The Guardian Names the 100 Greatest Novels of All Time

British newspaper The Guardian has published a list of the 100 greatest novels of all time, compiled from votes by writers, critics, and literary scholars from around the world. To the surprise of many, first place went to Middlemarch by George Eliot — a Victorian novel that often remains overshadowed by more famous classics.

In second place was Beloved by Toni Morrison, followed by Ulysses by James Joyce in third. The top five also included To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (4th) and In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (5th).

Spanish-language literature was represented in the ranking by three landmark works. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez made the top 20, taking 17th place. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, one of the oldest novels on the list, ranked 26th. The Mexican novel Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo came in at 96th place.

Eight works by Russian-language authors were included in the British newspaper’s ranking. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy placed 6th, while War and Peace ranked 7th. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, written in English, took 25th place. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky was ranked 28th, while Nabokov’s Pale Fire followed at 29th.

Particular attention was drawn to The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov at 66th place — one of the most widely read Russian-language novels in the world. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment ranked 69th, and Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman came in at 91st.

The full list can be viewed via this link.