The Greatest Existentialist Books Since 1927

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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
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
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
1593 Good Morning, Midnight Jean Rhys 1939 British English
1854 The Courage to Be Paul Tillich 1952 German English
2011 Pincher Martin William Golding 1956 British English
2031 Man In The Modern Age Karl Jaspers 1931 German German
2099 Verzamelde Gedichten J.C. Bloem 1954 Dutch Dutch
2555 Dangling Man Saul Bellow 1944 American English
2699 Existentialism And Humanism Jean Paul Sartre 1946 French French
2853 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
3953 Ασκητική Nikos Kazantzakis 1927 Greek Greek
4145 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4586 The Loser Thomas Bernhard 1983 Austrian German
5473 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5964 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
6259 At The Existentialist Café Sarah Bakewell 2016 British English
6351 The Perennial Scope Of Philosophy Karl Jaspers 1949 German German
6353 Yes Thomas Bernhard 1978 Austrian German
6501 The End Of The Road John Barth 1958 American English
6669 The Balcony Jean Genet 1957 French French
7056 Just The End Of The World Jean-Luc Lagarce 1990 French French
7215 The Blue Octavo Notebook Franz Kafka 1935 Czech German
7215 The Geographical History Of America Gertrude Stein 1936 American English
7215 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7715 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
7732 Despair Vladimir Nabokov 1934 Russian Russian
7923 Shatuny Yuri Mamleev 1966 Russian Russian
8075 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8176 Three Novels Samuel Beckett 1955 Irish French
8386 Poems Of Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès 1959 French French
8468 Three Novels Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
8603 Lyrical And Critical Essays Albert Camus 1968 French French
8990 Catatau Paulo Leminski 1975 Brazilian Portuguese
9752 The Denial of Death Ernest Becker 1973 American English
9832 Simulacres Et Simulation Jean Baudrillard 1981 French French
9882 The Wall Jean Paul Sartre 1939 French French
10026 The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse Ivan Repila 2013 Spanish Spanish
10303 What Is Called Thinking? Martin Heidegger 1954 German German
10303 Sense And Non Sense Maurice Merleau-Ponty 1948 French French
10448 Why Does The World Exist? An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt 2012 American English
10920 Stirrings Still Samuel Beckett 1988 Irish English
10988 Love And Will Rollo May 1969 American English
11401 Big Sur Jack Kerouac 1962 American English
11567 The Swallower Swallowed Réjean Ducharme 1966 Canadian French
11576 Dirty Snow Georges Simenon 1948 Belgian French
12040 Charles Bovary, Country Doctor Jean Améry 1992 Unknown German
12290 All Russians Love Birch Trees Olga Grjasnowa 2012 German German
12440 Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee 1962 American English
13918 Life Against Death Norman O. Brown 1959 American English
13938 Marat Sade Peter Weiss 1963 German German
14457 Nog Rudy Wurlitzer 1969 American English
14983 A Disaffection James Kelman 1989 Scottish English
15783 Critique Of Religion And Philosophy Walter A. Kaufmann 1958 American English
15836 A Happy Death Albert Camus 1971 French French
15897 Happy Days Samuel Beckett 1961 French English
15897 Cronopios And Famas Julio Cortazar 1962 Cuban Spanish
15897 The Living Thoughts Of Kierkegaard Soren Kierkegaard 1938 Danish English
15897 The Dark Philosophers Gwyn Thomas, Simeon 1946 Welsh English
16762 Caligula Albert Camus 1944 French French
16682 The Ethics Of Ambiguity Simone de Beauvoir 1947 French French
16597 Morgenlandfahrt Hermann Hesse 1932 Swiss German
17117 Thus Spoke Abu Huraira Mahmoud Messadi 1973 Tunisian Unknown
17117 A Short Stay In Hell Steven L. Peck 2012 American English
17117 The Master Of Petersburg J. M. Coetzee 1994 South African English
17117 Indian Nocturne Antonio Tabucchi 1984 Italian Italian
17059 San Manuel Bueno, Mártir Miguel de Unamuno 1931 Spanish Spanish
17117 El Ruletista Mircea Cărtărescu 1993 Romanian Romanian
17117 Vilnius Poker Ričardas Gavelis 1989 Lithuanian Lithuanian
17117 Timequake Kurt Vonnegut 1997 American English
17117 'I' Wolfgang Hilbig 1993 German German
17046 Life For Sale Yukio Mishima 1968 Japanese Japanese
17117 The Conspiracy Against The Human Race Thomas Ligotti 2010 American English
17031 Notes From Underground, White Nights, The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man, And Selections From The House Of The Dead Fyodor Dostoevsky 1961 Russian Russian
17117 When Nietzsche Wept Irvin D. Yalom 1992 American English
17117 The Music Of Chance Paul Auster 1990 American English
17112 Existentialism From Dostoevsky To Sartre Walter A. Kaufmann 1956 American English
17117 Serotonin Michel Houellebecq 2019 French French
17117 Franz Kafka's The Castle David Fishelson 1999 Unknown English
17117 The Ark Sakura Kobo Abé 1984 Japanese Japanese
17117 Uden Mål – Og Med Villy Sørensen 1974 Danish Danish
17117 A Breath Of Life Clarice Lispector 1978 Brazilian Portuguese
16791 A Moth To A Flame Stig Dagerman 1948 Swedish Swedish
17037 Tujec / Kuga Albert Camus 1942 French French
17117 How To Be Multiple Helena de Bres 2023 Unknown Unknown
16992 Aylak Adam Yusuf Atılgan 1959 Turkish Turkish
16834 L'étranger / La Peste Albert Camus 1942 French French
16927 Between Man And Man Martin Buber 1944 Austrian English
17020 Manhã Submersa Vergílio Ferreira 1953 Portuguese Portuguese
16865 Il Male Oscuro Berto, Giuseppe 1964 Italian Italian