The Greatest Books of All Time on Passion

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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
207 Zorba the Greek Nikos Kazantzakis 1946 Greek Greek
282 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
337 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
447 Gypsy Ballads Federico García Lorca 1928 Spanish Spanish
469 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
489 Manon Lescaut Abbe Prevost 1731 French French
504 Her Lover Albert Cohen 1968 Swiss French
759 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
766 Adolphe Benjamin Constant 1816 Swiss French
824 Rhymes And Legends Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 1871 Spanish Spanish
900 The Poems of Sappho Sappho -569 Greek Ancient greek
997 Julie, or the New Heloise Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1761 French French
1061 First Love Ivan Turgenev 1860 Russian Russian
1106 The Passion Jeanette Winterson 1987 British English
1127 The Devil in the Flesh Raymond Radiguet 1923 French French
1165 The Horse's Mouth Joyce Cary 1944 British English
1176 Carmen Prosper Mérimée 1845 French French
1177 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
1182 Poems of Federico García Lorca Federico García Lorca 1921 Spanish Spanish
1186 Tristan Gottfried von Strassburg 1210 German Middle high german
1187 Jean Christophe Romain Rolland 1904 French French
1367 Like Water For Chocolate Laura Esquivel 1989 Mexican Spanish
1465 Narcissus And Goldmund Hermann Hesse 1930 German German
1667 The Poetry of Alexander Pushkin Alexander Pushkin 1836 Russian Russian
1689 Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk Nikolai Leskov 1865 Russian Russian
1731 Delta of Venus Anaïs Nin 1977 French English
1747 Twenty Four Hours In The Life Of A Woman Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
1768 The Serious Game Hjalmar Soderberg 1912 Swedish Swedish
1780 Poems of Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda 1970 Chilean Spanish
2155 The Flame Of Life Gabriele D'Annunzio 1900 Italian Italian
2214 Roman Elegies Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1795 German German
2355 The Fruits of the Earth André Gide 1897 French French
2395 Maurice Guest Henry Handel Richardson 1908 Australian English
2402 The Poems Of John Wilmot, Earl Of Rochester John Wilmot 1680 British English
2454 By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
2490 The Moon And Sixpence W. Somerset Maugham 1919 British English
2996 A Cloud In Trousers Vladimir Mayakovsky 1915 Russian Russian
3126 Attis And Other Poems Catullus -53 Roman Latin
3202 Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 1992 British English
3210 Betty Blue Philippe Djian 1985 French French
3219 Aphrodite Pierre Louÿs 1896 French French
3250 Endless Love Scott Spencer 1979 American English
3322 Confusion Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
3323 Love in Excess; or, The Fatal Enquiry Eliza Haywood 1719 British English
3323 Torrents of Spring Ivan Turgenev 1872 Russian Russian
3521 Balzac Stefan Zweig 1946 Austrian German
3528 Love in the Western World Denis de Rougemont 1939 Swiss French
3586 The Complete Writings of Alfred de Musset Alfred de Musset 1907 French French
3637 Cavalleria Rusticana Giovanni Verga 1896 Italian Italian
3937 All The World's Mornings Pascal Quignard 1991 French French
4132 Dark Avenues Ivan Bunin 1943 Russian Russian
4366 Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain 2000 American English
4420 Desire Under The Elms Eugene O'Neill 1924 American English
4461 Collected Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay 1956 American English
4668 Beethoven's Letters Ludwig van Beethoven 1866 German German
4781 The Art Of Love Ovid 2 Roman Latin
5028 Lust For Life Irving Stone 1934 American English
5157 The Triumph Of Death Gabriele D'Annunzio 1894 Italian Italian
