D

Don Quixote

This Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes features a delusional knight-errant and his loyal squire, Sancho Panza. Often considered the first modern novel.

The Taming of the Shrew

This Shakespearean comedy features Petruchio's attempts to 'tame' the headstrong Katherina. The play includes the character Bianca and the framing device of Christopher Sly.

Antigone

This Greek tragedy by Sophocles centers on a woman who defies King Creon to bury her brother, Polynices. Themes include civil disobedience and divine law versus human law.

Hamlet

This Shakespearean tragedy features a Danish prince who seeks revenge for his father's murder. Famous lines include 'To be or not to be' and 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.'

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel set in the Roaring Twenties explores themes of the American Dream through the enigmatic Jay Gatsby and his love for Daisy Buchanan.

1984

George Orwell's dystopian novel introduces Big Brother, Newspeak, and the Thought Police. The protagonist, Winston Smith, rebels against the Party's totalitarian regime.

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen's novel follows Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy as they navigate societal expectations and their own prejudices. The opening line is 'It is a truth universally acknowledged...'

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville's novel features Captain Ahab's obsessive quest for the white whale. The narrator, Ishmael, begins with the line 'Call me Ishmael.'

The Odyssey

Homer's epic poem follows Odysseus' ten-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Key episodes include the Cyclops, the Sirens, and Penelope's suitors.

The Iliad

This Homeric epic focuses on the final weeks of the Trojan War, featuring Achilles, Hector, and the wrath of Achilles. The poem begins with the word 'Rage.'

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri's epic poem is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The poet Virgil guides Dante through Hell and Purgatory.

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel follows Raskolnikov, a poor ex-student who commits murder and grapples with guilt. Set in St. Petersburg, it explores themes of morality and redemption.

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, who creates a sentient creature. The novel explores themes of ambition, isolation, and the nature of humanity.

The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger's novel features Holden Caulfield, a disenchanted teenager who narrates his experiences in New York City. The title references a misheard lyric from a Robert Burns poem.

The Aeneid

Virgil's epic poem follows Aeneas' journey from Troy to Italy, where he becomes the ancestor of the Romans. The poem includes the tragic love story of Dido and Aeneas.

The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka's novella features Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning transformed into a giant insect. The story explores themes of alienation and identity.

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel revolves around the Karamazov family, particularly the brothers Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha. The Grand Inquisitor chapter is a famous philosophical digression.

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel is set in Puritan New England and follows Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear a scarlet 'A' for adultery. The novel explores sin and redemption.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel García Márquez's novel chronicles the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo. A key example of magical realism.

The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner's novel uses stream-of-consciousness narration to tell the story of the Compson family. The title is taken from Macbeth's soliloquy.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's novel features a portrait that ages while the titular character remains youthful. The novel explores themes of aestheticism and moral corruption.

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway's novel follows a group of expatriates, including Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley, as they travel from Paris to Pamplona. A key work of the Lost Generation.

The Waste Land

T.S. Eliot's modernist poem is divided into five sections, including 'The Burial of the Dead' and 'What the Thunder Said.' The poem is known for its fragmented style and allusions.

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck's novel follows the Joad family as they migrate from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl. The novel explores themes of poverty and resilience.

The Stranger

Albert Camus' novel features Meursault, an emotionally detached man who commits a senseless murder. The novel is a key work of existentialism.

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, where women are subjugated. The protagonist, Offred, is a handmaid forced into reproductive servitude.

The Inferno

The first part of Dante's Divine Comedy, it describes the poet's journey through the nine circles of Hell, guided by Virgil. Famous figures include Paolo and Francesca.

The Republic

Plato's philosophical work is structured as a dialogue led by Socrates. It explores the nature of justice and the ideal state, including the allegory of the cave.

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway's novella follows Santiago, an aging fisherman, as he struggles to catch a giant marlin. The story explores themes of perseverance and man's relationship with nature.

The Tempest

Shakespeare's play features Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, who uses magic to control the island and its inhabitants. The play includes the spirit Ariel and the monster Caliban.

Beowulf

This Old English epic poem tells the story of a hero who battles the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a dragon. It is one of the earliest works of English literature.

Paradise Lost

John Milton's epic poem retells the biblical story of the Fall of Man, focusing on Satan's rebellion and Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden. The poem begins with the line 'Of Man's first disobedience...'

Oedipus Rex

Sophocles' tragedy follows Oedipus, who unknowingly fulfills a prophecy by killing his father and marrying his mother. The play explores themes of fate and free will.

