The Greatest Books of All Time on Existence

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
6158 The Star Of Redemption Franz Rosenzweig 1971 German German
6198 The Elegies Of Oxopetra Odysseas Elytis 1991 Greek Greek
6233 The Affirmation Christopher Priest 1981 British English
6256 Moments Of Being Virginia Woolf 1976 British English
6289 Amers Saint-John Perse 1957 French French
6340 Another Country Karel Schoeman 1984 South African Afrikaans
6340 Reise Durch Die Nacht Friederike Mayröcker 1986 Austrian German
6397 La Grande Juan José Saer 2012 Argentinian Spanish
6419 The Laws Connie Palmen 1991 Dutch Dutch
6419 Typical Padgett Powell 1991 American English
6417 Collected Poems Dalia Rabikovitch 2009 Israeli Hebrew
6430 La Jeune Parque Paul Valéry 1917 French French
6474 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6635 Journey To The Land Of The Real Victor Segalen 1983 French French
6661 How It Is Samuel Beckett 1961 Irish French
6687 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
7178 A Book of Luminous Things Czesław Miłosz 1996 Polish English
7205 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
7215 Aphorisms Novalis 1798 German German
7215 Eureka Edgar Allan Poe 1848 American English
7215 Naked Masks Luigi Pirandello 1922 Italian Italian
7215 Orphic Songs Dino Campana 1914 Italian Italian
7215 Poems Of Carles Riba Carles Riba 1943 Spanish Catalan
7215 The Keeper Of Sheep Fernando Pessoa 1925 Portuguese Portuguese
7215 Exile And Other Poems Saint-John Perse 1942 French French
7215 Poems Of Pierre Jean Jouve Pierre-Jean Jouve 1925 French French
7215 Poems Of Bejamin Péret Bejamin Péret 1925 French French
7215 Poems And Verse Plays Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1900 Austrian German
7215 The Blue Octavo Notebook Franz Kafka 1935 Czech German
7215 Perched On Nothing's Branch Attila József 1932 Hungarian Hungarian
7215 Selected Poems Angelos Sikelianos 1900 Greek Greek
7215 Poems Of Moshe Leib Halpern Moshe-Leib Halpern 1919 Yiddish Yiddish
7215 The Geographical History Of America Gertrude Stein 1936 American English
7215 Poems Of Allen Tate Allen Tate 1930 American English
7215 Selected Poems Robert Penn Warren 1944 American English
7605 L'interruption Dominique Noguez 1993 French French
7605 Writing Marguerite Duras 1993 French French
7698 La Orilla Oscura José María Merino 1985 Spanish Spanish
7724 A Worldly Country John Ashbery 2007 American English
7838 The Invisible Life Of Addie La Rue V. E. Schwab 2020 American English
7860 Poems Of René Char René Char 1950 French French
7958 La Casa De La Fuerza Angélica Liddell 2009 Spanish Spanish
8008 Poems Of Philippe Jacottet Philippe Jacottet 1953 French French
8008 Moles Günter Eich 1953 German German
8075 Selected Poems Ferenc Juhasz 1954 Hungarian Hungarian
8075 The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead David Shields 2008 American English
8098 Selected Poems Tomas Tranströmer 1981 Swedish Swedish
8188 Experience And Nature John Dewey 1925 American English
8191 The Order Of Time Carlo Rovelli 2017 Italian Italian
8193 Ghosts César Aira 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8201 The Day I Wasn't There Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
8206 89 Poems Zbigniew Herbert 1956 Polish Polish
8278 Opus Posthumous Wallace Stevens 1957 American English
8278 Three Plays Thornton Wilder 1957 American English
8334 Fable Robert Pinget 1958 French French
8386 Poems Of Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès 1959 French French
