One can only guess to what level the outstanding Russian writers of the classics raised our culture, here the facts speak better than us. Museums, libraries, metro stations, squares, schools and streets in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are named after many of them. The works of Russian classics are popular all over the world, they are perceived and loved not only by Russians, but also by foreigners. A significant contribution to the development of the Russian state was also made by the classics of Russian civil law, who can be called the classics of domestic civil law of the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them are V.P. Gribanov, L.A. Lunts, G.F. Shershenevich, DI. Meyer, K.P. Pobedonostsev, O.S. Ioffe and others.
List of Russian classic writers
Books appeal to reflection, nurture independence of judgment, strengthen the power of the reader and give birth to a dream:
- A.A. Block.
- A.I. Kuprin.
- A.N. Ostrovsky.
- A.P. Chekhov. Anton Chekhov's masterpieces, describing everyday life, continue to evoke delight and peace. His famous plays do not lose their relevance today, they continue to go on the stage of theaters.
- A.S. Griboyedov.
- A.S. Green. I would like to note the works of Green, which tells about romantic sublime love for beautiful women, about true and strong friendship. His books radiate light, they are marked by subtle sadness, purity and chastity. Green worked the Miracle in his imagination, unable to find it in life.
- A.S. Pushkin. The genius Alexander Pushkin lit the way for subsequent generations for centuries to come. Through his works, the reader perceives the diversity and wisdom of this world.
- V.V. Mayakovsky.
- DI. Fonvizin.
- I.A. Bunin.
- I.A. Goncharov.
- I.S. Turgenev. He wrote many novels, short stories and plays, short stories, multiplying and enriching world literature.
- K.M. Stanyukovich. The works of Konstantin Stanyukovich are also peculiar, who, at the insistence of his father, chose the career of a military sailor, setting off on a round-the-world voyage. The writer has seen a lot, he was promoted to midshipmen, had a fever. His eventful life was reflected in his work, most of his works describe the life of the navy.
- L. N. Tolstoy. Russian literature was raised to the highest level by the writer Leo Tolstoy, who is read by the whole world. An original person, with a huge charge of energy, extremely versatile, he was able to express in his works the whole depth and beauty of his own worldview.
- M. A. Bulgakov.
- M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.
- M.I. Sholokhov.
- M. Yu. Lermontov.
- Maksim Gorky. He went through a difficult life path, he has seen a lot in his lifetime. From his works, which describe the real, "uncovered" life of people, it breathes with strength and vital truth.
- N. V. Gogol. The works of Nikolai Gogol, a writer who entered the treasury of world classical literature, are endowed with great power, sometimes even mystical, and beauty.
- N. A. Nekrasov.
- N. G. Chernyshevsky.
- N. M. Karamzin.
- N. S. Leskov. He is the author of the works "Lefty", "Damn's Dolls", "Unbaptized Pop", "The Life of a Woman", is considered the most national author of Russia, the most Russian writer.
- S.A. Yesenin.
- F.I. Tyutchev.
- F.M. Dostoevsky. Fyodor Dostoevsky is one of the most famous and significant writers of Russia, one of the most respected Russian authors in the world.
The list of writers of the classics of Russian literature is not limited to these most sought-after authors of works. Each of us can discover new books throughout our lives, which the classics of Russian literature have given us.
The best books of Russian classics
Russian classics teach us about life and wisdom. Educated, in the full sense of the word, can only be considered a person who knows classical literature. For each of us there is a list of works, which includes the best books of Russian classics. We all love them, appreciate them, re-read them repeatedly.
The most popular books of Russian classics:
- F. Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov". The work is one of the most complex and ambiguous in the writer's work. The book is considered one of the best, where the theme of the original Russian soul is revealed. In the West, this work is given special attention. This is an emotional, deep philosophical work about the eternal struggle, compassion, sin, about that ingot of conflicting feelings that embraces the human soul.
- F. Dostoevsky "The Idiot". This work is considered the most unsolved novel of the great writer. Prince Myshkin, the protagonist of the book - a man who embodies Christian virtue, spent a significant part of his life in solitude, and then decided to go out into the world. Faced with greed, deceit, cruelty, he loses his bearings, and the environment calls him an idiot.
- L. Tolstoy "War and Peace". An epic novel that describes the life of the Russian nobility and the war with Napoleon, which is reflected in the relationship between the events of peaceful life and military operations. This is one of the outstanding books of world literature, it belongs to the treasury of timeless classics. It describes by the hand of a great master such opposite directions, collected in the unity of human life, such as love and betrayal, life and death, peace and war.
- L. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina". The novel describes the love of a married woman, Anna Karenina, for the handsome officer Vronsky, which ended in tragedy. This is the greatest masterpiece, the theme of which is relevant to this day. "Anna Karenina" is a deep, complex, psychologically refined narrative, full of authenticity and drama, which women love to read.
- M. Bulgakov "Master and Margarita". This kind of brilliant novel has no analogues. Bulgakov wrote his work for 11 years. However, during his lifetime, the writer never saw it published. This is a mystical, most mysterious work of Russian literature. The book is world famous: many readers from all over the world want to comprehend its secret.
- N. Gogol "Dead Souls". The immortal work of the author about human weaknesses, pettiness, cunning, shows the nooks and crannies of human nature. By “Dead Souls” they mean not only those who were bought by the main character of the work, but also the souls of those living people who groan under the burden of their petty interests, without realizing it.
Enjoy the great works of the classics, rejoice with their heroes, empathize with them, these books contain the great power of life.
