The 222 Greatest Works of French Literature
This selection of literature from France is based on the continuing research carried out for The Greatest Literature of All Time list and is additionally informed by the views of local readers, writers, critics and scholars.
It encompasses the greatest works of French authors in all forms, genres, cultures and periods.
Note, "French literature" here refers to works of authors associated with the country of France and its predecessors. Works of other French-language writers may be found on Greatest lists for their own countries and regions.
This list focuses on major creative—mainly fictional—works, although some shorter or nonfiction writing of literary significance may also be considered.
Latest update: July 23, 2024
c. 1100
The Song of Roland
by Anonymous, France
Poem
c.1177–1181
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
by Chrétien de Troyes, France
Poem
1181–1190
Perceval, the Story of the Grail
by Chrétien de Troyes, France
Poem
1230–1275
The Romance of the Rose
by Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meun, France
Poem
1461
The Great Testament
by François Villon, France
Poetry collection
1532–1564
The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel
by François Rabelais, France
Novel series
1558
The Heptaméron
by Marguerite de Navarre, France
Story collection
1572
Franciad
by Pierre de Ronsard, France
Poem
1580
Essays
by Michel de Montaigne, France, essay collection
1616
Les Tragiques
by Agrippa D'Aubigné, France
Poem
1636
Le Cid
by Pierre Corneille, France
Play
The Comic Illusion
by Pierre Corneille, France
Play
1667
Andromaque
by Jean Racine, France
Play
1668–1694
La Fontaine's Fables
by 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
1670
The Bourgeois Gentleman
by Molière, France
Play also known as The Would-Be Gentleman; The Middle-Class Gentleman; The Tradesman; The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman
Bérénice
by Jean Racine, France
Play
1677
Phèdre
by Jean Racine, France
Play
1678
La Princesse de Clèves
by Madame de La Fayette, France
Novella
1691
Athalie
by Jean Racine, France
Play
1697
Tales of Mother Goose
by Charles Perrault, France
Story collection
1699
The Adventures of Telemachus
by François Fénelon, France
Novel
1723
La Henriade
by Voltaire, France
Poem
1730
The Game of Love and Chance
by Pierre de Marivaux, France
Play
1731
Manon Lescaut
by l'Abbé Prévost, France
Novel
1744
La Dispute
by Pierre de Marivaux, France
Play
1747
Zadiq
by Voltaire, France
Novel
1752
Micromégas
by Voltaire, France
Novella
1759
Candide
by Voltaire, France
Novella
1775
The Barber of Seville
by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, France
Play
1782
Dangerous Liaisons
by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, France
Novel
1784
The Marriage of Figaro
by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, France
Play
1785
The 120 Days of Sodom
by Marquis de Sade, France
Novel
1788
Paul and Virginia
by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, France
Novel
1791
Justine
by Marquis de Sade, France
Novel
1792
Memoirs of a Nun
by Denis Diderot, France
Novel
1796
Jacques the Fatalist and His Master
by Denis Diderot, France
Novel
1797–1801
Juliette
by Marquis de Sade, France
Novel
1802
Rene
by Francois René de Chateaubriand, France
Novel
Delphine
by Germaine de Staël, France
Novel
1807
Corinne
by Germaine de Staël, France
Novel
1821
Rameau's Nephew
by Denis Diderot, France
Nonfiction
1829
The Chouans
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Novel
1830
A Passion in the Desert
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Story
1831
The Elixir of Life
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Novel
Queen Margot
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Play
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
by Victor Hugo, France
Novel also known as Notre-Dame de Paris
The Red and the Black
by Stendhal, France
Novel
1832
Indiana
by George Sand, France
Novel
1833
Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess
by Anonymous, France
Novel
Eugénie Grandet
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Novel
Lélia
by George Sand, France
Novel
1834
Old Goriot
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Novel
1837–1843
Lost Illusions
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Novel
1839
Charterhouse of Parma
by Stendhal, France
Novel
1843–1847
The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Novel
1844
The Three Musketeers
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Novel
1844–1846
The Count of Monte-Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Novel
1845
