The Greatest Books of All Time on Introspection

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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
200 The Book of Disquiet Fernando Pessoa 1982 Portuguese Portuguese
532 The Passion According to G.H. Clarice Lispector 1964 Brazilian Portuguese
2126 Life In The Folds Henri Michaux 1949 French French
2204 The Quest for Christa T. Christa Wolf 1968 German German
2555 Dangling Man Saul Bellow 1944 American English
2618 The Mezzanine Nicholson Baker 1988 American English
3083 Diane Arbus Marvin Israel, Doon Arbus 1972 American English
3292 The Subterraneans Jack Kerouac 1958 American English
3324 Reveries of a Solitary Walker Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1782 French French
3324 By the Open Sea August Strindberg 1890 Swedish Swedish
3324 Hell Henri Barbusse 1908 French French
4126 Le Parole Tra Noi Leggere Lalla Romano 1969 Italian Italian
4152 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4609 Las Personas Del Verbo Jaime Gil de Biedma
 1975 Spanish Spanish
4660 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
5445 The bells of Bicêtre Georges Simenon 1963 Belgian French
6002 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6002 Le Bavard Louis-René Des Forêts 1946 French French
6002 Les Murs De Fresnes Henri Calet 1945 French French
6002 Three Women Robert Musil 1924 Austrian German
6089 Herr Gustafsson Himself Lars Gustafsson 1983 Swedish Swedish
6554 Žmogus, Kuris Miega Georges Perec 1967 French French
6635 The Stadium Of Wimbledon Daniele del Giudice 1983 Italian Italian
6677 The Concept Of Mind Gilbert Ryle 1949 British English
6871 The Field of Vision Wright Morris 1956 American English
6996 You Don't Love Yourself Nathalie Sarraute 1989 French French
7133 Desolation Angels Jack Kerouac 1965 American English
7215 The Red Notebook Benjamin Constant 1804 French French
7215 Journals Ralph Waldo Emerson 1820 American English
7215 Notebooks Nathaniel Hawthorne 1868 American English
8439 Diaries 1959 1971 Alejandra Pizarnik 2003 Argentinian Spanish
8441 The Interim Wolfgang Hilbig 2000 German German
8973 Clavícula Marta Sanz 2015 Spanish Spanish
9123 Génie Divin Guillaume Dustan 2001 French French
9155 Correspondance Avec Le Mur Hélène Cixous 2009 French French
9532 Love's End Pascal Rambert 2011 French French
9832 An Interrupted Life Etty Hillesum 1981 Dutch Dutch
9847 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9910 Thera Zeruya Shalev 2005 Israeli Hebrew
11203 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11360 La Vie Rêvée Antonia Pozzi Italian Italian
11360 Notes Boulet French Unknown
11360 The Pencil Territory Robert Walser Swiss Unknown
11641 Gentle And Fierce Vanessa Berry 2021 Australian English
12083 The Day I Began My Studies In Philosophy Margareta Ekström 1989 Swedish Unknown
13885 American Voyeur Benoit Denizet-Lewis 2009 American English
14588 Primera Persona Margarita García Robayo 2017 Colombian Spanish
14830 Listen To The Warm Rod McKuen 1967 American English
14983 Harold Steven Wright 2023 Unknown English
15897 The Hasheesh Eater Fitz Hugh Ludlow 1857 American English
15897 Amiel's Journal Henri-Frédéric Amiel 1883 Swiss French
16493 An Apprenticeship Or The Book Of Pleasures Clarice Lispector 1969 Brazilian Portuguese
15897 Journal Of Katherine Mansfield Katherine Mansfield 1927 New Zealand English
16758 Schoolgirl Osamu Dazai 1939 Japanese Japanese
17117 The Art Of The Personal Essay Phillip Lopate 1994 American English
17117 A Book Of One's Own Thomas Mallon 1984 American English
17117 Loop Brenda Lozano 2014 Mexican Spanish
17117 Silêncio Na Era Do Ruído Erling Kagge 2016 Norwegian Norwegian
17117 Still Pictures Janet Malcolm 2023 American English
17117 The Pensive Citadel Victor Brombert 2023 Unknown Unknown
17117 Unreliable Narrator Aparna Nancherla 2023 Unknown English
17117 The Details Ia Genberg 2023 Unknown Swedish
17117 Some Unfinished Chaos Arthur Krystal 2023 Unknown Unknown
17117 Gravity And Center Henri Cole 2023 American English
17117 Skeletons Deborah Landau 2023 Unknown English
17117 Forbidden Notebook Alba de Céspedes 2023 Italian Italian
17117 Still Pictures Janet Malcolm 2023 American English
17117 Mild Vertigo Mieko Kanai 1997 Japanese Japanese
17117 T. Singer Dag Solstad 1999 Norwegian Norwegian
17117 The Diary Of Alice James Alice James 1982 American English
17117 More Letters Of Note Nikki Usher 2019 Unknown English
16812 Ensayos I Michel de Montaigne 1580 French French