The Greatest Magical Realism Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 394 '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
4 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez 1967 Colombian Spanish
40 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 1967 Russian Russian
42 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie 1981 British, Indian English
46 Beloved Toni Morrison 1987 American English
51 Fictions Jorge Luis Borges 1944 Argentinian Spanish
56 One Thousand and One Nights Unknown 800 Multiple Arabic
90 Orlando Virginia Woolf 1928 British English
98 The Tin Drum Günter Grass 1959 German German
151 Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez 1985 Colombian Spanish
152 Pedro Páramo Juan Rulfo 1955 Mexican Spanish
246 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison 1977 American English
268 The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende 1982 Chilean Spanish
293 Labyrinths Jorge Luis Borges 1962 Argentinian Spanish
273 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
394 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell 2004 British English
419 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman 1995 British English
420 The Devil to Pay in the Backlands Joao Guimaraes Rosa 1956 Brazilian Portuguese
462 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho 1988 Brazilian Portuguese
495 Froth on the daydream Boris Vian 1947 French French
499 Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie 1988 British English
534 Nights At The Circus Angela Carter 1984 British English
535 The Aleph And Other Stories Jorge Luis Borges 1949 Argentinian Spanish
623 Love Medicine Louise Erdrich 1984 American English
636 Little, Big John Crowley 1981 American English
711 The Burning Plain and Other Stories Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
717 The Lost Steps Alejo Carpentier 1953 Cuban Spanish
725 Rhymes And Legends Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 1871 Spanish Spanish
919 The Baron in the Trees Italo Calvino 1957 Italian Italian
928 Life of Pi Yann Martel 2001 Canadian English
934 The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis José Saramago 1984 Portuguese Portuguese
984 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
1023 Like Water For Chocolate Laura Esquivel 1989 Mexican Spanish
1025 The Kingdom of This World Alejo Carpentier 1949 Cuban Spanish
1057 Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward 2017 American English
1070 My Name is Red Orhan Pamuk 1998 Turkish Turkish
1080 Ceremony Leslie Marmon Silko 1977 American English
1126 The Famished Road Ben Okri 1991 Nigerian English
1133 Winter's Tale Mark Helprin 1983 American English
1189 American Gods Neil Gaiman 2001 British English
1293 Lanark Alasdair Gray 1981 Scottish English
1297 Mumbo Jumbo Ishmael Reed 1972 American English
1315 Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie 1990 British English
1328 Peace Gene Wolfe 1975 American English
1352 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
1688 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
1392 The Passion Jeanette Winterson 1987 British English
1437 Lolly Willowes Sylvia Townsend Warner 1926 British English
1446 The Bone People Keri Hulme 1984 New Zealander English
1539 Kafka On The Shore Haruki Murakami 2002 Japanese Japanese
1570 Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya 1972 American English
1626 Baltasar and Blimunda José Saramago 1982 Portuguese Portuguese
1639 The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories Angela Carter 1979 British English
1648 Our Ancestors Italo Calvino 1952 Italian Italian
1704 The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman Angela Carter 1972 British English
1713 The Discovery of Heaven Harry Mulisch 1992 Dutch Dutch
1817 Fifth Business Robertson Davies 1970 Canadian English
1830 The Land Of Laughs Jonathan Carroll 1980 American English
1885 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau 1992 Martinican French
1939 Wizard of the Crow Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 2006 Kenyan Gikuyu
1992 Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu 1989 Romanian Romanian
2014 Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer 2002 American English
2025 Forest of A Thousand Daemons Daniel O. Fagunwa 1938 Nigerian Yoruba
2061 The Salt Eaters Toni Cade Bambara 1980 American English
2078 Macunaíma Mario de Andrade 1928 Brazilian Portuguese
2090 The Clay Machine-gun Victor Pelevin 1996 Russian Russian
2091 1Q84 Haruki Murakami 2009 Japanese Japanese
2126 Shame Salman Rushdie 1983 British English
2136 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2187 The Deptford Trilogy Robertson Davies 1970 Canadian English
2355 In Watermelon Sugar Richard Brautigan 1968 American English
2401 Heroes And Tombs Ernesto Sábato 1961 Argentinian Spanish
2416 The Autumn of the Patriarch Gabriel García Márquez 1975 Colombian Spanish
2421 Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez 1995 Argentinian Spanish
2424 Geek Love Katherine Dunn 1989 American English
2433 The Castle of Crossed Destinies Italo Calvino 1969 Italian Italian
2451 The Fortress of Solitude Jonathan Lethem 2003 American English
2565 Olvidado Rey Gudú Ana María Matute 1996 Spanish Spanish
2663 The Box Man Kobo Abé 1973 Japanese Japanese
2669 The Moor's Last Sigh Salman Rushdie 1995 British English
2710 Soul Mountain Xingjian Gao 1990 Chinese Chinese
2742 Paradiso José Lezama Lima 1966 Cuban Spanish
2770 The Tales Of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
2795 My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts Amos Tutuola 1954 Nigerian English
2812 Exit West Mohsin Hamid 2017 Pakistani English
2819 World's End T. C. Boyle 1987 American English
2872 Dictionary of the Khazars Milorad Pavic 1984 Serbian Serbian
2873 A Wild Sheep Chase Haruki Murakami 1982 Japanese Japanese
2874 La Demoiselle sauvage Corinna Bille 1974 French French
2951 Dreaming in Cuban Cristina García 1992 Cuban English
2953 The Complete Fiction Of Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz 1989 Polish Polish
2963 The Luminous Novel Mario Levrero 2005 Uruguayan Spanish
3160 Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed Over Two Decades Jianren Wu 1908 Chinese Chinese
3248 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
3274 Brown Girl In The Ring Nalo Hopkinson 1998 Canadian English
3344 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3399 La Saga/ Fuga de J. B./ The Saga/ Escape of J.B. Gonzalo Torrente Ballester 1972 Spanish Spanish
3459 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
3468 Boy's Life Robert R. McCammon 1991 American English
3483 Ancestral Voices Etienne van Heerden 1986 South African
3525 The Tiger's Wife Téa Obreht 2011 Serbian English
3536 Life and a Half Sony Labou Tansi 1979 French French
3697 Obabakoak Bernardo Atxaga 1988 Spanish Basque
3751 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
3783 So Far From God Ana Castillo 1993 American English
3791 Portrait Of Jennie Robert Nathan 1940 American English
3829 All Souls' Day Cees Nooteboom 1998 Dutch Dutch
3832 Magic for Beginners Kelly Link 2005 American English
3844 Stone Junction Jim Dodge 1990 American English
3857 The Stone Raft José Saramago 1986 Portuguese Portuguese
3948 Swamplandia! Karen Russell 2011 American English
3949 Solenoid Mircea Cărtărescu 2015 Romanian Romanian
3950 Carpentaria Alexis Wright 2006 Australian English
4024 Indigo Marina Warner 1992 British English
4024 Life is a Carawanserai Has Two Doors I Went in One I Came out the Other Emine Sevgi Özdamar 1992 Turkish German
4053 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern 2011 American English
4211 Her Body and Other Parties Carmen Maria Machado 2017 American English
4227 The Sacred Night Tahar Ben Jelloun 1987 Moroccan French
4244 Proză Fantastică Mircea Eliade 1963 Romanian Romanian
4341 The Arrival Shaun Tan 2006 Australian English
4371 L'iguana Anna Maria Ortese 1965 Italian Italian