Classics in the Russian province
Russia belongs to one of the most reading countries in the world. Today, books are being supplanted by the Internet, television, and computer games into the background. A literary action called "Classics in the Russian provinces" was held on June 1, covering the cities of the Association of Small Tourist Towns. The event was conceived to preserve the value of literature. The campaign started in 2014. Then, in June last year, in the city of Myshkin, one could observe an amazing live picture: in the merchant's estate of T.V. Chistov, ladies dressed in 19th century outfits were walking slowly, like a lord. The summer breeze played with their curls, and the gentlemen, having drawn themselves up, paced along the old pavement. Classical music played, against the background of which the poems of A.S. Pushkin sounded unusually beautiful. So charmingly began the festival in June 2014. Thus, the classics resounded with their unceasing voice in the Russian provinces.
June 2015 continues this wonderful tradition by holding a literary action for the 2nd time. Its participants, like last year, read into the microphone for several hours excerpts from works of Russian classical literature. In honor of the anniversary of the Victory, the audience heard the work "Vasily Terkin" by A. Tvardovsky, which was included in the program of the event.
The action in the city of Azov was held at 3 city sites. In Kungur, excerpts from classical literature were heard in all city libraries. In Uglich, the action took place on the main city square, Uspenskaya. The participants of the holiday read the works of M. Chekhov and O. Bergholz. In general, the number of people participating in the literary event reached 3 thousand people. In Guryevsk, book exhibitions were installed on the main square and in the Park of Culture and Leisure, where the event was held.
In total, the literary action lasted about 5 hours, nourishing the participants with the depth and beauty of classical works.
And which Russian classic writers do you prefer? Whose books do you read? Tell about it in
Books are one of the greatest legacies of mankind. And if before the invention of printing, books were available only to a select caste of people, then books began to spread everywhere. In each new generation, talented writers were born who created world masterpieces of literature.
Great works have come down to us, but we are reading the classics less and less. The literary portal of Hedwig presents to your attention the 100 best books of all times and peoples that you must read. In this list you will find not only classical works, but also modern books that have left their mark on history quite recently.
1 Mikhail Bulgakov
A novel that does not fit into the usual literary framework. Philosophy and everyday life, theology and fantasy, mysticism and realism, mysticism and lyrics are mixed in this story. And all these components are intertwined by skillful hands into a coherent and vibrant story that can turn your world upside down. And yes, this is Buckley's favorite book!
2
Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
A book from the school curriculum that is difficult to understand in a tender adolescence. The writer showed the duality of the human soul, when black is intertwined with white. The story of Raskolnikov, who is going through an internal struggle.
3
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A short story with a lot of meaning in life. A story that makes you look at familiar things in a different way.
4
Michael Bulgakov
A surprisingly subtle and sarcastic story about people and their vices. The story of an experiment that proved that it is possible to make a person out of an animal, but it is impossible to make an “animal” out of a person.
5
Erich Maria Remarque
It is impossible to tell what this novel is about. The novel needs to be read, and then the understanding will come that this is not just a story, but a confession. Confession about love, friendship, pain. A story of despair and struggle.
6
Jerome Salinger
The story of a teenager who, with his own eyes, shows his perception of the world, his point of view, the renunciation of the usual principles and foundations of the morality of society, which do not fit into his individual framework.
7
Mikhail Lermontov
A lyric-psychological novel that tells about a man with a complex character. The author shows it from different angles. And the broken chronology of events makes you completely immerse yourself in the story.
8
Arthur Conan Doyle
The legendary investigations of the great detective Sherlock, which reveal the meanness of the human soul. Stories told by friend and assistant detective Dr. Watson.
9
Oscar Wilde
A story about pride, selfishness and a strong soul. A story that clearly shows what can happen to the soul of a person tormented by vices.
10
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
A fantastic trilogy about people and non-humans who fell under the power of the Ring of Omnipotence and its lord Sauron. The story of those who are ready to sacrifice the most precious and even their lives for the sake of friendship and saving the world.
11
Mario Puzo
A novel about one of the most powerful mafia families in America of the last century - the Corleone family. Many people know the movie, so it's time to start reading.
12
Erich Maria Remarque
After the First World War, many emigrants ended up in France. Among them is the talented German surgeon Ravik. This is the story of his life and love against the backdrop of the war.
13
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
The history of the Russian soul and stupidity. And the amazing style and language of the author makes the sentences sparkle with colors and shades that fully reveal the history of our people.
14
Colin McCullough
An amazing novel that tells not only about the love of a man and a woman and complex relationships, but also about feelings for family, native places and nature.
15
Emily Bronte
In a secluded estate lives a family whose house is filled with a tense atmosphere. Difficult relationships have deep roots that are hidden in the past. The story of Heathcliff and Catherine will not leave indifferent any reader.
16
Erich Maria Remarque
A book about war from the perspective of a simple soldier. A book about how war breaks and cripples the souls of innocent people.
17
Hermann Hesse
The book simply turns all ideas about life upside down. After reading it, it is already impossible to get rid of the feeling that you have become one step closer to something incredible. This book has answers to many questions.
18
Stephen King
Paul Edgecomb is a former prison officer who served on the death row unit. He tells the story of the life of suicide bombers who were destined to walk the Green Mile.
20
Victor Hugo
Paris 15th century. On the one hand, it is full of grandeur, and on the other, it looks like a sewer. Against the backdrop of historical events, a love story unfolds - Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Claude Frollo.
21
Daniel Defoe
Diary of a sailor who was wrecked and lived alone on the island for 28 years. He had to endure too many trials.
22
Lewis Carroll
A strange and mysterious story about a girl who, in pursuit of a white rabbit, finds herself in a different and wonderful world.
23
Ernest Hemingway
There is war on the pages of the book, but even in a world full of pain and fear, there is a place for beauty. A wonderful feeling called love that makes us stronger.