8441 Identity Milan Kundera 1998 Czech French
8441 The Harvest Of Chronos Mojca Kumerdej 2016 Slovenian Slovenian
8468 Selected Writings Salvatore Quasimodo 1960 Italian Italian
8468 Collected Poems Edwin Muir 1960 Scottish English
8468 Poems Of Anne Hébert Anne Hébert 1960 Canadian French
8468 Poems Of Charles Olso Charles Olson 1960 American English
8549 Igur Neblí Miquel de Palol 1994 Spanish Unknown
8620 The Storm And Other Things Eugenio Montale 1978 Italian Italian
8627 Vanishing Point David Markson 2004 American English
8685 The One Before Juan José Saer 2015 Argentinian Spanish
8701 The Last Books of Hector Viel Temperley Hector Viel Temperley
 2011 Argentinian Spanish
8734 Poems Of Alvin Feinman Alvin Feinman 1964 American English
8875 Invenção De Orfeu Jorge De Lima 1952 Brazilian Portuguese
8914 As Metamorfoses Murilo Mendes 1938 Brazilian Portuguese
8947 Time Without Keys Ida Vitale 2019 Uruguayan Spanish
8948 Eu Augusto Dos Anjos 1912 Brazilian Portuguese
8971 Mantra Rodrigo Fresán 2001 Argentinian Spanish
9005 T Zero Italo Calvino 1967 Italian Italian
9005 That Voice Robert Pinget 1967 French French
9111 Poems For People Who Don't Read Poems Hans Magnus Enzensberger 1968 German German
9111 Selected Poems Zbigniew Herbert 1968 Polish Polish
9111 Poems Of Daryl Hine Daryl Hine 1968 Canadian English
9155 Correspondance Avec Le Mur Hélène Cixous 2009 French French
9164 Stars Outside Nathan Alterman Israeli Hebrew
9181 Selected Poems Vasko Popa 1969 Serbian Serbian
9188 The Accidental Universe Alan Lightman 2014 American English
9223 Poems Jorge Luis Borges 2010 Argentinian Spanish
9271 Invisible Reality Juan Ramón Jiménez 1983 Spanish Unknown
9289 Poems Of J. V. Foix J. V. Foix 1970 Catalan Catalan
9289 The Double Dream Of Spring John Ashbery 1970 American English
9312 Memory Rose Into Threshold Speech Paul Celan 2020 German German
9353 Selected Poems Jean Garrigue 1971 American English
9353 Poems Of Howard Moss Howard Moss 1971 American English
9367 Moldy Strawberries Caio Fernando Abreu 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
9545 Guillén On Guillén Jorge Guillén 1972 Spanish Spanish
9545 The Owl's Insomnia Rafael Alberti 1972 Spanish Spanish
9545 Selected Poems Lars Gustafsson 1972 Swedish Swedish
9545 Collected Poems A. R. Ammons 1972 American English
9644 Selected Poems Czesław Miłosz 1973 Polish Polish
9677 Ordesa Manuel Vilas 2018 Spanish Spanish
9701 Astonishing the Gods Ben Okri 1995 Nigerian English
9832 Poems Of Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy 1975 French French
9832 Poems Of Stevie Smith Stevie Smith 1975 British English
9832 Fully Empowered Pablo Neruda 1975 Chilean Spanish
9847 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9892 The Whole Shebang Timothy Ferris 1997 American English
9926 Collected Poems Richard Eberhart 1976 American English
10036 Poems Of John Ashbery John Ashbery 1977 American English
10093 écrits 2003 2014 Angélica Liddell 2015 Spanish Spanish
10135 Selected Poetry Andrea Zanzotto 1978 Italian Italian
10135 Sphere A. R. Ammons 1978 American English
10239 The Great Chain of Being Arthur Lovejoy 1936 American English
10258 Slow Homecoming Peter Handke 1979 Austrian German
10303 What Is Called Thinking? Martin Heidegger 1954 German German
10303 Sense And Non Sense Maurice Merleau-Ponty 1948 French French
10406 Selected Longer Poems A. R. Ammons 1980 American English
10448 Why Does The World Exist? An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt 2012 American English
10448 Mr. Palomar Italo Calvino 1983 Italian Italian