Bartleby.com provides the best works of fiction from a wide range of classic authors.
Fiction
Anthologies
Eliot, Charles W ., ed. 1909–17. The Harvard Classics and Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction .The most popular anthology of the twentieth century comprises 70 volumes.
Matthews, Brander , ed. 1907. The Short-Story .Twenty-three classic short stories trace the development of the genre from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century.
Rhys, Ernest, ed. 1921. The Haunters and the Haunted .
Fifty-seven ghost stories from literary works, folklore and myth.
Volumes
Aeschylus .
1909–14. The House of Atreus: Agamemnon , The Libation-Bearers & The Furies .
The Oresteian trilogy represents the height of Greek drama. The sins of the parent rest on the head of the child, who seeks vengeance and expiation.
1909–14. Prometheus Bound .
The emergence of the individual against his angry God.
Æsop . 1909–14. Fables .These 82 allegories remain part of everyday speech and provide eternal tales of caution.
Andersen, Hans Christian . 1909–14. Tales .Written for children in the local Danish idiom, these 20 tales have become part of world folklore.
Anderson, Sherwood . 1919. Winesburg, Ohio .Short stories of the alternately complex, lonely, joyful and strange lives of the inhabitants of a small American town.
Aristophanes . 1909–14. The Frogs .Dionysus descends into the underworld, where he judges a contest between Euripides and Æschylus.
Austen, Jane . 1917. Pride and Prejudice .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. III, Part 2.
Balzac, Honoré de . 1917. Old Goriot .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIII, Part 1.
Björnson, Björnstjerne . 1917. A Happy Boy .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XX, Part 2.
Buchan, John . 1915. The Thirty-nine Steps .The basis for the 1935 Hitchcock film, this engaging mystery novel is filled with intrigue and suspense.
Bunyan, John . 1909–17. The Pilgrim’s Progress .The most well-known allegory ever written is simultaneously filled with vivid and full human portraits of its characters.
Calderón de la Barca, Pedro . 1909–17. Life Is a Dream .Metaphysical tale of the blurring between reality and dreams.
Cather, Willa . 1922. One of Ours .Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of a midwestern American’s journey to the front of World War I.
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de . 1909–17. Don Quixote, Part 1 .Published nearly 400 years ago in Spanish, this parody of the chivalrous life remains amazingly familiar in translation today.
Chesterton, G.K . 1908. The Man Who Was Thursday .Set in a fantastic London, this zany mystery story is filled with often-surreal twists that turn more traditional thrillers on their ear.
Christie, Agatha . 1920. The Mysterious Affair at Styles .Agatha Christie begins the illustrious career of detective-extraordinaire Hercule Poirot in her 1920 mystery classic.
Colum, Padraic .Classic retellings of ancient myth for younger readers by a preeminent poet and illustrator.
The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy .
The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived before Achilles .
Corneille, Pierre . 1909–17. Polyeucte .Corneille’s great religious tragedy.
Daudet, Alphonse . 1917. Five Short Stories .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIII, Part 4.
Dickens, Charles . 1917. David Copperfield .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vols. VII & VIII.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor . 1917. Crime and Punishment .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XVIII.
Eliot, George . 1917. The Mill on the Floss .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. IX.
Euripides .
1909–14. The Bacchæ .
Dionysus punishes Thebes, and its ruler Pentheus, for denying his godhood.
1909–14. Hippolytus .
Aphrodite causes Phaedra to fall in love with her stepson, Hippolytus, with tragic consequences.
Fielding, Henry . 1917. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vols. I & II.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott . 1920. This Side of Paradise .Describing life at Princeton among the glittering, bored and disillusioned—the post–World War I “lost generation.”
Fontane, Theodor . 1917. Trials and Tribulations .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XV, Part 4.
Goethe, J. W. von . 1909–14. Faust. Part I .Goethe’s retelling of the classic Faust legend and the crowning achievement of his literary output. 1909–14. Egmont .
Count Egmont leads an ultimately tragic rebellion against Spanish rule in The Netherlands. 1909–14. Hermann and Dorothea .
This “novelette in verse” tells the story of a young girl who finds love after fleeing the chaos of the French Revolution. 1917. The Sorrows of Werther .
From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XV, Part 1. 1917. Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship .
From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIV.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm . 1909–14. Household Tales .These 42 selections preserved the folklore of the German people and formed an inspiration to generations of storytellers.
Hale, Edward Everett . 1917. The Man without a Country .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. X, Part 6.
Harte, Francis Bret . 1917. Three Stories .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. X, Part 4.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel .
1850. The Scarlet Letter .
Hawthorne’s classic tragedy of love and morals in Puritan New England. 1917. The Scarlet Letter & Rappaccini’s Daughter .
From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. X, Part 1.
Homer . 1909–14. The Odyssey .The myriad adventures of the first epic hero from a distant war to the land of his faithful family.
Hugo, Victor Marie . 1917. Notre Dame de Paris .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XII.
Irving, Washington . 1917. Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. X, Part 2.
James, Henry . 1917. The Portrait of a Lady .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XI.
Jewett, Sarah Orne . 1910. The Country of the Pointed Firs .Capturing the beauties of everyday small-town life, the modern reader is transported to a time past—where life was much simpler but in many ways just as complex.
