The Greatest Books of All Time on Desire

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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
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
20 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
178 The Flowers of Evil Charles Baudelaire 1857 French French
227 Women in Love D. H. Lawrence 1920 British English
240 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
241 Portnoy's Complaint Philip Roth 1969 American English
336 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser 1900 American English
401 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
464 Petrarch's Songbook Francesco Petrarca 1341 Italian Italian
489 Manon Lescaut Abbe Prevost 1731 French French
498 The Immoralist André Gide 1902 French French
591 Stories of Guy de Maupassant Guy de Maupassant 1880 French French
599 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
702 Vathek William Beckford 1786 British French
717 A Sport and a Pastime James Salter 1967 American English
789 The Piano Teacher Elfriede Jelinek 1983 Austrian German
816 The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia Samuel Johnson, Abraham Raimbach, Robert Smirke 1759 British English
900 The Poems of Sappho Sappho -569 Greek Ancient greek
929 Our Lady of the Flowers Jean Genet 1943 French French
977 Couples John Updike 1968 American English
1016 Poems Of C. P. Cavafy C. P. Cavafy 1935 Greek Greek
1123 The Symposium Plato -385 Greek Ancient greek
1128 The Price Of Salt Patricia Highsmith 1952 American English
1132 Fanny Hill John Cleland 1748 British English
1140 Nana Émile Zola 1880 French French
1197 Light Years James Salter 1975 American English
1235 Cheri Colette 1920 French French
1239 The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne John Donne 1952 British English
1282 The Plum in the Golden Vase Unknown 1610 Chinese Chinese
1292 Two Serious Ladies Jane Bowles 1943 American English
1359 Illuminations Arthur Rimbaud 1886 French French
1472 The Beauty Of The Husband Anne Carson 2001 Canadian English
1731 Delta of Venus Anaïs Nin 1977 French English
1761 The Serious Game Hjalmar Soderberg 1912 Swedish Swedish
1782 The Wild Ass's Skin Honoré de Balzac 1831 French French
1999 The Poetry of Luis Cernuda Luis Cernuda 1901 Spanish Spanish
2066 The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman Angela Carter 1972 British English
2103 The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories Angela Carter 1979 British English
2116 Querelle of Brest Jean Genet 1947 French French
2155 The Flame Of Life Gabriele D'Annunzio 1900 Italian Italian
2185 On Love Alain de Botton 1993 British English
2207 Waiting Ha Jin 1999 Chinese English
2214 Roman Elegies Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1795 German German
2241 Collected Poems Arthur Rimbaud 1898 French French
2247 Roman De La Rose Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meun 1237 French Old french
2266 Pricksongs and Descants Robert Coover 1969 American English
2333 Moderato Cantabile Marguerite Duras 1958 French French
2342 Song of Songs Christian Church -500 Jewish Hebrew
2344 Goblin Market Christina Georgina Rossetti 1862 British English
2402 The Poems Of John Wilmot, Earl Of Rochester John Wilmot 1680 British English
2424 Platform Michel Houellebecq 2001 French French
2481 Blood and Guts in High School Kathy Acker 1978 American English
2572 A Longing For The Light Vicente Aleixandre 1979 Spanish Spanish
2746 The Romance of the Rose Guillaume (de Lorris) 1230 French Old french
2911 Délie Maurice Scève 1544 French French
3100 Diary Of A Mad Old Man Junichiro Tanizaki 1961 Japanese Japanese
3127 Attis And Other Poems Catullus -53 Roman Latin
3172 A Simple Story S.Y. Agnon 1935 Israeli Hebrew
