The Greatest Non-Western Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
5 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez 1967 Colombian Spanish
45 Fictions Jorge Luis Borges 1944 Argentinian Spanish
46 One Thousand and One Nights Unknown 800 Multiple Arabic
60 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe 1958 Nigerian English
64 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie 1981 Indian English
124 Pedro Páramo Juan Rulfo 1955 Mexican Spanish
130 The Tale of Genji Murasaki Shikibu 1001 Japanese Classical japanese
166 Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez 1985 Colombian Spanish
223 A House for Mr. Biswas V. S. Naipaul 1961 Trinidadian English
232 2666 Roberto Bolaño 2004 Chilean Spanish
255 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
264 The Epic Of Gilgamesh Unknown -2100 Multiple Akkadian
265 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
272 The Devil to Pay in the Backlands Joao Guimaraes Rosa 1956 Brazilian Portuguese
288 Independent People Halldor Laxness 1934 Icelandic Icelandic
291 The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende 1982 Chilean Spanish
301 The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas Machado de Assis 1881 Brazilian Portuguese
312 Labyrinths Jorge Luis Borges 1962 Argentinian Spanish
323 Mahabharata Vyasa -400 Indian Sanskrit
327 Solaris Stanislaw Lem 1961 Polish Polish
354 Hopscotch Julio Cortazar 1963 Argentinian Spanish
355 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
359 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy 1997 Indian English
367 Journey to the West Wu Cheng'en 1592 Chinese Chinese
384 Ferdydurke Witold Gombrowicz 1937 Polish Polish
385 Quo Vadis Henryk Sienkiewicz 1895 Polish Polish
389 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho 1988 Brazilian Portuguese
396 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz 2007 Dominican English
422 Ramayana Valmiki -200 Indian Sanskrit
430 The Bridge on the Drina Ivo Andrić 1945 Bosnian Serbo-croatian
436 El Aleph Jorge Luis Borges 1949 Argentinian Spanish
443 Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2013 Nigerian English
462 The Prophet Kahlil Gibran 1923 Lebanese English
471 Waiting for the Barbarians J. M. Coetzee 1980 South African English
473 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
474 Embers Sandor Marai 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
477 Fateless or Fatelessness Imre Kertész 1975 Hungarian Hungarian
484 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
493 Auto Da Fé Elias Canetti 1935 Bulgarian German
505 The Quran Unknown 610 Arabic Arabic
516 Season of Migration to the North Al-Tayyib Salih 1966 Sudanese Arabic
532 The Passion According to G.H. Clarice Lispector 1964 Brazilian Portuguese
545 The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie Agota Kristof 1986 Hungarian French
549 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
563 Panchatantra Unknown -300 Multiple Sanskrit
585 Tao Te Ching Lao Tsu -300 Chinese Classical chinese
604 The Blind Owl Ṣādiq Hidāyat 1937 Iranian Persian
608 Canto General Pablo Neruda 1950 Chilean Spanish
614 Facundo Domingo Faustino Sarmiento 1845 Argentinian Spanish
621 Analects Confucius -479 Chinese Classical chinese
632 Dom Casmurro Machado de Assis 1899 Brazilian Portuguese
665 The Family Moskat Isaac Bashevis Singer 1950 Polish Yiddish
667 The Book of Job Unknown -600 Israeli Hebrew
669 Beowulf Unknown 1000 Unknown Old english
672 Three Trapped Tigers Guillermo Cabrera Infante 1965 Cuban Spanish
687 The Time of the Hero Mario Vargas Llosa 1963 Peruvian Spanish
701 The Feast of the Goat Mario Vargas Llosa 2000 Peruvian Spanish
719 Thousand Cranes Yasunari Kawabata 1952 Japanese Japanese
725 The Kingdom of This World Alejo Carpentier 1949 Cuban Spanish
