The Greatest Books of All Time on Obsession

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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
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
43 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
72 Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov 1962 American English
166 Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez 1985 Colombian Spanish
176 The End of the Affair Graham Greene 1951 British English
232 2666 Roberto Bolaño 2004 Chilean Spanish
240 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
269 Nightwood Djuna Barnes 1936 American English
279 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
355 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
366 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
436 El Aleph Jorge Luis Borges 1949 Argentinian Spanish
449 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
454 The Sea, The Sea Iris Murdoch 1978 British English
493 Auto Da Fé Elias Canetti 1935 Bulgarian German
511 Perfume Patrick Suskind 1985 German German
561 The Recognitions William Gaddis 1955 American English
604 The Blind Owl Ṣādiq Hidāyat 1937 Iranian Persian
607 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
632 Dom Casmurro Machado de Assis 1899 Brazilian Portuguese
718 Possession A. S. Byatt 1990 British English
811 The Phantom of the Opera Gaston Leroux 1909 French French
826 Voss Patrick White 1957 Australian English
841 Crash J. G. Ballard 1973 British English
853 Mc Teague Frank Norris 1899 American English
871 Wieland Charles Brockden Brown 1798 American English
895 The Ravishing of Lol Stein Marguerite Duras 1964 French French
963 Zuleika Dobson Max Beerbohm 1911 British English
988 Flaubert's Parrot Julian Barnes 1984 British English
1031 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
1086 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
1107 The Passion Jeanette Winterson 1987 British English
1136 The Black Prince Iris Murdoch 1973 British English
1135 The Tunnel Ernesto Sábato 1948 Argentinian Spanish
1165 The Horse's Mouth Joyce Cary 1944 British English
1286 The Invention Of Morel Adolfo Bioy Casares 1940 Argentinian Spanish
1334 Hangover Square Patrick Hamilton 1941 British English
1347 Story of the Eye Georges Bataille 1928 French French
1361 The King In Yellow Robert W. Chambers 1895 American English
1411 Concrete Thomas Bernhard 1982 Austrian German
1458 The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Carson McCullers 1951 American English
1607 Pan Knut Hamsun 1894 Norwegian Norwegian
1636 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
1646 The Pledge Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1958 Swiss German
1729 Requiem for a Dream Hubert Selby 1978 American English
1809 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon 2001 Spanish Spanish
1859 Angel Elizabeth Taylor 1957 British English
1938 Geek Love Katherine Dunn 1989 American English
1948 The Jewel Of Seven Stars Bram Stoker 1903 British English
1993 The Queen Of Spades Alexander Pushkin 1834 Russian Russian
2069 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2083 Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez 1995 Argentinian Spanish
2171 My Cousin Rachel Daphne du Maurier 1951 British English
2179 The Love Of The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald 1941 American English
2181 Blue of Noon Georges Bataille 1957 French French
2257 Correction Thomas Bernhard 1975 Austrian German
2374 The Tales Of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
2397 Maurice Guest Henry Handel Richardson 1908 Australian English
2470 The Hill Of Dreams Arthur Machen 1907 British English
2492 The Moon And Sixpence W. Somerset Maugham 1919 British English
2547 Amok Stefan Zweig 1922 Austrian German
2595 Bid Time Return Richard Matheson 1975 American English
2609 The Gambler Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
2662 Daughters of Fire Gerard de Nerval 1854 French French
2835 The Luzhin Defense Vladimir Nabokov 1930 Russian Russian
2859 The Dog Of The South Charles Portis 1979 American English
2904 What I Loved Siri Hustvedt 2003 American English
3087 Summer in Baden-Baden Leonid Tsypkin 1980 Russian Russian
3101 Diary Of A Mad Old Man Junichiro Tanizaki 1961 Japanese Japanese
3161 Weights And Measures Joseph Roth 1937 Austrian German
3186 The Quest For Corvo A. J. A. Symons 1934 British English
3204 Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 1992 British English
3212 Betty Blue Philippe Djian 1985 French French
3252 Endless Love Scott Spencer 1979 American English
3287 The Aspern Papers Henry James 1888 American English
3407 In A Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner 1977 American English
3487 The Great Victorian Collection Brian Moore 1975 Canadian English
3493 Laura Vera Caspary 1943 American English
3854 Breath Tim Winton 2008 Australian English
3857 Enduring Love Ian McEwan 1997 British English
3953 The Great Chimera M. Karagatsis 1953 Greek Greek
4089 Silk Alessandro Baricco 1996 Italian Italian
4125 The Black Book Orhan Pamuk 1990 Turkish Turkish
4152 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4299 Remainder Tom McCarthy 2005 British English
4587 The Loser Thomas Bernhard 1983 Austrian German
4637 Darkmans Nicola Barker 2007 British English
4742 Willard and His Bowling Trophies Richard Brautigan 1975 American English
4783 Ice Anna Kavan 1967 British English
4789 The Master Builder Henrik Ibsen 1892 Norwegian Norwegian
4827 The Prestige Christopher Priest 1995 British English
5032 The Sluts Dennis Cooper 2004 American English
5105 Abel Sánchez Miguel de Unamuno 1917 Spanish Spanish
5291 Revenge Yōko Ogawa 1998 Japanese Japanese
5301 The Museum Of Innocence Orhan Pamuk 2008 Turkish Turkish
5305 My Search For Warren Harding Robert Plunket 1973 American English
5407 I Love Dick Chris Kraus 1997 American English
5413 Reflections In A Golden Eye Carson McCullers 1941 American English
5600 The Lost City of Z David Grann 2009 American English
5668 Moira Julien Green 1950 French French
5686 Big Blondes Jean Echenoz 1995 French French
5727 Simple Passion Annie Ernaux 1991 French French
5840 The Grotesque Patrick McGrath 1989 British English
5890 The Girl With The Golden Eyes Honoré de Balzac 1835 French French
6001 The Cipher Kathe Koja 1991 American English
6005 A Love Affair Dino Buzzati 1963 Italian Italian
6005 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6076 The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet 1955 French French
6327 The Day Of Creation J. G. Ballard 1987 British English
6476 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6508 Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture Apostolos Doxiadis 1992 Greek Greek
6646 Exquisite Corpse Poppy Z. Brite 1996 American English
6662 You Caroline Kepnes 2014 American English
6675 Uzumaki Junji Ito 1998 Japanese Japanese
6699 The Little Stranger Sarah Waters 2009 British English
6799 We Others Steven Millhauser 2011 American English
6846 King Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine 1991 British English
6889 Frisk Dennis Cooper 1991 American English
6933 The Tell Tale Heart And Other Writings Edgar Allan Poe 1843 American English