3220 Aphrodite Pierre Louÿs 1896 French French
3324 Love in Excess; or, The Fatal Enquiry Eliza Haywood 1719 British English
3371 Fable Of Polyphemus And Galatea Luis de Góngora 1627 Spanish Spanish
3390 La Realidad Y El Deseo Luis Cernuda 1936 Spanish Spanish
3405 Fifty Shades of Grey: E. L. James 2011 British English
3529 Love in the Western World Denis de Rougemont 1939 Swiss French
3542 Her Body and Other Parties Carmen Maria Machado 2017 American English
3582 Selected Poems Andrew Marvell 1681 British English
3581 Call Me By Your Name André Aciman 2007 Italian English
3638 L'après Midi D'un Faune Stéphane Mallarmé 1876 French French
3846 Written on the Body Jeanette Winterson 1992 British English
3893 Oriental Tales Marguerite Yourcenar 1938 French French
3953 The Poems Of Dinos Christianopoulos Dinos Christianopoulos 1958 Greek Greek
4057 Bad Behavior Mary Gaitskill 1988 American English
4089 Silk Alessandro Baricco 1996 Italian Italian
4132 Dark Avenues Ivan Bunin 1943 Russian Russian
4167 Miss Julie August Strindberg 1888 Swedish Swedish
4177 Shira S.Y. Agnon 1989 Israeli Hebrew
4213 Miss Sophie's Diary And Other Stories Ding Ling 1928 Chinese Chinese
4293 What Belongs to You Garth Greenwell 2016 American English
4420 Desire Under The Elms Eugene O'Neill 1924 American English
4440 The Thief's Journal Jean Genet 1949 French French
4594 Last Night James Salter 2005 American English
4723 Venus in Furs Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch 1870 Austrian German
4782 The Art Of Love Ovid 2 Roman Latin
4808 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4870 Music and Silence Rose Tremain 1999 British English
5292 The Poisoned Kiss And Other Stories From The Portuguese Joyce Carol Oates 1975 American English
5405 I Love Dick Chris Kraus 1997 American English
5465 In The Solitude Of Cotton Fields Bernard-Marie Koltès 1986 French French
5724 Simple Passion Annie Ernaux 1991 French French
5821 Idylls Theocritus -260 Greek Ancient greek
5841 A Month In The Country Ivan Turgenev 1855 Russian Russian
5887 The Girl With The Golden Eyes Honoré de Balzac 1835 French French
5915 The Tale Of The 1002nd Night Joseph Roth 1938 Austrian German
5947 Talk Dirty To Me Sallie Tisdale 1994 American English
6002 A Love Affair Dino Buzzati 1963 Italian Italian
6002 Madame Edwarda Unknown 1941 Unknown French
6002 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6002 Sonnets Louise Labé 1556 French French
6002 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6002 The Sailor From Gibraltar Marguerite Duras 1952 French French
6002 Three Women Robert Musil 1924 Austrian German
6152 Women As Lovers Elfriede Jelinek 1975 Austrian German
6293 Dream Story Arthur Schnitzler 1926 Austrian German
6301 Les Lieux De Marguerite Duras Marguerite Duras 1977 French French
6408 Bluets Maggie Nelson 2009 American English
6430 La Jeune Parque Paul Valéry 1917 French French
6436 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6462 Comment S'en Sortir Sans Sortir Ghérasim Luca 1980 French French
6710 Ooga-Booga Frederick Seidel 2006 American English
6760 Difficult Loves Italo Calvino 1958 Italian Italian
6799 We Others Steven Millhauser 2011 American English
6806 Maudit Manège Philippe Djian 1986 French French
6811 Écrits Jacques Lacan 1966 French French
6841 Rapture Carol Ann Duffy 2005 British English
6872 Eustace Chisholm And The Works James Purdy 1967 American English
6901 Raymond And Hannah Stephen Marche 2005 Canadian English
6914 Théresè And Isabelle Violette Leduc 1966 French French
7115 Seven Years Peter Stamm 2009 Swiss German
7215 Sonnets And Madrigals Michelangelo Buonarroti 1545 Italian Italian
7215 The Mandrake Niccolo Machiavelli 1518 Italian Italian