Chapter 1 of 57

By Charles Dickens, 1837

The Pickwick Papers is considered the 261st greatest book of all time according to the website, The Greatest Books, which "represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 718 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books."

Charles Dickens is considered the 2nd greatest author of all time according to the website, The Greatest Books: "We've analyzed 718 diverse book lists to create this comprehensive ranking of literary masters. Our algorithm considers several key factors to determine each author's position:

• Book Rankings: Each author's score starts with the sum of their books' rankings from our master list.
• Number of Great Books: Authors are rewarded for having multiple highly-ranked books. The more great books an author has, the higher their overall score.
• Age of Books: Older books receive a small bonus to their score, with the maximum bonus going to books over 100 years old.

This system ensures that authors with multiple enduring works are recognized, while still giving weight to the quality of individual books. The rankings are automatically calculated and updated as new lists are added to our database."