The Greatest Books of All Time on Existentialism

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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
4561 The Lady's Not For Burning Christopher Fry 1948 British English
4582 Antiworlds Andrey Voznesensky 1964 Russian Russian
4608 The Dice Man Luke Rhinehart 1971 American English
4611 Las Personas Del Verbo Jaime Gil de Biedma
 1975 Spanish Spanish
4646 The Face Of Another Kobo Abé 1964 Japanese Japanese
4662 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
4712 Pigeon Feathers And Other Stories John Updike 1962 American English
4764 Metropole Ferenc Karinthy 1970 Hungarian Hungarian
4829 The Largesse of the Sea Maiden Denis Johnson 2018 American English
4879 Heroes And Tombs Ernesto Sábato 1961 Argentinian Spanish
4879 L'instant Fatal Raymond Queneau 1948 French French
4947 The Breast Philip Roth 1972 American English
4946 A Short History Of Decay Emil Cioran 1949 French French
5022 Hourglass Danilo Kiš 1972 Serbian Serbo-croatian
5120 Нощем с белите коне Pavel Vezhinov 1957 Bulgarian Bulgarian
5127 Ο Εχθρός του Ποιητή Giorgos Heimonas 1979 Greek Greek
5133 Die Vollidioten Eckhard Henscheid 1973 German German
5160 The Triumph Of Death Gabriele D'Annunzio 1894 Italian Italian
5234 Mouth Full Of Earth Branimir Scepanovic 1975 Montenegrin Serbo-croatian
5237 Deep River Shūsaku Endō 1993 Japanese Japanese
5242 La Saga/ Fuga de J. B./ The Saga/ Escape of J.B. Gonzalo Torrente Ballester 1972 Spanish Spanish
5362 To Have Or To Be? The Nature Of The Psyche Erich Fromm 1976 German English
5362 On Suicide Jean Améry 1976 Unknown German
5362 Schilten Hermann Burger 1976 Swiss German
5429 Venus On The Half Shell Philip José Farmer 1975 American English
5448 Vor Den Vätern Sterben Die Söhne Thomas Brasch 1977 German German
5531 The Essential Kafka Franz Kafka 1913 Czech German
5583 The Young Man Botho Strauß 1984 German German
5608 Die Fälschung Nicolas Born 1979 German German
5608 The Imperative Of Responsibility Hans Jonas 1979 German German
5668 The Loser György Konrád 1980 Hungarian Hungarian
5668 Baiyun Oder Die Freundschaftsgesellschaft Adolf Muschg 1980 Swiss German
5722 Youth J. M. Coetzee 2002 South African English
5750 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5819 René François-Auguste-René de Chateaubriand 1802 French French
5892 Sartor Resartus Thomas Carlyle 1836 British English
5896 A Confession Leo Tolstoy 1882 Russian Russian
5917 Our Lord Don Quixote Miguel de Unamuno 1935 Spanish Spanish
5910 Thomas The Obscure Maurice Blanchot 1941 French French
5905 Notes From Underground & Other Stories Fyodor Dostoevsky 1864 Russian Russian
5939 Spätestens Im November Hans Erich Nossack 1982 German German
5995 The Sacred Book Of The Werewolf Victor Pelevin 2004 Russian Russian
6001 The Cipher Kathe Koja 1991 American English
6005 Inner Experience Georges Bataille 1943 French French
6005 Chekhov's Selected Stories Anton Chekhov 1903 Russian Russian
6005 Collected Stories Franz Kafka 1931 Austrian German
6005 The Lord Chandos Letter And Other Writings Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1902 Austrian German
6005 Leaves of Hypnos René Char 1946 French French
6005 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6005 Die Niederschrift Des Gustav Anias Horn Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
6005 Dire I–Ii Danielle Collobert 1972 French French
6005 Le Bavard Louis-René Des Forêts 1946 French French
6005 Madame Edwarda Unknown 1941 Unknown French
6005 Madness Of The Day Maurice Blanchot 1949 French French
6005 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6005 Poem Of The End Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6005 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6005 Septentrion Louis Calaferte 1963 French French
