The Greatest Modernist Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
4388 James Joyce Richard Ellmann 1959 American English
4396 Țara îndepărtată Sorin Titel 1974 Romanian Romanian
4412 Norma Vladimir Sorokin 1970 Russian Russian
4414 Diary Witold Gombrowicz 1986 Polish Polish
4419 Guide To Kulchur Ezra Pound 1938 American English
4419 The Voysey Inheritance Harley Granville Barker 1905 British English
4419 Desire Under The Elms Eugene O'Neill 1924 American English
4433 Verzameld Werk: Poëzie Paul van Ostaijen 1955 Belgian Dutch
4435 In Dreams Begin Responsibilities And Other Stories Delmore Schwartz 1938 American English
4435 The Dream Songs John Berryman 1964 American English
4444 Verzameld Werk Willem Elsschot 1957 Belgian Dutch
4451 Zurita Raul Zurita 1979 Chilean Spanish
4460 Collected Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay 1956 American English
4462 Lumea în Două Zile George Bălăiță 1975 Romanian Romanian
4466 The Chateau William Maxwell 1961 American English
4468 The History of Love Nicole Krauss 2005 American English
4473 Minuet Louis-Paul Boon 1955 Belgian Dutch
4481 The Collected Plays of W.B. Yeats William Butler Yeats 1934 Irish English
4489 Voyage In The Dark Jean Rhys 1934 British English
4543 The Collected Poems Of Odysseus Elytis Odysseas Elytis 1971 Greek Greek
4543 Η Σαρκοφαγος Giorgos Ioannou 1971 Greek Greek
4543 Galeria Cu Viță Sălbatică Constantin Țoiu 1976 Romanian Romanian
4559 The Lady's Not For Burning Christopher Fry 1948 British English
4567 The Dirty Dust Máirtin Ó Cadhain 1949 Irish Irish
4586 The Loser Thomas Bernhard 1983 Austrian German
4594 Man in the Holocene Max Frisch 1979 Swiss German
4596 Cartea Milionarului Ștefan Bănulescu 1977 Romanian Romanian
4596 Vestibul Alexandru Ivasiuc 1977 Romanian Romanian
4596 Istorii Mircea Ciobanu 1977 Romanian Unknown
4605 Verzamelde Gedichten Lucebert 1957 Dutch Dutch
4606 The Dice Man Luke Rhinehart 1971 American English
4620 Calligrammes Guillaume Apollinaire 1918 French French
4644 The Valley Of Bones Anthony Powell 1964 British English
4660 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
4661 The Swan Book Alexis Wright 2013 Australian English
4668 The Painter Of Modern Life Charles Baudelaire 1863 French French
4683 The Complete Poems Philip Larkin 1988 British English
4686 Christianity And Culture T. S. Eliot 1939 British English
4710 Flesh Brigid Brophy 1962 British English
4722 Of Time and the River Thomas Wolfe 1935 American English
4741 Willard and His Bowling Trophies Richard Brautigan 1975 American English
4762 Metropole Ferenc Karinthy 1970 Hungarian Hungarian
4776 The Life Of Katherine Mansfield Anthony Alpers 1980 New Zealand English
4796 The Fish Can Sing Halldor Laxness 1957 Icelandic Icelandic
4807 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4812 Happy Moscow Andrey Platonov 1991 Russian Russian
4872 Animale Bolnave Nicolae Breban 1981 Romanian Romanian
4872 Tache De Catifea Ștefan Agopian 1981 Romanian Romanian
4877 To The End Of The World Blaise Cendrars 1957 French French
4877 L'instant Fatal Raymond Queneau 1948 French French
4877 The Wound Malick Fall 1967 Senegalese French
4890 Nearer To Thee Gerard Reve 1966 Dutch Dutch
4895 The Emissary Yoko Tawada 2014 Japanese Japanese
4930 Running Jean Echenoz 2008 French French
4937 The Smile Of The Unknown Mariner Vincenzo Consolo 1976 Italian Italian
4955 The High Place James Branch Cabell 1923 American English
4955 The Venetian Glass Nephew Elinor Wylie 1925 American English
4955 Mr. Godly Beside Himself Gerald Bullett 1924 British English
5009 Omtrent Deedee Hugo Claus 1963 Belgian Dutch
