The Greatest Literature of France
This list of the Greatest Literature of France is based on and updated from the extensive research carried out over the past two decades to create our initial Greatest Literature of All Time list—with special attention paid to the sentiment of French readers, writers, critics and scholars.
Please note, "French literature" in this case refers to works of authors associated with France, not to all works written in the French language. Works of Francophone authors in other countries, such as Algeria or Canada, may be included in lists of works from those countries.
This list focuses on major creative works—such as novels, plays, epic poetry and story collections—although some shorter or nonfiction writing of literary significance may also be included.
Latest update: April 5, 2024
The 222 greatest works of French literature
In chronological order
c. 1100
The Song of Roland
Anonymous,
France,
poem
c.1177–1181
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
Chrétien de Troyes,
France,
poem
1181–1190
Perceval, the Story of the Grail
Chrétien de Troyes,
France,
poem
1230–1275
The Romance of the Rose
Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meun,
France,
poem
1461
The Great Testament
François Villon,
France,
poetry collection
1532–1564
The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel
François Rabelais,
France,
novel series
1558
The Heptaméron
Marguerite de Navarre,
France,
story collection
1572
Franciad
Pierre de Ronsard,
France,
poem
1580
Essays
Michel de Montaigne,
France,
essay collection
1616
Les Tragiques
Agrippa D'Aubigné,
France,
poem
1636
Le Cid
Pierre Corneille,
France,
play
The Comic Illusion
Pierre Corneille,
France,
play
1667
Andromaque
Jean Racine,
France,
play
1668–1694
La Fontaine's Fables
Jean de La Fontaine,
France,
poetry collection
Includes The Fox and the Crow, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Ant and the Grasshopper, and others
Bérénice
Jean Racine,
France,
play
1677
Phèdre
Jean Racine,
France,
play
1678
La Princesse de Clèves
Madame de La Fayette,
France,
novella
1691
Athalie
Jean Racine,
France,
play
1697
Tales of Mother Goose
Charles Perrault,
France,
story collection
1699
The Adventures of Telemachus
François Fénelon,
France,
novel
1723
La Henriade
Voltaire,
France,
poem
1730
The Game of Love and Chance
Pierre de Marivaux,
France,
play
1731
Manon Lescaut
l'Abbé Prévost,
France,
novel
1744
La Dispute
Pierre de Marivaux,
France,
play
1747
Zadiq
Voltaire,
France,
novel
1752
Micromégas
Voltaire,
France,
novella
1759
Candide
Voltaire,
France,
novella
1761
Julie, or the New Heloise
Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
France,
novel
1762
Emile, Or, On Education
Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
France,
novel
1775
The Barber of Seville
Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais,
France,
play
1782
Dangerous Liaisons
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos,
France,
novel
Confessions
Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
France,
memoir
1784
The Marriage of Figaro
Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais,
France,
play
1785
The 120 Days of Sodom
Marquis de Sade,
France,
novel
1788
Paul and Virginia
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre,
France,
novel
1791
Justine
Marquis de Sade,
France,
novel
1792
Memoirs of a Nun
Denis Diderot,
France,
novel
1796
Jacques the Fatalist and His Master
Denis Diderot,
France,
novel
1797–1801
Juliette
Marquis de Sade,
France,
novel
1802
Rene
Francois René de Chateaubriand,
France,
novel
Delphine
Germaine de Staël,
France,
novel
1807
Corinne
Germaine de Staël,
France,
novel
1821
Rameau's Nephew
Denis Diderot,
France,
nonfiction
1829
The Chouans
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
novel
1830
A Passion in the Desert
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
story
1831
The Elixir of Life
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
novel
Queen Margot
Alexandre Dumas,
France,
play
The Red and the Black
Stendhal,
France,
novel
1832
Indiana
George Sand,
France,
novel
1833
Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess
Anonymous,
France,
novel
Eugénie Grandet
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
novel
Lélia
George Sand,
France,
novel
1834
Old Goriot
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
novel
1837–1843
Lost Illusions
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
novel
1839