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë's novel revolves around the passionate, destructive relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. The setting is the Yorkshire moors.

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë's novel follows the titular orphaned governess and her relationship with the brooding Mr. Rochester. The novel critiques Victorian social class and gender roles.

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad's novella follows Marlow's journey into the Congo to find Kurtz, a rogue ivory trader. The work critiques European colonialism.

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel depicts a society controlled by genetic engineering, conditioning, and the drug soma. The World State enforces the motto 'Community, Identity, Stability.'

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee's novel explores racial injustice in the American South through the trial of Tom Robinson, defended by Atticus Finch. The narrator is Scout Finch.

Beloved

Toni Morrison's novel tells the story of Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman haunted by the ghost of her daughter. The novel addresses the trauma of slavery.

The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical novel follows Esther Greenwood's mental breakdown and struggles with societal expectations. The title references suffocation.

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy's novel explores themes of love, infidelity, and society through the tragic affair between Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky. The opening line is about unhappy families.

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy's epic novel chronicles the lives of Russian aristocrats during the Napoleonic Wars. Key characters include Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova.

Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison's novel follows an unnamed Black protagonist navigating racism and identity in mid-20th century America. The prologue references living underground.

Candide

Voltaire's satirical novella follows the optimistic Candide as he travels the world, questioning Leibniz's philosophy that this is 'the best of all possible worlds.'

The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer's collection of stories is framed as a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Characters include the Wife of Bath, the Knight, and the Pardoner.

Othello

Shakespeare's tragedy features the Moorish general Othello, manipulated by Iago into believing his wife Desdemona is unfaithful. Themes include jealousy and race.

King Lear

Shakespeare's tragedy follows the aging king who divides his kingdom among his daughters, leading to betrayal and madness. The Fool serves as a truth-teller.

Macbeth

Shakespeare's tragedy depicts Macbeth's rise to power through murder, spurred by prophecies from three witches. Themes include ambition and guilt.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain's novel follows Huck and Jim, an escaped enslaved man, as they travel down the Mississippi River. The novel critiques racism in the antebellum South.

The Lord of the Flies

William Golding's novel explores the descent into savagery of a group of boys stranded on an island. Key symbols include the conch and the 'beast.'

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel follows Guy Montag, a fireman who burns books. The title refers to the temperature at which paper ignites.

Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war novel follows Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who becomes 'unstuck in time.' The phrase 'So it goes' repeats after deaths.

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel is narrated by Humbert Humbert, a man obsessed with a 12-year-old girl. The prose is noted for its linguistic complexity.

Ulysses

James Joyce's modernist novel parallels Homer's Odyssey, following Leopold Bloom through Dublin on June 16, 1904. The stream-of-consciousness style is iconic.

Waiting for Godot

Samuel Beckett's absurdist play features Vladimir and Estragon waiting endlessly for the titular Godot. The work explores existential futility.

The Trial

Franz Kafka's novel follows Josef K., arrested and prosecuted by a mysterious authority for an unnamed crime. Themes include bureaucracy and alienation.

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert's novel follows Emma Bovary, whose romantic fantasies lead to adultery and financial ruin. The novel critiques bourgeois life.

Les Misérables

Victor Hugo's epic novel follows Jean Valjean, a former convict seeking redemption. Key characters include Inspector Javert and the orphaned Cosette.

The Jungle

Upton Sinclair's novel exposes the harsh conditions of the meatpacking industry in early 20th-century Chicago. The phrase 'I aimed for the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach' reflects its impact.

The Road

Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel follows a father and son traveling through a desolate landscape. The prose is spare and stripped of quotation marks.

Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe's novel explores the clash between traditional Igbo society and British colonialism in Nigeria. The protagonist is Okonkwo, a respected warrior.

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho's allegorical novel follows Santiago, a shepherd boy seeking treasure in Egypt. The central theme is pursuing one's 'Personal Legend.'

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel follows Bilbo Baggins, who joins a quest to reclaim the dwarves' homeland from the dragon Smaug. The precursor to The Lord of the Rings.

The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe's poem features a talking raven's repeated refrain of 'Nevermore,' tormenting a grieving narrator. The poem uses trochaic octameter.

Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman's poetry collection celebrates democracy, nature, and the human body. The poem 'Song of Myself' opens with 'I celebrate myself, and sing myself.'

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

T.S. Eliot's poem portrays the inner monologue of a socially anxious man. Famous lines include 'Do I dare disturb the universe?' and 'measured out my life with coffee spoons.'

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem follows a mariner who kills an albatross, bringing a curse on his ship. The poem includes the lines 'Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.'

