Ranking 23 Greatest Novels Ever

The internet has gathered 23 works of literature for ranking by a well-read individual based on literary merit.

### Andrew Klavan Ranks 23 Works of Literature
* 🏆 Andrew Klavan ranks 23 works of literature on a tier list from **S to F**, with **S being the highest tier** and **F the lowest**.
* 📚 He praises "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen as "**one of the great novels ever written**" and "1984" by George Orwell as "**one of the greatest political novels ever written**".
* 📖 Klavan considers "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes as "**one of the classic novels**" that created the modern world, and "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky as "**the most important novel**" in his life.
* 📜 He describes "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte as a "**great and complex novel**," and "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy as "**one of the top 10 novels of all time**."
* 🔖 Klavan introduces a sponsor, Genus Cell, offering a special **25% off discount** for their **25th-anniversary sale**.
* 📚 Among other works, he ranks "**Frankenstein**" by Mary Shelley as a "**top-notch novel**," "**The Lord of the Rings**" by J.R.R. Tolkien as an "**insanely brilliant piece of social engineering**," and "**The Count of Monte Cristo**" by Alexandre Dumas as "**the most entertaining novel ever written**."
* 📜 Klavan considers "The Odyssey" by Homer as "**foundational**" and "The Iliad" by Homer as an "**S-tier work**", stating that "**there is no thought without Homer**".

all right, now usually on these bonus videos, we do something to torture me. I don't know why that is. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's something I said. Maybe it's strain of masochism. I don't know about, but today we're going to do something different. The internet has gathered 23 works of literature that the internet thinks are the best pieces of literature ever. Now I'm different than the internet because I've read a lot of literature. So they're going to show me these books, these 23 books, and I will rank them. They are ranked on tier rankings of S, which stands for uh, spectacular, superb, or I have no idea, but then it's ABCDF. There's no E, no E. This is so confusing, but we need some artificial intelligence in here or I can rank it. I didn't read which maybe I will if they're, you know, politically correct or anything like that. This video was brought to you by Genus Cell. Order yours right now and get the Genus Cell jawline treatment for a more Contour Define.

jawline visit genucell.com claven YT. All right, let's start with Pride and Prejudice author Jane Austen. Definitely one of the great novels ever written by one of the greatest novelists, the only female novelist in the top 10 of novelists. She actually virtually invented the novel, taking a kind of entertainment for ladies and turning it into art. Pride and Prejudice is one of her greatest works. So, 1984 author George Orwell. I would make that an a. Is that the second one? I would say that's an a. It is one of the greatest political novels ever written. It is incredibly insightful about the Soviet Union. That's what it's about. It is about leftism. Those are the villains, but it is such a good novel, a great novel, that even some of the tropes like Big Brother can be applied to the right and the left equally. And it is one of the great understandings of the authoritarian mind. I rank it below.

because it's not a great novel, in that you just can't put it down, but it is a wonderful novel and incredibly insightful. Donot of de Santes n s that is one of the classic novels that's a novel kind of the first novel almost. It's written before there were novels, and it is just absolutely amazing. It's not an easy read necessarily, but it is amazing. The latest, there's a new translation of it that is great, and it creates the modern world like Shakespeare does, what the Great Gatsby, uh, F. Scott Fitzgerald. I would give that an A. One of the these are good books. I'm surprised the internet did so well, uh, one of the greatest of American novels, very small Abella, but a wonderful, wonderful romance, a wonderful look at the upper classes, and sort of something about the inherent class system of the of of America, which we don't like to talk about, and just beautifully beautifully written. Tia Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I would put this a be I think.

