Greatest Writers of All Time

1. Fyodor Dostoevsky

   

   Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, sometimes transliterated as Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and philosopher.

   He is best known for exploring human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century... read more

   This man is a testament to the fact that literature is not just some stories to help us make it through our daily lives but truly something that can change the entire world. Dostoevsky had the greatest impact on 20th-century thinkers such as Sigmund Freud, Nietzsche, and many other brilliant minds. We can still feel the impact of his absolute genius in our day-to-day lives.

   His explosive power of psychoanalysis is beyond question, and he is a crafty and masterly storyteller alongside.

   Great psychological author. Great philosopher. Genius.

2. Albert Camus

   

   Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 - January 4, 1960) was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. He is best known for novels such as L'Étranger (The Stranger, 1942), La Peste (The Plague, 1947), and La Chute (The Fall, 1956). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

   Albert Camus, born on November 7, 1913, and died on January 4, 1960, was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. His views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. He wrote in his essay The Rebel that his whole life was devoted to opposing the philosophy of nihilism while still delving deeply into individual freedom.

   He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. France is the leading country for Nobel Prizes in Literature, with the USA in second place.

   Answers the daily questions we face in a subtle, deft manner. His diaries, The Stranger, and The Plague are disturbing and, at the same time, essential tools for survival in an absurd world.

3. William Shakespeare

   

   William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He wrote approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and numerous poems. His works are still widely studied, performed, and celebrated globally... read more

   The greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist, his plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Some of his best works are Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.

   He should be the first, everlasting pattern of a true writer.

   Very influential too, especially to The Lion King.

4. Leo Tolstoy

   

   Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.

   His notable works include War and Peace and Anna Karenina, which are considered two of the finest novels ever written. Tolstoy also became... read more

   He is the god of all writers and a saint indeed. No one can beat the god.

   It takes someone special to write something like War and Peace.

   The greatest one. Read and feel his mind.

5. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

   

   Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry (June 29, 1900 - July 31, 1944) was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist, and pioneering aviator. He is best known for his novella The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) and for aviation-themed works such as Wind, Sand and Stars and Night... read more

   The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) is, except for the Bible, the most sold, read, and beloved book in history. It has been translated into 250 languages (50 different translated editions in Chinese, 47 in Korean), even dialects like Sardinian, and sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

   If he writes one book that can change the world, imagine his whole career! The best one.

   I love all the books he wrote and also his exciting life.

6. Ernest Hemingway

   

   Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 - July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, and his adventurous life and public persona influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of... read more

7. Charles Baudelaire

   

   Charles Pierre Baudelaire (April 9, 1821 - August 31, 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator, and art critic. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), explores the evolving nature of beauty in the rapidly industrializing city of Paris during the mid-19th century... read more

8. Victor Hugo

   

   Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. Hugo is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers.

   Outside of France, his most famous works are the novels Les Misérables (1862) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame... read more

   Read Les Misérables or the first two tomes of Notre-Dame de Paris. Great stories, deep drama, and breathtaking adventures. Furthermore, his poems are maybe the best in French literature.

9. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

   

   Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher of the Enlightenment era. Known for his work on political philosophy and education, his writings, including The Social Contract and Emile, advocate for a society based on democratic consensus and the moral autonomy of individuals.... read more

   Rousseau contrasted with Descartes about nature. Discourse on Method (Descartes) or A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of Inequality Among Mankind and Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar (Rousseau).

   The greatest Rousseau and, of course, Voltaire.

10. Stephen King

    

    Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. Many of his best-known novels include Carrie, It, The Shining, The Stand, Misery, The Dark Tower series, and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was adapted into the... read more

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Alan Moore

    
12. ?

    Cormac McCarthy

    
The Contenders

13. Charles Dickens

    

    Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many scholars and readers as one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era.... read more

    Arguably the most popular British writer alongside Jane Austen. His works continue to make people laugh, cry, or scratch their heads. He is loved, hated, but never ignored. That is a testament to his talent as a writer.

    One of the most popular and well-known British writers who ever lived.

14. Simone de Beauvoir

    

    Simone de Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, autobiographies, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and social issues. She was known for her 1949 treatise, The Second Sex, a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism. She was also known for her novels, including She Came to Stay and The Mandarins, and for her lifelong open relationship with the famous French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.

15. J.R.R. Tolkien

    

    John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (3 January 1892 - 2 September 1973), known by his pen name J. R. R. Tolkien, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor.

    He is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Tolkien's... read more

    This is a disgrace to the world of readers. Shouldn't he be #1? After all, he did write an awesome three-book series, create a whole universe, prove himself to be the #1 author in the history of the universe, inspire millions of other authors, and let millions of people (like me) read his awesome, supreme, unbeatable, never-outdated books. What a shame he's so low. He should be #1 or at least #2.

    Arguably the godfather of modern fantasy. He took his inspiration from the likes of Beowulf and created a whole universe now adored by so many. True genius.

16. Jane Austen

    

    Jane Austen was an English novelist known principally for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the life of the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century... read more

17. Marcel Proust

    

    Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (July 10, 1871 - November 18, 1922), better known as Marcel Proust, was a French novelist, critic, and essayist. He is considered by English-language critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. His most famous work is... read more

18. Voltaire

    

    François-Marie Arouet, known by his pen name Voltaire, was born on November 21, 1694, and died on May 30, 1778. He was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher who became famous for his sharp wit, his criticism of the Catholic Church, and his strong support for civil liberties such as... read more

19. Marcel Aymé

    

    Marcel Aymé (March 29, 1902 - October 14, 1967) was a French novelist, children's writer, humorist, screenwriter, and playwright. He gained recognition for works such as The Man Who Walked Through Walls and The Green Mare. His writing often blended fantasy with satirical commentary on French society... read more

20. Gustave Flaubert

    

    Gustave Flaubert, born on December 12, 1821, and died on May 8, 1880, was a significant French novelist associated with literary realism. He is best known for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), which is widely regarded as a masterpiece of realist fiction.... read more

21. Emile Zola

    

    Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola, born on April 2, 1840, and died on September 29, 1902, was a French novelist, playwright, and journalist. He was the most prominent figure in the literary school of naturalism and played a crucial role in shaping modern literature. Zola also became a significant... read more

22. Jules Verne

    

    Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright who is best known for his adventure novels and his significant impact on the science fiction genre. His most famous works include Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty... read more

23. Guy de Maupassant

    

    Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (August 5, 1850 - July 6, 1893) was a French author widely regarded as a master of the short story. He was a leading figure in the naturalist literary movement and often portrayed human lives, social forces, and personal destinies with disillusionment and a somber... read more

24. George Sand

    

25. Agatha Christie

    

    Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright.

    She is the best-selling fiction writer of all time, with her novels having sold over two billion copies worldwide. Christie also wrote The Mousetrap, the world's longest-running... read more

26. Honoré de Balzac

    

    Honoré de Balzac (May 20, 1799 - August 18, 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His novel sequence La Comédie Humaine, which presents a comprehensive panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is widely regarded as his magnum opus.... read more

27. Oscar Wilde

    

    Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 - 30 November 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet.

    After writing in various forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is remembered for his epigrams, his novel... read more

    Dazzling prose, just beautiful. This guy deserves to be higher.