24
Jack London
What can love do? Martin's love for the beautiful Ruth made him struggle. He overcame many obstacles to become something big. A story about spiritual development and personality formation.
25
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A fantastic and captivating tale in which magic is intertwined with reality.
26
We are Evgeny Zamyatin
The novel is a dystopia that describes an ideal society where there is no personal opinion, and everything happens according to a schedule. But even in such a society there is a place for freethinkers.
27
Ernest Hemingway
Frederick volunteered for the war, where he became a doctor. In the sanitary unit, where even the air is saturated with death, love is born.
28
Boris Pasternak
Beginning of the XX century. The Russian Empire has already embarked on the path of revolution. The story about the life of the intelligentsia of that time, as well as the book, raises questions of religion and touches on the mystery of life and death.
29
Vladimir Nabokov
A cautionary tale about people who betrayed their ideals. The book is about how light and beautiful feelings evolve into something dark and disgusting.
30
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
The greatest work that draws you into the story of Faust, who sold his soul to the Devil. By reading this book, you can go on the path of knowing life.
31
Dante Alighieri
The work is in three parts. First we go to Hell, so that all 9 circles are against us. Then Purgatory awaits us, after passing which you can atone for your sins. And only when you reach the top you can get to Paradise.
32
Anthony Burgess
Not the most pleasant story, but it shows the human nature. A story about how you can make an obedient and silent doll out of any person.
33
Victor Pelevin
A complex story that is difficult to understand the first time. A story about the life of a decadent poet who is looking for his own path, and Chapaev leads Peter to enlightenment.
34
William Golding
What will happen to the children if they are all alone? Children have a delicate nature, which is quite prone to vices. And cute kind children turn into real monsters.
35
Albert Camus
36
James Clavell
The story of an English sailor who, by the will of fate, ended up in Japan. An epic novel, where there are historical realities, intrigues, adventures and secrets.
37
Ray Bradbury
A collection of fantasy stories about the life of people on Mars. They almost destroyed the Earth, but what awaits another planet?
38
Stanislav Lem
This planet has an ocean. He is alive and has a mind. The researchers face the difficult task of transferring knowledge to the ocean. He will help make their dreams come true...
39
Hermann Hesse
The book is about an internal crisis that can happen to anyone. Internal devastation can destroy a person, if one day you don’t meet a person on the way who will give you just one book in your hands ...
40
Milan Kundera
Immerse yourself in the world of sensations and feelings of the libertine Tomasz, who is used to changing women so that no one dares to take away his freedom.
41
Boris Vian
Each of the company of friends has its own destiny. Everything goes easy and simple. Friendship. Love. Conversations. But one event can change everything and destroy the usual life.
42
Ian Banks
Frank tells the story of his childhood and describes the present. He has his own world, which can collapse at any moment. Unexpected turning points in the plot give a special flavor to the whole story.
43
John Irving
This book raises themes of family, childhood, friendship, love, betrayal and betrayal. This is the world in which we live with all the problems and shortcomings.
44
Michael Ondaatje
This book contains many topics - war, death, love, betrayal. But the main leitmotif is loneliness, which can take on a variety of forms.
46
Ray Bradbury
Books are our future, but what will happen if they are replaced by TV and one opinion? The answer to this question is given by a writer who was ahead of his time.
47
Patrick Suskind
The story of a crazy genius. His whole life is enclosed in smells. He will go to any lengths to create the perfect fragrance.
48
1984 George Orwell
Three totalitarian states where even thoughts are controlled. A world of hate, but there are people who can still resist the system.
49
Jack London
Alaska, late 19th century. The era of the gold rush. And among human greed lives a wolf named White Fang.
50
Jane Austen
There are only daughters in the Bennet family, and a distant relative is the heir. And if the head of the family dies, young girls will be left with nothing.
51
Evgeny Petrov and Ilya Ilf
Who does not know Ostap Bender and Kisa Vorobyaninov and their eternal failures, which are associated with the search for the ill-fated diamonds.
52
Fedor Dostoevsky
53
Charlotte Bronte
Jane became an orphan early, and life in her aunt's house was far from happy. And love for a strict and gloomy man is far from a romantic story.
54
Ernest Hemingway
A small story from the life of the most ordinary person. But reading this work, you penetrate into an amazing world that is full of emotions.
55
Francis Scott Fitzgerald
A wonderful novel filled with emotion. The pages of the book are waiting for the beginning of the 20th century, when people were full of illusions and hopes. This story is about values and true love.
56
Alexandr Duma
We are all familiar with the adventures of d'Artagnan and his closest friends. A book about friendship, honor, devotion, fidelity and love. And of course, like other works of the author, it was not without intrigue.
57
Ken Kesey
This story will be told to the reader by a patient in a psychiatric hospital. Patrick McMurphy ends up in prison, in a psychiatric ward. But some people think that he is just feigning his illness.
59
Victor Hugo
The novel describes the life of a runaway convict who is hiding from the authorities. After the flight, he had to go through a lot of hardships, but he was able to change his life. But police inspector Javert is ready to do anything to catch the criminal.
60
Victor Hugo
The actor-philosopher met on his way a mutilated boy and a blind girl. He takes them under his care. Against the background of physical shortcomings, the perfection and purity of souls are clearly visible. And also this is a great contrast to the life of the aristocracy.
61
Vladimir Nabokov
The novel draws on its unhealthy web of passion and unhealthy love. The main characters gradually go crazy, subject to their base desire, like their whole world around them. This book will definitely not have a happy ending.
62
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A fantastic story that describes the life of the stalker Redrick Shewhart, who extracts extraterrestrial artifacts from the anomalous Zones on Earth.
