List of the 100 best Italian books of the last 200 years

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

IL RIFUGIO DELL'IRCOCERVO, 100 Books

This list is a curated selection of the 100 best Italian books from the past 200 years, created by Il rifugio dell'ircocervo. The purpose of the list is to provide reading recommendations and encourage a deeper exploration of Italian literature beyond the well-known authors, highlighting significant yet lesser-known works. The selection criteria include critical acclaim, the cultural and social impact of the work, literary innovation, average reader opinions, and the author's prestige. The list exclusively features narrative prose, excluding poetry, plays, and essays, and is organized chronologically to reflect the historical context and sequence of the works' publication.

This list was originally published in 2017 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
2874 The Moral Essays Giacomo Leopardi 1832 Italian Italian
273 The Betrothed Alessandro Manzoni 1827 Italian Italian
5782 Confessions Of An Italian Ippolito Nievo 1867 Italian Italian
5782 Giacinta Luigi Capuana 1879 Italian Italian
931 The House by the Medlar Tree Giovanni Verga 1881 Italian Italian
5782 Malombra Antonio Fogazzaro 1881 Italian Italian
684 The Adventures Of Pinocchio Carlo Collodi 1883 Italian Italian
5782 Il Ventre Di Napoli Matilde Serao 1884 Italian Italian
5782 The Maidens Of The Rocks Gabriele D'Annunzio 1895 Italian Italian
4377 Heart Edmondo de Amicis 1886 Italian Italian
1839 The Child Of Pleasure Gabriele D'Annunzio 1889 Italian Italian
2342 Mastro Don Gesualdo Giovanni Verga 1889 Italian Italian
1419 The Viceroys Federico De Roberto 1894 Italian Italian
2878 The Patriot Antonio Fogazzaro 1906 Italian Italian
1174 As A Man Grows Older Italo Svevo 1898 Italian Italian
1525 The Late Mattia Pascal Luigi Pirandello 1904 Italian Italian
4377 A Woman Sibilla Aleramo 1906 Italian Italian
3901 Canne Al Vento Grazia Deledda 1913 Italian Italian
5782 The Old And The Young Luigi Pirandello 1913 Italian Italian
5782 Notturno Gabriele D'Annunzio 1916 Italian Italian
4377 Eyes Shut Federigo Tozzi 1919 Italian Italian
5782 Stories For A Year Luigi Pirandello 1959 Italian Italian
147 Confessions of Zeno Italo Svevo 1923 Italian Italian
1332 One, No One and One Hundred Thousand Luigi Pirandello 1926 Italian Italian
4377 Revolt In Aspromonte Corrado Alvaro 1930 Italian Italian
1820 Fontamara Ignazio Silone 1933 Italian Italian
5782 The Sisters Materassi Aldo Palazzeschi 1934 Italian Italian
5782 Gente Nel Tempo Massimo Bontempelli 1937 Italian Italian
1955 The Mill On The Po Riccardo Bacchelli 1938 Italian Italian
5782 La Pietra Lunare Tommaso Landolfi 1939 Italian Italian
263 The Tartar Steppe Dino Buzzati 1940 Italian Italian
5782 Narrate, Uomini, La Vostra Storia Alberto Savinio 1942 Italian Italian
799 Kaputt Curzio Malaparte 1944 Italian Italian
559 Christ Stopped at Eboli Carlo Levi 1945 Italian Italian
5782 Men And Not Men Elio Vittorini 1945 Italian Italian
4382 A Tale Of Poor Lovers Vasco Pratolini 1947 Italian Italian
2479 Artemisia Anna Banti 1947 Italian Italian
1418 The Path to the Nest of Spiders Italo Calvino 1947 Italian Italian
5782 Dialogues With Leucò Cesare Pavese 1947 Italian Italian
126 If This Is a Man Primo Levi 1947 Italian Italian
5782 A Time To Kill Ennio Flaiano 1947 Italian English
957 The Little World Of Don Camillo Giovanni Guareschi 1948 Italian Italian