Twenty Years After
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Novel
Carmen
by Prosper Mérimée, France
Novella
1846
Cousin Bette
by Honoré de Balzac, France
Novel
The Devil's Pool
by George Sand, France
Novel
1847
The Vicomte of Bragelonne
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Novel
1852
The Lady of the Camellias
by Alexandre Dumas, fils, France
Novel
Enamels and Cameos
by Théophile Gautier, France
Poetry collection
1854
Girls of the Fire
by Gérard de Nerval, France
Story collection
1856
The Contemplations
by Victor Hugo, France
Poetry collection
1857
The Flowers of Evil
by Charles Baudelaire, France
Poetry collection
1859–1883
The Legend of the Ages
by Victor Hugo, France
Poetry collection
1862
Salammbô
by Gustave Flaubert, France
Novel
1864
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth
by Jules Verne, France
Novel
Les Destinés
by Alfred de Vigny, France
Poetry collection
1865
From the Earth to the Moon
by Jules Verne, France
Novel
1868
Monsieur Lecog
by Emile Gaboriau, France
Novel
Therese Raquin
by Émile Zola, France
Novel
1868–1869
The Songs of Maldoror
by Comte de Lautréamont, France
Poem
1869
A Sentimental Education
by Gustave Flaubert, France
Novel
1870
The Sleeper in the Valley
by Arthur Rimbaud, France
Poem
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
by Jules Verne, France
Novel
1873
Les Amours Jaunes
by Tristan Corbiére, France
Poetry collection
A Season in Hell
by Arthur Rimbaud, France
Poem
Around the World in Eighty Days
by Jules Verne, France
Novel
1874
The She-Devils
by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, France
Story collection
1877
The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaler
by Gustave Flaubert, France
Story
A Simple Heart
by Gustave Flaubert, France
Novella
The Drunkard
by Émile Zola, France
Novel
1880
Nana
by Émile Zola, France
Novel
1881
Bouvard and Pécuchet
by Gustave Flaubert, France
Novel
Sagesse
by Paul Verlaine, France
Poetry collection
1882
Mademoiselle Fifi
by Guy de Maupassant, France
Story collection includes Mademoiselle Fifi, Boule de Suif, and others
1883
A Woman's Life
by Guy de Maupassant, France
Novel
1884
Against Nature
by Joris-Karl Huysmans, France
Novel
1885
Bel Ami
by Guy de Maupassant, France
Novel
Germinal
by Émile Zola, France
Novel
1886
Illuminations
by Arthur Rimbaud, France, Prose poem collection
The Masterpiece
by Émile Zola, France
Novel
1887
Poésies
by Stéphane Mallarmé, France
Poetry collection
1888
Pierre et Jean
by Guy de Maupassant, France
Novel
1890
Thaïs
by Anatole France, France
Novel
The Beast Within
by Émile Zola, France
Novel
1891
Down There
by Joris-Karl Huysmans, France
Novel
1896
The Dupe
by Georges Feydeau, France
Play
Ubu Roi
by Alfred Jarry, France
Play
1897
The Fruits of Earth
by André Gide, France, Long prose poem
1898
Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand, France
Play
1896
The Dupe
by Georges Feydeau, France
Play
1900–1903
Claudine
by Colette, France
Novel series includes Claudine at School; Claudine in Paris; Claudine Married; Claudine and Annie
1902
The Immoralist
by André Gide, France
Novella
1907
Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief
by Maurice Leblanc, France
Novella series
Tendrils of the Vine
by Colette, France
Novella series
1909
Penguin Island
by Anatole France, France
Novel
Strait Is the Gate
by André Gide, France
Novel
1910
Phantom of the Opera
by Gaston Leroux, France
Novel
Impressions of Africa
by Raymond Roussel, France
Novel
1911
Fantômas
by Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre, France
Novel
1913
Le Grand Meaulnes
by Alain-Fournier, France
Novel
Alcohols
by Guillaume Apollinaire, France
Poetry collection
1913–1927
In Search of Lost Time
by Marcel Proust, France
Novel in seven volumes including Swann's Way, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, The Guermantes Way, Time Regained
1914
Locus Solus
by Raymond Roussel, France
Novel
Edmund Dulac's Fairy-Book
by Edmund Dulac, France
Story collection
1918
Calligrammes
by Guillaume Apollinaire, France
Poetry collection
1920
Chéri
by Colette, France
Novel
1922
Claudine's House
by Colette, France
Novel
1923
The Devil in Flesh
by Raymond Radiguet, France
Novel
1925
The Counterfeiters
by André Gide, France
Novel
1926
Under Satan's Sun
by Georges Bernanos, France
Novel
Moravagine
by Blaise Cendrars, France
Novel
The Capital of Pain
by Paul Éluard, France
Poetry collection
1927
Thérése Desqueyroux
by Francois Mauriac, France
Novel
1928
Story of the Eye
by Georges Bataille, France
Novella
Nadja
by André Breton, France
Novel
1929
The Holy Terrors
by Jean Cocteau, France
Novel
Retreat Without Song
by Shahan Shahnoor, France
