The Greatest Books of All Time on Generational Conflict

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
179 Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev 1862 Russian Russian
221 White Teeth Zadie Smith 2000 British English
380 American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 American English
500 Everything That Rises Must Converge Flannery O'Connor 1965 American English
738 The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan 1989 American English
1115 The Cairo Trilogy Naguib Mahfouz 1956 Egyptian Arabic
1230 The Magnificent Ambersons Booth Tarkington 1918 American English
1487 Kokoro Natsume Sōseki 1914 Japanese Japanese
2238 The Twilight Years Sawako Ariyoshi 1972 Japanese Japanese
2370 Happiness, as Such Natalia Ginzburg 1973 Italian Italian
3870 Die Skeptische Generation Helmut Schelsky 1957 German German
3919 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
4230 The Wasps Aristophanes -422 Greek Ancient greek
4935 Dreaming in Cuban Cristina García 1992 Cuban English
5445 Vor Den Vätern Sterben Die Söhne Thomas Brasch 1977 German German
5488 The Slap Christos Tsiolkas 2008 Australian English
5664 Rich Man, Poor Man Irwin Shaw 1969 American English
6141 The Time Ludmila Petrushevskaya 1992 Russian Russian
7831 La Larga Marcha Rafael Chirbes 1996 Spanish Spanish
8142 Vor Uns Die Sintflut Urs Widmer 1998 Swiss German
8196 Fifth Chinese Daughter Jade Snow Wong 1945 American English
8441 Generation Golf Florian Illies 2000 German German
8897 Vendor Of Sweets R. K. Narayan 1967 Indian English
9258 Unaccustomed Earth Jhumpa Lahiri 2008 Indian English
9826 His Family Ernest Poole 1917 American English
9968 Chai Time At Cinnamon Gardens Shankari Chandran 2022 Unknown English
10745 A Late Divorce A. B. Yehoshua 1982 Israeli Hebrew
10745 A Perfect Peace Amos Oz 1982 Israeli Hebrew
10968 Jacob’s Ladder Ludmila Ulitskaya 2015 Russian Russian
11270 A Monkey In Winter Antoine Blondin 1959 French French
11298 A Raisin In The Sun Lorraine Hansberry 1959 American English
11867 Bad Blood Lorna Sage 2000 British English
11882 Losing Face George Haddad 2022 Unknown English
11899 Seventeen Syllables And Other Stories Hisaye Yamamoto 1988 American English
12178 The Centaur John Updike 1963 American English
13054 Sons And Daughters Chaim Grade 2025 American Yiddish
13528 Palace of Desire Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13528 Sugar Street Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13599 Les Enfants Gâtés Philippe Heriat French French
13599 Les Eaux Mêlées Roger Ikor 1955 French French
14209 Awake And Sing! Clifford Odets 1935 American English
14730 Dissident Gardens Jonathan Lethem 2013 American English
14983 Breath, Eyes, Memory Edwidge Danticat 1994 Haitian English
15608 The Greening Of America Charles A. Reich 1970 American English
15813 The Family Nina Fedorova 1940 Unknown English
17117 Jitney August Wilson 1982 American English
16913 The Entertainer John Osborne 1957 British English
17117 Dig A. S. King 2019 American English
17117 Of Women And Salt Gabriela Garcia 2021 Unknown English
17117 The Legacy Of Lost Things Aida Zilalian 2016 Unknown English
17117 A Council Of Dolls Mona Susan Power 2023 Unknown English
17117 Father And Son Jonathan Raban 2023 British English
17117 A History Of Burning Janika Oza 2023 Unknown English
17117 Künstlers In Paradise Cathleen Schine 2023 Unknown English
17117 The Arrivals Meg Mitchell Moore 2013 American English
17117 Popular Hits Of The Showa Era Ryū Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
17117 Foundation Stone Lella Warren 1986 American English