5782 L'agnese Va A Morire Renata Viganò 1949 Italian Italian
1568 The Beautiful Summer Cesare Pavese 1949 Italian Italian
706 The Skin Curzio Malaparte 1949 Italian Italian
426 The Moon and the Bonfires Cesare Pavese 1950 Italian Italian
1424 Our Ancestors Italo Calvino 1952 Italian Italian
5782 Il Mare Non Bagna Napoli Anna Maria Ortese 1953 Italian Italian
5782 The Sergeant In The Snow Mario Rigoni Stern 1953 Italian Italian
1044 A Ghost at Noon Alberto Moravia 1954 Italian Italian
1532 Arturo's Island Elsa Morante 1957 Italian Italian
1699 That Awful Mess On Via Merulana Carlo Emilio Gadda 1957 Italian Italian
56 The Leopard Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa 1958 Italian Italian
3119 Sessanta Racconti Dino Buzzati 1958 Italian Italian
2734 A Violent Life Pier Paolo Pasolini 1959 Italian Italian
1311 Boredom Alberto Moravia 1960 Italian Italian
1437 Bébo's Girl Carlo Cassola 1960 Italian Italian
3120 The Mortal Wound Raffaele La Capria 1961 Italian Italian
2532 Day Of The Owl Leonardo Sciascia 1961 Italian Italian
335 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Giorgio Bassani 1962 Italian Italian
4385 It's A Hard Life Luciano Bianciardi 1962 Italian Italian
4385 Fratelli D'italia Alberto Arbasino 1963 Italian Italian
1631 Acquainted With Grief Carlo Emilio Gadda 1963 Italian Italian
4375 The Truce Unknown 1963 Italian Spanish
525 Family Sayings Natalia Ginzburg 1963 Italian Italian
1457 Deliver Us Luigi Meneghello 1963 Italian Italian
2900 A Private Affair Beppe Fenoglio 1963 Italian Italian
4384 Incubus Giuseppe Berto 1964 Italian Italian
5782 The Serpent Luigi Malerba 1966 Italian Italian
4417 Johnny The Partisan Beppe Fenoglio 1968 Italian Italian
4125 Le Parole Tra Noi Leggere Lalla Romano 1969 Italian Italian
202 Invisible Cities Italo Calvino 1972 Italian Italian
5486 Sillabari Goffredo Parise 1984 Italian Italian
329 History Elsa Morante 1974 Italian Italian
4791 Corporale Paolo Volponi 1974 Italian Italian
3574 Horcynus Orca Stefano D'Arrigo 1975 Italian Italian
6314 The Fifth Gospel Mario Pomilio 1974 Italian Italian
4853 Ernesto Umberto Saba 1975 Italian Italian
4937 The Smile Of The Unknown Mariner Vincenzo Consolo 1976 Italian Italian
6433 A Very Normal Man Vincenzo Cerami 1976 Italian Italian
4169 Dissipatio H.G. Guido Morselli 1977 Italian Italian
6471 The Day Of Judgment Salvatore Satta 1977 Italian Italian
6534 La Gloria Giuseppe Berto 1978 Italian Italian
6594 Centuria Giorgio Manganelli 1979 Italian Italian
318 If on a Winter's Night a Traveller Italo Calvino 1979 Italian Italian
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
3384 The Plague-Sower Gesualdo Bufalino 1981 Italian Italian
3489 Seminario Sulla Gioventù Aldo Busi 1984 Italian Italian
7162 Blind Argus Or The Fables Of The Memory Gesualdo Bufalino 1988 Italian Italian
4071 Private Renaissance Maria Bellonci 1985 Italian Italian
1246 Danube Claudio Magris 1986 Italian Italian
7029 Il Resto Di Niente Enzo Striano 1986 Italian Italian
7098 Gli Imperdonabili Cristina Campo 1987 Italian Italian
5947 Separate Rooms Pier Vittorio Tondelli 1989 Italian Italian
5589 The Chimera Sebastiano Vassalli 1990 Italian Italian
6235 Petrolio Pier Paolo Pasolini 1992 Italian Italian
1882 Pereira Maintains Antonio Tabucchi 1994 Italian Italian
8346 The Art Of Joy Goliarda Sapienza 1998 Italian Italian
5119 Baudolino Umberto Eco 2000 Italian Italian
409 My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante 2012 American Italian