The Greatest Books of All Time on Suffering

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
11324 The Children’s Crusade Rebecca Brown 2003 Unknown English
11355 The Anthropocene Reviewed John Green 2021 American English
11393 Collected Poems Primo Levi 1988 Italian Italian
11504 Hibakusha Gaynor Sekimori 1986 Hibakusha Unknown
11537 Thyestes Seneca 62 Roman Latin
11544 Humiliated And Insulted Fyodor Dostoevsky 1861 Russian Russian
11653 Collected Earlier Poems Anthony Hecht 1990 American English
11653 Above The River James Wright 1990 American English
12222 The Swallows Of Kabul Yasmina Khadra 2002 Algerian French
12378 Haunted Chuck Palahniuk 2005 American English
12326 Holocaust Testimonies Lawrence L. Langer 1991 American English
12326 The Island Gustaw Herling 1958 Polish Polish
12326 Reading The Holocaust Inga Clendinnen 1999 Australian English
12657 Collected Poems Geoffrey Hill 2013 British English
13600 Le Rouet D'ivoire And Jean Des Brebis Ou Le Livre De La Misère Émile Moselly French French
13600 Le Vitriol De La Lune And Le Martyre De L'obèse Henri Béraud French French
13600 Rabevel Ou Le Mal Des Ardents Lucien Fabre French French
13600 Hath Not The Potter Maxence Van Der Meersch 1936 French English
13600 The Mercy Of God Jean Cau 1961 French French
13600 The Battle Patrick Rambaud 1997 French French
13921 Book Of Psalms Alabaster Co. 2018 Unknown Hebrew
13924 The Buddha And His Religion J. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire 1860 French French
14025 Ardency Kevin Young 2011 American English
14156 The Poems of Wilfred Owen Wilfred Owen 1920 British English
14232 Berlin Antony Beevor 2002 British English
14411 Greek Tragedies 1 David Grene 1955 Unknown English
14667 Sacred Hunger Barry Unsworth 1992 British English
14757 The Nazarene Sholem Asch 1939 Polish Yiddish
14822 The Face Of War Martha Gellhorn 1959 American English
14833 Everything Happens For A Reason Kate Bowler 2018 American English
14895 The Collected Works Kahlil Gibran 1920 Lebanese Arabic
14976 The Complete Poetry of César Vallejo César Vallejo 1968 Peruvian Spanish
14985 12 Rules For Life Jordan B. Peterson 2018 Canadian English
14985 The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*Ck Mark Manson 2016 American English
14985 Power Of Now Eckhart Tolle 1997 Canadian English
14985 Death Without Weeping Nancy Scheper-Hughes 1992 American English
14985 Stalingrad Antony Beevor 1998 British English
15784 Crime And Punishment Dostoyevsky 1866 Russian Russian
15883 Tomb For 500,000 Soldiers Pierre Guyotat 1967 French French
15916 Dhammapada Unknown -299 Multiple Pali
15916 Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson Mary White Rowlandson 1682 American English
15903 At The Mind's Limits Jean Améry 1966 German German
15916 At Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
15916 Mary Shalom Asch 1949 Unknown Yiddish
15916 Not Built With Hands Helen C. White 1936 American English
16539 The Red Laugh Leonid Andreyev 1904 Russian English
16538 A Noite Elie Wiesel 1956 French Yiddish
16643 Sounder William H. Armstrong 1969 American English
16688 The Sea And Poison Shūsaku Endō 1958 Japanese Japanese
16702 Le Dernier Jour D'un Condamné Victor Hugo 1829 French French
16748 Αναφορά στον Γκρέκο Nikos Kazantzakis 1961 Greek Greek
16635 The Brothers Karamazov Fedor Dostoyevsky 1880 Russian Russian
17163 Staying Alive Neil Astley 2002 British English
17163 Taking the World in for Repairs Richard Selzer 1986 American English
17163 War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning Chris Hedges 2002 American English
17163 The Book Of Joy Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho 2016 Tibetan English
17163 The Beauty And The Sorrow Peter Englund 2011 Swedish Swedish
17163 The Black Christ Kelly Brown Douglas 1994 American English
17163 Palestine Joe Sacco 1993 American English
16961 Jammers Minde Leonora Christina 1869 Danish Danish
17163 Scenes Of Clerical Life George Eliot 1858 British English
17163 Hell Is The Absence Of God Ted Chiang 2001 American English
17163 Evil In Modern Thought Susan Neiman 2002 American English
17163 Greek Lyrics Richmond Lattimore 1960 Greek English
17163 The House Of The Dead Daniel Beer 2017 British English
17163 Simone Weil Simone Weil 1986 French French
17163 The Days Of Ashes Mohammad Ezzeddine Tazi 1982 Moroccan Unknown
17163 Stick Out Your Tongue Ma Jian 1987 Chinese Chinese
17163 Zinky Boys Svetlana Alexievich 1989 Belarusian Russian
17163 Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides 2001 American English
17099 Purgatorio Dante Alighieri 1315 Italian Italian
17163 Deadhouse Gates Steven Erikson 2000 Canadian English
17163 Season Of Blood Fergal Keane 1996 British English
16906 Poemas Sociales, De Guerra Y De Muerte Miguel Hernández 1937 Spanish Spanish
16966 Buddha Osamu Tezuka 1972 Japanese Japanese
17163 My Bright Abyss Christian Wiman 2013 American English
17163 Better Never To Have Been David Benatar 2006 South African English
17057 Dostoevsky Joseph Frank 1864 American English
17077 Candide And Other Stories Voltaire 1759 French French
16878 Tears And Saints Emil Cioran 1937 Romanian French
16948 Notes From Underground & The Double Fyodor Dostoevsky 1864 Russian Russian
16913 The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Ursula K. Le Guin 1973 American English
17163 A Small Corner Of Hell Anna Politkovskaya 2003 Russian Russian
17068 Dievų Miškas Balys Sruoga 1957 Lithuanian Lithuanian
17163 The Agony Of Christianity And Essays On Faith Miguel de Unamuno 1925 Spanish Spanish
17163 Revelation Freshly Erupting Nelly Sachs German German
16881 L'étranger / La Peste Albert Camus 1942 French French
17163 Tudo é Rio Carla Madeira 2014 Brazilian Portuguese
17163 A New Earth Eckhart Tolle 2005 Canadian English
17163 Life And Words Veena Das 2006 Indian English
17163 Traditional Buddhist Mind Training: Essential Mind Training Thupten Jinpa Tibetan English
17163 The Fruitful Darkness: A Journey Through Buddhist Practice And Tribal Wisdom Joan Halifax 1993 American English
17163 What Is Existential Anthropology? Michael D. Jackson New Zealand English
17163 The Complete Malazan Book Of The Fallen Steven Erikson Canadian English
17163 Strangers And Sojourners Michael O'Brien 1997 Canadian English
17163 Practicing The Power Of Now Eckhart Tolle 1997 Canadian English
17163 The Voice Of Knowledge Don Miguel Ruiz 2004 American English
17032 What The Buddha Taught Walpola Rahula 1959 British English
17123 Aphorismen Zur Lebensweisheit Arthur Schopenhauer 1851 German German
17158 The Death Ivan Ilych And Other Stories Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
16910 The Brothers Karmazov Dostoevsky, Fyodor 1880 Russian Russian
17163 The Book Of Job Harold S. Kushner 2012 American English
17163 Der Unbewußte Gott. Psychotherapie Und Religion Frankl, Viktor E. 2005 Austrian German