The Greatest Non-Western Experimental 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
232 2666 Roberto Bolaño 2004 Chilean Spanish
354 Hopscotch Julio Cortazar 1963 Argentinian Spanish
355 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
384 Ferdydurke Witold Gombrowicz 1937 Polish Polish
473 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
493 Auto Da Fé Elias Canetti 1935 Bulgarian German
672 Three Trapped Tigers Guillermo Cabrera Infante 1965 Cuban Spanish
727 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
756 The Labyrinth of Solitude Octavio Paz 1950 Mexican Spanish
804 The Vegetarian Han Kang 2007 Korean Korean
882 The Hour of the Star Clarice Lispector 1977 Brazilian Portuguese
1282 The Plum in the Golden Vase Unknown 1610 Chinese Chinese
1299 My Name is Red Orhan Pamuk 1998 Turkish Turkish
1533 Dreamtigers Jorge Luis Borges 1960 Argentinian Spanish
1619 Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu 1989 Romanian Romanian
1886 Poems, New And Collected, 1957 1997 Wislawa Szymborska 1998 Polish Polish
1991 All about H. Hatterr G. V. Desani 1948 Indian English
2054 Spain, Take This Chalice from Me César Vallejo 1939 Peruvian Spanish
2312 Solenoid Mircea Cărtărescu 2015 Romanian Romanian
2362 On the Heights of Despair Emil Cioran 1934 Romanian Romanian
2421 The Melancholy of Resistance László Krasznahorkai 1989 Hungarian Hungarian
2497 The Garden Of Forking Paths Jorge Luis Borges 1941 Argentinian Spanish
2580 A Cup Of Rage Raduan Nassar 1978 Brazilian Portuguese
2600 Almost Transparent Blue Ryū Murakami 1976 Japanese Japanese
2693 Near To The Wild Heart Clarice Lispector 1943 Brazilian Portuguese
2849 The Museum of Unconditional Surrender Dubravka Ugrešić 1997 Croatian Croatian
2878 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
3009 Labyrinths Christopher Okigbo 1971 Nigerian English
3012 By Night in Chile Roberto Bolaño 2000 Chilean Spanish
3080 Los lanzallamas Roberto Arlt 1931 Argentinian Spanish
3162 Natural Novel Georgi Gospodinov 1999 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3191 Trilce César Vallejo 1922 Peruvian Spanish
3275 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3324 Insatiability Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1930 Polish Polish
3432 Betrayed by Rita Hayworth Manuel Puig 1968 Argentinian Spanish
3535 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3559 Faces In The Water Janet Frame 1961 New Zealander English
3638 The Temptation To Exist Emil Cioran 1956 Romanian French
3877 Subconscious Opens Like A Fan Yona Wallach 1985 Israeli Hebrew
3954 Pagini Bizare Urmuz 1930 Romanian Romanian
3954 Adventures In Immediate Irreality M. Blecher 1936 Romanian Romanian
4136 Fieldwork In Ukrainian Sex Oksana Zabuzhko 1996 Ukrainian Ukrainian
4228 Each Day Catches Fire Imants Ziedonis 1978 Latvian Latvian
4400 The Obscene Bird Of Night José Donoso 1970 Chilean Spanish
4416 Diary Witold Gombrowicz 1986 Polish Polish
4453 Zurita Raul Zurita 1979 Chilean Spanish
4598 Istorii Mircea Ciobanu 1977 Romanian Unknown
4646 The Face Of Another Kobo Abé 1964 Japanese Japanese
4662 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
4879 The Wound Malick Fall 1967 Senegalese French
4951 Paper Children Mariana Marin 1987 Romanian Romanian
5155 Cursed Bunny Bora Chung 2021 Korean Korean
5172 Omniumgathum Jonathan Bacon, Steve Troyanovich 1976 Unknown Unknown
5285 Tratament Fabulatoriu Mircea Nedelciu 1986 Romanian Romanian
5405 Our Sister Killjoy Ama Ata Aidoo 1977 Ghanaian English
5418 A Dictionary Of Maqiao Han Shaogong 1996 Chinese Chinese
5435 A Journey Round My Skull Frigyes Karinthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
5476 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5488 The Voices of Marrakesh Elias Canetti 1968 Bulgarian German