63
Richard Bach
Even a simple seagull can get bored with a gray life, and the routine has become boring. And then Chaika devotes his life to a dream. The seagull gives all his soul on the way to the cherished goal.
64
Bernard Werber
Michel got to the court of the archangels, where he will have to undergo the weighing of the soul. After the trial, he faces a choice - to go to earth in a new incarnation or become an angel. The path of an angel is not easy, just like the life of mere mortals.
65
Ethel Lilian Voynich
A story about freedom, duty and honor. And also about different types of love. In the first case, this is the love of a father for his son, which has survived many trials and will pass through generations. In the second case, it is love between a man and a woman, which is like a fire, then it goes out, then it flares up again.
66
John Fowles
He is a simple town hall attendant, lonely and lost. He has a passion - collecting butterflies. But one day he wanted a girl in his collection who conquered his soul.
67
Walter Scott
The narrative of the novel will take readers into the distant past. During the time of Richard the Lionheart and the first crusades. This is one of the first historical novels that everyone should read.
68
Bernhard Schlink
There are a lot of unanswered questions in the book. The book makes you think and analyze not only what is happening on the pages, but also your life. This is a story about love and betrayal that will not leave anyone indifferent.
69
Ayn Rand
Socialists come to power and head for equal opportunities. The authorities believe that the talented and wealthy should improve the well-being of others. But instead of a happy future, the familiar world plunges into chaos.
71
Somerset Maugham
The story of an actress who has been working in the theater all her life. And what is reality for her - a game on stage or a game in life? How many roles do you have to play every day?
72
Aldous Huxley
A dystopian novel. A satire novel. A world where Henry Ford became God, and the creation of the first Ford T car is considered the beginning of time. People are simply grown, but they know nothing about feelings.
75
Albert Camus
Meursault lives a detached life. It seems that his life does not belong to him at all. He is indifferent to everything and even his actions are saturated with loneliness and renunciation of life.
76
Somerset Maugham
Philip's life story. He is an orphan and throughout his life he is not only looking for the meaning of life, but also for himself. And the main thing is to understand the world and people.
77
Irvine Welsh
The story of friends who one day discovered drugs and euphoria. Each character is unusual and quite smart. They valued life and friendship, but right up to the moment when heroin came first.
78
Herman Melville
Ahab, the captain of a whaling ship, has made it his life's goal to take revenge on a whale named Moby Dick. Wit ruined too many lives to keep him alive. But as soon as the captain starts hunting, mysterious and sometimes terrible events begin to occur on his ship.
79
Joseph Heller
One of the best books about World War II. In it, the author was able to show the senselessness of war and the monstrous absurdity of the state machine.
80
William Faulkner
Four characters, each of which tells his version of events. And in order to understand what is at stake, you need to read to the end, where the puzzles will form a single picture of life and secret desires.
82
Joanne Rowling
83
Roger Zelazny
Classic fantasy genre. The chronicles are divided into two volumes of 5 books. In this cycle, one can find travel in space and time, wars, intrigues, betrayal, as well as loyalty and courage.
84
Andrzej Sapkowski
One of the best fantasy series. The series includes 8 books, while the last one is "Season of Thunderstorms", it is better to read after the first or second book. This is a story about the Witcher and his adventures, his life and love, and also about the girl Ciri, who can change the world.
85
Honore de Balzac
An amazing story about the boundless and sacrificial love of a father for children. About a love that was never reciprocated. About the love that killed Father Goriot.
86
Günther Grass
The story is about a boy named Oskar Macerath who, with the coming to power of the National Socialists in Germany, refuses to grow up in protest. Thus, he expresses his protest against the changes in German society.
87
Boris Vasiliev
A poignant tale of war. About true love for parents, friends, and the Motherland. This story must be read to feel the whole emotional component of this story.
88
Stendhal
The story of Julien Sorel and the soul, in which there is a confrontation between two feelings: passion and ambition. The two feelings are so intertwined that it is often impossible to tell them apart.
89
Lev Tolstoy
An epic novel that describes an entire era, delving into the historical realities and the artistic world of that time. War will be replaced by peace, and the peaceful life of the characters depends on the war. Many heroes with unique characters.
90
Gustave Flaubert
This story is recognized as the greatest work of world literature. Emma Bovary dreams of a beautiful social life, but her husband, a provincial doctor, cannot satisfy her requests. She finds lovers, but can they fulfill Madame Bovary's dream?
91
Chuck Palahniuk
No matter how much the work of this author was scolded, it cannot be denied that his book "Fight Club" is one of the symbols of our generation. This is a story about people who decided to change this dirty world. A story about a man who was able to resist the system.
92
Markus Zusak
Winter Germany in 1939, when Death has too much work to do, and six months later there will be more work to do. A story about Liesel, about fanatical Germans, about a Jewish fighter, about thefts and about the power of words.
93
Alexander Pushkin
The novel in verse tells the story of the fate of the noble intelligentsia with their vices and selfishness. And at the center of the story is a love story without a happy ending.
94
George Martin
A fantastic story about another world ruled by kings and lived by dragons. Love, betrayal, intrigue, war and death, and all for the sake of power.
95
David Mitchell
History of the past, present and future. Stories of people from different times. But these stories form a single picture of our entire world.
96
Stephen King
Fantastic cycle of novels of the master of horrors. In this series there is an interweaving of genres. The books closely coexist with horror, western, science fiction and other genres. This is the story of the gunslinger Roland, who is looking for the Dark Tower.
97
Haruki Murakami
A story about human destinies in Japan in the 60s of the twentieth century. A story about human loss. Memoirs of Tooru, which will introduce the reader to different people and their stories.
