The Greatest Surreal Books Since 2000
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.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909 | The Collected Stories Of Lydia Davis | Lydia Davis | 2009 | American | English | |
| 2311 | Solenoid | Mircea Cărtărescu | 2015 | Romanian | Romanian | |
| 3049 | Fever Dream | Samanta Schweblin | 2014 | Argentinian | Spanish | |
| 3848 | Piranesi | Susanna Clarke | 2020 | British | English | |
| 3945 | The Arrival | Shaun Tan | 2006 | Australian | English | |
| 4151 | American Genius | Lynne Tillman | 2006 | American | English | |
| 4161 | No One Is Talking About This | Patricia Lockwood | 2021 | American | English | |
| 4539 | Rules Of Summer | Shaun Tan | 2013 | Australian | English | |
| 6187 | Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman | Haruki Murakami | 2006 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 6838 | Frontier | Can Xue | 2008 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 7205 | Animalinside | László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann | 2010 | Hungarian | Hungarian | |
| 7725 | A Worldly Country | John Ashbery | 2007 | American | English | |
| 7941 | Phantom Pain Wings | Kim Hye-soon | 2019 | Korean | Korean | |
| 8073 | Chronic City | Jonathan Lethem | 2009 | American | English | |
| 8105 | O | Miki Liukkonen | 2017 | Finnish | Finnish | |
| 8239 | How The Dead Live | Will Self | 2000 | British | English | |
| 8444 | The Natashas | Yelena Moskovich | 2016 | Russian | English | |
| 8460 | Headshot | Rita Bullwinkel | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 8704 | The Last Books of Hector Viel Temperley | Hector Viel Temperley | 2011 | Argentinian | Spanish | |
| 8903 | Blackouts | Justin Torres | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 9035 | Yama Loka Terminus | Léo Henry, Jacques Mucchielli | 2008 | French | French | |
| 9078 | Event Factory | Renee Gladman | 2010 | American | English | |
| 9135 | The Last Lover | Can Xue | 2005 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 9135 | The Dream Life Of Sukhanov | Olga Grushin | 2005 | Russian | English | |
| 9595 | The Naked Eye | Yoko Tawada | 2004 | Multiple | German | |
| 9769 | Animal Money | Michael Cisco | 2015 | American | English | |
| 10194 | Duplex | Kathryn Davis | 2013 | American | English | |
| 10206 | Neuromaani | Jaakko Yli-Juonikas | 2012 | Finnish | Finnish | |
| 10221 | Doctor Pasavento | Enrique Vila-Matas | 2005 | Spanish | Spanish | |
| 10231 | Que Cavalos São Aqueles Que Fazem Sombra No Mar? | António Lobo Antunes | 2009 | Portuguese | Portuguese | |
| 10381 | The Airways | Jennifer Mills | 2021 | Unknown | English | |
| 10709 | Hum | Helen Phillips | 2024 | American | English | |
| 10707 | The Lodgers | Holly Pester | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 10966 | That Time Of Year | Marie NDiaye | 2020 | French | French | |
| 11011 | Birthday | César Aira | 2019 | Argentinian | Spanish | |
| 11919 | Lake Of Urine | Guillermo Stitch | 2020 | British | English | |
| 12063 | Strange Pictures | Uketsu | 2022 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 12764 | Father's On The Phone With The Flies | Herta Müller | 2012 | German | German | |
| 13800 | Blumenberg | Sibylle Lewitscharoff | 2011 | German | German | |
| 14043 | Die Stunde Zwischen Frau Und Gitarre | Clemens J. Setz | 2015 | Austrian | German | |
| 14232 | Your Utopia | Bora Chung | 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 14232 | Memoirs Of A Polar Bear | Yoko Tawada | 2011 | German | German | |
| 14232 | Men Without Women | Haruki Murakami | 2014 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 14404 | Die Inkommensurablen | Raphaela Edelbauer | 2021 | Austrian | German | |
| 14649 | Tadanori Yokoo | Daido Moriyama | 2006 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 14984 | Bliss Montage | Ling Ma | 2022 | American | English | |
| 14984 | Earthlings | Sayaka Murata | 2023 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 14984 | The Vorrh | Brian Catling | 2012 | British | English | |
| 14984 | The Blue Fox | Sjón | 2003 | Icelandic | Icelandic | |
| 14984 | There Is No Antimemetics Division | qntm | 2020 | Unknown | English | |
| 14984 | Harold | Steven Wright | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 14984 | Siete Casas Vacías | Samanta Schweblin | 2015 | Argentinian | Spanish | |
| 17131 | The Invented Part | Rodrigo Fresán | 2014 | Argentinian | Spanish | |
| 17131 | The Islanders | Christopher Priest | 2011 | British | English | |
| 17131 | The Middle Stories | Sheila Heti | 2001 | Canadian | English | |
| 17131 | The Slynx | Tatyana Tolstaya | 2000 | Russian | Russian | |
| 17131 | The Shallow End Of The Pool | Adam-Troy Castro | 2008 | Unknown | English | |
| 17131 | 20th Century Ghosts | Joe Hill | 2005 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Diary | Chuck Palahniuk | 2003 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Life On Mars | Tracy K. Smith | 2011 | American | English | |
| 17131 | The Alchemaster's Apprentice | Walter Moers | 2007 | German | German | |
| 17131 | Rumo | Walter Moers | 2003 | German | German | |
| 17131 | The City Of Dreaming Books | Walter Moers | 2004 | German | German | |
| 17131 | Hppy | Nicola Barker | 2017 | British | English | |
| 17131 | The Factory | Hiroko Oyamada | 2013 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 17131 | The Weird And The Eerie | Mark Fisher | 2016 | British | English | |
| 17131 | The Conspiracy Against The Human Race | Thomas Ligotti | 2010 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Set My Heart On Fire | Izumi Suzuki | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17131 | Some Strange Music Draws Me In | Griffin Hansbury | 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 17131 | Lesser Ruins | Mark Haber | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17131 | Things Felt But Not Quite Expressed | Sohrab Hura | 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 17131 | Children Of Paradise | Camilla Grudova | 2022 | Canadian | English | |
| 17131 | Elixir | Kassa Kappabova | 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 17131 | Breakdown | Cathy Sweeney | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 17131 | Stellar Atmospheres | Alicia Sometimes | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17131 | The City And Its Uncertain Walls | Haruki Murakami | 2023 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 17131 | You Glow In The Dark | Liliana Colanzi | 2022 | Unknown | Spanish | |
| 17131 | After Dark | Haruki Murakami | 2004 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 17131 | Paradise Rot | Jenny Hval | 2009 | Norwegian | Norwegian | |
| 17131 | Room To Dream | David Lynch | 2018 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Hagstone | Sinéad Gleeson | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17131 | Volte Face | Dominique Hecq | 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 17131 | The Drowned Life | Jeffrey Ford | 2008 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Tales Of Falling And Flying | Ben Loory | 2017 | American | English | |
| 17131 | The Unfinished World | Amber Sparks | 2016 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Anna In W Grobowcach świata | Olga Tokarczuk | 2006 | Polish | Polish | |
| 17131 | Harrow | Joy Williams | 2021 | American | English | |
| 17131 | White Tears | Hari Kunzru | 2017 | British | English | |
| 17131 | Good Night, Sleep Tight | Brian Evenson | 2024 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Tantalópolis | Peter Macsovszky | 2015 | Slovak | Slovak | |
| 17131 | After The Sun | Jonas Eika | 2018 | Danish | Danish | |
| 17131 | Elegy On Toy Piano | Dean Young | 2005 | American | English | |
| 17131 | The Hike | Drew Magary | 2016 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Autobiography Of A Corpse | Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky | 2013 | Russian | Russian | |
| 17131 | Our Ecstatic Days | Steve Erickson | 2005 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Homunculus 1 | Hideo Yamamoto | 2003 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 17131 | Extracting The Stone Of Madness | Alejandra Pizarnik | 2016 | Argentine | Spanish | |
| 17131 | Owlish | Dorothy Tse | 2023 | Unknown | Chinese | |
| 17131 | Hit Parade Of Tears | Izumi Suzuki | 2023 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 17131 | Evil Flowers | Gunnhild Øyehaug | 2023 | Norwegian | Norwegian | |
| 17131 | Temporary | Hilary Leichter | 2020 | American | English | |
| 17131 | Mouthful Of Birds | Samanta Schweblin | 2009 | Argentinian | Spanish | |
| 17131 | Girls Against God | Jenny Hval | 2018 | Norwegian | English | |
| 17131 | 1 Q84 | Haruki Murakami | 2009 | Japanese | Japanese | |
| 17131 | After The Quake | haruki murakami | 2000 | Japanese | Japanese |