Charterhouse of Parma
Stendhal,
France,
novel
1843–1847
The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
novel
1844
The Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas,
France,
novel
1844–1846
The Count of Monte-Cristo
Alexandre Dumas,
France,
novel
1845
Twenty Years After
Alexandre Dumas,
France,
novel
Carmen
Prosper Mérimée,
France,
novella
1846
Cousin Bette
Honoré de Balzac,
France,
novel
The Devil's Pool
George Sand,
France,
novel
1847
The Vicomte of Bragelonne
Alexandre Dumas,
France,
novel
1852
The Lady of the Camellias
Alexandre Dumas, fils,
France,
novel
Enamels and Cameos
Théophile Gautier,
France,
poetry collection
1854
Girls of the Fire
Gérard de Nerval,
France,
story collection
1856
The Contemplations
Victor Hugo,
France,
poetry collection
1857
The Flowers of Evil
Charles Baudelaire,
France,
poetry collection
1859–1883
The Legend of the Ages
Victor Hugo,
France,
poetry collection
1862
Salammbô
Gustave Flaubert,
France,
novel
1864
Jules Verne,
France,
novel
Les Destinés
Alfred de Vigny,
France,
poetry collection
1865
From the Earth to the Moon
Jules Verne,
France,
novel
1868
Monsieur Lecog
Emile Gaboriau,
France,
novel
Therese Raquin
Émile Zola,
France,
novel
1868–1869
The Songs of Maldoror
Comte de Lautréamont,
France,
poem
1869
A Sentimental Education
Gustave Flaubert,
France,
novel
1870
The Sleeper in the Valley
Arthur Rimbaud,
France,
poem
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Jules Verne,
France,
novel
1873
Les Amours Jaunes
Tristan Corbiére,
France,
poetry collection
A Season in Hell
Arthur Rimbaud,
France,
poem
Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne,
France,
novel
1874
The She-Devils
Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly,
France,
story collection
1877
The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaler
Gustave Flaubert,
France,
story
A Simple Heart
Gustave Flaubert,
France,
novella
The Drunkard
Émile Zola,
France,
novel
1880
Nana
Émile Zola,
France,
novel
1881
Bouvard and Pécuchet
Gustave Flaubert,
France,
novel
Sagesse
Paul Verlaine,
France,
poetry collection
1882
Mademoiselle Fifi
Guy de Maupassant,
France,
story collection
Includes Mademoiselle Fifi, Boule de Suif, and others
1883
A Woman's Life
Guy de Maupassant,
France,
novel
1884
Against Nature
Joris-Karl Huysmans,
France,
novel
1885
Bel Ami
Guy de Maupassant,
France,
novel
Germinal
Émile Zola,
France,
novel
1886
Illuminations
Arthur Rimbaud,
France,
Prose poem collection
The Masterpiece
Émile Zola,
France,
novel
1887
Poésies
Stéphane Mallarmé,
France,
poetry collection
1888
Pierre et Jean
Guy de Maupassant,
France,
novel
1890
Thaïs
Anatole France,
France,
novel
The Beast Within
Émile Zola,
France,
novel
1891
Down There
Joris-Karl Huysmans,
France,
novel
1896
The Dupe
Georges Feydeau,
France,
play
Ubu Roi
Alfred Jarry,
France,
play
1897
The Fruits of Earth
André Gide,
France,
Long prose poem
1898
Cyrano de Bergerac
Edmond Rostand,
France,
play
1896
The Dupe
Georges Feydeau,
France,
play
1900–1903
Claudine
Colette,
France,
novel series
Includes Claudine at School; Claudine in Paris; Claudine Married; Claudine and Annie
1902
The Immoralist
André Gide,
France,
novella
1907
Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief
Maurice Leblanc,
France,
novella series
Tendrils of the Vine
Colette,
France,
novella series
1909
Penguin Island
Anatole France,
France,
novel
Strait Is the Gate
André Gide,
France,
novel
1910
Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux,
France,
novel
Impressions of Africa
Raymond Roussel,
France,
novel
1911
Fantômas
Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre,
France,
novel
1913
Le Grand Meaulnes
Alain-Fournier,
France,
novel
Alcohols
Guillaume Apollinaire,
France,
poetry collection
1913–1927
In Search of Lost Time
Marcel Proust,
France,
novel
seven volumes including Swann's Way, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, The Guermantes Way, Time Regained
1914
Locus Solus
Raymond Roussel,
France,
novel
Edmund Dulac's Fairy-Book
Edmund Dulac,
France,
story collection
1918
Calligrammes
Guillaume Apollinaire,
France,
poetry collection
1920
Chéri
Colette,
France,
novel
1922
Claudine's House
Colette,
France,
novel
1923
The Devil in Flesh
Raymond Radiguet,
France,
novel
1925
The Counterfeiters
André Gide,
France,
novel
1926
Under Satan's Sun
Georges Bernanos,
France,
novel
Moravagine
Blaise Cendrars,
France,
novel
The Capital of Pain
Paul Éluard,
France,
poetry collection
1927
Thérése Desqueyroux
