The Greatest French 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 465 '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
3 In Search of Lost Time Marcel Proust 1913 French French
17 The Stranger Albert Camus 1942 French French
21 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
40 Les Misérables Victor Hugo 1862 French French
41 The Red and the Black Stendhal 1830 French French
52 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1943 French French
53 Journey to the End of The Night Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1932 French French
70 Candide Voltaire 1759 French French
72 Essays Michel de Montaigne 1580 French French
92 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 1844 French French
112 The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir 1949 French French
128 The Plague Albert Camus 1947 French French
130 The Charterhouse of Parma Stendhal 1839 French French
135 Memoirs of Hadrian Marguerite Yourcenar 1951 French French
148 The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas 1844 French French
140 A Sentimental Education Gustave Flaubert 1869 French French
165 The Flowers of Evil Charles Baudelaire 1857 French French
193 Bonjour Tristesse Francoise Sagan 1954 French French
203 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
205 A Season in Hell Arthur Rimbaud 1873 French French
207 Gargantua and Pantagruel Francois Rabelais 1532 French French
223 The Counterfeiters André Gide 1925 French French
227 Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville 1835 French French
235 Nausea Jean Paul Sartre 1938 French French
250 The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1782 French French
253 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
263 The Lover Marguerite Duras 1984 French French
311 Father Goriot Honoré de Balzac 1835 French French
341 The Princess of Cleves Madame de La Fayette 1678 French French
342 Memoirs From Beyond the Grave François-Auguste-René de Chateaubriand 1849 French French
369 Germinal Émile Zola 1885 French French
380 Life, a User's Manual Georges Perec 1978 French French
391 Le Grand Meaulnes Henri Alain-Fournier 1913 French French
411 The Fall Albert Camus 1956 French French
420 Pensées Blaise Pascal 1670 French French
432 The Social Contract Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1762 French French
437 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
439 Jacques the Fatalist and His Master Denis Diderot 1796 French French
446 Froth on the daydream Boris Vian 1947 French French
448 Bouvard et Pécuchet Gustave Flaubert 1881 French French
454 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne 1870 French French
455 The Human Comedy Honoré de Balzac 1830 French French
498 Stories of Guy de Maupassant Guy de Maupassant 1880 French French
509 Cousin Bette Honoré de Balzac 1846 French French
511 Tristes Tropiques Claude Lévi-Strauss 1955 French French
517 The Rebel Albert Camus 1951 French French
530 The Book of the City of Ladies Christine De Pizan 1405 French French
549 The Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus 1942 French French
555 W, or the Memory of Childhood Georges Perec 1975 French French
557 Nadja André Breton 1928 French French
564 The Immoralist André Gide 1902 French French
567 Lost Illusions Honoré de Balzac 1837 French French
568 The Opposing Shore Julien Gracq 1951 French French
580 Promise at Dawn Romain Gary 1960 French French
588 Maldoror Comte de Lautréamont 1868 French French
618 Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes 1641 French Latin
633 Words Jean Paul Sartre 1963 French French
637 Death on Credit Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1936 French French
653 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
663 Jealousy Alain Robbe-Grillet 1957 French French
682 Alcools Guillaume Apollinaire 1913 French French
683 The Case of Comrade Tulayev Victor Serge 1949 French French
685 The Mandarins Simone de Beauvoir 1954 French French
692 Drunkard Émile Zola 1877 French Unknown
697 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
744 Bel Ami Guy de Maupassant 1885 French French
745 Being and Nothingness Jean Paul Sartre 1943 French French
749 Night Elie Wiesel 1958 French French
777 The Life Before Us Romain Gary 1975 French French
785 Jean Christophe Romain Rolland 1904 French French
805 The Phantom of the Opera Gaston Leroux 1909 French French
807 Claudine Colette 1900 French French
812 Discourse on Method Rene Descartes 1637 French French
814 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864 French French
833 Zazie in the Metro Raymond Queneau 1959 French French
848 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
853 Under Satan's Sun Georges Bernanos 1926 French French
868 Justine Marquis de Sade 1791 French French
881 Thaïs Anatole France 1890 French French
882 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
918 Paroles Jacques Prévert 1946 French French
920 Mythologies Roland Barthes 1957 French French
939 The Flanders Road Claude Simon 1960 French French
956 Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne 1872 French French
961 Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand 1897 French French
977 The Years Annie Ernaux 2008 French French
988 Against Nature J. K. Huysmans 1884 French French
1009 Notebook Of A Return To The Native Land Aimé Césaire 1939 French French
1030 The Mediterranean And The Mediterranean World In The Age Of Philip Ii Fernand Braudel 1949 French French
1040 Story of O Pauline Reage 1954 French French
1050 The Elementary Particles Michel Houellebecq 1998 French French
1064 Manon Lescaut Abbe Prevost 1731 French French
1088 La Bête humaine Émile Zola 1890 French French
1102 The Sea Wall Marguerite Duras 1950 French French
1114 The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters Gustave Flaubert 1921 French French
1129 Suicide Emile Durkheim 1897 French French
1155 Second Thoughts Michel Butor 1957 French French
1158 Tartuffe Molière 1664 French French
1188 Down There J. K. Huysmans 1891 French French
1193 Silence of the Sea Vercors 1942 French French
1205 Collected Poems Stéphane Mallarmé 1887 French French
1214 Illuminations Arthur Rimbaud 1886 French French
1215 Fantasia Assia Djebar 1985 French French
1222 Story of the Eye Georges Bataille 1928 French French
1233 Nana Émile Zola 1880 French French
1250 The Roots of Heaven Romain Gary 1956 French French
1275 Thérèse Desqueyroux François Mauriac 1927 French French
1291 Émile Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1762 French French
1300 The Nun Denis Diderot 1796 French French
1306 The 120 Days of Sodom Marquis de Sade 1904 French French
1309 Discipline and Punish Michel Foucault 1975 French French
1338 The Wandering Jew Eugène Sue 1844 French French
1368 The Fruits of the Earth André Gide 1897 French French
1373 Julie, or the New Heloise Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1761 French French
1379 Locus Solus Raymond Roussel 1914 French French
1383 Strait is the Gate André Gide 1909 French French
1387 Viper’s Tangle François Mauriac 1932 French French
1390 Antigone Jean Anouilh 1944 French French
1394 No Exit Jean Paul Sartre 1944 French French
1399 La Fontaine's Fables Jean de La Fontaine 1668 French French