The Greatest Books of All Time on Struggle

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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
54 The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952 American English
81 The Castle Franz Kafka 1926 Czech German
201 Berlin Alexanderplatz Alfred Döblin 1929 German German
209 Hunger Knut Hamsun 1890 Norwegian Norwegian
223 A House for Mr. Biswas V. S. Naipaul 1961 Trinidadian English
239 Tropic of Cancer Henry Miller 1934 American English
288 Independent People Halldor Laxness 1934 Icelandic Icelandic
530 The Red Room August Strindberg 1879 Swedish Swedish
557 The Souls of Black Folk W. E. B. Du Bois 1903 American English
606 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
651 Manhattan Transfer John Dos Passos 1925 American English
767 The Tree of Man Patrick White 1955 Australian English
854 Cane Jean Toomer 1923 American English
882 The Hour of the Star Clarice Lispector 1977 Brazilian Portuguese
931 The House by the Medlar Tree Giovanni Verga 1881 Italian Italian
935 Martin Eden Jack London 1909 American English
937 The Sea Wall Marguerite Duras 1950 French French
942 Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1945 American English
989 The Lonely Londoners Sam Selvon 1956 Trinidadian English
1032 In The Heart Of The Seas Shmuel Yosef Agnon 1938 Israeli Hebrew
1072 Gösta Berling's Saga Selma Lagerlöf 1891 Swedish Swedish
1078 Death on Credit Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1936 French French
1119 The Street Ann Petry 1946 American English
1143 Tevye The Dairyman And The Railroad Stories Sholem Aleichem 1894 Jewish Yiddish
1165 The Horse's Mouth Joyce Cary 1944 British English
1187 Jean Christophe Romain Rolland 1904 French French
1209 Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates 2015 American English
1262 Maud Martha Gwendolyn Brooks 1953 American English
1406 The Life of Charlotte Brontë Elizabeth Gaskell 1857 British English
1504 Sometimes a Great Notion Ken Kesey 1964 American English
1505 The Famished Road Ben Okri 1991 Nigerian English
1513 The Women of Brewster Place Gloria Naylor 1982 American English
1516 The Alberta Trilogy Cora Sandel 1926 Norwegian Norwegian
1668 Solitude Caterina Albert 1905 Spanish Catalan
1669 The Underdogs Mariano Azuela 1915 Mexican Spanish
1670 The Emigrants Vilhelm Moberg 1949 Swedish Swedish
1797 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau 1992 Martinican French
1810 The Weary Blues Langston Hughes 1926 American English
1878 East Goes West Younghill Kang 1937 American English
2071 The Assistant Bernard Malamud 1957 American English
2115 Just Kids Patti Smith 2010 American English
2116 The Life Story And Real Adventures Of The Poor Man Of Toggenburg Ulrich Bräker 1789 Swiss German
2159 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2280 The Corner That Held Them Sylvia Townsend Warner 1948 British English
2331 Sunset Song Lewis Grassic Gibbon 1932 Scottish English
2401 The Charwoman's Daughter James Stephens 1912 Irish English
2465 La Grande Maison Mohammed Dib 1952 Algerian French
2468 The Hill Of Dreams Arthur Machen 1907 British English
2478 Artemisia Anna Banti 1947 Italian Italian
2541 The Artamonov Business Maxim Gorky 1925 Russian Russian
2552 The Last Temptation of Christ Nikos Kazantzakis 1955 Greek Greek
2690 Childhood Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
2697 All Over But The Shoutin' Rick Bragg 1997 American English
2701 Close Range Annie Proulx 1999 American English
2733 A Violent Life Pier Paolo Pasolini 1959 Italian Italian
2751 Dust Tracks on a Road Zora Neale Hurston 1942 American English
2829 A Contract With God Will Eisner 1978 American English
2883 The Busconductor Hines James Kelman 1984 British English
2911 The Odyssey Nikos Kazantzakis 1938 Greek Greek
