Here’s one more of Penguin’s and my five best whatever lists. This time we’re listing best villains in literature. Computer Guru Son says Sauron isn’t a villain; he’s just Evil incarnate. He insists that Saruman is the real villain of LOTR. Either way, Tolkien created some villainous characters. So did DIckens. And C.S. Lewis (The White Witch, Screwtape, Professor Weston).

THE BEST VILLAINS (according to the Penguin List)
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
Diamonds are Forever
Ian Fleming
The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad

Best Villains (according to Semicolon)

Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. Duh. Sauron is the villain of all villains.

The Murder of Roger Akroyd by Agatha Christie. No comment. I don’t want to spoil the ending for those who haven’t read it, but . . .

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Screwtape is a nasty little villain, full of himself and his mission to tempt a soul into sin.

The Singer by Calvin Miller. World-Hater is a fairly good represention of the Arch-Villain, too.

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. Ralph Nickleby is a spider, in the mold of other Dickensian villains such as Madame Defarge, Mr. Quilp, and Uriah Heep.