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 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
5 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez 1967 Colombian Spanish
34 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 1967 Russian Russian
44 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1943 French French
49 Beloved Toni Morrison 1987 American English
64 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie 1981 Indian English
68 Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston 1937 American English
91 The Tin Drum Günter Grass 1959 German German
95 Orlando Virginia Woolf 1928 British English
96 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
124 Pedro Páramo Juan Rulfo 1955 Mexican Spanish
158 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys 1966 British English
159 The Good Soldier Švejk Jaroslav Hašek 1921 Czech Czech
166 Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez 1985 Colombian Spanish
260 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison 1977 American English
272 The Devil to Pay in the Backlands Joao Guimaraes Rosa 1956 Brazilian Portuguese
291 The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende 1982 Chilean Spanish
312 Labyrinths Jorge Luis Borges 1962 Argentinian Spanish
314 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon 2000 American English
322 Household Tales Brothers Grimm 1812 German German
355 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
359 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy 1997 Indian English
389 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho 1988 Brazilian Portuguese
396 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz 2007 Dominican English
418 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides 2002 American English
427 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell 2004 British English
429 The Baron in the Trees Italo Calvino 1957 Italian Italian
436 El Aleph Jorge Luis Borges 1949 Argentinian Spanish
442 The Magus John Fowles 1965 British English
447 Gypsy Ballads Federico García Lorca 1928 Spanish Spanish
449 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
473 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
494 The Third Policeman Flann O'Brien 1967 Irish English
496 Froth on the daydream Boris Vian 1947 French French
512 The Golden Ass Apuleius 158 Roman Latin
534 Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie 1988 British English
547 Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll 1871 British English
607 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
627 The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe 1604 British English
628 Nights At The Circus Angela Carter 1984 British English
632 Dom Casmurro Machado de Assis 1899 Brazilian Portuguese
647 Lolly Willowes Sylvia Townsend Warner 1926 British English
677 Lud-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 1926 British English
725 The Kingdom of This World Alejo Carpentier 1949 Cuban Spanish
727 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
758 Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury 1957 American English
797 The Manuscript Found in Saragossa Jan Potocki 1805 Polish French
824 Rhymes And Legends Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 1871 Spanish Spanish
828 Lost Horizon James Hilton 1933 British English
833 The Lost Steps Alejo Carpentier 1953 Cuban Spanish
859 The Palm-Wine Drinkard Amos Tutola 1952 Nigerian English
891 Golem Gustav Meyrink 1915 Austrian German
973 The Burning Plain and Other Stories Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
991 Macunaíma Mario de Andrade 1928 Brazilian Portuguese
996 Journey by Moonlight Antal Szerb 1937 Hungarian Hungarian
1002 Ceremony Leslie Marmon Silko 1977 American English
1005 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
1013 Green Mansions W. H. Hudson 1904 British English
1022 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders 2017 American English
1029 Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon Jorge Amado 1958 Brazilian Portuguese
1037 The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston 1976 American English
1106 The Passion Jeanette Winterson 1987 British English
1110 The Overstory Richard Powers 2018 American English
1134 The Neverending Story Michael Ende 1979 German German
1142 Life of Pi Yann Martel 2001 Canadian English
1145 The Bone People Keri Hulme 1984 New Zealand English
1148 The Werewolf Of Paris Guy Endore 1933 American English
1166 Lanark Alasdair Gray 1981 Scottish English
1173 Little, Big John Crowley 1981 American English
1182 Poems of Federico García Lorca Federico García Lorca 1921 Spanish Spanish
1191 Blow Up And Other Stories Julio Cortazar 1968 Argentinian Spanish
1194 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Tokarczuk 2009 Polish Polish
1196 Conjure Wife Fritz Leiber 1943 American English
1201 Kafka On The Shore Haruki Murakami 2002 Japanese Japanese
1215 Explosion In A Cathedral Alejo Carpentier 1962 Cuban Spanish
1242 The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis José Saramago 1984 Portuguese Portuguese
1261 The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood 2000 Canadian English
1281 Mumbo Jumbo Ishmael Reed 1972 American English
1286 The Invention Of Morel Adolfo Bioy Casares 1940 Argentinian Spanish
1290 Lilith George MacDonald 1895 Scottish English
1318 Love Medicine Louise Erdrich 1984 American English
1321 A Question of Power Bessie Head 1973 Botswanan English
1336 Peter Schlemihl Adalbert von Chamisso 1814 German German
1338 Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury 1962 American English
1346 Matilda Roald Dahl 1988 British English
1348 Sandman Neil Gaiman 1989 British English
1367 Like Water For Chocolate Laura Esquivel 1989 Mexican Spanish
1373 Winter's Tale Mark Helprin 1983 American English
1417 Karlson On The Roof Astrid Lindgren 1955 Swedish Swedish
1420 The October Country Ray Bradbury 1955 American English
1424 Our Ancestors Italo Calvino 1952 Italian Italian
1435 Life After Life Kate Atkinson 2013 British English
1456 Flights Olga Tokarczuk 2007 Polish Polish
1501 The Magician of Lublin Isaac Bashevis Singer 1960 Polish Yiddish
1505 The Famished Road Ben Okri 1991 Nigerian English
1507 Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya 1972 American English
1533 Dreamtigers Jorge Luis Borges 1960 Argentinian Spanish
1548 Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce 1958 British English
1551 Hawksmoor Peter Ackroyd 1985 British English
1561 Oscar and Lucinda Peter Carey 1988 Australian English
1577 Deep Rivers José María Arguedas 1958 Peruvian Spanish
1585 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
1610 The Hours Michael Cunningham 1998 American English
1619 Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu 1989 Romanian Romanian
1635 The Autumn of the Patriarch Gabriel García Márquez 1975 Colombian Spanish
1648 Wizard of the Crow Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 2006 Kenyan English
1650 Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward 2017 American English
1652 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1798 British English
1675 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger 2003 American English
1676 Time and Again Jack Finney 1970 American English
1687 The Hearing Trumpet Leonora Carrington 1974 British English
1693 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold 2002 American English
1696 Evenings On A Farm Near Dikanka Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1709 The Club Dumas Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1993 Spanish Spanish
1723 1Q84 Haruki Murakami 2009 Japanese Japanese
1736 Mary Poppins P. L. Travers 1934 British English
1744 Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie 1990 British English
1762 Lady into Fox David Garnett 1922 British English
1796 Collected Stories Isaac Bashevis Singer 1982 Polish English
1797 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau 1992 Martinican French
1806 Moominland Midwinter Tove Jansson 1957 Finnish Swedish