98
Andy Weir
By chance, an astronaut is left alone on a space base on Mars. He has a limited amount of resources, but there is no connection with people. But he does not give up, he believes that they will return for him.
100
Samuel Beckett
An amazing play where everyone defines the mysterious personality of Godot for himself. The author makes it possible to find the answer to the question "who is he?". Specific person? Strong personality? Collective image? Or God?
There are many more books that I would like to include in this list. Therefore, dear readers, write in the comments about those books that you consider the best. We will add books to the top and with your help we will expand it to the top 1000 books of all time.
The article was updated and supplemented in July 2018. We present a selection of 65 books that have become classics of world literature, and 10 online libraries where you can find a lot of fiction, scientific, historical and non-fiction literature in free access.
1. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Cien años de soledad" - Gabriel José de la Concordia "Gabo" García Márquez)
One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the most characteristic and popular works in the direction of magical realism.
2. "Moby-Dick, or The Whale" - Herman Melville ("Moby-Dick, or The Whale" - Herman Melville)
The story is told on behalf of the American sailor Ishmael, who went on a voyage on the whaling ship Pequod, whose captain, Ahab, is obsessed with the idea of revenge on the giant white whale, the whaler killer known as Moby Dick.
3. "The Great Gatsby" - Francis Scott Fitzgerald ("The Great Gatsby" - F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The action of the novel takes place near New York, on the "gold coast" of Long Island, among the villas of the rich. In the 1920s, following the chaos of the First World War, American society entered an unprecedented period of prosperity: in the "roaring 20s", the US economy was developing rapidly.
At the same time, Prohibition made many bootleggers millionaires and gave a significant boost to organized crime. Admiring the rich and their charm, Fitzgerald at the same time denounces the unrestrained materialism and lack of morality of America at that time.
4. "The Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck ("The Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck)
The novel takes place during the Great Depression. A poor family of tenant farmers, the Joads, are forced to leave their Oklahoma home due to drought, economic hardship and changes in farming practices. In an almost hopeless situation, they head to California along with thousands of other Oki families, hoping to find a livelihood there.
5. "Ulysses" - James Joyce ("Ulysses" - James Joyce)
The novel tells about one day (June 16, 1904, currently this date is celebrated as Bloomsday, "Bloom's Day") of a Dublin inhabitant and a Jew by nationality - Leopold Bloom.
6. "Lolita" - Vladimir Nabokov ("Lolita" - Vladimir Nabokov)
Lolita is the most famous of all Nabokov's novels. The theme of the novel was unthinkable for its time - the story of an adult man who was passionately carried away by a twelve-year-old girl.
7. "The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner ("The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner)
The main storyline tells about the withering of one of the oldest and most influential families of the American South - the Compsons. During the roughly 30 years of the novel, the family faces financial ruin, loses respect in the city, and many family members end their lives tragically.
8. "To the Lighthouse" - Virginia Woolf ("To The Lighthouse" - Virginia Woolf)
The novel centers on two visits by the Ramsey family to a rented country house on the Isle of Skye in Scotland in 1910 and 1920. To the Lighthouse follows and expands on the tradition of modernist literature by Marcel Proust and James Joyce, where the plot fades into the background, giving way to philosophical introspection.
9. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina is a novel by Leo Tolstoy about the tragic love of the married lady Anna Karenina and the brilliant officer Vronsky against the background of the happy family life of the nobles Konstantin Levin and Kitty Shcherbatskaya.
10. "War and Peace" - Leo Tolstoy
"War and Peace" is an epic novel describing Russian society in the era of the wars against Napoleon in 1805-1812.
-
Technologies
20.11.2015 -
Education
17.03.2015 -
NGOs
01.07.2014 -
Technologies
07.05.2014
11. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - Mark Twain ("The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - Mark Twain)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn, on the run from his abusive father, and Jim, a runaway black man, are rafting down the Mississippi River.
12. "1984" - George Orwell ("1984" - George Orwell)
The novel "1984", along with such works as "We" by Evgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (1920), "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley (1932) and "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury (1953), is considered one of the most famous works in the dystopian genre.
13. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger)
In the novel, on behalf of a 16-year-old boy named Holden, in a very frank form, he tells about his heightened perception of American reality and the rejection of the general canons and morals of modern society.
14. "Invisible Man" - Ralph Ellison ("Invisible Man" - Ralph Ellison)
The Invisible Man is the only completed novel by Ralph Ellison, an African-American writer, literary critic, and literary scholar. The novel is dedicated to the search for identity and place in society.
15. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller ("Catch-22" - Joseph Heller)
1944 On the islet of Pianosa in the Tyrrhenian Sea, a US Air Force bomber regiment (flying North American B-25 Mitchell bombers) is stationed, in which Captain Yossarian, the protagonist of the novel, and his colleagues serve.
The command of the air regiment over and over again increases the rate of sorties, thereby extending the service of pilots who have flown their rate, after which they have the right to return home. Thus, flying off the norm becomes almost impossible.
16. "Midnight's Children" - Salman Rushdie ("Midnight's Children" - Salman Rushdie)
A multifaceted, fantastic, "magical" narrative covers the history of India (partly Pakistan) from 1910 to 1976. Political events, presented brightly and biasedly, do not exhaust the whimsical reality of the novel.
17. "On the Road" - Jack Kerouac ("On the Road" - Jack Kerouac)
The book, considered the most important piece of Beat generation literature, tells the story of the travels of Jack Kerouac and his close friend Neil Cassidy through the United States of America and Mexico.
