The Greatest Existentialist Books of All Time

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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
23 The Stranger Albert Camus 1942 French French
66 The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka 1915 Czech German
81 The Castle Franz Kafka 1926 Czech German
99 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera 1984 Czech Czech
245 Nausea Jean Paul Sartre 1938 French French
270 Malone Dies Samuel Beckett 1951 Irish French
408 The Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus 1942 French French
517 Being and Time Martin Heidegger 1927 German German
616 The Rebel Albert Camus 1951 French French
638 Being and Nothingness Jean Paul Sartre 1943 French French
1132 Lenz Georg Buchner 1836 German German
1403 The Outsider Colin Wilson 1956 British English
1409 No Exit Jean Paul Sartre 1944 French French
1502 The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born Ayi K. Armah 1968 Ghanaian English
1515 The World as Will and Idea Arthur Schopenhauer 1818 German German
1539 On the Genealogy of Morality Friedrich Nietzsche 1887 German German
1593 Good Morning, Midnight Jean Rhys 1939 British English
1854 The Courage to Be Paul Tillich 1952 German English
2012 Pincher Martin William Golding 1956 British English
2032 The Concept Of Anxiety Soren Kierkegaard 1844 Danish Danish
2032 Man In The Modern Age Karl Jaspers 1931 German German
2101 Verzamelde Gedichten J.C. Bloem 1954 Dutch Dutch
2556 Dangling Man Saul Bellow 1944 American English
2700 Existentialism And Humanism Jean Paul Sartre 1946 French French
2737 Philosophical Writings Novalis 1798 German German
2839 The Bottle Factory Outing Beryl Bainbridge 1974 British English
3428 Short Letter, Long Farewell Peter Handke 1972 Austrian German
3589 The First Man Albert Camus 1994 French French
3628 Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata 2016 Japanese Japanese
3638 The Temptation To Exist Emil Cioran 1956 Romanian French
3954 Ασκητική Nikos Kazantzakis 1927 Greek Greek
4124 Either Or Soren Kierkegaard 1843 Danish Danish
4146 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4295 The Castle franz kafka 1926 German German
4588 The Loser Thomas Bernhard 1983 Austrian German
4869 The Ego And Its Own Max Stirner 1844 German German
5476 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5968 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
6005 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6262 At The Existentialist Café Sarah Bakewell 2016 British English
6354 The Perennial Scope Of Philosophy Karl Jaspers 1949 German German
6356 Yes Thomas Bernhard 1978 Austrian German
6503 The End Of The Road John Barth 1958 American English
6656 Guest Of Reality Par Lagerkvist 1925 Swedish Swedish
6670 The Balcony Jean Genet 1957 French French
7056 Just The End Of The World Jean-Luc Lagarce 1990 French French
7216 Aurelia Gerard de Nerval 1855 French French
7216 Aphorisms Novalis 1798 German German
7216 Naked Masks Luigi Pirandello 1922 Italian Italian
7216 The Blue Octavo Notebook Franz Kafka 1935 Czech German
7216 The Geographical History Of America Gertrude Stein 1936 American English
7216 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7717 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
7734 Despair Vladimir Nabokov 1934 Russian Russian
7924 Shatuny Yuri Mamleev 1966 Russian Russian
8076 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8178 Three Novels Samuel Beckett 1955 Irish French
8389 Poems Of Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès 1959 French French
8473 Three Novels Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
8607 Lyrical And Critical Essays Albert Camus 1968 French French
8994 Catatau Paulo Leminski 1975 Brazilian Portuguese
9755 The Denial of Death Ernest Becker 1973 American English
9835 Simulacres Et Simulation Jean Baudrillard 1981 French French
