The Greatest Books of All Time on Human Condition

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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
101 Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish French
172 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
245 Nausea Jean Paul Sartre 1938 French French
276 Life, a User's Manual Georges Perec 1978 French French
311 Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson 1919 American English
408 The Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus 1942 French French
456 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men James Agee 1941 American English
532 The Passion According to G.H. Clarice Lispector 1964 Brazilian Portuguese
593 Complete Poems of Giacomo Leopardi Giacomo Leopardi 1831 Italian Italian
767 The Tree of Man Patrick White 1955 Australian English
793 The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut 1959 American English
860 The Solitudes Luis de Góngora 1613 Spanish Spanish
1049 Works and Days Hesiod -700 Greek Ancient greek
1238 The Age of Anxiety W. H. Auden 1947 British English
1467 Everyman Unknown 1501 Unknown Middle english
1473 What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Raymond Carver 1981 American English
1745 Couples, Passersby Botho Strauß 1981 German German
2013 Poems Of César Vallejo César Vallejo 1922 Peruvian Spanish
2063 Watt Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish English
2126 Life In The Folds Henri Michaux 1949 French French
2159 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2572 A Longing For The Light Vicente Aleixandre 1979 Spanish Spanish
2636 The Lament Of The Linnet Anna Maria Ortese 1997 Italian Italian
2967 A Dream Play August Strindberg 1902 Swedish Swedish
2998 Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
3083 Diane Arbus Marvin Israel, Doon Arbus 1972 American English
3208 Briefing For A Descent Into Hell Doris May Lessing 1971 British English
3274 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3324 By the Open Sea August Strindberg 1890 Swedish Swedish
3324 Hell Henri Barbusse 1908 French French
3409 The deadbeats Ward Ruyslinck 1957 Belgian Dutch
3416 Bécon Les Bruyères Emmanuel Bove 1927 French French
3422 Daylight Czesław Miłosz 1975 Polish Polish
3638 The Return and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1946 Russian Russian
3638 Fluss Ohne Ufer Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
3638 Das Unauslöschliche Siegel Elisabeth Langgässer 1946 German German
3834 Invocation Of The Great Bear Ingeborg Bachmann 1956 Austrian German
3953 Amorgos Nikos Gatsos 1943 Greek Greek
3953 Ελεγεία και Σάτιρες Kostas Karyotakis 1927 Greek Greek
3953 Νηπενθή Kostas Karyotakis 1921 Greek Greek
3953 Ποιήματα Α' και Β' Miltos Sachtouris 1945 Greek Greek
4152 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4207 Luka Antun Šoljan 1969 Croatian Croatian
4267 Cases Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4371 Nobodaddy's Children Arno Schmidt 1963 German German
4595 Man in the Holocene Max Frisch 1979 Swiss German
4661 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
4813 Happy Moscow Andrey Platonov 1991 Russian Russian
4878 L'instant Fatal Raymond Queneau 1948 French French
4944 A Short History Of Decay Emil Cioran 1949 French French
5023 Deathfeast Takis Sinopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5361 On Suicide Jean Améry 1976 Unknown German
5391 Devotions upon Emergent Occasions John Donne 1624 British English
5419 In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass 1968 American English
5747 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5772 Χαιρε Ποτε Kiki Dimoula 1988 Greek Greek
5915 Hard Labor Cesare Pavese 1938 Italian Italian
5936 Spätestens Im November Hans Erich Nossack 1982 German German