18. "In Search of Lost Time" - Marcel Proust ("À la recherche du temps perdu" - Marcel Proust)
In Search of Lost Time is a magnum opus by the French modernist writer Marcel Proust, a semi-autobiographical cycle of seven novels. Published in France between 1913 and 1927.
19. "Pale Fire" - Vladimir Nabokov ("Pale Fire" - Vladimir Nabokov)
Pale Fire is a novel by V. V. Nabokov, written in English in the United States and first published in 1962. The novel, conceived before moving to the United States (the passages "Ultima Thule" and "Solus Rex" were written in Russian in 1939), is built as a 999-line poem with commentary rife with literary allusions.
20. "Madame Bovary" - Gustave Flaubert ("Madame Bovary" - Gustave Flaubert)
The main character of the novel is Emma Bovary, the doctor's wife, living beyond her means and having extramarital affairs in the hope of getting rid of the emptiness and routine of provincial life.
21. "Middlemarch" - George Eliot ("Middlemarch" - George Eliot)
Middlemarch is the name of the provincial town in and around which the novel takes place. Many characters inhabit its pages, and their destinies are intertwined by the will of the author.
22. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
The hero of the novel "Great Expectations", a young man Philip Pirrip, strives to become a "true gentleman", to achieve a position in society, but disappointment awaits him. Money stained with blood cannot bring happiness, and the "gentleman's world" in which Philip placed so many hopes turned out to be hostile and cruel.
23. "Emma" - Jane Austen ("Emma" - Jane Austen)
The daughter of a wealthy landowner and a big dreamer, Emma tries to diversify her leisure time by organizing someone else's personal life. Confident that she will never marry, she acts as a matchmaker for her friends and acquaintances, but life brings her surprise after surprise.
24. "And Destruction Came" - Chinua Achebe ("Things Fall Apart" - Chinua Achebe)
“And Destruction Came” is a story about a tribal warrior who cannot adapt to a new society under a colonial regime. The book has been translated into 45 languages and is by far the most widely read and translated book by an African writer among his contemporaries.
25. "Pride and Prejudice" - Jane Austen ("Pride and Prejudice" - Jane Austen)
Young girls who dream of marriage, respectable mothers who do not shine with their minds, selfish beauties who think that they are allowed to control the fate of other people - such is the world of the heroes of Jane Austen, an English writer who was far ahead of her time and ranked by subsequent generations among the classics of world literature.
26. "Wuthering Heights" - Emily Brontë ("Wuthering Heights" - Emily Brontë)
Wuthering Heights is a love-and-hate story about the fatal passion of Heathcliff, the adopted son of the owner of the Wuthering Heights estate, for the owner's daughter Katherine
27. "Nostromo" - Joseph Conrad ("Nostromo" - Joseph Conrad)
The novel tells about the liberation struggle of the fictional South American state of Costaguana. The author is occupied with the problem of imperialism and its corrupting effect even on the best people, which is the protagonist of the novel, the sailor Nostromo.
28. "The Brothers Karamazov" - F. M. Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov is the last novel by F. M. Dostoevsky. Three brothers, Ivan, Aleksey (Alyosha) and Dmitry (Mitya), “are busy resolving questions about the root causes and ultimate goals of being,” and each of them makes his choice, trying in his own way to answer the question about God and the immortality of the soul.
29. "To Kill a Mockingbird" - Harper Lee ("To Kill a Mockingbird" - Harper Lee)
The novel conveys the events of the 30s of the XX century, the period of the Great Depression, which took place in the state of Alabama. The narration is conducted on behalf of a child, but the severity of interracial conflicts and social problems does not lose its strength from this.
30. "Process" - Franz Kafka ("Der Prozess" - Franz Kafka)
“The Process” is a unique book by Franz Kafka, which actually “created” his name for the culture of the world postmodern theater and cinema of the second half of the 20th century, more precisely, “weaved” this name into the idea of postmodern absurdism.
31. "Slaughterhouse Five" - Kurt Vonnegut ("Slaughterhouse-Five" - Kurt Vonnegut)
Slaughterhouse Five is an autobiographical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about the bombing of Dresden during World War II.
32. "Mrs Dalloway" - Virginia Woolf ("Mrs Dalloway" - Virginia Woolf)
The novel tells about one day of the fictional character Clarissa Dalloway, a society woman in post-war England. One of the author's most famous novels.
33. "Jane Eyre" - Charlotte Brontë ("Jane Eyre" - Charlotte Brontë)
The book tells about the difficult fate of an orphan with a strong, independent character, about her childhood, growing up, finding her way and overcoming the obstacles that stand in the way.
34. The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings is an epic novel by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, the most famous work of the fantasy genre.
35. "A Passage to India" - Edward Forster ("A Passage to India" - E.M. Forster)
At the center of Journey to India is the relationship between the Indian Aziz and the Englishman Fielding. The twists and turns of the plot, exciting in themselves, help to make these relations stand out more prominently, to reveal themselves in their extreme possibilities.
36. "All the King's Men" - Robert Penn Warren ("All the King's Men" - Robert Penn Warren)
The protagonist of the novel is politician Willie Stark. Rising from the bottom of society, a born leader sincerely believed that he could make the world a better place. However, the truth of life revealed to him turns him into a cruel, unprincipled politician. His motto is: "Good can only be made out of evil, because there is simply nothing else to make of it."
37. "Brave New World" - Aldous Huxley ("Brave New World" - Aldous Huxley)
Brave New World is a dystopian satirical novel set in far-future London (around the 26th century of the Christian era, namely 2541). People all over the Earth live in a single state, whose society is a consumer society, the symbol of the consumer god is Henry Ford, and instead of the sign of the cross, people “sign over themselves with the sign T”.