Novel
1931
The Story of Babar
by Jean de Brunhoff, France
Story
1932
Journey to the End of the Night
by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, France
Novel
The Pure and the Impure
by Colette, France
Novel
Viper's Tangle
by Francois Mauriac, France
Novel
1933
Man's Fate
by André Malraux, France
Novel
1934
The Bells of Basel
by Louis Aragon, France
Novel
1936
The Diary of a Country Priest
by Georges Bernanos, France
Novel
Death on Credit
by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, France
Novel
Tropisms
by Nathalie Sarraute, France
Novel
1938
Nausea
by Jean-Paul Sartre, France
Novel
1941
The Silence of the Sea
by Vercors, France
Novel
1943
The Satin Slipper
by Paul Claudel, France
Play
1944
Antigone
by Jean Anouilh, France
Play
Aurélien
by Louis Aragon, France
Novel
Arcanum 17
by Andre Breton, France
Poem
Gigi
by Colette, novella
Poem
Our Lady of the Flowers
by Jean Genet, France
Novel
No Exit
by Jean-Paul Sartre, France
Play
1945–1949
The Roads to Freedom
by Jean Paul Sartre, France
Novel series
1946
Paroles
by Jacques Prévert, France
Poetry collection
1947
The Maids
by Jean Genet, France
Play
Querelle of Brest
by Jean Genet, France
Novella
Exercises in Style
by Raymond Queneau, France
Story collection
Autumn in Peking
by Boris Vian, France
Novel
Froth on the Daydream
by Boris Vian, France
Novel
1948
Death Sentence
by Maurice Blanchot, France
Novel
Furor and Mystery
by René Char, France
Poetry collection
1949
The Thief's Journal
by Jean Genet, France
Novella
1950
The Abbot C
by Georges Bataille, France
Novella
The Bald Soprano
by Eugène Ionesco, France
Play
1951
The Opposing Shore
by Julien Gracq, France
Novel
1952
The Chairs
by Eugène Ionesco, France
Play
1954
The Mandarins
by Simone de Beauvoir, France
Novel
A Spy in the House of Love
by Anaïs Nin, France
Novel
The Story of O
by Pauline Reage, France
Novel
Hello Sadness
by Francoise Sagan, France
Novella
1955
Triste Tropiques
by Claude Lévi-Strauss, France
Memoir
The Voyeur
by Alain Robbe-Grillet, France
Novel
1956
Passing Time
by Michel Butor, France
Novel
The Roots of Heaven
by Romain Gary, France
Novel
1957
The Blue of Noon
by Georges Bataille, France
Novella
Second Thoughts
by Michel Butor, France
Novel
Amers
by Saint-John Perse, France
Poetry collection
In the Labyrinth
by Alain Robbe-Grillet, France
Novel
1959
Rhinoceros
by Eugène Ionesco, France
Play
Zazie in the Metro
by Raymond Queneau, France
Novel
Jealousy
by Alain Robbe-Grillet, France
Novel
1960
Promise at Dawn
by Romain Gary, France
Novel
1962
The Afternoon of Mr. Andesmas
by Marguerite Duras, France
Novel
Exit the King
by Eugène Ionesco, France
Play
1963
Monkey Planet
by Pierre Boulle, France
Novel
The Water of the Hills
by Marcel Pagnol, France
Novel series includes Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources
1964
The Ravishing of Lol Stein
by Marguerite Duras, France
Novel
The Interrogation
by J. M. G. Le Clézio, France
Novel
1965
The Vice-Consul
by Marguerite Duras, France
Novel
Things: A Story of the Sixties
by Georges Perec, France
Novel
1967
Friday, or, The Other Island
by Michel Tournier, France
Novel
The Day of the Dolphind
by Robert Merle, France
Novel
1968
The Abyss
by Marguerite Yourcenar, France
Novel
1969
A Void
by Georges Perec, France
Novel
1975
W, or the Memory of Childhood
by Georges Perec, France
Novel
1976
Hérémakhonon
by Maryse Conde, France
Novel
1977
Delta of Venus
by Anaïs Nin, France
Story collection
1978
Life, a User's Manual
by Georges Perec, France
Novel
1984
The Lover
by Marguerite Duras, France
Novella
1985
Betty Blue
by Philippe Djian, France
Novel
1986
I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem
by Maryse Condé, France
Novel
1994
Whatever
by Michel Houellbecq, France
Novel
Small Lives
by Pierre Michon, France
Novel
1998
The Elementary Particles
by Michel Houellbecq, France
Novel
1999
I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere
by Anna Gavalda, France
Story collection
2000
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
by Dai Sijie, France
Novel
2001
Platform
by Michel Houellbecq, France
Novel
2004
Hunting and Gathering
by Anna Gavalda, France
Novel
French Suite
by Irène Némirovsky, France
Novel series
2005
Broken Glass
by Alain Mabanckou, France
Novel
2006
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery, France
Novel
2009
Other Lives But Mine
by Emmanuel Carrière, France
Nonfiction
See also:
Creating the Greatest Literature of All Time list
Greatest Literature of All Time
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The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and Other Plays
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