6002 Die Niederschrift Des Gustav Anias Horn Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
6002 Madame Edwarda Unknown 1941 Unknown French
6002 Septentrion Louis Calaferte 1963 French French
6175 Notebooks Albert Camus 1935 French French
6355 Heroes' Shrine For Sale or The Elegant Toilet Marios Hakkas 1993 Greek Greek
6419 Typical Padgett Powell 1991 American English
6645 The Builders Giorgos Heimonas 1996 Greek Greek
6661 How It Is Samuel Beckett 1961 Irish French
6687 Le Drame De La Vie & Le Discours Aux Animaux Valère Novarina 1984 French French
6697 Landscapes After the Battle Juan Goytisolo 1982 Spanish Spanish
6912 Herrumbrosas Lanzas Juan Benet 1983 Spanish Spanish
6984 Fine Just the Way It Is Annie Proulx 2008 American English
6996 Le Théâtre Des Paroles Valère Novarina 1989 French French
7215 Exile And Other Poems Saint-John Perse 1942 French French
7215 The Blue Octavo Notebook Franz Kafka 1935 Czech German
7215 Perched On Nothing's Branch Attila József 1932 Hungarian Hungarian
7698 La Orilla Oscura José María Merino 1985 Spanish Spanish
7819 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
7819 Transparence Of The World Jean Follain 1949 French French
8075 The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead David Shields 2008 American English
8278 Three Plays Thornton Wilder 1957 American English
8605 Lyrical And Critical Essays Albert Camus 1968 French French
9245 The Complete Dramatic Works Of Samuel Beckett Samuel Beckett 1986 Irish English
9356 The Family Idiot Jean Paul Sartre 1971 French French
9572 Pigeons On The Grass Wolfgang Koeppen 1951 German German
9753 The Denial of Death Ernest Becker 1973 American English
9848 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9883 The Wall Jean Paul Sartre 1939 French French
10010 Three Stories J. M. Coetzee 2014 South African English
10094 écrits 2003 2014 Angélica Liddell 2015 Spanish Spanish
10360 Far Tortuga Peter Matthiessen 1975 American English
10504 A Voyage To India Gonçalo M. Tavares 2010 Portuguese Portuguese
10721 In The Belly Of The Beast Jack Henry Abbott 1981 American English
10747 The Collected Poems 1931 1987 Czesław Miłosz 1988 Polish Polish
10764 Collected Poems D. J. Enright 1987 British English
10990 Love And Will Rollo May 1969 American English
11205 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11362 Le Monde Tel Qu'il Est Salvat Etchart French Unknown
11362 Évangile Des égarés Georgina Tacou Unknown French
11638 Damned If I Do Percival Everett 2013 American English
13817 Quasi Una Vita Corrado Alvaro 1950 Italian Italian
13817 A Caso Tommaso Landolfi 1975 Italian Italian
14431 American Innovations Rivka Galchen 2014 American English
14962 Dying Inside Robert Silverberg 1972 American English
15751 The Tree Of Knowledge Pío Baroja 1911 Spanish Spanish
15898 A Fortunate Man John Berger 1967 American English
15898 The Journal Of A Disappointed Man W. N. P. Barbellion 1919 British English
15898 Zibaldone Giacomo Leopardi 1898 Zibaldone Italian
15898 Amiel's Journal Henri-Frédéric Amiel 1883 Swiss French
15872 Tomb For 500,000 Soldiers Pierre Guyotat 1967 French French
17120 The Comforts of Madness Paul Sayer 1988 British English
17120 The Other Shore Xingjian Gao 1986 Chinese Chinese
17120 Thus Spoke Abu Huraira Mahmoud Messadi 1973 Tunisian Unknown
17120 The Woman And The Rose Mohamed Zafzaf 1986 Moroccan Arabic
17120 Better Never To Have Been David Benatar 2006 South African English
17120 Angry Candy Harlan Ellison 1988 American English
17120 Numbers In The Dark And Other Stories Italo Calvino 1995 Italian Italian
16929 Rosa Knut Hamsun 1908 Norwegian Norwegian
17120 In My Time Of Dying Sebastian Junger Unknown Unknown
16803 Sette Piani Dino Buzzati 1954 Italian Italian
17060 Tujec / Kuga Albert Camus 1942 French French
17120 The Woman Who Thought She Was A Planet Vandana Singh 2009 Indian English