The Greatest Books of All Time on Existence

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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
6145 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6161 The Star Of Redemption Franz Rosenzweig 1971 German German
6202 The Elegies Of Oxopetra Odysseas Elytis 1991 Greek Greek
6237 The Affirmation Christopher Priest 1981 British English
6259 Moments Of Being Virginia Woolf 1976 British English
6292 Amers Saint-John Perse 1957 French French
6343 Another Country Karel Schoeman 1984 South African Afrikaans
6343 Reise Durch Die Nacht Friederike Mayröcker 1986 Austrian German
6400 La Grande Juan José Saer 2012 Argentinian Spanish
6422 The Laws Connie Palmen 1991 Dutch Dutch
6422 Typical Padgett Powell 1991 American English
6420 Collected Poems Dalia Rabikovitch 2009 Israeli Hebrew
6433 La Jeune Parque Paul Valéry 1917 French French
6476 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6637 Journey To The Land Of The Real Victor Segalen 1983 French French
6688 Le Drame De La Vie & Le Discours Aux Animaux Valère Novarina 1984 French French
6846 Three Georges Perec 1991 French French
6899 Exhalation Ted Chiang 2019 American English
6954 We All Love Glenda So Much And Other Tales Julio Cortazar 1980 Argentinian Spanish
6996 Le Théâtre Des Paroles Valère Novarina 1989 French French
7001 Collected Poems Jack Gilbert 2012 American English
7056 Some Thing Black Jacques Roubaud 1990 French French
7179 A Book of Luminous Things Czesław Miłosz 1996 Polish English
7206 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
7216 Aphorisms Novalis 1798 German German
7216 Eureka Edgar Allan Poe 1848 American English
7216 Naked Masks Luigi Pirandello 1922 Italian Italian
7216 Orphic Songs Dino Campana 1914 Italian Italian
7216 Poems Of Carles Riba Carles Riba 1943 Spanish Catalan
7216 The Keeper Of Sheep Fernando Pessoa 1925 Portuguese Portuguese
7216 Exile And Other Poems Saint-John Perse 1942 French French
7216 Poems Of Pierre Jean Jouve Pierre-Jean Jouve 1925 French French
7216 Poems Of Bejamin Péret Bejamin Péret 1925 French French
7216 Poems And Verse Plays Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1900 Austrian German
7216 The Blue Octavo Notebook Franz Kafka 1935 Czech German
7216 Perched On Nothing's Branch Attila József 1932 Hungarian Hungarian
7216 Selected Poems Angelos Sikelianos 1900 Greek Greek
7216 Poems Of Moshe Leib Halpern Moshe-Leib Halpern 1919 Yiddish Yiddish
7216 The Geographical History Of America Gertrude Stein 1936 American English
7216 Poems Of Allen Tate Allen Tate 1930 American English
7216 Selected Poems Robert Penn Warren 1944 American English
7606 L'interruption Dominique Noguez 1993 French French
7606 Writing Marguerite Duras 1993 French French
7699 La Orilla Oscura José María Merino 1985 Spanish Spanish
7726 A Worldly Country John Ashbery 2007 American English
7839 The Invisible Life Of Addie La Rue V. E. Schwab 2020 American English
7861 Poems Of René Char René Char 1950 French French
7959 La Casa De La Fuerza Angélica Liddell 2009 Spanish Spanish
8009 Poems Of Philippe Jacottet Philippe Jacottet 1953 French French
8009 Moles Günter Eich 1953 German German
8076 Selected Poems Ferenc Juhasz 1954 Hungarian Hungarian
8076 The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead David Shields 2008 American English
8100 Selected Poems Tomas Tranströmer 1981 Swedish Swedish
8190 Experience And Nature John Dewey 1925 American English
8193 The Order Of Time Carlo Rovelli 2017 Italian Italian
8195 Ghosts César Aira 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8203 The Day I Wasn't There Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
8208 89 Poems Zbigniew Herbert 1956 Polish Polish
8280 Opus Posthumous Wallace Stevens 1957 American English
8280 Three Plays Thornton Wilder 1957 American English
8336 Fable Robert Pinget 1958 French French
8389 Poems Of Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès 1959 French French
8445 Identity Milan Kundera 1998 Czech French
8445 The Harvest Of Chronos Mojca Kumerdej 2016 Slovenian Slovenian
8473 Selected Writings Salvatore Quasimodo 1960 Italian Italian
8473 Collected Poems Edwin Muir 1960 Scottish English
8473 Poems Of Anne Hébert Anne Hébert 1960 Canadian French
8473 Poems Of Charles Olso Charles Olson 1960 American English
8553 Igur Neblí Miquel de Palol 1994 Spanish Unknown
8624 The Storm And Other Things Eugenio Montale 1978 Italian Italian
8631 Vanishing Point David Markson 2004 American English
8689 The One Before Juan José Saer 2015 Argentinian Spanish
8705 The Last Books of Hector Viel Temperley Hector Viel Temperley
 2011 Argentinian Spanish
8739 Poems Of Alvin Feinman Alvin Feinman 1964 American English
8879 Invenção De Orfeu Jorge De Lima 1952 Brazilian Portuguese
8918 As Metamorfoses Murilo Mendes 1938 Brazilian Portuguese
8951 Time Without Keys Ida Vitale 2019 Uruguayan Spanish
8952 Eu Augusto Dos Anjos 1912 Brazilian Portuguese
8975 Mantra Rodrigo Fresán 2001 Argentinian Spanish
9009 T Zero Italo Calvino 1967 Italian Italian
9009 That Voice Robert Pinget 1967 French French
9116 Poems For People Who Don't Read Poems Hans Magnus Enzensberger 1968 German German
9116 Selected Poems Zbigniew Herbert 1968 Polish Polish
9116 Poems Of Daryl Hine Daryl Hine 1968 Canadian English
9160 Correspondance Avec Le Mur Hélène Cixous 2009 French French
9168 Stars Outside Nathan Alterman Israeli Hebrew
9185 Selected Poems Vasko Popa 1969 Serbian Serbian
9192 The Accidental Universe Alan Lightman 2014 American English
9227 Poems Jorge Luis Borges 2010 Argentinian Spanish
9276 Invisible Reality Juan Ramón Jiménez 1983 Spanish Unknown
9294 Poems Of J. V. Foix J. V. Foix 1970 Catalan Catalan
9294 The Double Dream Of Spring John Ashbery 1970 American English
9317 Memory Rose Into Threshold Speech Paul Celan 2020 German German
9358 Selected Poems Jean Garrigue 1971 American English
9358 Poems Of Howard Moss Howard Moss 1971 American English
9372 Moldy Strawberries Caio Fernando Abreu 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
9550 Guillén On Guillén Jorge Guillén 1972 Spanish Spanish
9550 The Owl's Insomnia Rafael Alberti 1972 Spanish Spanish
9550 Selected Poems Lars Gustafsson 1972 Swedish Swedish
9550 Collected Poems A. R. Ammons 1972 American English
9647 Selected Poems Czesław Miłosz 1973 Polish Polish
9680 Ordesa Manuel Vilas 2018 Spanish Spanish
9704 Astonishing the Gods Ben Okri 1995 Nigerian English
9835 Poems Of Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy 1975 French French
9835 Poems Of Stevie Smith Stevie Smith 1975 British English
9835 Fully Empowered Pablo Neruda 1975 Chilean Spanish
9850 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9895 The Whole Shebang Timothy Ferris 1997 American English
9930 Collected Poems Richard Eberhart 1976 American English
10041 Poems Of John Ashbery John Ashbery 1977 American English
10098 écrits 2003 2014 Angélica Liddell 2015 Spanish Spanish
10139 Selected Poetry Andrea Zanzotto 1978 Italian Italian
10139 Sphere A. R. Ammons 1978 American English
10245 The Great Chain of Being Arthur Lovejoy 1936 American English
10263 Slow Homecoming Peter Handke 1979 Austrian German
10308 What Is Called Thinking? Martin Heidegger 1954 German German
10308 Sense And Non Sense Maurice Merleau-Ponty 1948 French French
10411 Selected Longer Poems A. R. Ammons 1980 American English
10453 Why Does The World Exist? An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt 2012 American English
10453 Mr. Palomar Italo Calvino 1983 Italian Italian