9885 The Wall Jean Paul Sartre 1939 French French
10030 The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse Ivan Repila 2013 Spanish Spanish
10056 Tragic Sense Of Life Miguel de Unamuno 1912 Spanish Spanish
10308 What Is Called Thinking? Martin Heidegger 1954 German German
10308 Sense And Non Sense Maurice Merleau-Ponty 1948 French French
10453 Why Does The World Exist? An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt 2012 American English
10927 Stirrings Still Samuel Beckett 1988 Irish English
10995 Love And Will Rollo May 1969 American English
11407 Big Sur Jack Kerouac 1962 American English
11568 The Sickness Unto Death Soren Kierkegaard 1849 Danish Danish
11569 The Swallower Swallowed Réjean Ducharme 1966 Canadian French
11579 Dirty Snow Georges Simenon 1948 Belgian French
12042 Charles Bovary, Country Doctor Jean Améry 1992 Unknown German
12291 All Russians Love Birch Trees Olga Grjasnowa 2012 German German
12442 Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee 1962 American English
13712 Creative Evolution Henri Bergson 1907 French French
13919 Life Against Death Norman O. Brown 1959 American English
13938 Marat Sade Peter Weiss 1963 German German
14458 Nog Rudy Wurlitzer 1969 American English
14785 Fear and Trembling Soren Kierkegaard 1843 Danish Danish
14985 A Disaffection James Kelman 1989 Scottish English
15686 The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills Charles Bukowski American English
15799 Critique Of Religion And Philosophy Walter A. Kaufmann 1958 American English
15782 Crime And Punishment Dostoyevsky 1866 Russian Russian
15847 A Happy Death Albert Camus 1971 French French
15914 Happy Days Samuel Beckett 1961 French English
15914 Cronopios And Famas Julio Cortazar 1962 Cuban Spanish
15914 The Living Thoughts Of Kierkegaard Soren Kierkegaard 1938 Danish English
15914 The Dark Philosophers Gwyn Thomas, Simeon 1946 Welsh English
16520 O Sonho De Um Homem Ridículo Fyodor Dostoevsky 1877 Russian Russian
16615 The Castle Franz Kafka 1926 German German
16793 Caligula Albert Camus 1944 French French
16744 Fear And Trembling And The Sickness Unto Death Soren Kierkegaard 1843 Danish Danish
16713 The Ethics Of Ambiguity Simone de Beauvoir 1947 French French
16779 Twilight Of The Idols, Or How To Philosophize With A Hammer Friedrich Nietzsche 1889 German German
16685 Der Spaziergang Robert Walser 1917 Swiss German
16633 Morgenlandfahrt Hermann Hesse 1932 Swiss German
16635 The Brothers Karamazov Fedor Dostoyevsky 1880 Russian Russian
17162 Thus Spoke Abu Huraira Mahmoud Messadi 1973 Tunisian Unknown
17162 A Short Stay In Hell Steven L. Peck 2012 American English
16789 The Present Age Soren Kierkegaard 1846 Danish Danish
17162 The Master Of Petersburg J. M. Coetzee 1994 South African English
17162 Indian Nocturne Antonio Tabucchi 1984 Italian Italian
17131 San Manuel Bueno, Mártir Miguel de Unamuno 1931 Spanish Spanish
17162 El Ruletista Mircea Cărtărescu 1993 Romanian Romanian
17162 Vilnius Poker Ričardas Gavelis 1989 Lithuanian Lithuanian
17162 Timequake Kurt Vonnegut 1997 American English
17162 'I' Wolfgang Hilbig 1993 German German
17085 Life For Sale Yukio Mishima 1968 Japanese Japanese
17162 The Conspiracy Against The Human Race Thomas Ligotti 2010 American English
17055 Notes From Underground, White Nights, The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man, And Selections From The House Of The Dead Fyodor Dostoevsky 1961 Russian Russian
17162 When Nietzsche Wept Irvin D. Yalom 1992 American English
17162 The Music Of Chance Paul Auster 1990 American English
17149 Existentialism From Dostoevsky To Sartre Walter A. Kaufmann 1956 American English
17162 Serotonin Michel Houellebecq 2019 French French
17162 Franz Kafka's The Castle David Fishelson 1999 Unknown English
17090 The Double And The Gambler Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian