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
1231 The Magnificent Ambersons Booth Tarkington 1918 American English
1487 Kokoro Natsume Sōseki 1914 Japanese Japanese
2239 The Twilight Years Sawako Ariyoshi 1972 Japanese Japanese
2372 Happiness, as Such Natalia Ginzburg 1973 Italian Italian
3869 Die Skeptische Generation Helmut Schelsky 1957 German German
3918 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
4231 The Wasps Aristophanes -422 Greek Ancient greek
4938 Dreaming in Cuban Cristina García 1992 Cuban English
5448 Vor Den Vätern Sterben Die Söhne Thomas Brasch 1977 German German
5491 The Slap Christos Tsiolkas 2008 Australian English
5667 Rich Man, Poor Man Irwin Shaw 1969 American English
6144 The Time Ludmila Petrushevskaya 1992 Russian Russian
7832 La Larga Marcha Rafael Chirbes 1996 Spanish Spanish
8144 Vor Uns Die Sintflut Urs Widmer 1998 Swiss German
8198 Fifth Chinese Daughter Jade Snow Wong 1945 American English
8445 Generation Golf Florian Illies 2000 German German
8901 Vendor Of Sweets R. K. Narayan 1967 Indian English
9262 Unaccustomed Earth Jhumpa Lahiri 2008 Indian English
9830 His Family Ernest Poole 1917 American English
9973 Chai Time At Cinnamon Gardens Shankari Chandran 2022 Unknown English
10752 A Late Divorce A. B. Yehoshua 1982 Israeli Hebrew
10752 A Perfect Peace Amos Oz 1982 Israeli Hebrew
10975 Jacob’s Ladder Ludmila Ulitskaya 2015 Russian Russian
11277 A Monkey In Winter Antoine Blondin 1959 French French
11305 A Raisin In The Sun Lorraine Hansberry 1959 American English
11869 Bad Blood Lorna Sage 2000 British English
11884 Losing Face George Haddad 2022 Unknown English
11901 Seventeen Syllables And Other Stories Hisaye Yamamoto 1988 American English
12179 The Centaur John Updike 1963 American English
13057 Sons And Daughters Chaim Grade 2025 American Yiddish
13529 Palace of Desire Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13529 Sugar Street Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13600 Les Enfants Gâtés Philippe Heriat French French
13600 Les Eaux Mêlées Roger Ikor 1955 French French
14209 Awake And Sing! Clifford Odets 1935 American English
14732 Dissident Gardens Jonathan Lethem 2013 American English
14985 Breath, Eyes, Memory Edwidge Danticat 1994 Haitian English
15616 The Greening Of America Charles A. Reich 1970 American English
15804 The Family Nina Fedorova 1940 Unknown English
17163 Jitney August Wilson 1982 American English
16951 The Entertainer John Osborne 1957 British English
17163 Dig A. S. King 2019 American English
17163 Of Women And Salt Gabriela Garcia 2021 Unknown English
17163 The Legacy Of Lost Things Aida Zilalian 2016 Unknown English
17163 A Council Of Dolls Mona Susan Power 2023 Unknown English
17163 Father And Son Jonathan Raban 2023 British English
17163 A History Of Burning Janika Oza 2023 Unknown English
17163 Künstlers In Paradise Cathleen Schine 2023 Unknown English
17163 The Arrivals Meg Mitchell Moore 2013 American English
17163 Popular Hits Of The Showa Era Ryū Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
17163 Foundation Stone Lella Warren 1986 American English