The Greatest Books of All Time on Classics

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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
5531 Petrolejové Lampy Jaroslav Havlíček 1944 Czech Czech
5531 We Were A Handful Karel Poláček 1946 Czech Czech
5531 Prométheova Játra Jiří Kolář 1950 Czech Czech
5531 Maminka Jaroslav Seifert 1966 Czech Czech
5531 The Cowards Josef Škvorecký 1958 Czech Czech
5531 Fimfárum Jan Werich 1963 Czech Czech
5531 Bubáci Pro Všední Den Karel Michal 1962 Czech Czech
5531 Mr. Theodore Mundstock Ladislav Fuks 1963 Czech Czech
5570 A Whale For The Killing Farley Mowat 1972 Canadian English
5608 A Man Oriana Fallaci 1979 Italian Italian
5613 Zuleikha Guzel Yakhina 2015 Russian Russian
5614 Elegie Jiří Orten 1969 Czech Czech
5627 Olivia Dorothy Bussy 1949 British English
5642 The Kites Romain Gary 1980 French French
5649 The Bear William Faulkner 1942 American English
5650 Ucho Jan Procházka 1970 Czech Czech
5689 The Friendly Young Ladies Mary Renault 1943 British English
5695 How I Came To Know Fish Ota Pavel 1971 Czech Czech
5714 The Gallery John Horne Burns 1947 American English
5735 Anne Of The Thousand Days Maxwell Anderson 1950 American English
5757 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5780 Special Friendships Roger Peyrefitte 1943 French French
5783 Confessions Of An Italian Ippolito Nievo 1867 Italian Italian
5783 Giacinta Luigi Capuana 1879 Italian Italian
5783 Il Ventre Di Napoli Matilde Serao 1884 Italian Italian
5783 The Maidens Of The Rocks Gabriele D'Annunzio 1895 Italian Italian
5783 The Old And The Young Luigi Pirandello 1913 Italian Italian
5783 Notturno Gabriele D'Annunzio 1916 Italian Italian
5783 The Sisters Materassi Aldo Palazzeschi 1934 Italian Italian
5783 La Pietra Lunare Tommaso Landolfi 1939 Italian Italian
5783 Men And Not Men Elio Vittorini 1945 Italian Italian
5783 Dialogues With Leucò Cesare Pavese 1947 Italian Italian
5783 A Time To Kill Ennio Flaiano 1947 Italian English
5783 L'agnese Va A Morire Renata Viganò 1949 Italian Italian
5783 Il Mare Non Bagna Napoli Anna Maria Ortese 1953 Italian Italian
5783 The Sergeant In The Snow Mario Rigoni Stern 1953 Italian Italian
5806 The Child Manuela Christa Winsloe 1933 German German
5860 Wasteland Jo Sinclair 1946 American English
5918 The Tale Of The 1002nd Night Joseph Roth 1938 Austrian German
5927 Sylvester And The Magic Pebble William Steig 1969 American English
5968 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
6005 Shakespeare And Company Sylvia Beach 1959 American English
6005 Bound To Violence Yambo Ouologuem 1968 Malian French
6005 Le Bavard Louis-René Des Forêts 1946 French French
6005 Pylon William Faulkner 1935 American English
6005 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6005 Sonnets Louise Labé 1556 French French
6005 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6005 The Flood Yevgeny Zamyatin 1929 Russian Russian
6005 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6005 The Ratcatcher Marina Tsvetaeva 1926 Russian Russian
6005 The Sailor From Gibraltar Marguerite Duras 1952 French French
6005 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6005 The Wonderful Farm Marcel Aymé 1939 French French
6005 Three Women Robert Musil 1924 Austrian German
6134 L'hiver De Force Réjean Ducharme 1973 Canadian French
6185 Fish Tales Nettie Jones 1983 American English
6245 Audience Vaclav Havel 1978 Czech Czech
6266 Burning Patience Antonio Skármeta 1985 Chilean Spanish
6430 The Jade King Huo Da 1988 Unknown Chinese
6434 A Very Normal Man Vincenzo Cerami 1976 Italian Italian
