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
4954 Songs Of A Dead Dreamer And Grimscribe Thomas Ligotti 1985 American English
4957 The Venetian Glass Nephew Elinor Wylie 1925 American English
4989 Living In The Maniototo Janet Frame 1979 New Zealand English
5026 Στην Κοιλαδα Με Τους Ροδωνες Nikos Engonopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5026 Deathfeast Takis Sinopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5046 Selected Poems Of George Sterling George Sterling 1923 American English
5046 Flower Phantoms Ronald Fraser 1926 British English
5046 Devil's Tor David Lindsay 1932 British English
5046 The Stray Lamb Thorne Smith 1929 American English
5127 Ο Εχθρός του Ποιητή Giorgos Heimonas 1979 Greek Greek
5228 The Green Face Gustav Meyrink 1916 German German
5233 Dark Feasts Ramsey Campbell 1987 British English
5263 The Exploits Of Engelbrecht Maurice Richardson 1950 British English
5327 White Light Rudy Rucker 1980 American English
5476 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5478 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
5510 Dreams And Stones Magdalena Tulli 1995 Polish Polish
5525 A Humument Tom Phillips 1970 British English
5531 The Essential Kafka Franz Kafka 1913 Czech German
5531 The Sufferings Of Prince Sternenhoch Ladislav Klíma 1928 Czech Czech
5591 How It Is Samuel Beckett 1961 Irish French
5718 Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Haruki Murakami 1985 Japanese Japanese
5751 The Insult Rupert Thomson 1996 British English
5773 The Digging Leviathan James P. Blaylock 1984 American English
5783 La Pietra Lunare Tommaso Landolfi 1939 Italian Italian
5968 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
6005 Leaves of Hypnos René Char 1946 French French
6005 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6005 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6005 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6106 Apocrief De Analphabetische Naam Lucebert 1952 Dutch Dutch
6145 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6189 Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Haruki Murakami 2006 Japanese Japanese
6204 The Bridge Iain Banks 1986 Scottish English
6250 Great Apes Will Self 1997 British English
6296 Dream Story Arthur Schnitzler 1926 Austrian German
6304 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6312 Dance, Dance, Dance Haruki Murakami 1988 Japanese Japanese
6327 The Day Of Creation J. G. Ballard 1987 British English
6330 My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts Amos Tutuola 1954 Nigerian English
6343 Reise Durch Die Nacht Friederike Mayröcker 1986 Austrian German
6350 A Wild Sheep Chase Haruki Murakami 1982 Japanese Japanese
6363 Girlfriend In A Coma Douglas Coupland 1998 Canadian English
6427 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6464 Comment S'en Sortir Sans Sortir Ghérasim Luca 1980 French French
6476 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6623 The Life of Insects Victor Pelevin 1993 Russian Russian
6838 Frontier Can Xue 2008 Chinese Chinese
6846 Three Georges Perec 1991 French French
7120 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7163 Blind Argus Or The Fables Of The Memory Gesualdo Bufalino 1988 Italian Italian
7169 Julio Jurenito Ilya Ehrenburg 1921 Russian Russian
7206 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
7216 Aurelia Gerard de Nerval 1855 French French
7216 Selected Poems Federico García Lorca 1928 Spanish Spanish
7216 Selected Works Alfred Jarry 1901 French French
7216 Poems Of Paul éluard Paul Éluard 1920 French French
7216 Seven Dada Manifestoes Tristan Tzara 1924 French French
7216 Poems Of Bejamin Péret Bejamin Péret 1925 French French
7216 Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead Barbara Comyns 1954 British English
7216 The Journal Of Albion Moonlight Kenneth Patchen 1941 American English
7216 Europe After The Rain Alan Burns 1965 British English
7605 Mourir M'enrhume Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
7606 Les Praticiens De L'infernal Pierre La Police 1993 French French
7643 Fiskadoro Denis Johnson 1985 American English
7717 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
7726 A Worldly Country John Ashbery 2007 American English
7772 Poems Of André Breton André Breton 1948 French French
7796 Sleepwalking Land Mia Couto 1992 Mozambican Portuguese
7820 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
7828 Noci, Po Nichž Nepřichází Ráno J. H. Krchovský 1996 Czech Czech
7853 La Sorcière Marie NDiaye 1996 French French
7861 The Plains Gerald Murnane 1982 Australian English
7924 Shatuny Yuri Mamleev 1966 Russian Russian
7925 Myths Of The Near Future J. G. Ballard 1982 British English
7942 Phantom Pain Wings Kim Hye-soon 2019 Korean Korean
7966 Magical Realist Fiction David Young 1984 Unknown Unknown
7967 Selected Writings Guillaume Apollinaire 1952 French French
8046 Autumn Roses G. Sutton Breiding 1984 American Unknown
8069 Minor Angels Antoine Volodine 1999 French French
8074 Chronic City Jonathan Lethem 2009 American English
8076 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8106 O Miki Liukkonen 2017 Finnish Finnish
8177 Cuando Ya No Importe Juan Carlos Onetti 1993 Uruguayan Spanish
8195 Ghosts César Aira 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8240 How The Dead Live Will Self 2000 British English
8243 19 Knives Mark Anthony Jarman 1997 Canadian English
8389 In The Labyrinth Alain Robbe-Grillet 1959 French French
8445 The Natashas Yelena Moskovich 2016 Russian English
8461 Headshot Rita Bullwinkel 2024 Unknown English
8514 Bones Of The Moon Jonathan Carroll 1987 American English
8674 Hallucinated City Mario de Andrade 1922 Brazilian Portuguese
8705 The Last Books of Hector Viel Temperley Hector Viel Temperley
 2011 Argentinian Spanish
8761 Rats And Gargoyles Mary Gentle 1990 British English
8764 Tourists Lisa Goldstein 1989 American English
8821 The Unsettled Dust Robert Aickman 1990 British English
8827 The Baphomet Pierre Klossowski 1965 French French
8904 Blackouts Justin Torres 2023 Unknown English
8918 As Metamorfoses Murilo Mendes 1938 Brazilian Portuguese
8947 Os Cavalinhos De Platiplanto José J. Veiga 1959 Brazilian Portuguese
8948 Avalovara Osman Lins 1973 Brazilian Portuguese
8986 Dirty Poem Ferreira Gullar 1976 Brazilian Portuguese
8994 Catatau Paulo Leminski 1975 Brazilian Portuguese
9009 T Zero Italo Calvino 1967 Italian Italian
9036 Yama Loka Terminus Léo Henry, Jacques Mucchielli 2008 French French
9079 Event Factory Renee Gladman 2010 American English
9136 The Last Lover Can Xue 2005 Chinese Chinese
9136 The Dream Life Of Sukhanov Olga Grushin 2005 Russian English
9294 Project For A Revolution In New York Alain Robbe-Grillet 1970 French French
9329 René’S Flesh Virgilio Piñera 1988 Cuban Spanish
9348 Ellipse Of Uncertainty Lance Olsen 1993 American English
9372 Moldy Strawberries Caio Fernando Abreu 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
9597 The Naked Eye Yoko Tawada 2004 Multiple German
9660 Sebastian Dreaming Georg Trakl Austrian German
9772 Animal Money Michael Cisco 2015 American English
9782 Autumn In Peking Boris Vian 1947 French French
9816 The Panic Hand Jonathan Carroll 1995 American English
10185 Harmada João Gilberto Noll 1993 Brazilian Portuguese
10199 Duplex Kathryn Davis 2013 American English
10211 Neuromaani Jaakko Yli-Juonikas 2012 Finnish Finnish