[arrogantsob]

In my estimation William Shakespeare, Jane Austin and Charles Dickens were the greatest writers ever in that order. Dostoevsky makes a good fourth.

[nickcarraway]

That’s a great list, but I would promote Dostoevsky.

[Dante3]

I would add Victor Hugo to the top five list.

[Dr. Sivana]

Dostoevsky makes a good fourth.

Doestoevsky is an excellent writer, but when I picked up Crime and Punishment after having read in high school 35 years ago, I found the difference between him and Dickens (whom Doestoevsky admired). Dickens would have high drama and seriousness punctuated by light-heartedness and a badly needed release (especially in Bleak House). Doestoevsky just goes down down dowwwwwwn.

[erlayman]

The first two certainly, Shakespeare as the greatest man and Austen as the greatest female novelist. It is quite amazing actually that they lived within two hundred years of each other.