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
4952 Songs Of A Dead Dreamer And Grimscribe Thomas Ligotti 1985 American English
4955 The Venetian Glass Nephew Elinor Wylie 1925 American English
4986 Living In The Maniototo Janet Frame 1979 New Zealand English
5023 Στην Κοιλαδα Με Τους Ροδωνες Nikos Engonopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5023 Deathfeast Takis Sinopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5043 Selected Poems Of George Sterling George Sterling 1923 American English
5043 Flower Phantoms Ronald Fraser 1926 British English
5043 Devil's Tor David Lindsay 1932 British English
5043 The Stray Lamb Thorne Smith 1929 American English
5125 Ο Εχθρός του Ποιητή Giorgos Heimonas 1979 Greek Greek
5226 The Green Face Gustav Meyrink 1916 German German
5231 Dark Feasts Ramsey Campbell 1987 British English
5262 The Exploits Of Engelbrecht Maurice Richardson 1950 British English
5326 White Light Rudy Rucker 1980 American English
5474 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5476 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
5508 Dreams And Stones Magdalena Tulli 1995 Polish Polish
5523 A Humument Tom Phillips 1970 British English
5529 The Essential Kafka Franz Kafka 1913 Czech German
5529 The Sufferings Of Prince Sternenhoch Ladislav Klíma 1928 Czech Czech
5715 Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Haruki Murakami 1985 Japanese Japanese
5748 The Insult Rupert Thomson 1996 British English
5770 The Digging Leviathan James P. Blaylock 1984 American English
5780 La Pietra Lunare Tommaso Landolfi 1939 Italian Italian
5964 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
6002 Leaves of Hypnos René Char 1946 French French
6002 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6002 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6002 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6103 Apocrief De Analphabetische Naam Lucebert 1952 Dutch Dutch
6142 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6185 Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Haruki Murakami 2006 Japanese Japanese
6200 The Bridge Iain Banks 1986 Scottish English
6247 Great Apes Will Self 1997 British English
6293 Dream Story Arthur Schnitzler 1926 Austrian German
6301 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6309 Dance, Dance, Dance Haruki Murakami 1988 Japanese Japanese
6324 The Day Of Creation J. G. Ballard 1987 British English
6327 My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts Amos Tutuola 1954 Nigerian English
6340 Reise Durch Die Nacht Friederike Mayröcker 1986 Austrian German
6347 A Wild Sheep Chase Haruki Murakami 1982 Japanese Japanese
6360 Girlfriend In A Coma Douglas Coupland 1998 Canadian English
6424 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6462 Comment S'en Sortir Sans Sortir Ghérasim Luca 1980 French French
6474 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6621 The Life of Insects Victor Pelevin 1993 Russian Russian
6661 How It Is Samuel Beckett 1961 Irish French
6838 Frontier Can Xue 2008 Chinese Chinese
6846 Three Georges Perec 1991 French French
7120 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7162 Blind Argus Or The Fables Of The Memory Gesualdo Bufalino 1988 Italian Italian
7168 Julio Jurenito Ilya Ehrenburg 1921 Russian Russian
7205 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
7215 Aurelia Gerard de Nerval 1855 French French
7215 Selected Poems Federico García Lorca 1928 Spanish Spanish
7215 Selected Works Alfred Jarry 1901 French French
7215 Poems Of Paul éluard Paul Éluard 1920 French French
7215 Seven Dada Manifestoes Tristan Tzara 1924 French French
7215 Poems Of Bejamin Péret Bejamin Péret 1925 French French
7215 Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead Barbara Comyns 1954 British English
7215 The Journal Of Albion Moonlight Kenneth Patchen 1941 American English
7215 Europe After The Rain Alan Burns 1965 British English
7604 Mourir M'enrhume Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
7605 Les Praticiens De L'infernal Pierre La Police 1993 French French
7642 Fiskadoro Denis Johnson 1985 American English
7715 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
7724 A Worldly Country John Ashbery 2007 American English
7770 Poems Of André Breton André Breton 1948 French French
7794 Sleepwalking Land Mia Couto 1992 Mozambican Portuguese
7819 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
7827 Noci, Po Nichž Nepřichází Ráno J. H. Krchovský 1996 Czech Czech
7852 La Sorcière Marie NDiaye 1996 French French
7860 The Plains Gerald Murnane 1982 Australian English
7923 Shatuny Yuri Mamleev 1966 Russian Russian
7924 Myths Of The Near Future J. G. Ballard 1982 British English
7941 Phantom Pain Wings Kim Hye-soon 2019 Korean Korean
7965 Magical Realist Fiction David Young 1984 Unknown Unknown
7966 Selected Writings Guillaume Apollinaire 1952 French French
8045 Autumn Roses G. Sutton Breiding 1984 American Unknown
8068 Minor Angels Antoine Volodine 1999 French French
8073 Chronic City Jonathan Lethem 2009 American English
8075 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8104 O Miki Liukkonen 2017 Finnish Finnish
8175 Cuando Ya No Importe Juan Carlos Onetti 1993 Uruguayan Spanish
8193 Ghosts César Aira 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8238 How The Dead Live Will Self 2000 British English
8241 19 Knives Mark Anthony Jarman 1997 Canadian English
8386 In The Labyrinth Alain Robbe-Grillet 1959 French French
8442 The Natashas Yelena Moskovich 2016 Russian English
8457 Headshot Rita Bullwinkel 2024 Unknown English
8511 Bones Of The Moon Jonathan Carroll 1987 American English
8671 Hallucinated City Mario de Andrade 1922 Brazilian Portuguese
8702 The Last Books of Hector Viel Temperley Hector Viel Temperley
 2011 Argentinian Spanish
8757 Rats And Gargoyles Mary Gentle 1990 British English
8760 Tourists Lisa Goldstein 1989 American English
8817 The Unsettled Dust Robert Aickman 1990 British English
8823 The Baphomet Pierre Klossowski 1965 French French
8901 Blackouts Justin Torres 2023 Unknown English
8915 As Metamorfoses Murilo Mendes 1938 Brazilian Portuguese
8944 Os Cavalinhos De Platiplanto José J. Veiga 1959 Brazilian Portuguese
8945 Avalovara Osman Lins 1973 Brazilian Portuguese
8983 Dirty Poem Ferreira Gullar 1976 Brazilian Portuguese
8991 Catatau Paulo Leminski 1975 Brazilian Portuguese
9006 T Zero Italo Calvino 1967 Italian Italian
9033 Yama Loka Terminus Léo Henry, Jacques Mucchielli 2008 French French
9075 Event Factory Renee Gladman 2010 American English
9132 The Last Lover Can Xue 2005 Chinese Chinese
9132 The Dream Life Of Sukhanov Olga Grushin 2005 Russian English
9290 Project For A Revolution In New York Alain Robbe-Grillet 1970 French French
9325 René’S Flesh Virgilio Piñera 1988 Cuban Spanish
9344 Ellipse Of Uncertainty Lance Olsen 1993 American English
9368 Moldy Strawberries Caio Fernando Abreu 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
9593 The Naked Eye Yoko Tawada 2004 Multiple German
9656 Sebastian Dreaming Georg Trakl Austrian German
9768 Animal Money Michael Cisco 2015 American English
9778 Autumn In Peking Boris Vian 1947 French French
9812 The Panic Hand Jonathan Carroll 1995 American English
10179 Harmada João Gilberto Noll 1993 Brazilian Portuguese
10193 Duplex Kathryn Davis 2013 American English
10205 Neuromaani Jaakko Yli-Juonikas 2012 Finnish Finnish