The Greatest Books of All Time on Identity

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
5685 Moriori Michael King 1989 New Zealand English
5689 The Friendly Young Ladies Mary Renault 1943 British English
5704 The Persian Boy Mary Renault 1972 British English
5705 The Complete Works of Nathanael West Nathanael West 1957 American English
5708 Kafka Was The Rage Anatole Broyard 1993 American English
5714 The Gallery John Horne Burns 1947 American English
5734 Time And Space Juan Ramón Jiménez 1988 Spanish Spanish
5742 The Young And Evil Charles Henri Ford, Parker Tyler 1933 American English
5749 Open Secrets Alice Munro 1994 Canadian English
5753 Die Tessinerin Thomas Hürlimann 1981 Swiss German
5753 Flight Of Ashes Monika Maron 1981 German German
5757 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5774 The Road from Coorain Jill Ker Conway 1989 Australian English
5780 Special Friendships Roger Peyrefitte 1943 French French
5783 Confessions Of An Italian Ippolito Nievo 1867 Italian Italian
5783 The Old And The Young Luigi Pirandello 1913 Italian Italian
5783 La Pietra Lunare Tommaso Landolfi 1939 Italian Italian
5783 The Serpent Luigi Malerba 1966 Italian Italian
5806 The Child Manuela Christa Winsloe 1933 German German
5826 Conundrum Jan Morris 1974 British English
5830 The Easter Parade Richard Yates 1976 American English
5840 The Grotesque Patrick McGrath 1989 British English
5863 The Big Sea Langston Hughes 1940 American English
5863 Poems Of John Clare John Clare 1820 British English
5860 Wasteland Jo Sinclair 1946 American English
5911 Complete Prose Tales Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
5918 The Tale Of The 1002nd Night Joseph Roth 1938 Austrian German
5926 In Search Of Our Mother’s Gardens Alice Walker 1983 American English
5927 Sylvester And The Magic Pebble William Steig 1969 American English
5939 Spätestens Im November Hans Erich Nossack 1982 German German
5939 Die Bertinis Ralph Giordano 1982 German German
5939 The Old Fox Deceiv'd Martha Grimes 1982 American English
5951 Talk Dirty To Me Sallie Tisdale 1994 American English
5956 Collected Stories Gabriel García Márquez 1996 Colombian Spanish
5984 Shanghai Baby Wei Hui 1999 Chinese Chinese
5986 Maximum City Suketu Mehta 2004 American English
5988 Ham On Rye Charles Bukowski 1982 American English
5989 Twelfth Night William Shakespeare 1602 British English
5993 The Children's Book A. S. Byatt 2009 British English
6004 The Rehearsal Eleanor Catton 2008 New Zealand English
6005 The Story Of My Life Giacomo Casanova 1822 Italian French
6005 A Love Affair Dino Buzzati 1963 Italian Italian
6005 Collected Stories Franz Kafka 1931 Austrian German
6005 The Lord Chandos Letter And Other Writings Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1902 Austrian German
6005 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6005 A Woman Named Solitude André Schwarz-Bart 1972 French French
6005 Bound To Violence Yambo Ouologuem 1968 Malian French
6005 Die Niederschrift Des Gustav Anias Horn Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
6005 Dire I–Ii Danielle Collobert 1972 French French
6005 Le Bavard Louis-René Des Forêts 1946 French French
6005 Madame Edwarda Unknown 1941 Unknown French
6005 Madness Of The Day Maurice Blanchot 1949 French French
6005 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6005 My Feminine Brother Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6005 Night Edgar Hilsenrath 1964 German German
6005 No One's Rose Paul Celan 1963 German German
6005 Poem Of The End Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6005 Pylon William Faulkner 1935 American English
6005 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6005 Septentrion Louis Calaferte 1963 French French
6005 Seven Gothic Tales Karen Blixen 1934 Danish Danish
6005 Someone Robert Pinget 1965 French French
6005 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6005 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6005 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6005 The Return Of Münchausen Sigismund Krzyzanowski 1927 Russian Russian
6005 The Sailor From Gibraltar Marguerite Duras 1952 French French
6005 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6005 Three Women Robert Musil 1924 Austrian German
6005 Tous N'étaient Pas Des Anges Joseph Kessel 1970 French French
6005 Travaux Georges Navel 1945 French French
6005 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6092 Herr Gustafsson Himself Lars Gustafsson 1983 Swedish Swedish
6099 The Heart's Invisible Furies John Boyne 2017 Irish English
6105 A Storm Of Swords George R. R. Martin 2000 American English
6124 Monster Naoki Urasawa 1994 Japanese Japanese
6134 L'hiver De Force Réjean Ducharme 1973 Canadian French
6138 The Queen Of The South Arturo Pérez-Reverte 2002 Spanish Spanish
6145 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6149 My Tender Matador Pedro Lemebel 2001 Chilean Spanish
6153 Hell's Angels Hunter S. Thompson 1966 American English
6174 Ludo Conrad Detrez 1974 Belgian French
6188 Claudius The God Robert Graves 1935 British English
6190 Kein Schöner Land Silvio Blatter 1984 Swiss German
6206 A Geração Da Utopia Pepetela 1992 Angolan Portuguese
6218 The Sound Of Our Steps Ronit Matalon 2008 Israeli Hebrew
6219 The Origin Thomas Bernhard 1975 Austrian German
6227 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane 1986 South African English
6228 Happening Annie Ernaux 2000 French French
6237 Tar Baby Toni Morrison 1981 American English
6237 The Affirmation Christopher Priest 1981 British English
6259 Moments Of Being Virginia Woolf 1976 British English
6259 The Allure Of Chanel Paul Morand 1976 French French
6266 Pan In Oslo Knut Faldbakken 1985 Norwegian German
6266 Sozaboy Ken Saro-Wiwa 1985 Nigerian English
6266 Burning Patience Antonio Skármeta 1985 Chilean Spanish
6266 Lowest Of The Low Günter Wallraff 1985 German German
6284 Sur La Scène Intérieure Marcel Cohen 2013 French French
6288 Not Her Real Name, And Other Stories Emily Perkins 1996 New Zealand English
6295 Oracle Bones Peter Hessler 2006 American English
6304 A Life Of Her Own Émilie Carles 1977 French French
6304 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6304 Les Lieux De Marguerite Duras Marguerite Duras 1977 French French
6311 Burial Rites Hannah Kent 2013 Australian English
6317 Borderlands/La Frontera Gloria Anzaldúa 1987 American English
6326 The New Kings Of Nonfiction Ira Glass 2007 American English
6343 Repetition Peter Handke 1986 Austrian German
6343 Reise Durch Die Nacht Friederike Mayröcker 1986 Austrian German
6377 Beartown Fredrik Backman 2016 Swedish Swedish
6416 My Forbidden Face Latifa 2001 Afghan French
6420 Collected Poems Dalia Rabikovitch 2009 Israeli Hebrew
6427 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6439 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6448 Kapo Aleksandar Tišma 1987 Serbian Serbo-croatian
6463 Things We Lost In The Fire Mariana Enríquez 2016 Argentinian Spanish
6465 Red Azalea Anchee Min 1993 Chinese English
6464 Comment S'en Sortir Sans Sortir Ghérasim Luca 1980 French French
6467 The Overseer's Cabin Edouard Glissant 1981 French French
6472 Anthills Of The Savannah Chinua Achebe 1987 Nigerian English
6490 Happy Are The Happy Yasmina Reza 2013 French French