The Greatest Books of All Time on Death

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
14986 Practical Magic Alice Hoffman 1995 American English
14986 Binocular Vision Edith Pearlman 2011 American English
14986 A Home at the End of the World Michael Cunningham 1990 American English
14986 Complete Stories Dorothy Parker 1995 American English
14986 The Infatuations Javier Marias 2011 Spanish Spanish
14986 Call Me Zebra Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi 2018 American English
14986 Passage Connie Willis 2001 American English
14986 Ka John Crowley 2017 American English
14986 From The Fifteenth District Mavis Gallant 1979 Canadian English
14986 Age Of Iron J. M. Coetzee 1990 South African English
14986 Cash Johnny Cash 1997 American English
14986 Sabriel Garth Nix 1995 Australian English
14986 Blasted Sarah Kane 1995 British English
14986 August Tracy Letts 2008 American English
14969 Strange Interlude Eugene O'Neill 1928 American English
14971 All That Fall Samuel Beckett 1957 Irish English
14986 The Lieutenant Of Inishmore Martin McDonagh 2001 Irish English
14986 Accidental Death Of An Anarchist Dario Fo 1970 Italian Italian
14986 Olive, Again Elizabeth Strout 2019 American English
14986 The Volcano Lover Susan Sontag 1992 American English
14986 Dear Life Alice Munro 2012 Canadian English
14986 Feersum Endjinn Iain Banks 1994 British English
14986 Floating Dragon Peter Straub 1983 American English
14986 Anita Blake Laurell K. Hamilton 1993 American English
14986 A Walk To Remember Nicholas Sparks 1999 American English
14986 Sailing Alone Around The Room Billy Collins 2001 American English
14986 The All Of It Jeannette Haien 1986 American English
14986 Death Without Weeping Nancy Scheper-Hughes 1992 American English
14986 A Yellow Raft In Blue Water Michael Dorris 1987 American English
15668 The Collected Poems Of John Masefield John Masefield 1923 British English
15678 Through The Wheat Thomas Boyd 1923 American English
15715 Early Plays Eugene O'Neill 1932 American English
15727 The Diary Of A Parish Clerk Steen Steensen Blicher 1824 Danish Danish
15752 Selected Stories Of Anton Chekhov Anton Chekhov 1903 Russian Russian
15821 All My Sons Arthur Miller 1947 American English
15918 The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber Ernest Hemingway 1936 American English
15918 Thoughts for the Times on War and Death Sigmund Freud 1915 Austrian German
15918 The Works of George Peele George Peele 1593 British English
15918 Foliage Leigh Hunt 1818 British English
15918 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Ambrose Bierce 1890 American English
15918 The Voyage Out Virginia Woolf 1915 British English
15918 Hollywood Babylon Kenneth Anger 1959 American English
15918 The Hunting Gun Yasushi Inoue 1949 Japanese Japanese
15918 From The Terrace John O'Hara 1958 American English
15918 The Lady From Guatemala V. S. Pritchett 1957 British English
16509 The Prince Of Homburg Heinrich von Kleist 1821 German German
15918 The Last Flight Of Dr. Ain James Tiptree Jr. 1969 American English
15918 Memoirs Of A Medieval Woman Louise Collis 1964 British English
15918 A Mass For The Dead William Gibson 1968 American English
15918 The Morgesons Elizabeth Stoddard 1862 American English
15918 The Sheltered Life Ellen Glasgow 1932 American English
15918 Christ In Concrete Pietro di Donato 1939 American English
15918 Ending Up Kingsley Amis 1974 British English
16582 The Halloween Tree Ray Bradbury 1972 American English
16685 The Seven Who Were Hanged Leonid Andreyev 1908 Russian Russian
16812 Dragonwyck Anya Seton 1944 American English
17168 Seaview Toby Olson 1983 American English
17168 Sent for You Yesterday John Edgar Wideman 1983 American English
