The Greatest Dark 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
2159 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2163 A Personal Matter Kenzaburō Ōe 1964 Japanese Japanese
2181 The Little Demon Fedor Sologub 1907 Russian Russian
2202 The Kindly Ones Jonathan Littell 2006 French French
2287 The History of the Siege of Lisbon José Saramago 1989 Portuguese Portuguese
2356 The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe 1992 Irish English
2360 On the Heights of Despair Emil Cioran 1934 Romanian Romanian
2372 South Wind Norman Douglas 1917 British English
2372 The Vatican Cellars André Gide 1914 French French
2384 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2392 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2481 Blood and Guts in High School Kathy Acker 1978 American English
2504 Pastoralia George Saunders 2000 American English
2514 The New Sorrows of Young W. Ulrich Plenzdorf 1972 German German
2530 The Anatomy Lesson Philip Roth 1983 American English
2540 Pilgrimage Dorothy Richardson 1915 British English
2547 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2579 A Cup Of Rage Raduan Nassar 1978 Brazilian Portuguese
2599 Almost Transparent Blue Ryū Murakami 1976 Japanese Japanese
2609 Whatever Michel Houellebecq 1994 French French
2696 Wise Children Angela Carter 1991 British English
2715 Something Happened Joseph Heller 1974 American English
2731 Lost Souls Poppy Z. Brite 1992 American English
2790 The Island Of Second Sight Albert Vigoleis Thelen 1953 German English
2823 The Leg Willem Elsschot 1946 Belgian Dutch
2824 Bint F. Bordewijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
2833 The Luzhin Defense Vladimir Nabokov 1930 Russian Russian
2837 Kassandra And The Wolf Margarita Karapanou 1974 Greek Greek
2845 Things Georges Perec 1965 French French
2875 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2878 The Comedy Of Errors William Shakespeare 1594 British English
2885 Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer 2002 American English
2891 The Caretaker Harold Pinter 1960 British English
2963 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
3078 Los lanzallamas Roberto Arlt 1931 Argentinian Spanish
3118 Sessanta Racconti Dino Buzzati 1958 Italian Italian
3120 The Possibility Of An Island Michel Houellebecq 2005 French French
3178 The Quick And The Dead Joy Williams 2000 American English
3211 Betty Blue Philippe Djian 1985 French French
3292 The Subterraneans Jack Kerouac 1958 American English
3324 Retreat Without Song Shahan Shahnur 1929 Armenian Armenian
3324 L'Abbé C Georges Bataille 1950 French French
3409 The Glass Bees Ernst Jünger 1957 German German
3409 The deadbeats Ward Ruyslinck 1957 Belgian Dutch
3488 The Great Victorian Collection Brian Moore 1975 Canadian English
3515 Rhinoceros and Other Plays Eugène Ionesco 1959 Romanian French
3534 The Birthday Party Harold Pinter 1958 British English
3550 Gloriana Michael Moorcock 1978 British English
3553 Divorcing Susan Taubes 1969 American English
3591 Do Everything in the Dark Gary Indiana 2003 American English
3623 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
3631 I And My Chimney Herman Melville 1856 American English
3637 Goat Song Konstantin Vaginov 1927 Russian Russian
3638 The Queen's Tiara Carl Jonas Love Almqvist 1834 Swedish Swedish
3638 The Portable Faulkner William Faulkner 1946 American English
3638 Trans-Atlantyk Witold Gombrowicz 1953 Polish Polish
3638 Childe Harold Of Dysna Moyshe Kulbak 1939 Belarusian Yiddish
3638 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Lord Byron 1812 British English
3638 Leviathan Julien Green 1929 French French
