The Greatest Polish 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
343 Ferdydurke Witold Gombrowicz 1937 Polish Polish
497 Quo Vadis Henryk Sienkiewicz 1895 Polish Polish
619 The Manuscript Found in Saragossa Jan Potocki 1805 Polish French
630 Solaris Stanislaw Lem 1961 Polish Polish
838 The Captive Mind Czesław Miłosz 1953 Polish Polish
1185 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
1327 The Painted Bird Jerzy Kosinski 1965 Polish English
1388 Poems, New And Collected, 1957 1997 Wislawa Szymborska 1998 Polish Polish
1441 The Magician of Lublin Isaac Bashevis Singer 1960 Polish Yiddish
1445 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Tokarczuk 2009 Polish Polish
1467 This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen Tadeusz Borowski 1947 Polish Polish
1630 Ashes and Diamonds Jerzy Andrzejewski 1948 Polish Polish
1663 Pharaoh Bolesław Prus 1895 Polish Polish
1663 Insatiability Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1930 Polish Polish
1888 Flights Olga Tokarczuk 2007 Polish Polish
1917 The Futurological Congress Stanislaw Lem 1971 Polish Polish
1937 Bacacay Witold Gombrowicz 1957 Polish Polish
1953 Trans-Atlantyk Witold Gombrowicz 1953 Polish Polish
2095 Satan In Goray Isaac Bashevis Singer 1935 Polish Yiddish
2225 The Manor Isaac Bashevis Singer 1967 Polish Yiddish
2280 Shah Of Shahs Ryszard Kapuscinski 1982 Polish Polish
2821 The Complete Fiction Of Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz 1989 Polish Polish
3000 On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres Nicolaus Copernicus 1543 Polish Latin
3061 Imperium Ryszard Kapuscinski 1993 Polish Polish
3312 The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman Andrzej Szczypiorski 1986 Polish Polish
3563 Alchemy Of The Word Jan Parandowski 1951 Polish Polish
3564 King Matt The First Janusz Korczak 1923 Polish Polish
3964 Dreams And Stones Magdalena Tulli 1995 Polish Polish
4014 Gimpel the Fool Isaac Bashevis Singer 1953 Polish Yiddish
4291 A Book of Luminous Things Czesław Miłosz 1996 Polish English
4495 Ashes Stefan Zeromski 1904 Polish Polish
4495 The Peasants Władysław Reymont 1904 Polish Polish
4799 The Emperor Ryszard Kapuscinski 1978 Polish Polish
5389 Main Currents Of Marxism Leszek Kolakowski 1976 Polish English
5676 Chwila Wislawa Szymborska 2002 Polish Polish
5814 Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass Bruno Schulz 1937 Polish Polish
5817 A World Apart Gustaw Herling 1951 Polish Polish
5860 Short Friday Isaac Bashevis Singer 1964 Polish Yiddish
6014 The Literary Work Of Art Roman Ingarden 1931 Polish German
6159 89 Poems Zbigniew Herbert 1956 Polish Polish
6469 The Seance and Other Stories Isaac Bashevis Singer 1968 Polish Yiddish
6812 The Manor, The Estate, The Family Moskat Isaac Bashevis Singer 1935 Polish Yiddish
6913 Collected Stories Isaac Bashevis Singer 1982 Polish English
6956 Shakespeare Our Contemporary Jan Kott 1961 Polish Polish
7502 Alicia Alicia Appleman-Jurman 1988 Polish English
7735 The Books Of Jacob Olga Tokarczuk 2014 Polish Polish
8238 Bells In Winter Czesław Miłosz 1978 Polish Polish
8693 The Doll Bolesław Prus 1949 Polish Polish
9062 The Island Gustaw Herling 1958 Polish Polish
9668 The Empusium Olga Tokarczuk 2024 Polish English
10215 The Witcher Andrzej Sapkowski 1993 Polish Polish
10654 A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories Isaac Bashevis Singer 1973 Polish English
11174 Steps Jerzy Kosinski 1968 Polish English
11390 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
11810 Modernity On Endless Trial Leszek Kolakowski 1990 Polish English
12302 Blood Of Elves Andrzej Sapkowski 1994 Polish Polish
12808 The Long Walk Slavomir Rawicz 1956 Polish English
12794 The Cyberiad Stanislaw Lem 1965 Polish Polish
13127 The Brothers Ashkenazi Israel Joshua Singer 1936 Polish Yiddish
13127 Yoshe Kalb Israel Joshua Singer 1932 Polish Yiddish
13117 Commentariolus Nicolaus Copernicus 1514 Polish Latin
13496 Pan Tadeusz Adam Mickiewicz 1834 Polish Polish
13496 Native Realm Czesław Miłosz 1959 Polish Polish
13859 East River Sholem Asch 1946 Polish Yiddish
13983 Selected Poems Czesław Miłosz 1973 Polish Polish
13983 Three Novels Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
13983 The Investigation Stanislaw Lem 1959 Polish Polish
13983 Selected Poems Zbigniew Herbert 1968 Polish Polish
13983 Tremor Adam Zagajewski 1985 Polish Polish
13983 Selected Stories I. L. Peretz 1959 Polish Yiddish
13983 Selected Poems Jacob Glatstein 1972 Polish Yiddish
13983 In My Father's Court Isaac Bashevis Singer 1966 Polish Yiddish
13983 Dukla Andrzej Stasiuk 1997 Polish Polish
13983 Map Wislawa Szymborska 2016 Polish Polish
13983 Beasts, Men And Gods Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski 1922 Polish Polish
13983 The Shadow Of The Sun Ryszard Kapuscinski 1998 Polish Polish
13983 Mercedes Benz Paweł Huelle 1995 Polish Polish
13983 House Of Day, House Of Night Olga Tokarczuk 1998 Polish Polish
13983 View With A Grain Of Sand Wislawa Szymborska 1995 Polish Polish
13983 Mock Marek Krajewski 2013 Polish Polish