Classic books everyone should read at least once
Quick answer: Classic books often recommended include One Thousand and One Nights, Don Quixote, Pride and Prejudice, Les Misérables, War and Peace, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Little Prince and Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy.
From the Arab world
One Thousand and One Nights, with tales such as Aladdin and Sinbad, has shaped storytelling worldwide. Naguib Mahfouz, author of the Cairo Trilogy, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988.
European classics
Cervantes’ Don Quixote (1605) is often called the first modern novel; Jane Austen, Victor Hugo and Leo Tolstoy wrote some of the most read novels of the 19th century.
Modern classics
Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude defined magical realism, and The Little Prince is among the most translated books ever.
Classics from around the world
Books that appear often in quizzes:
| Book | Author | Country |
|---|---|---|
| One Thousand and One Nights | Various | Middle East |
| Don Quixote | Miguel de Cervantes | Spain |
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | England |
| War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy | Russia |
| One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel García Márquez | Colombia |
| Things Fall Apart | Chinua Achebe | Nigeria |
| The Cairo Trilogy | Naguib Mahfouz | Egypt |
Arabic literature
Naguib Mahfouz became the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, best known for the Cairo Trilogy. Other widely read modern Arabic authors include Tayeb Salih, whose Season of Migration to the North is often listed among the great novels of the 20th century, and Ghassan Kanafani, whose Men in the Sun is a key work of Palestinian literature.
How book quizzes work
Book quizzes may show a cover, an opening line or a character and ask for the title or author. Learning one famous line from each classic is a good shortcut.
Classics by era
A reading timeline:
| Era | Books |
|---|---|
| Ancient | The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey |
| Medieval | One Thousand and One Nights, The Divine Comedy |
| 19th century | Pride and Prejudice, Les Misérables, Crime and Punishment |
| 20th century | One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Cairo Trilogy, Things Fall Apart |
One Thousand and One Nights
Also known as the Arabian Nights, this collection of tales is framed by Shahrazad, who tells a story every night to delay her execution. Stories such as Sinbad the Sailor became famous worldwide, while Aladdin and Ali Baba were added by the French translator Antoine Galland in the 18th century.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best-selling novel of all time?
Don Quixote is often cited, with estimates over 500 million copies.
Which Arab writer won the Nobel Prize?
Naguib Mahfouz of Egypt, in 1988.
Who was the first Arab writer to win the Nobel Prize?
Naguib Mahfouz, in 1988.
Who wrote Don Quixote?
Miguel de Cervantes.
Who tells the stories in One Thousand and One Nights?
Shahrazad.
What is the oldest known work of literature?
The Epic of Gilgamesh, from ancient Mesopotamia.