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
2160 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2164 A Personal Matter Kenzaburō Ōe 1964 Japanese Japanese
2182 The Little Demon Fedor Sologub 1907 Russian Russian
2203 The Kindly Ones Jonathan Littell 2006 French French
2288 The History of the Siege of Lisbon José Saramago 1989 Portuguese Portuguese
2358 The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe 1992 Irish English
2362 On the Heights of Despair Emil Cioran 1934 Romanian Romanian
2374 South Wind Norman Douglas 1917 British English
2374 The Vatican Cellars André Gide 1914 French French
2386 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2394 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2483 Blood and Guts in High School Kathy Acker 1978 American English
2506 Pastoralia George Saunders 2000 American English
2516 The New Sorrows of Young W. Ulrich Plenzdorf 1972 German German
2532 The Anatomy Lesson Philip Roth 1983 American English
2542 Pilgrimage Dorothy Richardson 1915 British English
2550 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2580 A Cup Of Rage Raduan Nassar 1978 Brazilian Portuguese
2600 Almost Transparent Blue Ryū Murakami 1976 Japanese Japanese
2610 Whatever Michel Houellebecq 1994 French French
2697 Wise Children Angela Carter 1991 British English
2716 Something Happened Joseph Heller 1974 American English
2732 Lost Souls Poppy Z. Brite 1992 American English
2792 The Island Of Second Sight Albert Vigoleis Thelen 1953 German English
2825 The Leg Willem Elsschot 1946 Belgian Dutch
2826 Bint F. Bordewijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
2835 The Luzhin Defense Vladimir Nabokov 1930 Russian Russian
2840 Kassandra And The Wolf Margarita Karapanou 1974 Greek Greek
2848 Things Georges Perec 1965 French French
2878 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2887 Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer 2002 American English
2893 The Caretaker Harold Pinter 1960 British English
2966 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
3080 Los lanzallamas Roberto Arlt 1931 Argentinian Spanish
3119 Sessanta Racconti Dino Buzzati 1958 Italian Italian
3121 The Possibility Of An Island Michel Houellebecq 2005 French French
3179 The Quick And The Dead Joy Williams 2000 American English
3212 Betty Blue Philippe Djian 1985 French French
3293 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
3435 A Predicament Edgar Allan Poe 1838 American English
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
3802 Inside Mr. Enderby Anthony Burgess 1963 British English
3829 Bacacay Witold Gombrowicz 1957 Polish Polish
3844 The Stone Raft José Saramago 1986 Portuguese Portuguese
3856 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
3883 The Cellar Richard Laymon 1980 American English
3889 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3907 Med Ana Schwoazzn Dintn Hans Carl Artmann 1958 Austrian German
3928 The Vice-Consul Marguerite Duras 1966 French French
3934 The Comedy Of Errors William Shakespeare 1594 British English
3954 Ποιήματα Α' και Β' Miltos Sachtouris 1945 Greek Greek
3954 Difficult Nights Melpo Axioti 1938 Greek Greek
3954 Îngerul A Strigat Fănuș Neagu 1968 Romanian Romanian
3954 The Life And Opinions Of Zacharias Lichter Matei Călinescu 1969 Romanian Romanian
3954 Solstițiu Tulburat Paul Georgescu 1968 Romanian Romanian
4062 Down With Skool! Geoffrey Willans 1953 British English
4099 Le Mauvais Sang Feu De Brousse à Trisse Coeur Tchicaya U. Tam'si 1955 Tchadian French
4106 Wolfskin Hans Lebert 1960 Austrian German
4135 The Nonexistent Knight Italo Calvino 1959 Italian Italian
4146 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4171 Dissipatio H.G. Guido Morselli 1977 Italian Italian
4200 The Elementals Michael McDowell 1981 American English
4234 Gedichten Van Den Schoolmeester Gerrit van de Linde 1859 Dutch Dutch
4234 The Tears Of The Acacias W.F. Hermans 1949 Dutch Dutch
4265 The Town Of N Leonid Dobychin 1935 Russian Russian
4300 Remainder Tom McCarthy 2005 British English
4302 Istorii Insolite Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu 1973 Romanian Romanian
4411 The Pigeon Patrick Suskind 1987 German German
4436 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4441 The Thief's Journal Jean Genet 1949 French French
4464 Învoiala George Bălăiță 1975 Romanian Romanian
4526 Falconer John Cheever 1977 American English
4569 The Dirty Dust Máirtin Ó Cadhain 1949 Irish Irish
4570 The Rules Of Attraction Bret Easton Ellis 1987 American English
4681 Skippy Dies Pauli Murray 2010 Irish English
4683 A Horse Walks Into A Bar David Grossman 2014 Israeli Hebrew
4708 Faserland Christian Kracht 1995 German German
4724 Mission Box Aris Alexandrou 1974 Greek Greek
4743 Willard and His Bowling Trophies Richard Brautigan 1975 American English
4764 Metropole Ferenc Karinthy 1970 Hungarian Hungarian
4780 Helping Verbs Of The Heart Peter Esterhazy 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
4810 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4871 Music and Silence Rose Tremain 1999 British English
4874 Tache De Catifea Ștefan Agopian 1981 Romanian Romanian
4889 Natura Morta Josef Winkler 2001 Unknown German
4957 Miss Hargreaves Frank Baker 1939 British English
4957 Unclay T. F. Powys 1931 British English
4957 Mr. Godly Beside Himself Gerald Bullett 1924 British English
4992 The Wandering Falcon Jamil Ahmed 2011 Pakistani English
5022 Hourglass Danilo Kiš 1972 Serbian Serbo-croatian
5026 Dying As A Country Dimitris Dimitriadis 1978 Greek Greek
5033 Honored Guest Joy Williams 2004 American English
5033 The Sluts Dennis Cooper 2004 American English
5046 Chickamauga Ambrose Bierce 1889 American English
5046 Fantazius Mallare Ben Hecht 1922 American English
5046 A Man Made Of Money Douglas Jerrold 1849 British English
5046 Living Alone Stella Benson 1919 British English
5138 Before The Law Franz Kafka 1915 Czech German
5155 Cursed Bunny Bora Chung 2021 Korean Korean
5234 Mouth Full Of Earth Branimir Scepanovic 1975 Montenegrin Serbo-croatian
5242 La Saga/ Fuga de J. B./ The Saga/ Escape of J.B. Gonzalo Torrente Ballester 1972 Spanish Spanish