The Greatest French Books of All Time on Memory

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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
2 In Search of Lost Time Marcel Proust 1913 French French
276 Life, a User's Manual Georges Perec 1978 French French
296 The Lover Marguerite Duras 1984 French French
403 The Words Jean Paul Sartre 1963 French French
478 Alcools Guillaume Apollinaire 1913 French French
485 Tristes Tropiques Claude Lévi-Strauss 1955 French French
501 W, or the Memory of Childhood Georges Perec 1975 French French
597 The Years Annie Ernaux 2008 French French
650 The Flanders Road Claude Simon 1960 French French
836 Second Thoughts Michel Butor 1957 French French
895 The Ravishing of Lol Stein Marguerite Duras 1964 French French
964 Paroles Jacques Prévert 1946 French French
1121 Fantasia Assia Djebar 1985 French French
1486 Locus Solus Raymond Roussel 1914 French French
1627 Dora Bruder Patrick Modiano 1997 French French
1822 Small Lives Pierre Michon 1984 French French
1933 Capital of Pain Paul Éluard 1926 French French
1962 The Prose Of The Trans Siberian Blaise Cendrars 1913 French French
1979 Furor and Mystery René Char 1948 French French
2009 The War Marguerite Duras 1985 French French
2295 My Father's Glory Marcel Pagnol 1957 French French
2301 Le Roman Inachevé Louis Aragon 1956 French French
2348 Poems Of Louis Aragon Louis Aragon 1920 French French
2478 L'acacia Claude Simon 1989 French French
2559 Death Sentence Maurice Blanchot 1948 French French
2572 Childhood Nathalie Sarraute 1983 French French
2579 Les Contemplations Victor Hugo 1856 French French
2725 The Book Of Questions Edmond Jabès 1963 French French
2966 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
3008 Camera Lucida Roland Barthes 1980 French French
3092 Disturbance Philippe Lançon 2018 French French
3203 Trap For Cinderella Sebastien Japrisot 1963 French French
3315 The Afternoon of Monsieur Andesmas Marguerite Duras 1962 French French
3324 Reveries of a Solitary Walker Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1782 French French
3374 A Man's Place Annie Ernaux 1983 French French
3637 Days In The Caucasus Banine 1945 French French
3938 Landscapes With Absent Figures Philippe Jacottet 1970 French French
4222 The Spectre Of Alexander Wolf Gaito Gazdanov 1947 French Russian
4280 The Place Of The Star Patrick Modiano 1968 French French
4370 The Long Voyage Jorge Semprún 1963 French French
4620 Calligrammes Guillaume Apollinaire 1918 French French
5131 Triptych Claude Simon 1973 French English
5259 Cockroaches Scholastique Mukasonga 2006 French French
5287 Fields Of Glory Jean Rouaud 1990 French French
5337 Ellis Island Georges Perec 1980 French French
5344 Epileptic David B 1996 French French
5416 The Brodeck Report Philippe Claudel 2007 French French
5667 Le Polygone Etoile Kateb Yacine 1961 French French
5726 Simple Passion Annie Ernaux 1991 French French
5759 Earthly Paradise Colette 1966 French French
6004 Leaves of Hypnos René Char 1946 French French
6004 Ceux De 14 Maurice Genevoix 1949 French French
6004 Dire I–Ii Danielle Collobert 1972 French French
6004 Les Murs De Fresnes Henri Calet 1945 French French
6004 Someone Robert Pinget 1965 French French
6075 The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet 1955 French French
6226 Happening Annie Ernaux 2000 French French
6283 Sur La Scène Intérieure Marcel Cohen 2013 French French
6291 Amers Saint-John Perse 1957 French French
6303 Les Lieux De Marguerite Duras Marguerite Duras 1977 French French
6341 Nothing Holds Back The Night Delphine de Vigan 2011 French French
6402 The Chairs Eugène Ionesco 1952 French French
6467 The Overseer's Cabin Edouard Glissant 1981 French French
6517 Ghost Image Hervé Guibert 1981 French French
6517 A Frozen Woman Annie Ernaux 1981 French French
6616 The Poetics Of Space Gaston Bachelard 1958 French French
6621 Zone Mathias Enard 2008 French French
6633 Reveries Of The Wild Woman Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
6637 Savannah Bay Marguerite Duras 1983 French French
6637 The Opoponax Monique Wittig 1983 French French
6845 For Those I Loved Martin Gray 1971 French French
6846 Three Georges Perec 1991 French French
6996 Panegyric Guy Debord 1989 French French
7056 Some Thing Black Jacques Roubaud 1990 French French
7215 Oraisons funèbres Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet 1689 French French
7215 Poetic Meditations Alphonse de Lamartine 1820 French French
7215 Sylvie Gerard de Nerval 1853 French French
7215 Aurelia Gerard de Nerval 1855 French French
7215 Exile And Other Poems Saint-John Perse 1942 French French
7215 Poems Of Max Jacob Max Jacob 1917 French French
7215 Poems Of Pierre Jean Jouve Pierre-Jean Jouve 1925 French French
7215 Eurydice Jean Anouilh 1941 French French
7562 Compass Mathias Enard 2015 French French
7605 Writing Marguerite Duras 1993 French French
7682 Sophie Calle Sophie Calle 1994 French French
7819 Transparence Of The World Jean Follain 1949 French French
7860 Poems Of René Char René Char 1950 French French
7927 Autobiographie De Mon Pere Pierre Pachet 1997 French French
8008 Poems Of Philippe Jacottet Philippe Jacottet 1953 French French
8008 Victims Of Duty Eugène Ionesco 1953 French French
8057 Palestine Hubert Haddad 1989 French French
8068 Minor Angels Antoine Volodine 1999 French French
8090 Paris Nocturne Patrick Modiano 2003 French French
8106 My Mother's House And Sido Colette 1922 French French
8167 Returning To Reims Didier Eribon 2009 French French
8202 The Day I Wasn't There Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
8279 The Wind Claude Simon 1957 French French
8335 The Grass Claude Simon 1958 French French
8335 Fable Robert Pinget 1958 French French
8388 Poems Of Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès 1959 French French
8388 In The Labyrinth Alain Robbe-Grillet 1959 French French
8403 The Art Of Losing Alice Zeniter 2017 French French
8586 The Postcard Anne Berest 2021 French French
8651 Pedigree Patrick Modiano 2005 French French
8799 Time Regained Marcel Proust 1927 French French
9008 That Voice Robert Pinget 1967 French French
9045 L'amour, La Mer Pascal Quignard 2002 French French
9141 My Mother's Castle Marcel Pagnol 1957 French French
9159 Correspondance Avec Le Mur Hélène Cixous 2009 French French
9535 Love's End Pascal Rambert 2011 French French
9548 The Libera Me Domine Robert Pinget 1972 French Unknown
9655 Rachel, Monique… Sophie Calle 2012 French French
9766 Un Attieké Pour Elgass Tierno Monenembo 2021 French French
9833 Poems Of Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy 1975 French French
9848 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9942 Joseph Marie-Hélène Lafon 2014 French French
10063 In The Café Of Lost Youth Patrick Modiano 2007 French French
10101 My Life As A Russian Novel Emmanuel Carrère 2007 French French
10195 Une Enfance De Reve Catherine Millet 2014 French French
10305 Cleaned Out Annie Ernaux 1974 French French