5287 A Nap Szerelmese Sándor Dallos 1931 Hungarian Hungarian
5337 Aranyecset Sándor Dallos 1931 Hungarian Hungarian
5624 Olivia Dorothy Bussy 1949 British English
5721 The Rosy Crucifixion Henry Miller 1949 American English
5724 Simple Passion Annie Ernaux 1991 French French
5760 Dear Theo Irving Stone, Jean Stone 1937 American English
5818 René François-Auguste-René de Chateaubriand 1802 French French
5860 Twenty Love Poems And A Song Of Despair Pablo Neruda 1924 Chilean Spanish
6002 Sonnets Louise Labé 1556 French French
6841 Rapture Carol Ann Duffy 2005 British English
6891 Bared To You Sylvia Day 2012 American English
7086 The Virtuoso Margriet de Moor 1993 Dutch Dutch
7215 Rime Gaspara Stampa 1554 Italian Italian
7215 La Dorotea Lope de Vega 1632 Spanish Spanish
7215 Astrophel And Stella Philip Sidney 1591 British English
7215 Venetian Epigrams Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1790 German German
7215 Odes And The Graces Ugo Foscolo 1822 Italian Italian
7215 The She Wolf And Other Stories Giovanni Verga 1880 Italian Italian
7215 Complete Poems Of Alfred De Musset Alfred de Musset 1857 French French
7215 On Love Stendhal 1822 French French
7215 Poems And Translations Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1870 British English
7215 Poems And Ballads Algernon Charles Swinburne 1866 British English
7215 Complete Poems Ernest Dowson 1905 British English
7215 Narrative Poems Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov 1830 Russian Russian
7215 Coup De Grace Marguerite Yourcenar 1939 French French
7215 Alexandrian Songs Mikhail Kuzmin 1906 Russian Russian
7610 Winter In Lisbon Antonio Muñoz Molina 1987 Spanish Spanish
7675 The Letters Of Vincent Van Gogh Vincent van Gogh 1914 Dutch Dutch
7715 Three Tragedies Federico García Lorca 1947 Spanish Spanish
7754 One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine Paul Verlaine 1948 French French
8008 100 Love Sonnets Pablo Neruda 1959 Chilean Spanish
8374 Belong To Me Shayla Black 2011 American English
9032 Jouer Juste François Bégaudeau 2008 French French
9069 Euphoria Lily King 2014 American English
9188 Love And Ruin Evan Ratliff, Susan Orlean 2016 Unknown English
9353 Selected Poems Marina Tsvetayeva 1971 Russian Russian
9675 Eros Invincible Ricarda Huch 1931 German German
10776 An Island Princess Starts A Scandal Adriana Herrera 2023 Unknown English
11029 My Life And The Beautiful Game Pele 1977 Brazilian English
11207 The Lily Of The Valley Honoré de Balzac 1835 French French
11239 Liberty Or Love! Robert Desnos 1929 French French
11360 La Fin D'amor Jean-Claude Marol French Unknown
11360 Rien Que L'amour Lucien Becker French French
12739 With The Fire On High Elizabeth Acevedo 2019 American English
13359 Sonnets from the Portuguese Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1850 British English
13359 The Red Lily Anatole France 1894 French French
13599 Le Supplice De Phèdre Henri Deberly French French
13599 Sang Et Lumières Joseph Peyre French French
13790 The Lovers Alice Ferney 1993 French French
13813 The Bad Girl Mario Vargas Llosa 2006 Peruvian Spanish
14697 The Song Of Songs Hermann Sudermann 1908 German German
14697 Late To The Ball Gerald Marzorati 2016 American English
14817 Dona Flor And Her Two Husbands Jorge Amado, Harriet de Onís 1966 Brazilian Portuguese
14983 The Volcano Lover Susan Sontag 1992 American English
15596 A Few Figs From Thistles Edna St. Vincent Millay 1920 American English
15768 Night In Bombay Louis Bromfield 1940 American English
15791 Collected Poems Edna St. Vincent Millay 1956 American English
15897 At Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
17114 Kingbird Highway Kenn Kaufman 1997 American English
17114 Pele Pele 2006 Brazilian English
17114 Love Her Wild Atticus 2017 Canadian English
17114 Master Class Terrence McNally 1995 American English