5582 This Is How You Lose The Time War Amal El Mohtar, Max Gladstone 2019 Multiple English
5631 Ego Monster Sayd Bahodine Majrouh 1985 Afghan French
5668 A Wake For The Living Radmila Lazić 1996 Serbian Serbian
5709 Sertarul Cu Aplauze Ana Blandiana 1992 Romanian Romanian
5968 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
6005 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6005 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6005 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6005 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6427 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6461 Never Did The Fire Diamela Eltit 2022 Chilean Spanish
6476 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6542 F Dumitru Radu Popescu 2000 Romanian Unknown
6567 Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming László Krasznahorkai 2016 Hungarian Hungarian
6860 Meditations On The Tarot Unknown 1980 Unknown French
7120 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7206 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
7213 Question 7 Richard Flanagan 2023 Unknown English
7216 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7586 After Sappho Selby Wynn Schwartz 2023 Unknown English
7626 Caietul Albastru Nicolae Balotă 2007 Romanian Romanian
7627 Whale Cheon Myeong-kwan 2004 Korean Korean
7635 The Big Music Kirsty Gunn 2012 New Zealander English
7940 The Fourth World Diamela Eltit 1988 Chilean Spanish
7942 Phantom Pain Wings Kim Hye-soon 2019 Korean Korean
8144 Walker On Water Kristiina Ehin 2014 Estonian Estonian
8144 Alindarka’s Children Alhierld Bakharevich 2014 Belarusian Belarusian
8167 In A State Of Memory Tununa Mercado 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8203 Insomnia Drawings Louise Bourgeois 2000 Unknown English
8298 Kokuhaku Kō Machida 2005 Japanese Japanese
8381 Towards Another Summer Janet Frame 2007 New Zealander English
8426 Un Campeón Desparejo Adolfo Bioy Casares 1993 Argentinian Spanish
8443 Diaries 1959 1971 Alejandra Pizarnik 2003 Argentinian Spanish
8445 Panorama Dušan Šarotar 2016 Slovenian Slovene
8461 Headshot Rita Bullwinkel 2024 Unknown English
8473 Three Novels Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
8499 Serafim Ponte Grande Oswald De Andrade 1923 Brazilian Portuguese
8579 In Thrall Jane DeLynn 1982 Unknown English
8629 Custody Of The Eyes Diamela Eltit 1994 Chilean Spanish
8775 See Under: Love David Grossman 1986 Israeli Hebrew
8789 The Diaries Of Emilio Renzi Ricardo Piglia 2015 Argentinian Spanish
8834 Memórias Sentimentais De João Miramar Oswald De Andrade 1924 Brazilian Portuguese
8844 Negative Space Luljeta Lleshanaku 2018 Albanian Albanian
8847 Seeing Red Lina Meruane 2012 Chilean Spanish
8879 Invenção De Orfeu Jorge De Lima 1952 Brazilian Portuguese
8897 I Have Not Seen Mandu Swadesh Deepak 2003 Indian Hindi
8904 Blackouts Justin Torres 2023 Unknown English
8948 Avalovara Osman Lins 1973 Brazilian Portuguese
8986 Dirty Poem Ferreira Gullar 1976 Brazilian Portuguese
8994 Catatau Paulo Leminski 1975 Brazilian Portuguese
9009 A Change Of Skin Carlos Fuentes 1967 Mexican Spanish
9047 Death as a Side Effect Ana María Shua 1997 Argentinian Spanish
9136 The Last Lover Can Xue 2005 Chinese Chinese
9231 El Traductor Salvador Benesdra 1998 Argentinian Spanish
9248 Viva Vaia Augusto De Campos 1979 Brazilian Portuguese
9329 René’S Flesh Virgilio Piñera 1988 Cuban Spanish
9352 That Smell Sonallah Ibrahim 1966 Egyptian Arabic
9372 Moldy Strawberries Caio Fernando Abreu 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
9612 Galáxias Haroldo De Campos 1984 Brazilian Portuguese
9643 Tram 83 Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 Congolese French
9784 Dead Collections Isaac Fellman 2022 Unknown English