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Essential Books to Read

These are them! The most essential, foundational, near-inescapable books you have just got to read in your lifetime.
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1984 (George Orwell)
1984
1
George Orwell
Absalom, Absalom! (William Faulkner)
Absalom, Absalom!
2
William Faulkner
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
3
Mark Twain
The Aeneid (Virgil)
The Aeneid
4
Virgil
The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)
The Age of Innocence
5
Edith Wharton
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
6
Lewis Carroll
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
7
The Ambassadors (Henry James)
The Ambassadors
8
Henry James
An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser)
An American Tragedy
9
Theodore Dreiser
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Animal Farm
10
George Orwell
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
Anna Karenina
11
Leo Tolstoy
The Arabian Nights: One Thousand and One Nights (Anonymous)
The Arabian Nights: One Thousand and One Nights
12
Anonymous
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying
13
William Faulkner
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
Atlas Shrugged
14
Ayn Rand
The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein
The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein
15
The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
The Awakening
16
Kate Chopin
Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis)
Babbitt
17
Sinclair Lewis
The Beautiful and Damned (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Beautiful and Damned
18
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
Beloved
19
Toni Morrison
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Alfred Döblin)
Berlin Alexanderplatz
20
Alfred Döblin
The Betrothed
The Betrothed
21
Bleak House (Charles Dickens)
Bleak House
22
Charles Dickens
Blindness (Jose Saramago)
Blindness
23
Jose Saramago
The Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe)
The Bonfire of the Vanities
24
Tom Wolfe
The Book of Disquiet (Fernando Pessoa)
The Book of Disquiet
25
Fernando Pessoa
Book of Job
Book of Job
26
The Bostan of Saadi
The Bostan of Saadi
27
The Bostonians
The Bostonians
28
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Brave New World
29
Aldous Huxley
Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
Brideshead Revisited
30
Evelyn Waugh
The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
The Brothers Karamazov
31
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Buddenbrooks
Buddenbrooks
32
Call It Sleep (Henry Roth)
Call It Sleep
33
Henry Roth
The Call of the Wild (Jack London)
The Call of the Wild
34
Jack London
Candide (Voltaire)
Candide
35
Voltaire
The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)
The Canterbury Tales
36
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Castle (Franz Kafka)
The Castle
37
Franz Kafka
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Catch-22
38
Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
The Catcher in the Rye
39
J.D. Salinger
Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut)
Cat's Cradle
40
Kurt Vonnegut
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