Francois Mauriac,
France,
novel
1928
Story of the Eye
Georges Bataille,
France,
novella
Nadja
André Breton,
France,
novel
1929
The Holy Terrors
Jean Cocteau,
France,
novel
Retreat Without Song
Shahan Shahnoor,
France,
novel
1931
The Story of Babar
Jean de Brunhoff,
France,
story
1932
Journey to the End of the Night
Louis-Ferdinand Céline,
France,
novel
The Pure and the Impure
Colette,
France,
novel
Viper's Tangle
Francois Mauriac,
France,
novel
1933
Man's Fate
André Malraux,
France,
novel
1934
The Bells of Basel
Louis Aragon,
France,
novel
1936
The Diary of a Country Priest
Georges Bernanos,
France,
novel
Death on Credit
Louis-Ferdinand Céline,
France,
novel
Tropisms
Nathalie Sarraute,
France,
novel
1938
Nausea
Jean-Paul Sartre,
France,
novel
1941
The Silence of the Sea
Vercors,
France,
novel
1943
The Satin Slipper
Paul Claudel,
France,
play
France,
novella
1944
Antigone
Jean Anouilh,
France,
play
Aurélien
Louis Aragon,
France,
novel
Arcanum 17
Andre Breton,
France,
poem
Gigi
Colette,
novella,
poem
Our Lady of the Flowers
Jean Genet,
France,
novel
No Exit
Jean-Paul Sartre,
France,
play
1945–1949
The Roads to Freedom
Jean Paul Sartre,
France,
novel series
1946
Paroles
Jacques Prévert,
France,
poetry collection
1947
The Maids
Jean Genet,
France,
play
Querelle of Brest
Jean Genet,
France,
novella
Exercises in Style
Raymond Queneau,
France,
story collection
Froth on the Daydream
Boris Vian,
France,
novel
1948
Death Sentence
Maurice Blanchot,
France,
novel
Furor and Mystery
René Char,
France,
poetry collection
1950
The Abbot C
Georges Bataille,
France,
novella
The Bald Soprano
Eugène Ionesco,
France,
play
1951
The Opposing Shore
Julien Gracq,
France,
novel
1952
The Chairs
Eugène Ionesco,
France,
play
1954
The Mandarins
Simone de Beauvoir,
France,
novel
A Spy in the House of Love
Anaïs Nin,
France,
novel
The Story of O
Pauline Reage,
France,
novel
Hello Sadness
Francoise Sagan,
France,
novella
1955
Triste Tropiques
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
France,
memoir
The Voyeur
Alain Robbe-Grillet,
France,
novel
1956
Passing Time
Michel Butor,
France,
novel
The Roots of Heaven
Romain Gary,
France,
novel
1957
The Blue of Noon
Georges Bataille,
France,
novella
Second Thoughts
Michel Butor,
France,
novel
Amers
Saint-John Perse,
France,
poetry collection
Jealousy
Alain Robbe-Grillet,
France,
novel
1959
Rhinoceros
Eugène Ionesco,
France,
play
1959
Zazie in the Metro
Raymond Queneau,
France,
novel
1960
Promise at Dawn
Romain Gary,
France,
novel
1962
The Afternoon of Mr. Andesmas
Marguerite Duras,
France,
novel
Exit the King
Eugène Ionesco,
France,
play
1963
Monkey Planet
Pierre Boulle,
France,
novel
The Water of the Hills
Marcel Pagnol,
France,
novel series
Includes Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources
1964
The Ravishing of Lol Stein
Marguerite Duras,
France,
novel
The Interrogation
J. M. G. Le Clézio,
France,
novel
1965
The Vice-Consul
Marguerite Duras,
France,
novel
Things: A Story of the Sixties
Georges Perec,
France,
novel
1967
Friday, or, The Other Island
Michel Tournier,
France,
novel
The Day of the Dolphind
Robert Merle,
France,
novel
1968
The Abyss
Marguerite Yourcenar,
France,
novel
1969
A Void
Georges Perec,
France,
novel
1975
W, or the Memory of Childhood
Georges Perec,
France,
novel
1976
Hérémakhonon
Maryse Conde,
France,
novel
1977
Delta of Venus
Anaïs Nin,
France,
story collection
1978
Life, a User's Manual
Georges Perec,
France,
novel
1984
The Lover
Marguerite Duras,
France,
novella
1985
Betty Blue
Philippe Djian,
France,
novel
1986
I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem
Maryse Condé,
France,
novel
1994
Whatever
Michel Houellbecq,
France,
novel
Small Lives
Pierre Michon,
France,
novel
1998
The Elementary Particles
Michel Houellbecq,
France,
novel
1999
I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere
Anna Gavalda,
France,
story collection
2000
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Dai Sijie,
France,
novel
2001
Platform
Michel Houellbecq,
France,
novel
2004
Hunting and Gathering
Anna Gavalda,
France,
novel
French Suite
Irène Némirovsky,
France,
novel series
2005
Broken Glass
Alain Mabanckou,
France,
novel
2006
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Muriel Barbery,
France,
novel
2009
Other Lives But Mine
Emmanuel Carrière,
France,
nonfiction
See also:
Creating the Greatest Literature of All Time list
Greatest Literature of All Time
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