The Greatest Books of All Time on Illusion

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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
3 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 American English
8 Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes 1605 Spanish Spanish
20 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
347 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
428 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
442 The Magus John Fowles 1965 British English
457 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
599 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
816 The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia Samuel Johnson, Abraham Raimbach, Robert Smirke 1759 British English
1286 The Invention Of Morel Adolfo Bioy Casares 1940 Argentinian Spanish
1386 Six Characters in Search of an Author Luigi Pirandello 1921 Italian Italian
1533 Dreamtigers Jorge Luis Borges 1960 Argentinian Spanish
1657 Essays and Aphorisms Arthur Schopenhauer 1851 German German
1661 A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare 1595 British English
1770 The Emperor of Portugallia Selma Lagerlöf 1914 Swedish Swedish
1828 The Mysterious Stranger Mark Twain 1916 American English
1859 Angel Elizabeth Taylor 1957 British English
2066 The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman Angela Carter 1972 British English
2292 Consciousness Explained Daniel Dennett 1991 American English
2372 The Tales Of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
2556 Alamut Vladimir Bartol 1938 Slovenian Slovene
2687 Blinding Mircea Cărtărescu 1996 Romanian Romanian
2950 Nevsky Prospekt Nikolai Gogol 1835 Russian Russian
2967 A Dream Play August Strindberg 1902 Swedish Swedish
3189 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern 2011 American English
3324 Impressions of Africa Raymond Roussel 1910 French French
3459 The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams 1944 American English
3638 L'après Midi D'un Faune Stéphane Mallarmé 1876 French French
4112 Art and Illusion Ernest H. Gombrich 1960 British English
4204 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
4287 Gantenbein Max Frisch 1964 Swiss German
4748 The Glamour Christopher Priest 1984 British English
4826 The Prestige Christopher Priest 1995 British English
4946 Fata Morgana William Kotzwinkle 1977 American English
5167 Edith's Diary Patricia Highsmith 1977 American English
5187 From Nine To Nine Leo Perutz 1918 Austrian German
5225 The Green Face Gustav Meyrink 1916 German German
5896 The Ghost Sonata August Strindberg 1907 Swedish Swedish
6002 A Love Affair Dino Buzzati 1963 Italian Italian
6002 Seven Gothic Tales Karen Blixen 1934 Danish Danish
6228 Shadowland Peter Straub 1980 American English
6669 The Balcony Jean Genet 1957 French French
6761 The World's Illusion Jakob Wassermann 1920 German German
6799 We Others Steven Millhauser 2011 American English
6806 America Jean Baudrillard 1986 French French
6821 The Swimmer John Cheever 1964 American English
7215 Sylvie Gerard de Nerval 1853 French French
7215 Aurelia Gerard de Nerval 1855 French French
7215 Naked Masks Luigi Pirandello 1922 Italian Italian
7215 The Infernal Machine And Other Works Jean Cocteau 1934 French French
7215 Plays And Stories Arthur Schnitzler 1929 Austrian German
7896 Dangerous Laughter Steven Millhauser 2008 American English
8142 Night Circus And Other Stories Ursula Kovalyk 2014 Slovak Unknown
8885 Cendrillon Éric Reinhardt 2007 French French
9372 Can Such Things Be? Ambrose Bierce 1893 American English
10103 Don Quixote's Delusions Miranda France 2001 British English
10135 Badenheim 1939 Aharon Appelfeld 1978 Israeli Hebrew
11223 Carter Beats The Devil Glen David Gold 2001 American English
12048 The Death Of Napoleon Simon Leys 1986 Belgian French
12440 Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee 1962 American English
14867 Henry Iv Luigi Pirandello 1922 Italian Italian
14975 Time Out Of Joint Philip K. Dick 1959 American English
15764 The Illusion Pierre Corneille 1636 French French
15821 Laughter In The Dark Vladimir Nabokov 1932 Russian Russian
15897 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Ambrose Bierce 1890 American English
15897 Simulacron 3 Daniel F. Galouye 1964 American English
16506 On Truth And Lies In A Nonmoral Sense Friedrich Nietzsche 1873 German German
17117 Time Warped Claudia Hammond 2012 British English
17117 The Islanders Christopher Priest 2011 British English
17117 Mirror, Mirror On The Wall Stanley Ellin 1972 American English
17117 O Tempo Dos Simulacros Philip K. Dick American Unknown
17117 Worlds Of Exile And Illusion Ursula K. Le Guin 1996 American English
17117 Stage Of Fools Charles Brady Unknown English
17117 It's All In Your Head Russ Rymer 1992 Unknown English
16930 The Other Side Alfred Kubin 1909 Austrian English
17117 Die Kunst Des Verschwindens. Jim Dodge 1990 Unknown German