I have set myself a challenge to read a book published in every year between 1616 and now. Struggling to fill up the first two hundred years.
I have started with Don Quixote as “the first modern novel”, that having been published in two parts, 1605 and 1615.
Could do with one for 2026 as well.
Many thanks.
by DeadnDoneJoePublic
5 Comments
Don Quixote was “the first modern novel” *in the west*. China had Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin, and Journey to the West well before that. You should read those along with Dream of the Red Chamber, to complete the Four Great Novels of China.
1719: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
1759: Candide by Voltaire
Doesn’t archive.org have a ton of old books? I’m pretty sure I used them for some 15th century cookbooks
Moll Flanders – Daniel Dafoe – 1722
These are all the pre 1818 I have on my TBR right now
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, 1719
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, 1726
Candide by Voltaire, 1759
Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, 1782
The Monk by Matthew Lewis, 1796