it is a really wonderful novel. It's a great piece of Americana, you know. Everything gets overgraded. If you give anything less than a top grade, people think you're dissing it. I'm not. It's a really good novel. It's a good read. I don't think it's up there with the great classics like Pride and Prejudice and 1984, but it's definitely really good and it's strong. Everybody who reads it loves it, and I think it's lovable. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is one of the absolute classic novels of all time. Any list of great novels that is limited to say 10 is going to have Crime and Punishment on it. It is the most important novel in my life. It is the novel that turned me against postmodern philosophy, moral relativism, materialism. You cannot read it and not believe that there is both evil and good. It is the book that ultimately, over 30 years, led me to Christianity. I love it. It's absolutely

terrific janire by Charlotte Bronte. I would put this at an a. It's my daughter's favorite novel so that almost gives it an assd. As a great novel I I'm I'm saying an a is still a great great novel. I'm just putting only the very very best in top S. I don't think it's it's a a brilliantly written novel. It's written in a very Gothic style. Uh, it has some kind of quirks to it but it's it's the essential Gothic novel. It is the essential Gothic novel and it's a wonderful wonderful story and as romantic and loving uh as it possibly be. It's essentially beauty and the beast turned into a novel. It's great weing Heights by Emily Bronte. Some people are Jane air people some people are weing Heights people. I I am a Jane air person but weing Heights is a great and complex novel. So what did I give Jane air? I gave it an a. I'll give this an a as well.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is again one of the top 10 novels of all time. You know, people don't read Tolstoy because his books are so long. I think Anna Karenina is 800-900 pages. War and Peace is closer to 1,200 pages. Both are incredibly readable, like reading comic books. They're so entertaining. I don't even know which one to pick as being more entertaining. War and Peace has some philosophy that slows it down, but Anna Karenina is great from beginning to end. As many of you know, it's Just Cell's 25-year anniversary right now. My listeners will get an extra 25% off their already awesome prices, making this the biggest Just Cell sale ever. Just Cell is offering an extra 25% off in honor of their 25th anniversary. This makes this already awesome Mother's Day sale their biggest sale ever. If you haven't tried Just Cell, a great place to start is with their most popular package. This package features their Gen 90 serum, which instantly

erases the wrinkles around your eyes, forehead, and mouth. It also includes their top-selling under-eye bags and puffiness serum, as well as their jawline treatment for a more contoured, defined jawline. Genus Cell is so confident in their product that they guarantee you'll see results in less than 12 hours, or you'll get your money back. For a limited time, get an extra 25% off for Genus Cell's anniversary. The discount is automatically applied at checkout. Once the sale is gone, it's gone. Order yours right now and get the Genus Cell jawline treatment for a more contoured, defined jawline. Visit genucell.com. Claven YT. To sweeten the deal even more, you'll also receive a free spa box with two bonus gifts and free shipping. Genucell.com. Slaven YT. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. You can read all about it in my book, Truth and Beauty. It is a wonderful book. I would put it up there with the really top-notch novels. It's not one of

the greatest of great novels, but it is a top-notch novel, an essential piece of uh reading about what it means to create life without women, and the hostility toward women we see today, which I think Mary Shel saw coming hello Lita by Vladimir mokov, a book about a basically. It really is, and it's a, it's a beautifully, beautifully written novel. I will give that also B it's close to an a no, it is, it's a great novel, but it there is something about it that's off-putting even to me. What but it is terrific, and the language is beautiful, and um, I I think it's a really, really, really good novel. This one is a tough one for me, Moby Dick by Herman Melville. People love Moby Dick, and I don't want to dis diss it, but I will it, I give it a be it's a, it is a great 130-page novel written over 500 pages. I I just the, the thing that everybody feels makes it great is the

manding Herman Melville was deeply affected by Nathaniel Hawthorne who was a trans what do they call transcendentalist and he puts all this transcendental philosophy into the story of hunting the whale. The whale stuff is great, the adventure stuff is great, some of the philosophizing are great, but by the I've read it three times trying to get the goodness of it why everybody loves it so much. I'm giving it a B anyway, I just don't think it's as good as people say it is. Lord of the Rings JRR token I will give this an A. I'm just about to reread Lord of the Rings, I found it wordy, I like the movies better, enjoyed the movies better, but I'm going to reread it and see if maybe I miss something, it's just so much, but you got to give it cred, it started a genre, every Trope in the genre of fantasy comes from Tolen, it is an insanely brilliant uh piece of social.

