The Greatest Books of All Time on Identity

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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
5682 Moriori Michael King 1989 New Zealand English
5686 The Friendly Young Ladies Mary Renault 1943 British English
5701 The Persian Boy Mary Renault 1972 British English
5702 The Complete Works of Nathanael West Nathanael West 1957 American English
5705 Kafka Was The Rage Anatole Broyard 1993 American English
5711 The Gallery John Horne Burns 1947 American English
5731 Time And Space Juan Ramón Jiménez 1988 Spanish Spanish
5739 The Young And Evil Charles Henri Ford, Parker Tyler 1933 American English
5746 Open Secrets Alice Munro 1994 Canadian English
5750 Die Tessinerin Thomas Hürlimann 1981 Swiss German
5750 Flight Of Ashes Monika Maron 1981 German German
5754 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5771 The Road from Coorain Jill Ker Conway 1989 Australian English
5777 Special Friendships Roger Peyrefitte 1943 French French
5780 Confessions Of An Italian Ippolito Nievo 1867 Italian Italian
5780 The Old And The Young Luigi Pirandello 1913 Italian Italian
5780 La Pietra Lunare Tommaso Landolfi 1939 Italian Italian
5780 The Serpent Luigi Malerba 1966 Italian Italian
5803 The Child Manuela Christa Winsloe 1933 German German
5822 Conundrum Jan Morris 1974 British English
5827 The Easter Parade Richard Yates 1976 American English
5835 The Grotesque Patrick McGrath 1989 British English
5860 The Big Sea Langston Hughes 1940 American English
5860 Poems Of John Clare John Clare 1820 British English
5857 Wasteland Jo Sinclair 1946 American English
5906 Complete Prose Tales Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
5915 The Tale Of The 1002nd Night Joseph Roth 1938 Austrian German
5923 In Search Of Our Mother’s Gardens Alice Walker 1983 American English
5924 Sylvester And The Magic Pebble William Steig 1969 American English
5935 Spätestens Im November Hans Erich Nossack 1982 German German
5935 Die Bertinis Ralph Giordano 1982 German German
5935 The Old Fox Deceiv'd Martha Grimes 1982 American English
5947 Talk Dirty To Me Sallie Tisdale 1994 American English
5952 Collected Stories Gabriel García Márquez 1996 Colombian Spanish
5980 Shanghai Baby Wei Hui 1999 Chinese Chinese
5982 Maximum City Suketu Mehta 2004 American English
5984 Ham On Rye Charles Bukowski 1982 American English
5985 Twelfth Night William Shakespeare 1602 British English
5989 The Children's Book A. S. Byatt 2009 British English
6001 The Rehearsal Eleanor Catton 2008 New Zealand English
6002 The Story Of My Life Giacomo Casanova 1822 Italian French
6002 A Love Affair Dino Buzzati 1963 Italian Italian
6002 Collected Stories Franz Kafka 1931 Austrian German
6002 The Lord Chandos Letter And Other Writings Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1902 Austrian German
6002 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6002 A Woman Named Solitude André Schwarz-Bart 1972 French French
6002 Bound To Violence Yambo Ouologuem 1968 Malian French
6002 Die Niederschrift Des Gustav Anias Horn Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
6002 Dire I–Ii Danielle Collobert 1972 French French
6002 Le Bavard Louis-René Des Forêts 1946 French French
6002 Madame Edwarda Unknown 1941 Unknown French
6002 Madness Of The Day Maurice Blanchot 1949 French French
6002 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6002 My Feminine Brother Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6002 Night Edgar Hilsenrath 1964 German German
6002 No One's Rose Paul Celan 1963 German German
6002 Poem Of The End Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6002 Pylon William Faulkner 1935 American English
6002 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6002 Septentrion Louis Calaferte 1963 French French
6002 Seven Gothic Tales Karen Blixen 1934 Danish Danish
6002 Someone Robert Pinget 1965 French French
6002 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6002 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6002 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6002 The Return Of Münchausen Sigismund Krzyzanowski 1927 Russian Russian
6002 The Sailor From Gibraltar Marguerite Duras 1952 French French
6002 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6002 Three Women Robert Musil 1924 Austrian German
6002 Tous N'étaient Pas Des Anges Joseph Kessel 1970 French French
6002 Travaux Georges Navel 1945 French French
6002 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6089 Herr Gustafsson Himself Lars Gustafsson 1983 Swedish Swedish
6096 The Heart's Invisible Furies John Boyne 2017 Irish English
6102 A Storm Of Swords George R. R. Martin 2000 American English
6121 Monster Naoki Urasawa 1994 Japanese Japanese
6131 L'hiver De Force Réjean Ducharme 1973 Canadian French
6135 The Queen Of The South Arturo Pérez-Reverte 2002 Spanish Spanish
6142 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6146 My Tender Matador Pedro Lemebel 2001 Chilean Spanish
6150 Hell's Angels Hunter S. Thompson 1966 American English
6171 Ludo Conrad Detrez 1974 Belgian French
6186 Kein Schöner Land Silvio Blatter 1984 Swiss German
6202 A Geração Da Utopia Pepetela 1992 Angolan Portuguese
6214 The Sound Of Our Steps Ronit Matalon 2008 Israeli Hebrew
6215 The Origin Thomas Bernhard 1975 Austrian German
6223 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane 1986 South African English
6224 Happening Annie Ernaux 2000 French French
6233 Tar Baby Toni Morrison 1981 American English
6233 The Affirmation Christopher Priest 1981 British English
6245 Claudius The God Robert Graves 1935 British English
6256 Moments Of Being Virginia Woolf 1976 British English
6256 The Allure Of Chanel Paul Morand 1976 French French
6263 Pan In Oslo Knut Faldbakken 1985 Norwegian German
6263 Sozaboy Ken Saro-Wiwa 1985 Nigerian English
6263 Burning Patience Antonio Skármeta 1985 Chilean Spanish
6263 Lowest Of The Low Günter Wallraff 1985 German German
6281 Sur La Scène Intérieure Marcel Cohen 2013 French French
6285 Not Her Real Name, And Other Stories Emily Perkins 1996 New Zealand English
6292 Oracle Bones Peter Hessler 2006 American English
6301 A Life Of Her Own Émilie Carles 1977 French French
6301 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6301 Les Lieux De Marguerite Duras Marguerite Duras 1977 French French
6308 Burial Rites Hannah Kent 2013 Australian English
6314 Borderlands/La Frontera Gloria Anzaldúa 1987 American English
6323 The New Kings Of Nonfiction Ira Glass 2007 American English
6340 Repetition Peter Handke 1986 Austrian German
6340 Reise Durch Die Nacht Friederike Mayröcker 1986 Austrian German
6374 Beartown Fredrik Backman 2016 Swedish Swedish
6413 My Forbidden Face Latifa 2001 Afghan French
6417 Collected Poems Dalia Rabikovitch 2009 Israeli Hebrew
6424 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6436 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6445 Kapo Aleksandar Tišma 1987 Serbian Serbo-croatian
6461 Things We Lost In The Fire Mariana Enríquez 2016 Argentinian Spanish
6463 Red Azalea Anchee Min 1993 Chinese English
6462 Comment S'en Sortir Sans Sortir Ghérasim Luca 1980 French French
6465 The Overseer's Cabin Edouard Glissant 1981 French French
6470 Anthills Of The Savannah Chinua Achebe 1987 Nigerian English
6488 Happy Are The Happy Yasmina Reza 2013 French French