727 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
732 A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul 1979 Trinidadian English
733 Arrow of God Chinua Achebe 1964 Nigerian English
735 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth 1993 Indian English
740 Silence Shūsaku Endō 1966 Japanese Japanese
745 Memed, My Hawk Yashar Kemal 1955 Turkish Turkish
746 Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga 1988 Zimbabwean English
756 The Labyrinth of Solitude Octavio Paz 1950 Mexican Spanish
771 God's Bits of Wood Ousmane Sembène 1960 Senegalese French
787 Quotations from Chairman Mao Mao 1964 Chinese Chinese
797 The Manuscript Found in Saragossa Jan Potocki 1805 Polish French
802 Romance of the Three Kingdoms Guanzhong Luo 1400 Chinese Chinese
804 The Vegetarian Han Kang 2007 Korean Korean
817 Rickshaw Boy Lao She 1936 Chinese Chinese
818 The African Child Camara Laye 1953 Guinean French
820 The Captive Mind Czesław Miłosz 1953 Polish Polish
833 The Lost Steps Alejo Carpentier 1953 Cuban Spanish
835 The Art of War Sun Tzu -500 Chinese Classical chinese
840 Confessions of a Mask Yukio Mishima 1949 Japanese Japanese
847 Only Yesterday Shmuel Yosef Agnon 1945 Israeli Hebrew
848 Der Judenstaat Theodor Herzl 1896 Austro-Hungarian German
856 Conversation in the Cathedral Mario Vargas Llosa 1969 Peruvian Spanish
857 Midaq Alley Naguib Mahfouz 1947 Egyptian Arabic
858 The Woman in the Dunes Kobo Abé 1962 Japanese Japanese
859 The Palm-Wine Drinkard Amos Tutola 1952 Nigerian English
864 Reynard the Fox Unknown 1479 Multiple Middle dutch
865 The Pillow Book Sei Shōnagon 1002 Japanese Japanese
873 Call to Arms Lu Xun 1922 Chinese Chinese
882 The Hour of the Star Clarice Lispector 1977 Brazilian Portuguese
885 A Tale of Love and Darkness Amos Oz 2002 Israeli Hebrew
892 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini 2003 Afghan English
903 Wild Swans Jung Chang 1991 Chinese English
930 The Seven Madmen Roberto Arlt 1929 Argentinian Spanish
938 Burger's Daughter Nadine Gordimer 1979 South African English
959 A Tomb for Boris Davidovich Danilo Kiš 1976 Serbian Serbo-croatian
973 The Burning Plain and Other Stories Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
989 The Lonely Londoners Sam Selvon 1956 Trinidadian English
991 Macunaíma Mario de Andrade 1928 Brazilian Portuguese
996 Journey by Moonlight Antal Szerb 1937 Hungarian Hungarian
1003 A Dry White Season Andre Brink 1979 South African Afrikaans
1024 Some Prefer Nettles Junichiro Tanizaki 1929 Japanese Japanese
1025 Ambiguous Adventure Cheikh Hamidou Kane 1961 Senegalese French
1027 Secondhand Time Svetlana Alexievich 2013 Belarusian Russian
1029 Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon Jorge Amado 1958 Brazilian Portuguese
1031 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
1032 In The Heart Of The Seas Shmuel Yosef Agnon 1938 Israeli Hebrew
1069 The True Story Of Ah Q Lu Xun 1922 Chinese Chinese
1081 The War of the End of the World Mario Vargas Llosa 1981 Peruvian Spanish
1083 Upanishads Unknown -799 Indian Sanskrit
1087 Home and the World Rabindranath Tagore 1916 Indian Bengali
1091 Shahnameh Ferdowsi 1010 Iranian Persian
1092 Snow Country Yasunari Kawabata 1937 Japanese Japanese
1102 I Ching China -1000 Chinese Chinese
1108 Chaka Thomas Mofolo 1925 South African Sesotho
1115 The Cairo Trilogy Naguib Mahfouz 1956 Egyptian Arabic
1131 Ashes and Diamonds Jerzy Andrzejewski 1948 Polish Polish
1135 The Tunnel Ernesto Sábato 1948 Argentinian Spanish
1151 The Water Margin Shi Naian 1370 Chinese Chinese
1158 Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006 Nigerian English
1160 Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami 1987 Japanese Japanese
1171 Residence on Earth Pablo Neruda 1933 Chilean Spanish