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The Greatest Portuguese Literature

This selection is based on The Greatest Literature of All Time and further research into the major creative literature of Portugal acclaimed by the world's readers, writers, critics and scholars.

You may also be interested in The Greatest Spanish Literature or The Greatest Brazilian Literature.

The 33 greatest works of Portugal

Latest update: August 26, 2024

c. 1400
 
Amadís de Gaula
by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, Portugal
Novel
1516
 
General Songbook
by Garcia Resende, Portugal
Poetry collection
1523
 
Farce of Inês Pereira
by Gil Vicente, Portugal
Play
1554
 
Maiden and Modest
by Bernardim Ribeiro, Portugal
Epic poem
1572
 
The Lusiads
by Luís de Camões, Portugal
Poem, originally Os Lusíadas
1846
 
Travels in My Homeland
by Almeida Garrett, Portugal
Novel
1875
 
The Crime of Father Amaro
by Eça de Queirós, Portugal
Novel, subtitled Scenes of Religious Life, orignally O Crime do Padre Amaro
1878
 
Cousin Bazilio
by Eça de Queirós, Portugal
Novel
1882
 
The Brazilian Girl from Prazens
by Camilo Castelo Branco, Portugal
Novel
1887
 
The Book of Cesário Verde
by Cesário Verde, Portugal
Poetry collection
1888
 
The Maias
by Eça de Queirós, Portugal
Novel
1920
 
Clepsydra
by Camilo Pessanha, Portugal
Poetry collection
1925
 
Poems of God and the Devil
by José Régio, Portugal
Poetry collection
1930
 
The Jungle
by Ferreira de Castro, Portugal
Novel, originally A Selva
1944
 
Poetry
by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Portugal
Poetry collection
1953
 
A Bee in the Rain
by Carlos de Oliveira, Portugal
Novel
1957
 
The Ironing Machine
by Almada Negreiros, Portugal
Novel
1968
 
The Dolphin
by José Cardoso Pires, Portugal
Novel
1977
 
The Prodigious Physician
by Jorge de Sena, Portugal
Novel
1982
 
The Book of Disquiet
by Fernando Pessoa, Portugal
Novel, originally Livro do Desassossego: Composto por Bernardo Soares, ajudante de guarda-livros na cidade de Lisboa
missing graphic
Baltasar and Blimunda
by José Saramago, Portugal
Novel, originally Memorial do Convento

The English title of José Saramago's most acclaimed novel, Baltasar and Blimunda, gives the impression it's a love story, about the love between the two characters who turn out to be a soldier who has lost a hand in battle and.... CritiqueQuotesBuy the book

 
The Land at the End of the World
by António Lobo Antunes, Portugal
Novel, also known as South of Nowhere, originally Os Cús de Judas,
1983
 
Fado Alexandrino
by António Lobo Antunes, Portugal
Novel
1984
 
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
by José Saramago, Portugal
Novel, originally O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis
1986
 
The Stone Raft
by José Saramago, Portugal
Novel
1988
 
The Murmuring Coast
by Lídia Jorge, Portugal
Novel
1989
 
The History of the Siege of Lisbon
by José Saramago, Portugal
Novel
1990
 
Mensagem
by Fernando Pessoa, Portugal
Novel
1995
missing graphic
Blindness
by José Saramago, Portugal
Novel, originally Ensaio sobre a cegueira

Blindness may be the most popular of José Saramago's novels, possibly because it is one of his easiest to get into. From the beginning the plot reads like a science fiction story—one of those tales in which a virus or.... CritiqueQuotesAt the moviesBuy the book

2004
 
Seeing
by José Saramago, Portugal
Novel
2009
 
Cain
by José Saramago, Portugal
Novel
2018
 
Poetry
by António Botto, Portugal
Poetry collection