The Greatest Surreal Books of All Time

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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
35 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll 1865 British English
45 Fictions Jorge Luis Borges 1944 Argentinian Spanish
66 The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka 1915 Czech German
151 Molloy Samuel Beckett 1951 Irish French
202 Invisible Cities Italo Calvino 1972 Italian Italian
238 A Season in Hell Arthur Rimbaud 1873 French French
254 Gravity's Rainbow Thomas Pynchon 1973 American English
257 Finnegans Wake James Joyce 1939 Irish English
269 Nightwood Djuna Barnes 1936 American English
295 Franz Kafka Franz Kafka 1971 Czech Unknown
354 Hopscotch Julio Cortazar 1963 Argentinian Spanish
373 The Duino Elegies Rainer Maria Rilke 1923 German German
384 Ferdydurke Witold Gombrowicz 1937 Polish Polish
394 Nadja André Breton 1928 French French
436 El Aleph Jorge Luis Borges 1949 Argentinian Spanish
463 The Songs of Maldoror Comte de Lautréamont 1868 French French
478 Alcools Guillaume Apollinaire 1913 French French
496 Froth on the daydream Boris Vian 1947 French French
532 The Passion According to G.H. Clarice Lispector 1964 Brazilian Portuguese
584 Poet in New York Federico García Lorca 1940 Spanish Spanish
604 The Blind Owl Ṣādiq Hidāyat 1937 Iranian Persian
727 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
769 A Voyage To Arcturus David Lindsay 1920 Scottish English
858 The Woman in the Dunes Kobo Abé 1962 Japanese Japanese
929 Our Lady of the Flowers Jean Genet 1943 French French
1012 Invitation To A Beheading Vladimir Nabokov 1935 American Russian
1080 Mount Analogue René Daumal 1952 French French
1171 Residence on Earth Pablo Neruda 1933 Chilean Spanish
1191 Blow Up And Other Stories Julio Cortazar 1968 Argentinian Spanish
1292 Two Serious Ladies Jane Bowles 1943 American English
1303 Poems Paul Celan 1952 German German
1305 Collected Poems Stéphane Mallarmé 1887 French French
1347 Story of the Eye Georges Bataille 1928 French French
1359 Illuminations Arthur Rimbaud 1886 French French
1361 The King In Yellow Robert W. Chambers 1895 American English
1421 Ubik Philip K. Dick 1969 American English
1486 Locus Solus Raymond Roussel 1914 French French
1508 Surrealist Manifesto André Breton 1924 French French
1554 The Unconsoled Kazuo Ishiguro 1995 British English
1619 Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu 1989 Romanian Romanian
1633 In Watermelon Sugar Richard Brautigan 1968 American English
1687 The Hearing Trumpet Leonora Carrington 1974 British English
1909 The Collected Stories Of Lydia Davis Lydia Davis 2009 American English
1934 Capital of Pain Paul Éluard 1926 French French
1953 Titus Alone Mervyn Peake 1959 British English
1979 Furor and Mystery René Char 1948 French French
2067 The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman Angela Carter 1972 British English
2127 Life In The Folds Henri Michaux 1949 French French
2180 The Oostakker Poems Hugo Claus 1955 Belgian Dutch
2210 Sub Rosa Robert Aickman 1968 British English
2236 The Futurological Congress Stanislaw Lem 1971 Polish Polish
2263 The Crystal World J. G. Ballard 1966 British English
2312 Solenoid Mircea Cărtărescu 2015 Romanian Romanian
2353 The Box Man Kobo Abé 1973 Japanese Japanese
2394 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2421 The Melancholy of Resistance László Krasznahorkai 1989 Hungarian Hungarian
2470 The Hill Of Dreams Arthur Machen 1907 British English
2483 Blood and Guts in High School Kathy Acker 1978 American English
2593 The Gods Of Pegana Lord Dunsany 1905 Irish English
2600 Almost Transparent Blue Ryū Murakami 1976 Japanese Japanese
2641 The Palm At The End Of The Mind Wallace Stevens 1971 American English
