperate measures when circumstances spiral out of his control, becomes impossibly entangled in the criminal justice system. A star of the Harlem Renaissance, Wright writes with an unflinching intensity, exposing...
70. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers’ debut novel — written when she was only 23! — was an instant classic when it was published. The author’s sheer prodigiousness is astonishing enough, but it is the rich wisdom and gentle insight that makes The Heart is a Lonely Huntertruly remarkable. You’ll probably never meet a protagonist quite as memorable as John Singer, a deaf and nonverbal man who sits in the same café every day. Here, in the deep American South of the 1930s, John meets an assortment of people: the caf...
71. The Stranger by Albert Camus
Albert Camus’ own summary of The Strangeris perhaps the best way to describe this iconic book: “I summarized The Strangera long time ago, with a remark I admit was highly paradoxical: ‘In our society any man who does not weep at his mother's funeral runs the risk of being sentenced to death.’ I only meant that the hero of my book is condemned because he does not play the game.” And so The Strangerduly opens with Meursault, our hero, learning of the death of his mother. From this point onward,...
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