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50 Essential Classics

These are our picks for the 50 most essential classic books. You know, the ones that everyone should get around to reading sooner, rather than later. These books have meant a great deal to readers throughout the centuries, and they distinguish themselves as firsts and bests, sure, but also unexpected, astonishing, and boundary-breaking additions to the canon.
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1984 (George Orwell)
1984
1
George Orwell
The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)
The Age of Innocence
2
Edith Wharton
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
Anna Karenina
3
Leo Tolstoy
The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
The Awakening
4
Kate Chopin
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
The Bell Jar
5
Sylvia Plath
The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
The Brothers Karamazov
6
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Cane (Jean Toomer)
Cane
7
Jean Toomer
The Collected Short Stories of Eudora Welty
The Collected Short Stories of Eudora Welty
8
The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Conner (Flannery O'Conner)
The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Conner
9
Flannery O'Conner
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (William Shakespeare)
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
10
William Shakespeare
Emma (Jane Austen)
Emma
11
Jane Austen
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Frankenstein
12
Mary Shelley
The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams)
The Glass Menagerie
13
Tennessee Williams
Go Tell It on the Mountain (James Baldwin)
Go Tell It on the Mountain
14
James Baldwin
The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
The God of Small Things
15
Arundhati Roy
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations
16
Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Great Gatsby
17
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
18
Carson McCullers
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Heart of Darkness
19
Joseph Conrad
A House for Mr. Biswas (Mr. Biswas)
A House for Mr. Biswas
20
Mr. Biswas
Howards End (E.M. Forster)
Howards End
21
E.M. Forster
The Iliad (Homer)
The Iliad
22
Homer
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Invisible Man
23
Ralph Ellison
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Jane Eyre
24
Charlotte Bronte
The Last of the Mohicans (James Fenimore Cooper)
The Last of the Mohicans
25
James Fenimore Cooper
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
Little Women
26
Louisa May Alcott
The Metamorphoses (Ovid)
The Metamorphoses
27
Ovid
Middlemarch (George Eliot)
Middlemarch
28
George Eliot
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick
29
Herman Melville
The Moviegoer (Walker Percy)
The Moviegoer
30
Walker Percy
My Antonia (Antonia Shimerda)
My Antonia
31
Antonia Shimerda
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Frederick Douglass)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
32
Frederick Douglass
Native Son (Richard Wright)
Native Son
33
Richard Wright
Night (Elie Wiesel)
Night
34
Elie Wiesel
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
Pale Fire
35
Vladimir Nabokov
Paradise Lost (John Milton)
Paradise Lost
36
John Milton
The Picture of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde)
The Picture of Dorian Grey
37
Oscar Wilde
Rebecca (Daphne Dumaurier)
Rebecca
38
Daphne Dumaurier
Siddhartha (Hesse)
Siddhartha
39
Hesse
Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)
Song of Solomon
40
Toni Morrison
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