17168 Postcards Annie Proulx 1992 American English
17168 The Great Man Kate Christensen 2007 American English
17168 Facts of Life Maureen Howard 1965 American English
17168 Killing Yourself to Live Chuck Klosterman 2005 American English
17168 Thursbitch Alan Garner 2003 British English
17168 Staying Alive Neil Astley 2002 British English
17168 Collected Poems of Michael Donaghy Michael Donaghy 2004 British English
17168 Born Yesterday Gordon Burn 2008 British English
17168 Young Shoulders John Wain 1982 British English
17168 Swing Hammer Swing! Jeff Torrington 1992 Scottish English
17168 Leading the Cheers Justin Cartwright 1998 British English
17168 The Age of Wire and String Ben Marcus 1995 American English
17168 Pure Andrew Miller 2011 British English
17168 Legs William Kennedy 1975 American English
17168 In Memoriam to Identity Kathy Acker 1990 American English
17168 Taking the World in for Repairs Richard Selzer 1986 American English
17168 A Feast of Snakes Harry Crews 1976 American English
17168 Collected Poems 1912-1944 Hilda Doolittle 1983 American English
17168 The Invented Part Rodrigo Fresán 2014 Argentinian Spanish
17168 Cards of Grief Jane Yolen 1984 American English
17168 Unicorn Mountain Michael Bishop 1988 American English
17168 Coming Rain Stephen Daisley 2015 Australian English
17168 A Spell Of Winter Helen Dunmore 1995 British English
17110 Logan's Run William F. Nolan 1967 American English
17168 Riceyman Steps Arnold Bennett 1923 British English
17168 Tales From Bective Bridge Mary Lavin 1942 Irish English
17168 A Shock Keith Ridgway 2021 Irish English
17168 Johnno David Malouf 1975 Australian English
17168 With The End In Mind Kathryn Mannix 2017 British English
17168 Die Wise Stephen Jenkinson 2015 Canadian English
17168 The Ground Beneath Her Feet Salman Rushdie 1999 British English
17168 The Five Invitations Frank Ostaseski 2017 American English
17168 Thomas And Beulah Rita Dove 1986 American English
17168 Ugly Ways Tina McElroy Ansa 1993 American English
17168 Glimpses Lewis Shiner 1993 American English
17168 Towing Jehovah James K. Morrow 1994 American English
17168 Godmother Night Rachel Pollack 1996 American English
17168 The Other Wind Ursula K. Le Guin 2001 American English
17168 Saint Death's Daughter C. S. E. Cooney 2022 American English
17168 A Jest Of God Margaret Laurence 1966 Canadian English
17168 The Nice And The Good Iris Murdoch 1968 British English
17168 Happiness And Other Stories Mary Lavin 1969 Irish English
17168 Lamb Bernard MacLaverty 1980 Irish English
17168 Reading Turgenev William Trevor 1991 Irish English
17168 The Night In Question Tobias Wolff 1996 American English
17168 The Rats James Herbert 1974 British English
17168 Dawn Of The Dead George Romero 1978 American Unknown
17048 Domnisoara Christina. Sarpele Mircea Eliade 1936 Romanian Romanian
17168 Wit Margaret Edson 1993 American English
17168 Amadeus Peter Shaffer 1979 British English
17168 Bad Jews Joshua Harmon 2013 American English
17055 Blithe Spirit Noel Coward 1941 British English
17168 The Mysteries Tony Harrison 1985 British English
16854 The House Of Bernarda Alba Federico García Lorca 1936 Spanish Spanish
16993 Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance John Arden 1959 British English
17168 Bingo Edward Bond 1973 British English
17168 The Normal Heart Larry Kramer 1985 American English
17168 The End Of Vandalism Tom Drury 1994 American English
17168 Butterfly Valley Inger Christensen 1991 Danish Danish
17168 Scenes Of Clerical Life George Eliot 1858 British English
17168 The Furies Janet Hobhouse 1984 American English
17168 Under Heaven Guy Gavriel Kay 2010 Canadian English