2688 Blinding Mircea Cărtărescu 1996 Romanian Romanian
2935 Dolly City Orly Castel-Bloom 1992 Israeli Hebrew
2956 Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass Bruno Schulz 1937 Polish Polish
3011 Wittgenstein's Mistress David Markson 1988 American English
3049 Fever Dream Samanta Schweblin 2014 Argentinian Spanish
3119 Sessanta Racconti Dino Buzzati 1958 Italian Italian
3209 Briefing For A Descent Into Hell Doris May Lessing 1971 British English
3229 Phantastes George McDonald 1858 British English
3324 Impressions of Africa Raymond Roussel 1910 French French
3324 Arcanum 17 André Breton 1944 French French
3373 The Green Child Herbert Read 1935 British English
3396 Cities of the Red Night William S. Burroughs 1981 American English
3423 The Back Room Carmen Martín Gaite 1978 Spanish Spanish
3439 The Needle's Eye Fanny Howe 1970 American English
3461 The Complete Fiction Of Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz 1989 Polish Polish
3511 Alone With The Horrors Ramsey Campbell 1993 British English
3535 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3553 Log Of The S.S. The Mrs Unguentine Stanley Crawford 1972 American English
3607 A Throw Of The Dice Will Never Abolish Chance Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
3623 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
3638 Der Gaulschreck Im Rosennetz Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando 1928 Austrian German
3848 Piranesi Susanna Clarke 2020 British English
3849 The Unlimited Dream Company J. G. Ballard 1979 British English
3850 Fourth Mansions R. A. Lafferty 1969 American English
3947 The Arrival Shaun Tan 2006 Australian English
3954 Amorgos Nikos Gatsos 1943 Greek Greek
3954 Η κρύπτη Ε.Χ. Γονατάς 1963 Greek Greek
3954 Μπολιβαρ Nikos Engonopoulos 1944 Greek Greek
3954 Ενδοχωρα Andreas Embiricos 1947 Greek Greek
3954 Υψικαμινος Andreas Embiricos 1935 Greek Greek
3954 Κατά Σαδδουκαίων Michalis Katsaros 1953 Greek Greek
3954 Ο Πεθαμένος και η Ανάσταση Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis 1949 Greek Greek
3954 Ποιήματα Α' και Β' Miltos Sachtouris 1945 Greek Greek
3954 Pagini Bizare Urmuz 1930 Romanian Romanian
3954 Adventures In Immediate Irreality M. Blecher 1936 Romanian Romanian
4104 Selected Poems Of Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith 1971 American English
4114 The Old Woman Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4153 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4163 No One Is Talking About This Patricia Lockwood 2021 American English
4172 Trout Fishing In America Richard Brautigan 1967 American English
4205 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
4208 The Castle of Crossed Destinies Italo Calvino 1969 Italian Italian
4234 Eric In The Land Of The Insects Godfried Bomans 1941 Dutch Dutch
4268 Cases Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4272 Zangezi Velimir Khlebnikov 1922 Russian Russian
4282 The Spirits Of The Earth Catherine Colomb 1962 Swiss French
4295 The Castle franz kafka 1926 German German
4372 Nobodaddy's Children Arno Schmidt 1963 German German
4442 Demons By Daylight Ramsey Campbell 1973 British English
4454 Gogol's Wife Tommaso Landolfi 1953 Italian Italian
4481 Revenge Of The Lawn Richard Brautigan 1971 American English
4541 Rules Of Summer Shaun Tan 2013 Australian English
4582 Antiworlds Andrey Voznesensky 1964 Russian Russian
4607 Verzamelde Gedichten Lucebert 1957 Dutch Dutch
4622 Calligrammes Guillaume Apollinaire 1918 French French
4646 The Face Of Another Kobo Abé 1964 Japanese Japanese
4711 Grimus Salman Rushdie 1975 British English
4784 Ice Anna Kavan 1967 British English
4810 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek