The Greatest Books of All Time on Survival

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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
2031 In Parenthesis David Jones 1937 British English
2067 How Late It Was, How Late James Kelman 1994 Scottish English
2069 The Round House Louise Erdrich 2012 American English
2083 The Memoirs of a Survivor Doris May Lessing 1974 British English
2085 The Sheep Look Up John Brunner 1972 British English
2094 Derborence Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1934 Swiss French
2098 The Bean Trees Barbara Kingsolver 1988 American English
2104 Someone Like You Roald Dahl 1953 British English
2107 Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver 2022 American English
2112 House On The Embankment Yuri Trifonov 1976 Russian Russian
2131 Seven Brothers Aleksis Kivi 1870 Finnish Finnish
2133 I Will Bear Witness Victor Klemperer 1995 German German
2139 Shadows on the Rock Willa Cather 1931 American English
2146 The Night Land William Hope Hodgson 1912 British English
2147 Aniara Harry Martinson 1956 Swedish Swedish
2153 The Track Of The Cat Walter Van Tilburg Clark 1949 American English
2158 The Clan of the Cave Bear Jean M. Auel 1980 American English
2159 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2174 Surfacing Margaret Atwood 1972 Canadian English
2176 Hawaii James A. Michener 1959 American English
2188 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2201 Arch Of Triumph Erich Maria Remarque 1945 German German
2221 Simon and the Oaks Marianne Fredriksson 1985 Swedish Swedish
2227 Exit West Mohsin Hamid 2017 Pakistani English
2229 A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles 2016 American English
2234 Last And First Men Olaf Stapledon 1930 British English
2237 Ringworld Larry Niven 1970 American English
2240 Flashman George MacDonald Fraser 1969 British English
2257 A History Of The World In 10 1/2 Chapters Julian Barnes 1989 British English
2262 The Crystal World J. G. Ballard 1966 British English
2280 The Corner That Held Them Sylvia Townsend Warner 1948 British English
2285 The Crossing Cormac McCarthy 1994 American English
2289 The White Guard Mikhail Bulgakov 1925 Russian Russian
2297 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
2300 Journals Meriwether Lewis, William Clark 1804 American English
2307 The Selfish Gene Richard Dawkins 1976 British English
2316 The Cruel Sea Nicholas Monsarrat 1951 British English
2317 To The End Of The Land David Grossman 2008 Israeli Hebrew
2327 The Three-Body Problem Cixin Liu 2006 Chinese Chinese
2350 The Inheritors William Golding 1955 British English
2355 Enemies, A Love Story Isaac Bashevis Singer 1972 American Yiddish
2362 Our Nig Harriet E. Wilson 1859 American English
2364 The Sorrow Of War Bao Ninh 1990 Vietnamese Vietnamese
2366 Little Big Man Thomas Berger 1964 American English
2373 Roxana Daniel Defoe 1724 British English
2393 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2394 The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls 2005 American English
2397 The Drowned and the Saved Primo Levi 1986 Italian Italian
2400 Remembering Babylon David Malouf 1993 Australian English
2414 The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester 1956 American English
2424 Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer 1997 American English
2433 The Forever War Joe Haldeman 1974 American English
2465 Non Stop Brian Aldiss 1958 British English
2485 The Good War Studs Terkel 1984 American English
2495 Rogue Moon Algis Budrys 1960 American English
2498 Room Emma Donoghue 2010 Irish English
2499 The South Pole Roald Amundsen 1912 Norwegian Norwegian
2504 The Prairie James Fenimore Cooper 1827 American English
2505 Pastoralia George Saunders 2000 American English
2535 Into the Wild Jon Krakauer 1996 American English
2540 Journal, 1935 44 Mihail Sebastian 1996 Romanian Romanian
2545 The Pit and the Pendulum Edgar Allan Poe 1842 American English
2546 Martín Fierro José Hernández 1872 Argentinian Spanish
2548 The Enormous Room E. E. Cummings 1922 American English
2548 Her Privates We Frederic Manning 1929 Australian English
2584 Dawn Octavia E. Butler 1987 American English
2599 The Witness Juan José Saer 1983 Argentinian Spanish
2598 A Fringe Of Leaves Patrick White 1976 Australian English
2606 Ender's Game Orson Scott Card 1985 American English
2617 The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman Andrzej Szczypiorski 1986 Polish Polish
2620 To Live Yu Hua 1993 Chinese Chinese
2650 The House of Scorta Laurent Gaudé 2004 French French
2658 The Daughter Pavlos Matesis 1990 Greek Greek
2665 The Lost World Arthur Conan Doyle 1912 British English
2668 The Chrysalids John Wyndham 1955 Canadian English
2701 Witch World Andre Norton 1963 American English
2703 The Nightingale Kristin Hannah 2015 American English
2713 Mission Of Gravity Hal Clement 1954 American English
2719 The Sagas Of Icelanders Örnólfur Thorsson 1000 Icelandic Old norse
2736 Severance Ling Ma 2018 American English
2741 The Martian Andy Weir 2011 American English
2773 Man-Eaters of Kumaon Jim Corbett 1944 British English
2775 Travels in Arabia Deserta Charles M. Doughty 1888 British English
2791 The Island Of Second Sight Albert Vigoleis Thelen 1953 German English
2794 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
2810 Roadside Picnic Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky 1972 Russian Russian
2814 La Débâcle Émile Zola 1892 French French
2827 A Manual For Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin 2015 American English
2836 How to Cook a Wolf M. F. K. Fisher 1942 American English
2848 What Is the What Dave Eggers 2006 American English
2857 A Mercy Toni Morrison 2008 American English
2875 The Horseman on the Roof Jean Giono 1951 French French
2877 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2894 Silverlock John Myers Myers 1949 American English
2901 City Clifford D. Simak 1952 American English
2924 The African Queen C. S. Forester 1935 British English
2954 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
2957 Fugitive Pieces Anne Michaels 1996 Canadian English
2959 The Lower Depths Maxim Gorky 1902 Russian Russian
2986 Friday Michel Tournier 1967 French French
3018 The Old Men At The Zoo Angus Wilson 1961 British English
3051 Centennial James A. Michener 1974 American English
3065 The Secret River Kate Grenville 2005 Australian English
3068 Tintin In Tibet Hergé 1960 Belgian French
3083 Under the Skin Michel Faber 2000 British English
3086 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
3092 Disturbance Philippe Lançon 2018 French French
3130 Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood 2003 Canadian English
3137 The Keep F. Paul Wilson 1981 American English
3140 Great Heart James West Davidson, John Rugge 1988 American English
3142 The Shrinking Man Richard Matheson 1956 American English
3145 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany 1975 American English
3146 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
3147 Carrion Comfort Dan Simmons 1989 American English
3150 Malevil Robert Merle 1972 French French
3172 The Bee Sting Paul Murray 2023 Irish English
3179 The Quick And The Dead Joy Williams 2000 American English
3181 Women And Appletrees Moa Martinson 1933 Swedish Swedish
3183 Minor Detail Adania Shibli 2017 Palestinian Arabic
3185 Moon Palace Paul Auster 1989 American English