5023 Στην Κοιλαδα Με Τους Ροδωνες Nikos Engonopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5023 Deathfeast Takis Sinopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5023 The Păltiniș Diary Gabriel Liiceanu 1983 Romanian Romanian
5032 I Jan Cremer Jan Cremer 1964 Dutch Dutch
5043 Essays And Tales John Sterling 1848 British English
5108 Dancing In Odessa Ilya Kaminsky 2004 Ukrainian English
5110 The Winter Of Our Discontent John Steinbeck 1961 American English
5125 Maria Nephele Odysseas Elytis 1979 Greek Greek
5125 Wasted Morning Gabriela Adameșteanu 1984 Romanian Romanian
5188 The Lost Traveller Ruthven Todd 1943 British English
5188 The Eternal Moment E. M. Forster 1928 British English
5188 A Fish Dinner In Memison E. R. Eddison 1941 British English
5188 From Nine To Nine Leo Perutz 1918 Austrian German
5226 The Green Face Gustav Meyrink 1916 German German
5241 La Saga/ Fuga de J. B./ The Saga/ Escape of J.B. Gonzalo Torrente Ballester 1972 Spanish Spanish
5241 Abschied Johannes R. Becher 1974 German German
5337 Ellis Island Georges Perec 1980 French French
5375 All Visitors Ashore C. K. Stead 1984 New Zealand English
5385 The Other Place And Other Stories J. B. Priestley 1953 British English
5392 Personae Ezra Pound 1909 American English
5406 I Love Dick Chris Kraus 1997 American English
5418 Clopotul Scufundat Livius Ciocârlie 1988 Romanian Unknown
5418 După-amiaza de sîmbătă Valeriu Cristea 1988 Romanian Romanian
5427 Revulsion Laszlo Németh 1937 Hungarian Unknown
5512 Riders In The Chariot Patrick White 1961 Australian English
5530 Summer Of Caprice Vladislav Vančura 1926 Czech Czech
5530 S Lodí, Jež Dováží čaj A Kávu Konstantin Biebl 1928 Czech Czech
5530 Kohout Plaší Smrt František Halas 1930 Czech Czech
5530 Marketa Lazarová Vladislav Vančura 1931 Czech Czech
5530 Zapomenuté Světlo Jakub Deml 1934 Czech Czech
5530 Torzo Naděje František Halas 1939 Czech Czech
5530 Cesta K Mrazu Jiří Orten 1941 Czech Czech
5593 How It Is Samuel Beckett 1961 Irish French
5607 Die Fälschung Nicolas Born 1979 German German
5613 Elegie Jiří Orten 1969 Czech Czech
5640 Was Geoff Ryman 1992 British English
5646 Before I Was Born And After My Death Ivailo Petrov 1968 Bulgarian Bulgarian
5648 The Bear William Faulkner 1942 American English
5704 The Complete Works of Nathanael West Nathanael West 1957 American English
5721 Youth J. M. Coetzee 2002 South African English
5723 The Rosy Crucifixion Henry Miller 1949 American English
5724 White Mule William Carlos Williams 1937 American English
5724 Politics And The English Language George Orwell 1946 British English
5733 Time And Space Juan Ramón Jiménez 1988 Spanish Spanish
5737 The Ghost Road Pat Barker 1995 British English
5741 The Young And Evil Charles Henri Ford, Parker Tyler 1933 American English
5756 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5781 Among Professors W.F. Hermans 1975 Dutch Dutch
5782 The Maidens Of The Rocks Gabriele D'Annunzio 1895 Italian Italian
5782 The Old And The Young Luigi Pirandello 1913 Italian Italian
5782 Notturno Gabriele D'Annunzio 1916 Italian Italian
5782 Stories For A Year Luigi Pirandello 1959 Italian Italian
5782 The Sisters Materassi Aldo Palazzeschi 1934 Italian Italian
5782 Gente Nel Tempo Massimo Bontempelli 1937 Italian Italian
5782 Narrate, Uomini, La Vostra Storia Alberto Savinio 1942 Italian Italian
5782 Men And Not Men Elio Vittorini 1945 Italian Italian
5782 Dialogues With Leucò Cesare Pavese 1947 Italian Italian
5802 Kruso Lutz Seiler 2014 German German
5803 Illuminations Walter Benjamin 1968 German German
5862 After Midnight Irmgard Keun 1937 German German
5892 Antic Hay Aldous Huxley 1923 British English