Classic world literature

Books may make such a strong impact that they become classics. Others are – or have been – so controversial that it's impossible not to take notice of them. And then you have books that have become classics because of their film adaptations.

Here are some books you should have read – or at least heard of. For the record: Not all books on this list are political correct in today's point of view, but could have a taste of historical value. The year of publishing may be uncertain.

2001: A Space Odyssey
Author: Arthur C. Clarke
First published: 1968

A Brief History of Time
Author: Stephen Hawking
First published: 1988

A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
First published: 1843

A Clockwork Orange
Author: Anthony Burgess
First published: 1962

A Doll's House
Author: Henrik Ibsen
First published: 1879

A Game of Thrones
Author: George R. R. Martin
First published: 1996
Note: The first novel in the successful series "A Song of Ice and Fire"

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Author: William Shakespeare
First published: 1605

All Quiet on the Western Front
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
First published: 1929

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Author: Mark Twain
First published: 1884

Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Author: Mark Twain
First published: 1876

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
First published:

All's Well That Ends Well
Author: William Shakespeare
First published: N/A

American Psycho
Author: Bret Easton Ellis
First published: 1991

Animal farm
Author: George Orwell
First published: 1945

Around the World in Eighty Days
Author: Jules Verne
First published: 1872/1873
Note: First published in a series (1872–1874) before published as one book in 1873.

Brave New World
Author: Lew Wallace
First published: 1880

Brave New World
Author: Aldous Huxley
First published: 1932

Breakfast at Tiffany's
Author: Truman Capote
First published: 1958

Bridget Jones's Diary
Author: Helen Fielding
First published: 1996

Casino Royale
Author: Ian Fleming
First published: 1953
Note: The start of the James Bond franchise.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Author: Roald Dahl
First published: 1964

Das Kapital
Author: Karl Marx
First published: 1867

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Author: Philip K. Dick
First published: 1968

Doctor Zhivago
Author: Boris Pasternak
First published: 1957

The Ingenious Gentleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha
Author: Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
First published: 1605 + 1615
Note: Published in two parts.

Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
First published: 1897

Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
First published: 1953

Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
First published: 1818

Gone With the Wind
Author: Margaret Mitchell
First published: 1936

Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
First published: 1860/1861
Note: First published in a series (1860-1861) before published as one book in 1860.

Gulliver's Travels
Author: Jonathan Swift
First published: 1726

Heart of Darkness
Author: Joseph Conrad
First published: 1899/1902
Note: First published in a series (1899) before published as one book in 1902.

Heidi
Author: Johanna Spyri
First published: 1880

High Fidelity
Author: Nick Hornby
First published: 1995

I, Robot
Author: Isaac Asimov
First published: 1950

Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up
Author: James Matthew Barrie
First published: 1904

Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
First published: 1813

Journey to the Center of the Earth
Author: Jules Verne
First published: 1867

Jurassic Park
Author: Michael Crichton
First published: 1990

Les Misérables
Author:Victor Hugo
First published: 1862

Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
First published: 1955

Lord of the Flies
Author: William Golding
First published: 1954

Lost world
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
First published: 1912

Macbeth
Author: William Shakespeare
First published: 1623

Moby-Dick, or; the Whale
Author: Herman Melville
First published: 1851

Neuromancer
Author: William Gibson
First published: 1984

Nineteen Eighty-Four
Author: George Orwell
First published: 1949

Oliver Twist; or, The Parish boy's progress
Author: Charles Dickens
First published: 1837/1838
Note: First published in a series (1837–1839) before published as one book in 1838.

On the Origin of Species
Author: Charles Darwin
First published: 1859

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Author: Ken Kesey
First published: 1962

Out of Africa
Author: Isak Dinesen
First published: 1937

Red Dragon
Author: Thomas Harris
First published: 1981
Note: Started the successful Hannibal Lecter series.

Robin Hood and the Men of the Greenwood
Author: Henry Gilbert
First published: 1912

Robinson Crusoe
Author: Daniel Defoe
First published: 1719

Romeo and Juliet
Author: William Shakespeare
First published: 1592

Schindler's ark
Author: Thomas Keneally
First published: 1982
Note: Also known as "Schindler's list".

Slaughterhouse-Five
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
First published: 1969

The Adventures of Pinocchio
Author: Carlo Collodi
First published: 1883

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
First published: 1892
Note: Started the successful Sherlock Holmes series.

The Brothers Karamazov
Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
First published: 1879/1880

The Call of the Wild
Author: Jack London
First published: 1903

The Catcher in the Rye
Author: Jerome David Salinger
First published: 1951

The complete tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
First published: 2016

The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
First published: 1947

The Divine Comedy
Author: Dante Alighieri
First published: 1472
Note: Finished in 1320.