Keller, Gottfried . 1917. The Banner of the Upright Seven .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XV, Part 2.
Kielland, Alexander L. . 1917. Skipper Worse .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XX, Part 3.
Lamb, Charles and Mary . 1878. Tales from Shakespeare .The Lambs interweave the words of Shakespeare with their own to bring twenty of his most famous plays to the young reader.
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim . 1909–17. Minna von Barnhelm .Lessing’s great national drama.
Lewis, Sinclair . 1922. Babbitt .The novel behind the name, Babbitt is the classic commentary on middle-class American society.
Malory, Sir Thomas . 1909–14. The Holy Grail .A selection from Mallory’s famed Morte d’Arthur.
Manzoni, Alessandro . 1909–14. I Promessi Sposi .The faith of two lovers overcomes all obstacles to their union.
Marlowe, Christopher . 1909–14. The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus .Marlowe was the first to turn the Faustian myth into a morality play; it remains an apogee of Elizabethan drama.
Maupassant, Guy de . 1917. Walter Schnaffs’ Adventure and Two Friends .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIII, Part 5.
Melville, Herman . 1853. Bartleby, the Scrivener .In this classic short story, Melville presents us with a perplexing legal scrivener, Bartleby, and his disturbing effect on those around him.
Molière . 1909–17. Tartuffe .Molière’s satire of the religious hypocrite.
Musset, Alfred de . 1917. The Story of a White Blackbird .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIII, Part 3.
O’Neill, Eugene .
1920. Beyond the Horizon .
Explores the results of two men’s love for the same woman and the compromises each will make to have her.
1922. Three Plays .
Comprises “The Hairy Ape,” “The First Man” and Pulitzer Prize–winning “Anna Christie.”
Poe, Edgar Allan . 1917. Three Stories .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. X, Part 3.
Quiller-Couch, Arthur . 1910. The Sleeping Beauty and other Fairy Tales .
Quiller-Couch’s retelling of four classic fairy tales from the Cabinet des Fées.
Racine, Jean . 1909–17. Phædra .Racine’s retelling of Euripides’s Hippolytus
Sand, George . 1917. The Devil’s Pool .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIII, Part 2.
Schiller, Friedrich von . 1909–17. Wilhelm Tell .A powerful tale of resistance to Austrian domination.
Scott, Sir Walter . 1917. Guy Mannering, or the Astrologer .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. IV.
Shaw, Bernard .
1903. Man and Superman .
This play—in which an idealistic, cerebral man succumbs to marriage—contains the almost equally famous dream sequence “Don Juan in Hell.”
1916. Pygmalion .
Based on the classical myth, this drama plays on the complex business of human relationships in a social world.
Shakespeare, William . 1914. The Oxford Shakespeare .The 37 plays, 154 sonnets and miscellaneous verse that constitute the unrivaled literary cornerstone of Western civilization.
Sophocles .
1909–14. Antigone .
Creon forbids the burial of those who rebelled against his rule; but, Antigone, soon to marry his son, disobeys this edict to bury her brother.
1909–14. Oedipus the King .
Unknowlingly, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother.
Stein, Gertrude . 1909. Three Lives .This first of Stein’s works established her position as a master of the English language and expositor of the twentieth-century woman.
Sterne, Laurence . 1917. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. III, Part 1.
Stevenson, Robert Louis .
1886. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .
1889. The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter’s Tale .
Stories from the Thousand and One Nights . 1909–14.42 selections that have become among the best-known of folk tales for younger readers.
Storm, Theodor . 1917. The Rider on the White Horse .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XV, Part 3.
Synge, J.M . 1911. The Playboy of the Western World .The controversial play that ignited the “Playboy Riots.”
Tarkington, Booth . 1918. The Magnificent Ambersons .The rise and fall of three generations of a successful and socially connected family in the face of a changing America.
Thackeray, William Makepeace . 1917. Vanity Fair, A Novel without a Hero .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vols. V & VI.
Tolstoy, Leo . 1917. Anna Karenin .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vols. XVI & XVII. 1917. Ivan the Fool .
From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XVII, Part 2.
Turgenev, Ivan . 1917. A House of Gentlefolk .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIX, Part 1. 1917. Fathers and Children .
From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XIX, Part 2.
Twain, Mark . 1917. Jim Smily and His Jumping Frog .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. X, Part 5.
Valera, Juan . 1917. Pepita Jimenez .From the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction , Vol. XX, Part 1.
Wells, H.G .
1897. The Invisible Man .
Wells’s thrilling masterpiece of the mad scientist.
1896. The Island of Doctor Moreau .
The scientist playing god seems more relevant than ever in the age of cloning.
1898. The Time Machine .
The classic time-traveling yarn: what seems too good to be true invariably is.
1898. The War of the Worlds .
The original invasion from Mars, made all-too-real by Orson Welles in his 1938 radio adaptation.
Wharton, Edith . 1920. The Age of Innocence .Set in the sumptuous Golden Age of New York society, dated social norms prove a still powerful force against personal desire.
Woolf, Virginia . 1921. Monday or Tuesday .Eight early short stories are highly representative of Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style.
