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
2014 Poems Of César Vallejo César Vallejo 1922 Peruvian Spanish
2064 Watt Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish English
2127 Life In The Folds Henri Michaux 1949 French French
2160 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2573 A Longing For The Light Vicente Aleixandre 1979 Spanish Spanish
2637 The Lament Of The Linnet Anna Maria Ortese 1997 Italian Italian
2969 A Dream Play August Strindberg 1902 Swedish Swedish
3000 Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
3085 Diane Arbus Marvin Israel, Doon Arbus 1972 American English
3209 Briefing For A Descent Into Hell Doris May Lessing 1971 British English
3275 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
3637 The Return and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1946 Russian Russian
3637 Fluss Ohne Ufer Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
3637 Das Unauslöschliche Siegel Elisabeth Langgässer 1946 German German
3832 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
4945 A Short History Of Decay Emil Cioran 1949 French French
5025 Deathfeast Takis Sinopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5362 On Suicide Jean Améry 1976 Unknown German
5393 Devotions upon Emergent Occasions John Donne 1624 British English
5421 In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass 1968 American English
5594 How It Is Samuel Beckett 1961 Irish French
5750 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5775 Χαιρε Ποτε Kiki Dimoula 1988 Greek Greek
5918 Hard Labor Cesare Pavese 1938 Italian Italian
5939 Spätestens Im November Hans Erich Nossack 1982 German German
6005 Die Niederschrift Des Gustav Anias Horn Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
6005 Madame Edwarda Unknown 1941 Unknown French
6005 Septentrion Louis Calaferte 1963 French French
6178 Notebooks Albert Camus 1935 French French
6358 Heroes' Shrine For Sale or The Elegant Toilet Marios Hakkas 1993 Greek Greek
6422 Typical Padgett Powell 1991 American English
6647 The Builders Giorgos Heimonas 1996 Greek Greek
6688 Le Drame De La Vie & Le Discours Aux Animaux Valère Novarina 1984 French French
6698 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
7216 Exile And Other Poems Saint-John Perse 1942 French French
7216 The Blue Octavo Notebook Franz Kafka 1935 Czech German
7216 Perched On Nothing's Branch Attila József 1932 Hungarian Hungarian
7699 La Orilla Oscura José María Merino 1985 Spanish Spanish
7820 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
7820 Transparence Of The World Jean Follain 1949 French French
8076 The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead David Shields 2008 American English
8280 Three Plays Thornton Wilder 1957 American English
8607 Lyrical And Critical Essays Albert Camus 1968 French French
9246 The Complete Dramatic Works Of Samuel Beckett Samuel Beckett 1986 Irish English
9358 The Family Idiot Jean Paul Sartre 1971 French French
9574 Pigeons On The Grass Wolfgang Koeppen 1951 German German
9755 The Denial of Death Ernest Becker 1973 American English
9850 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9885 The Wall Jean Paul Sartre 1939 French French
10013 Three Stories J. M. Coetzee 2014 South African English
10098 écrits 2003 2014 Angélica Liddell 2015 Spanish Spanish
10363 Far Tortuga Peter Matthiessen 1975 American English
10507 A Voyage To India Gonçalo M. Tavares 2010 Portuguese Portuguese
10725 In The Belly Of The Beast Jack Henry Abbott 1981 American English
10751 The Collected Poems 1931 1987 Czesław Miłosz 1988 Polish Polish
10768 Collected Poems D. J. Enright 1987 British English
10994 Love And Will Rollo May 1969 American English
11209 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11365 Le Monde Tel Qu'il Est Salvat Etchart French Unknown
11365 Évangile Des égarés Georgina Tacou Unknown French
11640 Damned If I Do Percival Everett 2013 American English
13818 Quasi Una Vita Corrado Alvaro 1950 Italian Italian
13818 A Caso Tommaso Landolfi 1975 Italian Italian
14432 American Innovations Rivka Galchen 2014 American English
14963 Dying Inside Robert Silverberg 1972 American English
15758 The Tree Of Knowledge Pío Baroja 1911 Spanish Spanish
15882 Tomb For 500,000 Soldiers Pierre Guyotat 1967 French French
15915 A Fortunate Man John Berger 1967 American English
15915 The Journal Of A Disappointed Man W. N. P. Barbellion 1919 British English
15915 Zibaldone Giacomo Leopardi 1898 Zibaldone Italian
15915 Amiel's Journal Henri-Frédéric Amiel 1883 Swiss French
17160 The Comforts of Madness Paul Sayer 1988 British English
17160 The Other Shore Xingjian Gao 1986 Chinese Chinese
17160 Thus Spoke Abu Huraira Mahmoud Messadi 1973 Tunisian Unknown
17160 The Woman And The Rose Mohamed Zafzaf 1986 Moroccan Arabic
17160 Better Never To Have Been David Benatar 2006 South African English
17160 Angry Candy Harlan Ellison 1988 American English
17160 Numbers In The Dark And Other Stories Italo Calvino 1995 Italian Italian
16999 Rosa Knut Hamsun 1908 Norwegian Norwegian
17160 In My Time Of Dying Sebastian Junger Unknown Unknown
16846 Sette Piani Dino Buzzati 1954 Italian Italian
17048 Tujec / Kuga Albert Camus 1942 French French
17160 The Woman Who Thought She Was A Planet Vandana Singh 2009 Indian English