The Greatest Books of All Time Set in France

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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
4995 Persepolis Two Marjane Satrapi 2004 Iranian French
5022 The City And The Mountains Eça de Queirós 1901 Portuguese Portuguese
5029 Lust For Life Irving Stone 1934 American English
5043 Peter Ibbetson Daphne du Maurier 1891 British Unknown
5043 My First Two Thousand Years George Vierick 1928 American English
5097 A Hunger Like No Other Kresley Cole 2006 American English
5098 Three To Kill Jean-Patrick Manchette 1976 French French
5119 Baudolino Umberto Eco 2000 Italian Italian
5131 Das Boot Lothar-Günther Buchheim 1973 German German
5131 Triptych Claude Simon 1973 French English
5188 The Lock And Key Library Julian Hawthorne 1909 American English
5188 A Man In The Zoo David Garnett 1924 British English
5188 The Marquis De Bolibar Leo Perutz 1920 Austrian German
5238 Travels With Myself And Another Martha Gellhorn 1978 American English
5241 The Life And Adventures Of Trobadora Beatrice Irmtraud Morgner 1974 German German
5259 Cockroaches Scholastique Mukasonga 2006 French French
5282 The Complete Notebooks Of Henry James Henry James 1987 American English
5287 Fields Of Glory Jean Rouaud 1990 French French
5291 Notes On The Cinematographer Robert Bresson 1975 French French
5292 Der Kleine Unterschied Und Seine Großen Folgen Alice Schwarzer 1975 German German
5307 The Devil Rides Out Dennis Wheatley 1934 British English
5318 The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte Karl Marx 1852 German German
5331 Through A Glass Darkly Karleen Koen 1986 American English
5344 Epileptic David B 1996 French French
5361 Hölderlin Peter Härtling 1976 German German
5379 The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln 1982 British English
5392 Mademoiselle De Maupin Théophile Gautier 1835 French French
5426 At Night All Blood Is Black David Diop 2018 French French
5441 Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux 1968 French Unknown
5447 The bells of Bicêtre Georges Simenon 1963 Belgian French
5466 In The Solitude Of Cotton Fields Bernard-Marie Koltès 1986 French French
5470 And There Was Light Jacques Lusseyran 1963 French French
5515 Journal Of A Soul Pope John XXIII 1964 Italian Italian
5590 L'argent Émile Zola 1891 French French
5594 World War Z Max Brooks 2006 American English
5595 Poetry And Truth From My Own Life Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 2004 German English
5616 Shadow 81 Lucien Nahum 1978 American English
5626 Olivia Dorothy Bussy 1949 British English
5632 Queens' Play Dorothy Dunnett 1964 British English
5641 The Kites Romain Gary 1980 French French
5667 La Famille Boussardel Philippe Heriat 1944 French French
5667 Moira Julien Green 1950 French French
5667 La Haute Morte Paul Vialar 1947 French French
5667 The Little Misery François Mauriac 1951 French French
5667 The Passionate Heart Beatrix Beck 1955 French French
5667 The boys Henry de Montherlant 1969 French French
5685 Big Blondes Jean Echenoz 1995 French French
5702 A Place of Greater Safety Hilary Mantel 1992 British English
5726 Simple Passion Annie Ernaux 1991 French French
5737 The Ghost Road Pat Barker 1995 British English
5746 Největší Z Pierotů František Kožík 1972 Czech Czech
5759 Earthly Paradise Colette 1966 French French
5762 Dear Theo Irving Stone, Jean Stone 1937 American English
5762 The Lady In The Car With Glasses And A Gun Sebastien Japrisot 1966 French French
5779 Special Friendships Roger Peyrefitte 1943 French French
5803 Illuminations Walter Benjamin 1968 German German
5817 René François-Auguste-René de Chateaubriand 1802 French French
5852 Chatterton Alfred de Vigny 1835 French French
5862 The Big Sea Langston Hughes 1940 American English
5862 France And England In North America Francis Parkman 1865 American English
5889 The Girl With The Golden Eyes Honoré de Balzac 1835 French French
5891 Louis Lambert Honoré de Balzac 1832 French French
5899 Complete Works Arthur Rimbaud 1895 French French
5931 King Kong Theory Virginie Despentes 2006 French French
5938 The Turning Point Fritjof Capra 1982 American English
5938 Der Bedrohte Friede Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker 1982 German German
5947 Separate Rooms Pier Vittorio Tondelli 1989 Italian Italian
5969 The Perfect Nanny Leïla Slimani 2016 French French
5971 The Man Who Watched The Trains Go By Georges Simenon 1938 Belgian French
5978 The Ogre Michel Tournier 1970 French French
5993 Writing Degree Zero Roland Barthes 1953 French French
6004 Men In Dark Times Hannah Arendt 1968 German English
6004 Shakespeare And Company Sylvia Beach 1959 American English
6004 A Balcony In The Forest Julien Gracq 1958 French French
6004 Nietzsche And Philosophy Gilles Deleuze 1962 French French
6004 The Story Of My Life Giacomo Casanova 1822 Italian French
6004 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6004 A Woman Named Solitude André Schwarz-Bart 1972 French French
6004 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6004 Bound To Violence Yambo Ouologuem 1968 Malian French
6004 Ceux De 14 Maurice Genevoix 1949 French French
6004 Divagations Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
6004 Le Bavard Louis-René Des Forêts 1946 French French
6004 Les Murs De Fresnes Henri Calet 1945 French French
6004 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6004 My Feminine Brother Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6004 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6004 Seven Gothic Tales Karen Blixen 1934 Danish Danish
6004 Someone Robert Pinget 1965 French French
6004 Sonnets Louise Labé 1556 French French
6004 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6004 The Life Of Rancé François-Auguste-René de Chateaubriand 1844 French French
6004 The Sailor From Gibraltar Marguerite Duras 1952 French French
6004 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6004 The Wonderful Farm Marcel Aymé 1939 French French
6004 Theatre Of The World Frances A. Yates 1969 British English
6004 Things Seen Victor Hugo 1887 French French
6004 Tous N'étaient Pas Des Anges Joseph Kessel 1970 French French
6004 Travaux Georges Navel 1945 French French
6004 Van Gogh Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
6004 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6074 The Dream Years Lisa Goldstein 1985 American English
6081 Essential Cuisine Michel Bras 1996 French French
6128 Three Day Road Joseph Boyden 2005 Canadian English
6133 L'hiver De Force Réjean Ducharme 1973 Canadian French
6146 The Historian Elizabeth Kostova 2005 American English
6147 A Giacometti Portrait James Lord 1965 American English
6177 Notebooks Albert Camus 1935 French French
6178 Geste Michelle Grangaud 1991 French French
6183 The Accursed Kings Series Maurice Druon 1955 French French
6188 The March Of Folly Barbara Wertheim Tuchman 1984 American English
6203 The Earth Émile Zola 1887 French French
6217 Holocaust Charles Reznikoff 1975 American English
6224 Boule De Suif Guy de Maupassant 1880 French French
6226 Happening Annie Ernaux 2000 French French
6232 A Night To Remember Walter Lord 1955 American English
6244 A Discovery Of Witches Deborah Harkness 2011 American English
6258 The Allure Of Chanel Paul Morand 1976 French French
6261 At The Existentialist Café Sarah Bakewell 2016 British English
6277 Citizens Simon Schama 1989 British English