6005 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6005 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6005 The Sailor From Gibraltar Marguerite Duras 1952 French French
6092 Herr Gustafsson Himself Lars Gustafsson 1983 Swedish Swedish
6134 L'hiver De Force Réjean Ducharme 1973 Canadian French
6178 Notebooks Albert Camus 1935 French French
6204 The Bridge Iain Banks 1986 Scottish English
6262 At The Existentialist Café Sarah Bakewell 2016 British English
6266 Pan In Oslo Knut Faldbakken 1985 Norwegian German
6354 The Perennial Scope Of Philosophy Karl Jaspers 1949 German German
6358 Heroes' Shrine For Sale or The Elegant Toilet Marios Hakkas 1993 Greek Greek
6363 Girlfriend In A Coma Douglas Coupland 1998 Canadian English
6378 Asterios Polyp David Mazzucchelli 2009 American English
6380 Jumpers Tom Stoppard 1972 British English
6403 The Chairs Eugène Ionesco 1952 French French
6406 L'iguana Anna Maria Ortese 1965 Italian Italian
6427 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6464 Comment S'en Sortir Sans Sortir Ghérasim Luca 1980 French French
6472 The Sound Of My Voice Ron Butlin 1987 British English
6503 The End Of The Road John Barth 1958 American English
6548 Heldenplatz Thomas Bernhard 1988 Austrian German
6556 Žmogus, Kuris Miega Georges Perec 1967 French French
6564 Avalanche Blaga Dimitrova 1980 Bulgarian Bulgarian
6575 Phenomenology Of Perception Maurice Merleau-Ponty 1945 French French
6576 Ingrid Caven Jean-Jacques Schuhl 2000 French French
6586 Im Bach Des Wals Paul Nizon 1983 Swiss German
6623 The Life of Insects Victor Pelevin 1993 Russian Russian
6637 Journey To The Land Of The Real Victor Segalen 1983 French French
6637 Savannah Bay Marguerite Duras 1983 French French
6637 The Stadium Of Wimbledon Daniele del Giudice 1983 Italian Italian
6647 The Builders Giorgos Heimonas 1996 Greek Greek
6657 Berittener Bogenschütze Brigitte Kronauer 1989 German German
6679 The Imago Sequence And Other Stories Laird Barron 2007 American English
6688 Le Drame De La Vie & Le Discours Aux Animaux Valère Novarina 1984 French French
6806 Maudit Manège Philippe Djian 1986 French French
6821 Let It Come Down Paul Bowles 1952 American English
6857 Hell Has No Limits José Donoso 1965 Chilean Spanish
6902 Autobiography Thomas Bernhard 1975 Austrian German
6980 We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live Joan Didion 2006 American English
6996 Panegyric Guy Debord 1989 French French
7003 Le Bonheur De La Nuit Hélène Bessette 1954 French French
7056 Kaddish For An Unborn Child Imre Kertész 1990 Hungarian Hungarian
7133 Desolation Angels Jack Kerouac 1965 American English
7216 Selected Writings Jules Laforgue 1901 French French
7216 To Damascus August Strindberg 1898 Swedish Swedish
7216 The City Of The Dreadful Night James Thomson 1880 British English
7216 Short Novels Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
7216 Clarel Herman Melville 1876 American English
7216 Manhood Michel Leiris 1939 French French
7216 Selected Tales Leonid Andreyev 1900 Russian Russian
7216 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7606 L'interruption Dominique Noguez 1993 French French
7656 The Sunday Of Life Raymond Queneau 1952 French French
7713 The Snow Of The Admiral Alvaro Mutis 1986 Colombian Spanish
7717 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
7726 Stupidity Rafael Spregelburd 2007 Argentinian Spanish
7794 The Gay Science Friedrich Nietzsche 1882 German German
7812 Cain José Saramago 2009 Portuguese Portuguese
7810 Bullet Park John Cheever 1969 American English
7820 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
7837 The Midnight Library Matt Haig 2020 British English
7877 Baumgartner Paul Auster 2023 American English