38. "When I was dying" - William Faulkner ("As I Lay Dying" - William Faulkner)
W. Faulkner's novel "When I was dying" is unique. There is no authorial speech at all, the book is broken into a chain of monologues, sometimes long, sometimes short, or even fitting in one or two phrases, and they are led by fourteen characters - mainly Bandren, and next to them neighbors, the same farm poor.
39. "Deep Sleep" - Raymond Chandler ("The Big Sleep" - Raymond Chandler)
Deep Sleep is the first in a series of novels about private investigator Philip Marlowe. Classic "tough detective".
40. "Stories" - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
A collection of short stories from a classic of world literature.
41. "Crime and Punishment" - F. M. Dostoevsky
"Crime and Punishment" is considered one of the most philosophical books in the world, which "poses the problems of good and evil, freedom and necessity, crime and moral responsibility, revolution, socialism, the philosophy of history and the state."
42. "Molloy", "Malone Dies" and "Nameless" - Samuel Beckett ("Molloy", "Malone Dies", "The Unnamable" - Samuel Beckett)
"Molla", "Malon Dies" and "Nameless" are three works that make up a trilogy and represent a separate milestone in Beckett's creative biography.
43. "Outsider" - Albert Camus ("L "Étranger" - Albert Camus)
The story is told by a 30-year-old Frenchman. His name remains unknown, but his last name is mentioned in passing - Meursault. Three key events in his life are described - the death of his mother, the murder of a local resident and the trial, as well as a brief relationship with a girl.
44. "Tin drum" - Günter Grass ("Die Blechtrommel" - Günter Grass)
The Tin Drum is Günther Grass' first novel. It was this work, which in a grotesque form reflected the history of Germany in the 20th century, brought world fame to its author.
45. "Sons and Lovers" - David Herbert Lawrence ("Sons and Lovers" - D. H. Lawrence)
The book describes the life of a young man named Paul Morel, born the son of a miner in the small town of Bestwood, Nottinghamshire. The love of children for their mother runs like a red thread through the novel. Paul is most attached to her: unlike his brothers and sister, he will never be able to leave his mother's house until her death.
46. The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
The story of Anna Woolf, a talented writer and staunch feminist, who, balancing on the verge of insanity, writes down all her thoughts and experiences in four multi-colored notebooks: black, red, yellow and blue. But over time, a fifth, golden, notebook appears, the entries in which become a real revelation for the heroine and help her find a way out of the impasse.
47. "Magic Mountain" - Thomas Mann ("Der Zauberberg" - Thomas Mann)
Immediately after its release, The Magic Mountain was recognized as the key philosophical novel of German literature of the new century. It is generally accepted that, using the example of a closed microcosm of the sanatorium, Mann gave a panorama of the ideological life of European society on the eve of the World War.
48. "Beloved" - Toni Morrison ("Beloved" - Toni Morrison)
Beloved, the most famous novel by Toni Morrison, was awarded the Pulitzer and later the Nobel Prize. The book is based on real events that took place in Ohio in the 80s of the nineteenth century: the story of a black slave who kills her daughter, saving her from slavery.
49. "Blood Meridian" - Cormac McCarthy ("Blood Meridian" - Cormac McCarthy)
John Banville, Booker Laureate, called the novel "a kind of mixture of Dante's Inferno, Iliad, and Moby Dick." The protagonist of "Blood Meridian", a fourteen-year-old teenager from Tennessee, known only as "the kid", becomes the hero of the latest epic, based on real events and circumstances of the mid-19th century Tex-Mex borderlands, where the Indian scalp market is booming.
50. "A Man Without Qualities" - Robert Musil ("Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften" - Robert Musil)
An ironic panorama of Austria-Hungary on the eve of the First World War, a partly autobiographical "novel of ideas" written by one of the most brilliant European intellectuals of the first half of the 20th century, a phenomenon of grandiose conception and execution.
51. "Fiesta (And the Sun Also Rises)" - Ernest Hemingway ("The Sun Also Rises" - Ernest Hemingway)
The Sun Also Rises is a 1926 novel by Ernest Hemingway. Based on real events that took place in the life of the author.
52. "Gone With the Wind" - Margaret Mitchell ("Gone With the Wind" - Margaret Mitchell)
A novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell set in the southern states of the United States in the 1860s, during (and after) the Civil War. The novel was released on June 30, 1936 and became one of the most famous bestsellers in American literature.
53. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - Lewis Carroll ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - Louis Carroll)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a fairy tale written by the English mathematician, poet and writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells about a girl named Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole into an imaginary world inhabited by strange, anthropomorphic creatures.
54. "Heart of Darkness" - Joseph Conrad ("Heart of Darkness" - Joseph Conrad)
The Heart of Darkness is a 1902 adventure novel by English writer Joseph Conrad. The story is told from the perspective of the protagonist, sailor Marlow, who remembers his journey to Central Africa.
55. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - Ernest Hemingway ("For Whom the Bell Tolls" - Ernest Hemingway)
The novel tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American fighter of the International Brigades, who was sent to the rear of the Francoists, to the partisans, during the Spanish Civil War. As a demolition expert, he is tasked with blowing up the bridge to prevent Francoist reinforcements from approaching Segovia.
56. "An American Tragedy" - Theodore Dreiser ("An American Tragedy" Theodore Dreiser)
In the novel An American Tragedy, Dreiser portrays the tragedy of Clive Griffiths - a young man who has tasted all the charm of the life of the rich, is so eager to establish himself in their society that he commits a crime for this.
57. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
Captivating, touching, multifaceted, full of philosophical meaning is the story of a boy who was destined to grow up, make discoveries, love and find his place in the world in the most dramatic moments of history.