6439 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6471 The Day Of Judgment Salvatore Satta 1977 Italian Italian
6521 The Escaped Cock D. H. Lawrence 1929 British English
6548 Heldenplatz Thomas Bernhard 1988 Austrian German
6594 Centuria Giorgio Manganelli 1979 Italian Italian
6620 Sea Of Slaughter Farley Mowat 1984 Canadian English
6637 Life With Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1983 British English
6637 The Curse Of Lono Hunter S. Thompson 1983 American English
6637 The Opoponax Monique Wittig 1983 French French
6761 Difficult Loves Italo Calvino 1958 Italian Italian
6791 The True Deceiver Tove Jansson 1982 Finnish Swedish
6805 O Tempo E O Vento Erico Verissimo 1949 Brazilian Portuguese
6819 Killing Stella Marlen Haushofer 1958 Austrian German
6857 Hell Has No Limits José Donoso 1965 Chilean Spanish
6860 My Guru And His Disciple Christopher Isherwood 1980 British English
6865 Loupežník Karel Čapek 1988 Czech Czech
6869 Captain Nemo's Library Per Olov Enquist 1991 Swedish Swedish
6872 Eustace Chisholm And The Works James Purdy 1967 American English
6921 São Bernardo Graciliano Ramos 1934 Brazilian Portuguese
6966 Sagarana Joao Guimaraes Rosa 1946 Brazilian Portuguese
6996 Dina's Book Herbjørg Wassmo 1989 Norwegian Norwegian
7029 Il Resto Di Niente Enzo Striano 1986 Italian Italian
7056 A Passionate Apprentice Virginia Woolf 1990 British English
7086 La Verità Sul Caso D. Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini 1993 Italian Italian
7100 Les Guerilleres Monique Wittig 1969 French French
7144 Báječná Léta Pod Psa Michal Viewegh 1992 Czech Czech
7147 Captains And The Kings Taylor Caldwell 1972 American English
7169 The Man In Lower Ten Mary Roberts Rinehart 1909 American English
7169 Julio Jurenito Ilya Ehrenburg 1921 Russian Russian
7169 The Everglades Marjory Stoneman Douglas 1947 American English
7193 O Quinze Rachel de Queiroz 1930 Brazilian Portuguese
7206 The Pharmacist Ingrid Noll 1994 German German
7216 Lonely Crusade Chester Himes 1947 American English
7216 Jungle Peace William Beebe 1918 American English
7216 A Compass Error Sybille Bedford 1968 British English
7216 A Mind At Peace Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar 1949 Turkish Turkish
7216 Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio Pu Songling 1740 Chinese Classical chinese
7216 Tamarisk Row Gerald Murnane 1974 Australian English
7216 The Bloater Rosemary Tonks 1968 English English
7216 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7216 The Fortnight In September R. C. Sherriff 1931 British English
7216 The Long View Elizabeth Jane Howard 1956 British English
7612 Aunt Julia And The Script Writer Mario Vargas Llosa 1977 Peruvian Spanish
7656 The Sunday Of Life Raymond Queneau 1952 French French
7733 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
7828 Noci, Po Nichž Nepřichází Ráno J. H. Krchovský 1996 Czech Czech
7891 Love Toni Morrison 2003 American English
7924 Shatuny Yuri Mamleev 1966 Russian Russian
7944 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7967 Mountolive Lawrence Durrell 1958 British English
7985 B. Proudew Irena Dousková 1998 Czech Czech
7992 Viva O Povo Brasileiro João Ubaldo Ribeiro 1984 Brazilian Portuguese
8009 100 Love Sonnets Pablo Neruda 1959 Chilean Spanish
8076 Clea Lawrence Durrell 1960 British English
8344 A Rosa Do Povo Carlos Drummond de Andrade 1945 Brazilian Portuguese
8347 The Art Of Joy Goliarda Sapienza 1998 Italian Italian
8355 Libertinagem Manuel Bandeira 1930 Brazilian Portuguese
8360 On Strike Against God Joanna Russ 1980 American English
8381 Towards Another Summer Janet Frame 2007 New Zealander English