The Greatest Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Picaresque 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 488 '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
909 Simplicius Simplicissimus Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen 1668 German German
918 The Life of a Good-For-Nothing Joseph von Eichendorff 1826 German German
1374 The Sot-Weed Factor John Barth 1960 American English
2104 Guzmán de Alfarache Mateo Alemán 1599 Spanish Spanish
3042 Captain Alatriste Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1996 Spanish Spanish
3343 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
4800 The History Of Gil Blas Of Santillana Alain-René Lesage 1715 French French
9786 Falstaff Robert Nye 1976 British English
10965 The Reivers William Faulkner 1962 American English
14371 Water Music T. C. Boyle 1982 American English
14371 The Lodging House Khairy Shalaby 1999 Egyptian Arabic