The Greatest Books of All Time on Madness

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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
7 Moby-Dick Herman Melville 1851 American English
8 Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes 1605 Spanish Spanish
11 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
15 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 British English
34 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 1967 Russian Russian
53 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
57 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky 1869 Russian Russian
71 Hamlet William Shakespeare 1600 British English
72 Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov 1962 American English
79 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
91 The Tin Drum Günter Grass 1959 German German
94 Demons Fyodor Dostoevsky 1872 Russian Russian
98 The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
129 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
131 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
135 Doctor Faustus Thomas Mann 1947 German German
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
151 Molloy Samuel Beckett 1951 Irish French
155 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
158 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys 1966 British English
189 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
215 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson 1959 American English
232 2666 Roberto Bolaño 2004 Chilean Spanish
238 A Season in Hell Arthur Rimbaud 1873 French French
258 The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner James Hogg 1824 Scottish English
259 Naked Lunch William S. Burroughs 1959 American English
269 Nightwood Djuna Barnes 1936 American English
270 Malone Dies Samuel Beckett 1951 Irish French
354 Hopscotch Julio Cortazar 1963 Argentinian Spanish
378 Melmoth the Wanderer Charles Robert Maturin 1820 British English
394 Nadja André Breton 1928 French French
398 The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge Rainer Maria Rilke 1910 German German
400 The Shining Stephen King 1977 American English
453 I, Claudius Robert Graves 1934 British English
459 The Island of Doctor Moreau H. G. Wells 1896 British English
463 The Songs of Maldoror Comte de Lautréamont 1868 French French
476 The Monk Matthew Lewis 1796 British English
493 Auto Da Fé Elias Canetti 1935 Bulgarian German
494 The Third Policeman Flann O'Brien 1967 Irish English
511 Perfume Patrick Suskind 1985 German German
526 Gormenghast Mervyn Peake 1950 British English
542 Uncle Silas Sheridan Le Fanu 1864 Irish English
579 The Outsider And Others H. P. Lovecraft 1939 American English
599 A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 1947 American English
604 The Blind Owl Ṣādiq Hidāyat 1937 Iranian Persian
607 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
629 Titus Groan Mervyn Peake 1946 British English
662 The House On The Borderland And Other Novels William Hope Hodgson 1908 British English
671 The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe 1839 American English
702 Vathek William Beckford 1786 British French
710 At the Mountains of Madness H. P. Lovecraft 1936 American English
744 Moscow to the End of the Line Venedikt Yerofeev 1970 Russian Russian
759 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
826 Voss Patrick White 1957 Australian English
861 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
871 Wieland Charles Brockden Brown 1798 American English
891 Golem Gustav Meyrink 1915 Austrian German
910 The New York Trilogy Paul Auster 1985 American English
930 The Seven Madmen Roberto Arlt 1929 Argentinian Spanish
943 The Bacchae Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
955 Moravagine Blaise Cendrars 1926 Swiss French
972 The Orlando Furioso Lodovico Ariosto 1516 Italian Italian
1010 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
1026 Murphy Samuel Beckett 1938 Irish English
1065 La Bête humaine Émile Zola 1890 French French
1086 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
1124 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
1132 Lenz Georg Buchner 1836 German German
1135 The Tunnel Ernesto Sábato 1948 Argentinian Spanish
1148 The Werewolf Of Paris Guy Endore 1933 American English
1210 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks 1984 British English
1236 Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories Ryunosuke Akutagawa 1915 Japanese Japanese
1249 The White Devil John Webster 1612 British English
1306 Widdershins G. Oliver Onions 1911 British English
1332 One, No One and One Hundred Thousand Luigi Pirandello 1926 Italian Italian
1347 Story of the Eye Georges Bataille 1928 French French
1361 The King In Yellow Robert W. Chambers 1895 American English
1370 The House Of Souls Arthur Machen 1906 British English
1371 The Devil's Elixir E. T. A. Hoffmann 1815 German German
1372 The Horror Horn And Other Stories E. F. Benson 1931 British English
1386 Six Characters in Search of an Author Luigi Pirandello 1921 Italian Italian
1420 The October Country Ray Bradbury 1955 American English
1423 Out Of Space And Time Clark Ashton Smith 1942 American English
1552 Waterland Graham Swift 1983 British English
1562 Burnt Offerings Robert Marasco 1973 American English
1585 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
1607 Pan Knut Hamsun 1894 Norwegian Norwegian
1689 Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk Nikolai Leskov 1865 Russian Russian
1711 Woyzeck Georg Buchner 1879 German German
1712 The Great God Pan Arthur Machen 1894 British English
1770 The Emperor of Portugallia Selma Lagerlöf 1914 Swedish Swedish
1826 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
1926 Stories of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1947 Shame Salman Rushdie 1983 British English
1948 The Second Century Of Creepy Stories Hugh Walpole 1937 British English
1953 Titus Alone Mervyn Peake 1959 British English
1973 The Invisible Man H. G. Wells 1897 British English
1993 The Queen Of Spades Alexander Pushkin 1834 Russian Russian
2011 Pincher Martin William Golding 1956 British English
2063 Watt Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish English
2077 The Lurker At The Threshold August Derleth, H. P. Lovecraft 1945 American English
2091 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2127 Restoration Rose Tremain 1989 British English
2140 The Interrogation J. M. G. Le Clezio 1963 French French
2180 Blue of Noon Georges Bataille 1957 French French
2181 The Little Demon Fedor Sologub 1907 Russian Russian
2209 Sub Rosa Robert Aickman 1968 British English
2256 Correction Thomas Bernhard 1975 Austrian German
2265 The Murderess Alexandros Papadiamantis 1903 Greek Greek
2270 The Nun Denis Diderot 1796 French French
2270 In a Glass Darkly Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
2311 Solenoid Mircea Cărtărescu 2015 Romanian Romanian
2322 The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward H. P. Lovecraft 1941 American English
2372 The Tales Of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
2421 Phaedrus Plato -370 Greek Ancient greek
2430 The Call Of Cthulhu H. P. Lovecraft 1928 American English
2435 Nine Horrors And A Dream Joseph Payne Brennan 1958 American English
2468 The Hill Of Dreams Arthur Machen 1907 British English
2547 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2555 Amok Stefan Zweig 1922 Austrian German