The 100 Most Meaningful Books of All Time (Part Two)

Discover Part Two of 'The 100 Most Meaningful Books of All Time'—a curated list of transformative reads that inspire, challenge, and enlighten. Explore timeless literary gems that shape perspectives and leave lasting impact.

The Odyssey Cover
Book

The Odyssey

by Homer

Robert Fagles's stunning modern-verse translation-available at last in our black-spine classics line A Penguin Classic The Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey through …
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Ulysses Cover
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Ulysses

by James Joyce

This revised volume of the acclaimed novel follows the complete unabridged text as corrected in 1961. Set entirely on one day, 16 June 1904, Ulysses …
The Complete Stories Cover
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The Complete Stories

by Franz Kafka

The complete stories of one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, the author of The Metamorphosis and The Trial. “An important book, valuable …
The Trial Cover
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The Trial

by Franz Kafka

From one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, the author of The Metamorphosis: Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year …
The Castle Cover
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The Castle

by Franz Kafka

From the author of The Metamorphosis and The Trial—one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century—the haunting tale of K.’s relentless, unavailing struggle with …
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The Sound of the Mountain Cover
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The Sound of the Mountain

by Yasunari Kawabata

From the Nobel Prize-winning writer and acclaimed author of Snow Country comes a beautiful rendering of the predicament of old age—about an elderly Tokyo businessman …
Zorba the Greek Cover
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Zorba the Greek

 

No summary available.
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Independent People Cover
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Independent People

by Halldor Laxness

From the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author: a magnificent novel that recalls Iceland's medieval epics and classics, set in the early twentieth century starring an ordinary …
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The Golden Notebook Cover
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The Golden Notebook

by Doris Lessing

Anna is a writer, author of one very successful novel, who now keeps four notebooks. In one, with a black cover, she reviews the African …
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Attempted cover for Book ID: 0824813170
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Children of the Alley Cover
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Children of the Alley

by Naguib Mahfouz

The tumultuous alley of this rich and intricate novel (first published in Arabic in 1959) is inhabited by a delightful Egyptian family, but is also …
Buddenbrooks Cover
Book

Buddenbrooks

 

No summary available.
The Magic Mountain Cover
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The Magic Mountain

by Thomas Mann

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • A monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, The Magic Mountain is an enduring classic. With this …
Moby-Dick Cover
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Moby-Dick

by Herman Melville

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read First published in 1851, Herman Melville’s masterpiece is, in Elizabeth Hardwick’s words, …
The Complete Essays Cover
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The Complete Essays

by Michel de Montaigne

In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'essays', inspired …
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Beloved Cover
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Beloved

by Toni Morrison

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A spellbinding novel that transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate …
The tale of Genji Cover
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The tale of Genji

 

No summary available.
The Man Without Qualities, Vol. 1 Cover
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The Man Without Qualities, Vol. 1

by Robert Musil

Set in Vienna on the eve of World War I, this great novel of ideas tells the story of Ulrich, ex-soldier and scientist, seducer and …
Lolita Cover
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Lolita

by Vladimir Nabokov

The most famous and controversial novel from one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century tells the story of Humbert Humbert’s obsessive, devouring, and …
Njal's Saga Cover
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Njal's Saga

by Robert Cook

Written in the thirteenth century, Njal's Saga is a story that explores perennial human problems-from failed marriages to divided loyalties, from the law's inability to …
Nineteen Eighty-four Cover
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Nineteen Eighty-four

by George Orwell

Eternal warfare is the price of bleak prosperity in this satire of totalitarian barbarism.
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In Search of Lost Time Cover
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In Search of Lost Time

by Marcel Proust

The first installment of the French author's multivolume autobiographical novel, originally published in 1913, in which he recalls his childhood and first infatuation.
Gargantua and Pantagruel Cover
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Gargantua and Pantagruel

by Francois Rabelais

A masterly new translation of Rabelais’s robust scatalogical comedy Parodying everyone from classic authors to his own contemporaries, the dazzling and exuberant stories of Rabelais …
Pedro Páramo Cover
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Pedro Páramo

by Juan Rulfo

Deserted villages of rural Mexico, where images and memories of the past linger like unquiet ghosts, haunted the imaginations of the author. In one such …
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Midnight's Children Cover
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Midnight's Children

by Salman Rushdie

The story of Saleem Sinal, born precisely at midnight, August 15, 1947, the moment India became independent. Saleem's life parallels the history of his nation.
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Blindness Cover
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Blindness

by José Saramago

A stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature. "This is a …