The Greatest Fiction 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
853 Mc Teague Frank Norris 1899 American English
854 Cane Jean Toomer 1923 American English
856 Conversation in the Cathedral Mario Vargas Llosa 1969 Peruvian Spanish
857 Midaq Alley Naguib Mahfouz 1947 Egyptian Arabic
858 The Woman in the Dunes Kobo Abé 1962 Japanese Japanese
859 The Palm-Wine Drinkard Amos Tutola 1952 Nigerian English
860 The Solitudes Luis de Góngora 1613 Spanish Spanish
861 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
862 Smilla's Sense of Snow Peter Høeg 1992 Danish Danish
864 Reynard the Fox Unknown 1479 Multiple Middle dutch
866 The Black Spider Jeremias Gotthelf 1842 Swiss German
867 Heidi Johanna Spyri 1881 Swiss German
869 Woodcutters Thomas Bernhard 1984 Austrian German
871 Wieland Charles Brockden Brown 1798 American English
872 Pallieter Felix Timmermans 1916 Belgian Dutch
873 Call to Arms Lu Xun 1922 Chinese Chinese
874 The Last Samurai Helen DeWitt 2000 American English
875 Greguerias Ramón Gómez de la Serna 1910 Spanish Spanish
876 Lysistrata Aristophanes -411 Greek Ancient greek
877 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
878 The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver 1998 American English
879 A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute 1950 British English
881 Utopia Thomas More 1516 British Latin
882 The Hour of the Star Clarice Lispector 1977 Brazilian Portuguese
883 Thaïs Anatole France 1890 French French
884 Homo Faber Max Frisch 1957 Swiss German
886 Riders of the Purple Sage Zane Grey 1912 American English
887 Herland Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1915 American English
888 Drunkard Émile Zola 1877 French Unknown
889 The 120 Days of Sodom Marquis de Sade 1904 French French
890 High Fidelity Nick Hornby 1995 British English
891 Golem Gustav Meyrink 1915 Austrian German
892 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini 2003 Afghan English
893 Neuromancer William Gibson 1984 American, Canadian English
894 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
895 The Ravishing of Lol Stein Marguerite Duras 1964 French French
896 She H. Rider Haggard 1887 British English
897 The Darkroom Of Damocles W.F. Hermans 1958 Dutch Dutch
898 My Struggle Karl Ove Knausgård 2009 Norwegian Norwegian
899 Stoner John Williams 1965 American English
900 The Poems of Sappho Sappho -569 Greek Ancient greek
901 Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby 1964 American English
902 Under the Net Iris Murdoch 1954 British English
904 Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut 1973 American English
907 Hyperion Friedrich Holderlin 1797 German German
908 The Life of a Good-For-Nothing Joseph von Eichendorff 1826 German German
910 The New York Trilogy Paul Auster 1985 American English
912 The Making of Americans Gertrude Stein 1925 American English
914 The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1938 American English
915 Malina Ingeborg Bachmann 1971 Austrian German
916 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
917 The Day of the Triffids John Wyndham 1951 British English
918 The Plot Against America Philip Roth 2004 American English
920 The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum Heinrich Böll 1974 German German
921 Master and Commander Patrick O'Brian 1969 British English
922 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 American English
924 Where I'm Calling From Raymond Carver 1988 American English
925 Deliverance James Dickey 1970 American English
926 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864 French French
927 Cat and Mouse Günter Grass 1961 German German
928 Tobacco Road Erskine Caldwell 1932 American English
929 Our Lady of the Flowers Jean Genet 1943 French French
930 The Seven Madmen Roberto Arlt 1929 Argentinian Spanish
931 The House by the Medlar Tree Giovanni Verga 1881 Italian Italian
932 The Clouds Aristophanes -423 Greek Ancient greek
933 Lives of Girls and Women Alice Munro 1971 Canadian English
935 Martin Eden Jack London 1909 American English
936 A Void Georges Perec 1969 French French
937 The Sea Wall Marguerite Duras 1950 French French
939 Rameau's Nephew Denis Diderot 1761 French French
938 Burger's Daughter Nadine Gordimer 1979 South African English
942 Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1945 American English
943 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
944 Indian Summer Adalbert Stifter 1857 Austrian German
946 The Diary of a Nobody George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith 1892 British English
947 Bel Canto Ann Patchett 2001 American English
948 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
949 Nada Carmen Laforet 1944 Spanish Spanish
950 Richard III William Shakespeare 1592 British English
951 A Princess Of Mars Edgar Rice Burroughs 1912 American English
953 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
954 Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw 1913 British English
955 Moravagine Blaise Cendrars 1926 Swiss French
956 The Girls of Slender Means Muriel Spark 1963 British English
957 The Little World Of Don Camillo Giovanni Guareschi 1948 Italian Italian
959 A Tomb for Boris Davidovich Danilo Kiš 1976 Serbian Serbo-croatian
960 The Gift Vladimir Nabokov 1938 Russian Russian
961 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
962 The Diary of a Country Priest Georges Bernanos 1936 French French
963 Zuleika Dobson Max Beerbohm 1911 British English
964 Paroles Jacques Prévert 1946 French French
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
967 The Heat of the Day Elizabeth Bowen 1949 British English
968 Jesus' Son Denis Johnson 1992 American English
970 The Maias Eça de Queirós 1888 Portuguese Portuguese
971 The Discovery of Heaven Harry Mulisch 1992 Dutch Dutch
972 The Orlando Furioso Lodovico Ariosto 1516 Italian Italian
973 The Burning Plain and Other Stories Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
974 The Poems of John Keats John Keats 1817 British English
975 The Reader Bernhard Schlink 1995 German German
976 Rogue Male Geoffrey Household 1939 British English
977 Couples John Updike 1968 American English
978 The History Of Henry Esmond William Makepeace Thackeray 1852 British English
980 News from Nowhere William Morris 1890 British English
981 It Stephen King 1986 American English
982 Speedboat Renata Adler 1976 American English
983 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
984 Tartuffe Molière 1664 French French
986 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
987 Harriet the Spy Louise Fitzhugh 1964 American English
988 Flaubert's Parrot Julian Barnes 1984 British English
989 The Grass Is Singing Doris May Lessing 1950 British English
989 The Lonely Londoners Sam Selvon 1956 Trinidadian English
991 Macunaíma Mario de Andrade 1928 Brazilian Portuguese
992 Joseph Andrews Henry Fielding 1742 British English
994 Blindness José Saramago 1995 Portuguese Portuguese
995 Dombey and Son Charles Dickens 1846 British English
996 Journey by Moonlight Antal Szerb 1937 Hungarian Hungarian
997 Julie, or the New Heloise Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1761 French French
997 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German