3638 Fluss Ohne Ufer Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
3803 Inside Mr. Enderby Anthony Burgess 1963 British English
3829 Bacacay Witold Gombrowicz 1957 Polish Polish
3845 The Stone Raft José Saramago 1986 Portuguese Portuguese
3857 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
3884 The Cellar Richard Laymon 1980 American English
3890 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3908 Med Ana Schwoazzn Dintn Hans Carl Artmann 1958 Austrian German
3929 The Vice-Consul Marguerite Duras 1966 French French
3953 Ποιήματα Α' και Β' Miltos Sachtouris 1945 Greek Greek
3953 Difficult Nights Melpo Axioti 1938 Greek Greek
3953 Îngerul A Strigat Fănuș Neagu 1968 Romanian Romanian
3953 The Life And Opinions Of Zacharias Lichter Matei Călinescu 1969 Romanian Romanian
3953 Solstițiu Tulburat Paul Georgescu 1968 Romanian Romanian
4061 Down With Skool! Geoffrey Willans 1953 British English
4098 Le Mauvais Sang Feu De Brousse à Trisse Coeur Tchicaya U. Tam'si 1955 Tchadian French
4105 Wolfskin Hans Lebert 1960 Austrian German
4134 The Nonexistent Knight Italo Calvino 1959 Italian Italian
4145 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4170 Dissipatio H.G. Guido Morselli 1977 Italian Italian
4199 The Elementals Michael McDowell 1981 American English
4233 Gedichten Van Den Schoolmeester Gerrit van de Linde 1859 Dutch Dutch
4233 The Tears Of The Acacias W.F. Hermans 1949 Dutch Dutch
4264 The Town Of N Leonid Dobychin 1935 Russian Russian
4299 Remainder Tom McCarthy 2005 British English
4301 Istorii Insolite Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu 1973 Romanian Romanian
4410 The Pigeon Patrick Suskind 1987 German German
4435 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4440 The Thief's Journal Jean Genet 1949 French French
4462 Învoiala George Bălăiță 1975 Romanian Romanian
4524 Falconer John Cheever 1977 American English
4567 The Dirty Dust Máirtin Ó Cadhain 1949 Irish Irish
4568 The Rules Of Attraction Bret Easton Ellis 1987 American English
4679 Skippy Dies Pauli Murray 2010 Irish English
4681 A Horse Walks Into A Bar David Grossman 2014 Israeli Hebrew
4706 Faserland Christian Kracht 1995 German German
4722 Mission Box Aris Alexandrou 1974 Greek Greek
4741 Willard and His Bowling Trophies Richard Brautigan 1975 American English
4762 Metropole Ferenc Karinthy 1970 Hungarian Hungarian
4777 Helping Verbs Of The Heart Peter Esterhazy 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
4807 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4869 Music and Silence Rose Tremain 1999 British English
4872 Tache De Catifea Ștefan Agopian 1981 Romanian Romanian
4887 Natura Morta Josef Winkler 2001 Unknown German
4954 Miss Hargreaves Frank Baker 1939 British English
4954 Unclay T. F. Powys 1931 British English
4954 Mr. Godly Beside Himself Gerald Bullett 1924 British English
4988 The Wandering Falcon Jamil Ahmed 2011 Pakistani English
5018 Hourglass Danilo Kiš 1972 Serbian Serbo-croatian
5022 Dying As A Country Dimitris Dimitriadis 1978 Greek Greek
5029 Honored Guest Joy Williams 2004 American English
5029 The Sluts Dennis Cooper 2004 American English
5042 Chickamauga Ambrose Bierce 1889 American English
5042 A Predicament Edgar Allan Poe 1838 American English
5042 Fantazius Mallare Ben Hecht 1922 American English
5042 A Man Made Of Money Douglas Jerrold 1849 British English
5042 Living Alone Stella Benson 1919 British English
5135 Before The Law Franz Kafka 1915 Czech German
5152 Cursed Bunny Bora Chung 2021 Korean Korean
5232 Mouth Full Of Earth Branimir Scepanovic 1975 Montenegrin Serbo-croatian
5240 La Saga/ Fuga de J. B./ The Saga/ Escape of J.B. Gonzalo Torrente Ballester 1972 Spanish Spanish