engineering. The things he created are great. I think it could be cut in half, but it's still people love it. It's people's favorite novels. So what did I say? Hey, let's. We'll put it on a war in peace. Leo Tolstoy also an S. He gets to in the. He's one of the top. There aren't that many novelists at Leo Tolstoy's level. War in peace also belongs in the top. I know it's 12200 pages, but it's every page of it is great. Beloved by Tony Morrison. See an overrated. She's overrated cuz she's a black woman. I'm sorry. That's why she's overrated. Is it because I'm black? Yeah, you know it's. It's good, but it's not that great. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens is a Tolstoyan level author. This is not one of his greatest books, so I'll give it an A, but everything he writes is beautifully one of the greatest pro stylists who ever lived. Great storyteller. Amazing.

characters and Great Expectations is from anyone else. It would be the best novel ever. It's just he's written better. The Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger. I haven't read that in a long long time. I'm going to give it a be. It's very very popular. People love it. Maybe it's better than I remember it. I remember reading it thinking it was good but not great. But like I said it's been a long time. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. The most entertaining novel ever written. 1,400 pages. I am an extremely slow reader. I read 400 pages of it in one day. I just could not put it down. It is as entertaining as anything. I'm giving it an S just because it's the most entertaining novel ever written. The Odyssey by Homer. It's foundational. There is no literature without Homer. I am disart I this bir Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison good book. I give it a be. It's an interesting book.

interesting look at, uh, you know, America in its time, especially from a black author. You know, I think it's, it's good, it's a top-notch American novel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I'm going to give it an, wow, it is the foundational American novel. It's got flaws. I'll give it an A. It's a great, if, if A's are still great novels. I will give it an, an A. It is not one of the greatest novels ever written, but it may be the greatest American novel ever written, but it is terrific. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gets an A. The Iliad by Homer is an S. I mean, come on, there is, there just is no, there's no thought without Homer. Homer is, uh, you know, the foundational author we all stand on. Him in the Bible. Ulysses by James Joyce, you know, I'm going to put that at the S level. It's a very difficult novel, uh, a modern novel. It's the, the end of.

novel writing. The art forms always reach the end of their pinnacle by having that hyper-intellectual piece that is not for everybody. That's Ulysses. And yet, it is that one great novel, everything written like it is below it. So I'm going to give it an S. That was an excellent list. I was really expecting it to be really less than that. I, you know, I don't have a favorite novel because I've read all of them. But I will say there's no question, the Crime and Punishment is the novel that affected me most in life. To me, the worst writer who ever lived is Gertrude Stein. There are many, many, many bad writers, but Gertrude Stein is the worst writer. I don't think she ever wrote a novel, but it doesn't matter. Every word she wrote, some of her periods are bad, the spaces between her words are bad. Every she looks bad. Everything about her is bad. That was actually pretty interesting. I was surprised at how many of those books were among the

actual greatest books uh greatest novels ever written so good for the internet you're not as stupid as you look if you thought that video was one of the greatest works of literature ever like And subscribe even if you didn't also subscribe to the Andrew claven show wherever you get your podcast

The Greatest Books of All Time RANKED

Andrew Klavan

The internet's top 23 literature pieces are ranked and critiqued by a well-read individual.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is praised for its groundbreaking contribution to the novel, receiving high acclaim.

1984 by George Orwell is lauded for its political insight and is ranked as an A for its enduring significance.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is recognized as a classic and praised for its enduring impact on the modern world.

Some praise for "Crime and Punishment" and "Jane Eyre" for their impact on readers' lives.

The novels are seen as pivotal in shaping beliefs and values, ultimately influencing a shift towards Christianity.

"Wuthering Heights" is also admired for its complexity and romantic storytelling, earning it high praise.

Genus Cell Skincare Products and Limited Time Offer

Genus Cell offers a range of skincare products for reducing wrinkles, under-eye bags, and puffiness, as well as defining the jawline.

They guarantee results in less than 12 hours and are currently offering a 25% discount for their anniversary sale, along with a free spa box and free shipping.

Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is beloved and considered a top novel, despite its length.

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison is seen as overrated by some, but still has a strong fan base.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas is praised as the most entertaining novel ever written, earning a top rating for its captivating nature.

Ulysses is seen as a hyper-intellectual novel, while Crime and Punishment had a significant impact on the speaker's life.

The speaker strongly believes that Gertrude Stein is the worst writer who ever lived, expressing surprise at the inclusion of many acclaimed books in a video about the greatest novels.