The Greatest Books of All Time on Loneliness

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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
44 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1943 French French
118 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
170 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
269 Nightwood Djuna Barnes 1936 American English
311 Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson 1919 American English
398 The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge Rainer Maria Rilke 1910 German German
474 Embers Sandor Marai 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
504 Her Lover Albert Cohen 1968 Swiss French
555 The Lady with the Dog Anton Chekhov 1899 Russian Russian
569 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen 1938 British, Irish English
617 Pnin Vladimir Nabokov 1957 Russian English
657 The Elementary Particles Michel Houellebecq 1998 French French
661 Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice 1976 American English
680 The Stories of John Cheever John Cheever 1978 American English
691 Excellent Women Barbara Pym 1952 British English
704 Breakfast at Tiffany's Truman Capote 1958 American English
747 Blonde Joyce Carol Oates 2000 American English
755 The Well of Loneliness Radclyffe Hall 1928 British English
777 I Am Legend Richard Matheson 1954 American English
793 The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut 1959 American English
814 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett 1911 British English
882 The Hour of the Star Clarice Lispector 1977 Brazilian Portuguese
942 Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1945 American English
968 Jesus' Son Denis Johnson 1992 American English
973 The Burning Plain and Other Stories Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
989 The Lonely Londoners Sam Selvon 1956 Trinidadian English
1039 Birds of America Lorrie Moore 1998 American English
1067 A Boy's Own Story Edmund White 1982 American English
1101 Outline Rachel Cusk 2014 British English
1137 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
1155 Three Lives Gertrude Stein 1909 American English
1160 Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami 1987 Japanese Japanese
1174 As A Man Grows Older Italo Svevo 1898 Italian Italian
1309 The Member Of The Wedding Carson McCullers 1946 American English
1354 Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout 2008 American English
1393 The Business of Living Cesare Pavese 1952 Italian Italian
1420 The October Country Ray Bradbury 1955 American English
1432 A Woman's Life Guy de Maupassant 1883 French French
1458 The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Carson McCullers 1951 American English
1479 The Wall Marlen Haushofer 1963 Austrian German
1487 Kokoro Natsume Sōseki 1914 Japanese Japanese
1498 A King Alone Jean Giono 1947 French French
1506 Selected Stories William Trevor 1992 Irish English
1520 The Slaves of Solitude Patrick Hamilton 1947 British English
1532 Arturo's Island Elsa Morante 1957 Italian Italian
1549 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont Elizabeth Taylor 1971 British English
1553 Beauty and Sadness Yasunari Kawabata 1964 Japanese Japanese
1608 The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner Alan Sillitoe 1959 British English
1635 The Autumn of the Patriarch Gabriel García Márquez 1975 Colombian Spanish
1636 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
1745 Couples, Passersby Botho Strauß 1981 German German
1765 A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara 2015 American English
1773 Doctor Glas Hjalmar Soderberg 1905 Swedish Swedish
1774 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Brian Moore 1955 Irish English
1775 Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri 1999 American English
1790 The Master Colm Toibin 2004 Irish English
1793 The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle 1968 American English
1806 Moominland Midwinter Tove Jansson 1957 Finnish Swedish
1810 The Weary Blues Langston Hughes 1926 American English
1885 Little Disturbances Grace Paley 1959 American English
1894 Winter In The Blood James Welch 1974 American English
1909 The Collected Stories Of Lydia Davis Lydia Davis 2009 American English
2027 Quartet in Autumn Barbara Pym 1977 British English
2050 Momo Michael Ende 1973 German German
2207 Waiting Ha Jin 1999 Chinese English
2288 Dancer From The Dance Andrew Holleran 1978 American English
2320 Rituals Cees Nooteboom 1980 Dutch Dutch
2333 Moderato Cantabile Marguerite Duras 1958 French French
2340 Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth Chris Ware 2000 American English
2366 Brooklyn Colm Toibin 2009 Irish English
2424 Platform Michel Houellebecq 2001 French French
2446 The Rector's Daughter F. M. Mayor 1924 British English
2466 Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage Alice Munro 2001 Canadian English
2506 Mrs. Bridge Evan S. Connell 1959 American English
2523 Old Filth Jane Gardam 2004 British English
2533 A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman 2012 Swedish Swedish
2590 The Trick Is to Keep Breathing Janice Galloway 1989 British English
2636 The Lament Of The Linnet Anna Maria Ortese 1997 Italian Italian
2652 Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick 1979 American English
2692 Near To The Wild Heart Clarice Lispector 1943 Brazilian Portuguese
2743 Ved Vejen Herman Bang 1886 Danish Danish
2826 A Manual For Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin 2015 American English
2911 A Simple Soul Gustave Flaubert 1877 French French
2976 My Friends Emmanuel Bove 1924 French French
2998 Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
3009 Wittgenstein's Mistress David Markson 1988 American English
3047 A World for Julius Alfredo Bryce Echenique 1970 Peruvian Spanish
3110 Anagrams Lorrie Moore 1986 American English
3173 Oblivion David Foster Wallace 2004 American English
3258 A Fine And Private Place Peter S. Beagle 1960 American English
3262 The Selected Works of Cesare Pavese Cesare Pavese 1968 Italian Italian
3274 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3315 The Afternoon of Monsieur Andesmas Marguerite Duras 1962 French French
3324 Life and Death of Harriett Frean May Sinclair 1922 British English
3324 To the North Elizabeth Bowen 1932 British English
3382 Like Life Lorrie Moore 1990 American English
3409 The Birds Tarjei Vesaas 1957 Norwegian Norwegian
3416 Bécon Les Bruyères Emmanuel Bove 1927 French French
3447 Look At Me Anita Brookner 1983 British English
3536 Netherland Joseph O'Neill 2008 Irish English
3586 A Single Man Christopher Isherwood 1964 British English
3809 Hotel du Lac Anita Brookner 1984 British English
3905 Other Voices, Other Rooms Truman Capote 1948 American English
3953 The Moonlight Sonata Yannis Ritsos 1956 Greek Greek
3953 The Poems Of Dinos Christianopoulos Dinos Christianopoulos 1958 Greek Greek
4057 Bad Behavior Mary Gaitskill 1988 American English
4073 The Song Of Everlasting Sorrow Wang Anyi 1995 Chinese Chinese
4153 Collected Poems Nils Ferlin 1947 Swedish Swedish
4170 Dissipatio H.G. Guido Morselli 1977 Italian Italian
4190 The Bridges Of Madison County Robert James Waller 1992 American English
4213 Miss Sophie's Diary And Other Stories Ding Ling 1928 Chinese Chinese
4293 What Belongs to You Garth Greenwell 2016 American English
4309 A Girl In Winter Philip Larkin 1947 British English
4369 More Die Of Heartbreak Saul Bellow 1987 American English
4403 The L Shaped Room Lynne Reid Banks 1960 British English
4403 This Sporting Life David Storey 1960 British English
4430 And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like To Meet The Milkman Peter Bichsel 1964 Swiss German
4435 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4469 The History of Love Nicole Krauss 2005 American English