1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee. Hardcover book first published July 11, 1960. Novel won 1961 Pulitzer Prize. Later made into an Academy Award winning film.
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude Garcia Marquez, 1982.
5. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.
6. Things Fall Apart by Chinualumogu Achebe.
7. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
8. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
9. Beloved by Toni Morrison
10. Mrs Dalloway by Vagina Wolf.
11. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
12. The purple color by Alice Walker.

Achebe my man

I’ll stay with Sidney Sheldon and the Bronte’s anytime.😊

Achebe really did a lot in putting Nigeria 🇳🇬 in the limelight

Shakespeare books no even dey here

Went to quora to read up on this and they are there arguing about mark twain, ralph emerson but for here, even achebe dey ahead of Williams shakespeare

Authoreety:
Achebe really did a lot in putting Nigeria 🇳🇬 in the limelight

Something shakespeare couldnt do for England

If u believe an Achebe books will ever be rated above that of Williams, omo, u must believe dragons once existed

EmperorCaesar:



Something shakespeare couldnt do for England

If u believe an Achebe books will ever be rated above that of Williams, omo, u must believe dragons once existed

leave tribalism aside, you have not read things fall apart by Achebe

I JUST WASTED MY MONEY TO BUY THE INVISIBL MAN,VERY LONG AND BORING.

udede:
leave tribalism aside, you have not read things fall apart by Achebe

Do u even know my tribe or am I a citizen of England?

I never talked down on Achebe's works, I only stated what i saw on Quora and what other literary institutions think about Williams works

Not even the Greek could boast of such a great writer that can rival Williams despite their advance years of civilization over England. I would be cool with Achebe ranking by williams side but not above him

Virginia Woolf

For those disputing the inclusion of Things Fall Apart, this list is actually from a reputable British website: britannica.com

https://www.britannica.com/list/12-novels-considered-the-greatest-book-ever-written

I wonder why the OP didn't state the source.

Things Fall Apart is more than just a novel written by a Nigerian. You need to understand the literary significance and impact on African literature.

One of the first African novels to receive global critical acclaim. It is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in 1962 by William Heinemann Limited, and became the first work published in Heinemann's African Writers Series (most of which I binge-read).

It is regarded as a milestone in Anglophone African literature, and for the perception of African literature in the West. It has come to be seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and is read in Nigeria and throughout Africa.

It is studied widely in Europe, India, and North America, where it has spawned numerous secondary and tertiary analytical works. It has achieved similar status and repute in Australia and Oceania.

It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. It has been translated into more than 50 languages, and is often used in literature, world history, and African studies courses across the world.

The publication of Achebe's Things Fall Apart helped pave the way for numerous other African writers. Novelists who published after Achebe were able to find an eloquent and effective mode for the expression of the particular social, historical, and cultural situation of modern Africa.

Before Things Fall Apart was published, most of the novels about Africa had been written by European authors, portraying Africans as savages who were in need of western enlightenment.

This book helped convince the world that African Writers have something to offer and publishers paid attention.


The comment below is needless.
Wole Soyinka is one of the greatest literary icons in the world and last time I checked, he is still the only Nigerian with the Nobel prize in Literature. Rare feat!

adolfHitler1934:
He wrote "Pirates of The Sea Dogs" How to become a Cultist.

Foolish overrated Professor.

Achebe & Soyinka were founding members of Ulli Beier's Mbari Club, together with J.P Clark, Chris Okigbo, Demas, Mabel and Pa Bruce Onobrakpeya and they all maintained maximum respect for one another.

It's sad to see this generation of youngsters, most of who do not know literary s**t from chocolate denigrate their legacy.


It's high time we switched off our tribal antennae

What books did Wole Soyinka even write that even one of them cannot feature in world greatest books?

Authoreety:
Achebe really did a lot in putting Nigeria 🇳🇬 in the limelight

Prior to Things Fall Apart, every books about Africans and their way of life was written by Europeans who portrayed Africans as Savages or Subhuman species.

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

Weretuntun:
I JUST WASTED MY MONEY TO BUY THE INVISIBL MAN,VERY LONG AND BORING.

Lol, no knowledge is wasted.
I think it has a movie.

I no see Wole Soyinka's name there o

Okolo3662:
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee. Hardcover book first published July 11, 1960. Novel won 1961 Pulitzer Prize. Later made into an Academy Award winning film.
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude Garcia Marquez, 1982.
5. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.
6. Things Fall Apart by Chinualumogu Achebe.
7. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
8. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
9. Beloved by Toni Morrison
10. Mrs Dalloway by Vagina Wolf.
11. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
12. The purple color by Alice Walker.

udede:
leave tribalism aside, you have not read things fall apart by Achebe

That was a classic. An African story through the eyes of an African

EmperorCaesar:



Something shakespeare couldnt do for England

If u believe an Achebe books will ever be rated above that of Williams, omo, u must believe dragons once existed

the said novels not dramatic texts. Can you mention any novel Shakespeare wrote

I have only read about 6 from this list…


But who made them the greatest?

What was the criteria used for selecting them and making them the greatest?

Personally I have read some really good books… some by relatively “unknown “ authors.

There are Books I would pick anytime and any day over the ones listed here as greatest…

… at least the 6 I have read from the list!

This are my top 5 1. War and peace by leo tolsoy 2. The first blade trilogy. 3. The da vinci code by dan brown. 4.

Okolo3662:
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee. Hardcover book first published July 11, 1960. Novel won 1961 Pulitzer Prize. Later made into an Academy Award winning film.
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude Garcia Marquez, 1982.
5. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.
6. Things Fall Apart by Chinualumogu Achebe.
7. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
8. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
9. Beloved by Toni Morrison
10. Mrs Dalloway by Vagina Wolf.
11. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
12. The purple color by Alice Walker.

Virginia Woolf.

Stop being mischievous

There is power in writing 😁

Where is Milton's Paradise lost?

I've read the invisible Man. Even things fall apart that was written by our own Nigeria author, I haven't read it. I've only watched the TV show.

Another book I feel should be on that list is Oliver twist by Charles Dickens. It's a very good novel.

Things fall Apart.

At least Nigeria is known for something good despite the efforts of a Chicago heroin trafficker, certificate forger and election fraudster, to destroy what’s remaining of it

ok

Una wey dey read books dry try oo. I don't even know anybody in this list except Achebe and that's because his name is popular in Nigeria. At least a Nigerian book is in the list

Who or which body is credited with this rating or is it just the OP opinion? Well, Leo Tolstoy is a legend given how brilliant writer quote him profusely, though I've never read any of his work.

Hmmm... Where did you get the information from?

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart deserves it even though Things Are No Longer At Ease

The dead beat achebe has done well for his ppl😂😂😂😂😂

Will add to my reading list

Ishilove:

Virginia Woolf.

Stop being mischievous

Of all things to see...