The Greatest Books of All Time on Despair

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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
15916 The Drunken Boat Arthur Rimbaud 1871 French French
15916 The Collected Short Stories of Maxim Gorky Maxim Gorky 1899 Russian Russian
15916 Happy Days Samuel Beckett 1961 French English
15916 The Living Thoughts Of Kierkegaard Soren Kierkegaard 1938 Danish English
15916 Chu Yuan Guo Moruo 1942 Chinese Chinese
15916 Evening Descends Upon The Hills Anna Maria Ortese 1961 Italian Italian
16516 O Sonho De Um Homem Ridículo Fyodor Dostoevsky 1877 Russian Russian
15916 La Femme De Gilles Madeleine Bourdouxhe 1937 Belgian French
16606 Zama Antonio di Benedetto 1956 Argentinian Spanish
16539 The Red Laugh Leonid Andreyev 1904 Russian English
16680 The Seven Who Were Hanged Leonid Andreyev 1908 Russian Russian
16801 Caligula Albert Camus 1944 French French
16687 Factotum Charles Bukowski 1975 American English
16729 The Colour Out Of Space H. P. Lovecraft 1927 American English
17163 Linden Hills Gloria Naylor 1985 American English
16895 The Time Of Your Life William Saroyan 1939 American English
17100 Balm In Gilead Lanford Wilson 1965 American English
16800 The Suicide Nikolai Erdman 1928 Russian Russian
16907 The Deep Blue Sea Terence Rattigan 1952 British English
17163 Bingo Edward Bond 1973 British English
17163 Beirut Nightmares Ghada Samman 1977 Syrian Arabic
17163 The Woman And The Rose Mohamed Zafzaf 1986 Moroccan Arabic
17163 Nobody's Angel Thomas McGuane 1981 American English
17013 The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir 1967 French French
17163 Leave Me Alone Murong Xuecun 2002 Chinese Chinese
17086 Of Mice And Men / Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1937 American English
17163 The Country Without A Post Office Agha Shahid Ali 1997 Indian English
17163 Serotonin Michel Houellebecq 2019 French French
17163 Limehouse Nights Thomas Burke 1917 British English
16859 The Silent Cry Kenzaburō Ōe 1967 Japanese Japanese
16851 Sette Piani Dino Buzzati 1954 Italian Italian
17163 The Sea Came In At Midnight Steve Erickson 1999 American English
16958 The Gentle Spirit Fyodor Dostoevsky 1876 Russian Russian
16790 A Moth To A Flame Stig Dagerman 1948 Swedish Swedish
16878 Tears And Saints Emil Cioran 1937 Romanian French
16936 The Dry Heart Natalia Ginzburg 1947 Italian Italian
17102 Heaven Has No Favorites Erich Maria Remarque 1961 German German
17163 1999 Emily Dickinson Unknown Unknown
17163 Where The Jackals Howl And Other Stories Amos Oz 1965 Israeli Hebrew
17163 Eve Out Of Her Ruins Ananda Devi 2006 Mauritian French
17163 Lancelot Walker Percy 1977 American English
17163 Journals And Papers Soren Kierkegaard 1839 Danish Danish
17163 All The Fiends Of Hell Adam Nevill British Unknown
17163 Eu Receberia As Piores Noticias Dos Seus Lindos La Marcal Aquino 2005 Brazilian Portuguese
16939 The Sorrows Of A Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
17163 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English