58. "The Call of the Wild" - Jack London ("The Call of the Wild" - Jack London)
The novel takes place in the Yukon (Canada) during the gold rush. The protagonist dog Beck (a cross between a Scottish Shepherd and a St. Bernard), brought from a shepherd's ranch in California, finds himself in the harsh reality of the life of a sled dog. The novel tells about the difficulties that Buck experiences, trying to survive, despite the harsh treatment of the owners, other dogs and the cruelty of nature.
59. "American Pastoral" - Philip Roth ("American Pastoral" - Philip Roth)
The protagonist - Swede Leivow - married the beautiful Miss New Jersey, inherited his father's factory and became the owner of an old mansion in Old Rimrock. It would seem that dreams have come true, but one day the American leaf happiness turns to dust at once...
60. "Deliverance" - James Dickey ("Deliverance" - James Dickey)
The four embark on a journey into the wilderness and wilderness of the Appalachians. They go down the river in two boats. Their intentions are just to relax, unwind and see picturesque places ... But they did not know that they would be ambushed by illiterate local highlanders, thugs and sadists.
61. "Lucky Jim" - Kingsley Amis ("Lucky Jim" - Kingsley Amis)
A young teacher on probation at a provincial university.
The only "living soul" in a world of dull snobbery and meaningless rules of conduct.
Jim Dixon is sick of this, but he wants to get into the state! So, you have to be like everyone else. But one day love invades Jim's life, and all his conformist undertakings fly to hell overnight...
62 Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
The novel is set in 1930s France (mainly Paris). The novel describes the life of struggling writer Henry Miller in Paris.
63. "Lord of the Flies" - William Golding ("Lord of the Flies" - William Golding)
A strange, terrible story of boys who, by the will of fate, ended up on a desert island. Boys who played cruelty, hunting, war. A book about the hidden corners of the human soul and the desire for power.
64. Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry
At the Foot of the Volcano is a novel set in a small Mexican town during one November day in 1939 - All Souls' Day. This day is the last in the life of Geoffrey Fermin, a former British consul who finds refuge from life in unrestrained drunkenness. Fermin's ex-wife Yvonne, his half-brother Hugh and friend, film director Laruelle, are trying to save the consul, persuade him to stop drinking and start life anew...
65. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
Fragment of the film based on the book "Return to Brideshead".
The novel, published at the end of World War II, subtly depicts the characters of the outgoing era of prosperity of the English aristocracy. The protagonist of the novel, a young artist, Charles Ryder, meets Sebastian Flight, a representative of a well-known aristocratic family, while studying at Oxford. After his arrival in Brideshead, the family estate of the Flytes, Charles falls into the whirlpool of bohemian life, and over the next years his fate is inextricably linked with this family.
Free Literature Libraries
American History Reading Room, New York Public Library. Photo: Warren Weinstein. 500px. Creative Commons. (CC).
2. Project Gutenberg
One of the oldest online libraries where you can download or read over 33,000 free e-books online.
3. Google Books
If the book you are looking for is not copyrighted, you can read it online using Google Books by searching for "full preview books".
4. University of Pennsylvania Books Page
Here you can find over a million free resources to read and download.
5.Open Library
The Open Library also contains over a million books of classical literature, including some of the rarest works.
6. eBooks at Adelaide
The online library of the University of Adelaide offers classical, non-fiction, philosophy and medical books.
7 Bartleby
Free Encyclopedia of World History and Harvard Classics.
8 Bibliomania
On the site you can find more than 2,000 free classical texts, including scientific works.
9. Internet Archive
The largest digital library with free resources.
10.Many Books
Here you will find over 29,000 books available for download.
The best classic books of autumn 2018
Our new ranking of the top 100 best books of the classics has undergone significant changes. It's all the fault of the start of a new academic school, and a school program that clearly sets the tone in this category. Nevertheless, only the really best books of the classics, not only Russian, but also foreign, got into it. After all, this list of the best classics was compiled on the basis of your requests on the Internet and reflects the interest of readers in our country in the best possible way.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
The story "Sunstroke" Author: Bunin I. A. Year of publication of the story: 1925 Bunin's story "Sunstroke" is considered by many to be one of the best works of the writer. It is included in the school curriculum, and has also been filmed more than once. The last film adaptation was released in 2014 and was very successful. This aroused even more interest in the story "Sunstroke" to read, and also allowed Ivan Bunin to […]
The fund of classical literature at different times was replenished by the outstanding geniuses of their peoples and their era. We love them for the opportunity to plunge into the world of the distant past, so classical literature remains popular at all times.
Classical Literature: General Description
It happens that a certain mood makes us pay attention to classic books, because the most famous works are often the best. Not in vain, because it was these best works that inspired other famous authors - representatives of subsequent popular generations in literature. The Golden Classics, an eternal series of books, will be a salvation for those who are not attracted by modern literary works, because it was the authors from this list of classics who were genre pioneers long before the postmodern era came, and the literary world flared up with all the genre diversity that was difficult even imagine in the conditional XIX century. Nevertheless, all this became possible thanks to the classics, as evidenced by numerous reviews.
Books of world classics: list
As you know, classical works are not just books, but also markers of the era, which are considered exemplary examples of how the best of writers saw their literary heritage. In addition, most often the problems of classical works echo the worldview of a whole generation, which makes the mass reader love these books with all his heart. This is also the reason that these books are often included in the school curriculum of different countries, because such works help to understand what a whole section of society was thinking about and breathing in a specific time frame.
This list contains only some of the best examples of classical literature. But if you are wondering what to read from the literature included in the golden fund of world culture, then here you will definitely find something for yourself.