3141 The Shrinking Man Richard Matheson 1956 American English
3180 Women And Appletrees Moa Martinson 1933 Swedish Swedish
3192 The Aesthetics Of Resistance Peter Weiss 1975 German German
3285 Three Strong Women Marie NDiaye 2009 French French
3324 Broad and Alien is the World Ciro Alegría 1941 Peruvian Spanish
3324 The Tin Flute Gabrielle Roy 1945 Canadian French
3420 In The Country Of Last Things Paul Auster 1987 American English
3522 Balzac Stefan Zweig 1946 Austrian German
3638 Bicycle Thieves Luigi Bartolini 1946 Italian Italian
3638 Who Once Eats Out Of The Tin Bowl Hans Fallada 1934 German German
3638 The Poor Musician Franz Grillparzer 1848 Austrian German
3638 Scenes Of Bohemian Life Henri Murger 1845 French French
3638 Les Rougon Macquart Émile Zola 1871 French French
3820 The Commitments Roddy Doyle 1987 Irish English
3953 Η κάθοδος των εννιά Thanassis Valtinos 1963 Greek Greek
3953 Συναξάρι Αντρέα Κορδοπάτη Thanassis Valtinos 1964 Greek Greek
3953 Το φως που καίει Kostas Varnalis 1922 Greek Greek
3953 Μπολιβαρ Nikos Engonopoulos 1944 Greek Greek
3953 Η Αυλή των Θαυμάτων Iakovos Kambanellis 1962 Greek Greek
3953 The Memoirs Of General Makriyannis Makriyannis 1907 Greek Greek
3953 Το Πλατύ Ποτάμι Yiannis Beratis 1946 Greek Greek
3953 The Twelve Lays Of The Gypsy Kostis Palamas 1907 Greek Greek
3953 The Free Besieged Dionysios Solomos 1825 Greek Greek
3953 The End Of Our Small Town Dimitris Hatzis 1963 Greek Greek
4098 Le Mauvais Sang Feu De Brousse à Trisse Coeur Tchicaya U. Tam'si 1955 Tchadian French
4120 Life's Good, Brother Nâzim Hikmet 1962 Turkish Turkish
4165 Confederates Thomas Keneally 1979 Australian English
4166 Vasili Tyorkin Alexander Tvardovsky 1943 Russian Russian
4205 Ghana Kwame Nkrumah 1957 Ghanaian English
4207 Here's to You, Jesusa! Elena Poniatowska 1969 Mexican Spanish
4269 Who Can Be Happy And Free In Russia? Nikolay Nekrasov 1870 Russian Russian
4280 Poem Of The Mountain Marina Tsvetayeva 1924 Russian Russian
4430 The Family of Man Edward Steichen 1955 American English
4466 Samuels bok Sven Delblanc 1981 Swedish Swedish
4475 Al Mawt `Ala Al Asfalt `Abd al-Rahman Abnudi 1960 Egyptian Arabic
4521 Last Train to Memphis Peter Guralnick 1994 American English
4567 No Great Mischief Alistair MacLeod 1999 Canadian English
4669 Beethoven's Letters Ludwig van Beethoven 1866 German German
4685 Extracts From Notes On The Bulgarian Uprisings Zahari Stoyanov 1884 Bulgarian Bulgarian
4745 Nos Matamos O Cão Tinhoso Bernardo Honwana 1964 Mozambican Portuguese
4798 If Beale Street Could Talk James Baldwin 1974 American English
4856 Best of Simple Langston Hughes 1961 American English
4895 Abel Alone Áron Tamási 1932 Hungarian Hungarian
4989 The Wandering Falcon Jamil Ahmed 2011 Pakistani English
4992 Utenzi Wa Vita Vya Uhuru Robert Bin Shabaan 1967 Tanzanian Swahili
5002 Be Faithful Unto Death Zsigmond Móricz 1921 Hungarian Hungarian
5029 Lust For Life Irving Stone 1934 American English
5100 The Doctor Stories William Carlos Williams 1984 American English
5125 Ο Εχθρός του Ποιητή Giorgos Heimonas 1979 Greek Greek
5150 The Copenhagen Trilogy Tiina Nunnally, Michael Favala Goldman, Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
5149 Ilinden Dimitar Talev 1951 Bulgarian Bulgarian
5159 Самуил Dimitar Talev 1956 Bulgarian Bulgarian
5184 The Struggle For Mozambique Eduardo Mondlane 1969 Mozambican English
5247 Jews Without Money Michael Gold 1930 American English
5248 Orphalina Zsigmond Móricz 1937 Hungarian Hungarian
5269 Under The Feet Of Jesus Helena María Viramontes 1995 American English
5288 A Nap Szerelmese Sándor Dallos 1931 Hungarian Hungarian
5304 A Fairy Tale Of New York J. P. Donleavy 1973 Irish English
5338 Aranyecset Sándor Dallos 1931 Hungarian Hungarian
5342 Plainsong Kent Haruf 1999 American English
5345 The Bells Of Prespa Dimitar Talev 1966 Bulgarian Bulgarian