The Second Sex

Simone de Beauvoir's feminist work critiques women's oppression, arguing that 'one is not born, but rather becomes, woman.'

The Lais of Marie de France

A collection of 12th-century narrative poems by Marie de France, often focusing on courtly love and chivalry. Includes 'Lanval' and 'Bisclavret.'

The Decameron

Giovanni Boccaccio's collection of 100 tales told by ten young people fleeing the Black Death in Florence. A cornerstone of Italian literature.

The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli's political treatise advises rulers on maintaining power, famously arguing that 'the ends justify the means.'

Medea

Euripides' tragedy follows Medea, who seeks revenge on her husband Jason by murdering their children. Themes include betrayal and the status of women.

A Doll's House

Henrik Ibsen's play follows Nora Helmer, who leaves her husband to seek independence. The slamming door at the end symbolizes feminist rebellion.

Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's play critiques the American Dream through Willy Loman, a failing salesman who clings to delusions of success.

The Glass Menagerie

Tennessee Williams' memory play features Tom Wingfield, his fragile sister Laura, and their overbearing mother Amanda. Laura's collection of glass animals symbolizes her fragility.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams' play follows Blanche DuBois, who moves in with her sister Stella and clashes with Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski. The line 'I have always depended on the kindness of strangers' is iconic.

Long Day's Journey Into Night

Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play depicts the Tyrone family's struggles with addiction, illness, and regret. Considered O'Neill's masterpiece.

The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde's farcical comedy revolves around mistaken identities and the name 'Ernest.' Famous for its witty epigrams, like 'To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune...'

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's comedy involves four Athenian lovers, a group of amateur actors, and fairies in a magical forest. Puck's line 'Lord, what fools these mortals be!' is famous.

The Cherry Orchard

Anton Chekhov's play portrays an aristocratic family forced to sell their estate, including their beloved cherry orchard. Blends comedy and tragedy.

Uncle Vanya

Anton Chekhov's play explores themes of existential despair and wasted potential through the lives of Vanya and his niece Sonya on a rural estate.

The Seagull

Anton Chekhov's play follows struggling artists, including the playwright Trigorin and the aspiring actress Nina. The symbol of the dead seagull represents destroyed dreams.

Waiting for Lefty

Clifford Odets' play is a series of vignettes about taxi drivers planning a strike during the Great Depression. Ends with the chant 'Strike! Strike!'

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Tom Stoppard's absurdist play reimagines Hamlet from the perspective of two minor characters. Features existential themes and wordplay.

The Faerie Queene

Edmund Spenser's epic poem allegorizes virtues through knights like Redcrosse (Holiness) and Britomart (Chastity). Written in Spenserian stanzas.

Sonnets from the Portuguese

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet sequence includes the famous line 'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.' Dedicated to her husband, Robert Browning.

The Prelude

William Wordsworth's autobiographical poem explores the development of the poet's mind and his relationship with nature. A key work of Romanticism.

Kubla Khan

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's fragmentary poem describes the Mongol ruler's 'stately pleasure-dome' in Xanadu. Inspired by an opium-induced dream.

The Waste Land

T.S. Eliot's modernist poem is divided into five sections, including 'The Burial of the Dead' and 'What the Thunder Said.' The poem is known for its fragmented style and allusions.

Howl

Allen Ginsberg's Beat Generation poem critiques consumerism and conformity. The opening line: 'I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness...'

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri's epic poem is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The poet Virgil guides Dante through Hell and Purgatory.

The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer's collection of stories is framed as a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Characters include the Wife of Bath, the Knight, and the Pardoner.

The Aeneid

Virgil's epic poem follows Aeneas' journey from Troy to Italy, where he becomes the ancestor of the Romans. The poem includes the tragic love story of Dido and Aeneas.

The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka's novella features Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning transformed into a giant insect. The story explores themes of alienation and identity.

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel revolves around the Karamazov family, particularly the brothers Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha. The Grand Inquisitor chapter is a famous philosophical digression.

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel is set in Puritan New England and follows Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear a scarlet 'A' for adultery. The novel explores sin and redemption.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel García Márquez's novel chronicles the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo. A key example of magical realism.

The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner's novel uses stream-of-consciousness narration to tell the story of the Compson family. The title is taken from Macbeth's soliloquy.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's novel features a portrait that ages while the titular character remains youthful. The novel explores themes of aestheticism and moral corruption.

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway's novel follows a group of expatriates, including Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley, as they travel from Paris to Pamplona. A key work of the Lost Generation.