Yerevan Bestseller 3/37: Grig’s Jesus Cat is on the list

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. "The Little Prince" by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry published by Antares and Edit Print publishing houses tops this week's "Bestseller Books List" introduced by "Armenpress" News Agency. The novella is both the most read and most translated book in the French language, and was voted the best book of the 20th century in France. The book was translated into more than 250 languages and dialects, as well as Braille.

St. Gregory of Narek’s ''The Book of Lamentations'' published by “Zangak” publishing house occupies the second position of the bestseller books list introduced by "Armenpress" News Agency. The mystical poem "Book of Lamentations" has been translated into many languages and has played a significant role in the development of the Armenian literary language. In 95 grace-filled prayers St. Gregory draws on the exquisite potential of the Classical Armenian language to translate the pure sighs of the broken and contrite heart into an offering of words pleasing to God. The result is an edifice of faith for the ages, unique in Christian literature for its rich imagery, its subtle theology, its Biblical erudition, and the sincere immediacy of its communication with God. This masterpiece by St. Gregory of Narek has always been included in our bestseller books list.

“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green occupies the fourth place in this week's "Bestseller Books List.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. The book was translated into Armenian by Edit Print Publishing house, by Alina Mirzoyan.

Grig’s Jesus Cat is the fifth on the list. This is the first book of the young prose writer. The novels involved in this work bring forward a unique writing style on the one hand and an original vision on the world and people on the other. This combination forms characters in Grig’s creative space, which help to discover another invisible side of life. The book was published by “Antares”. Editor – Gurgen Khanjyan.

"This is Not the End of theBook" byUmberto EcoandJean-Claude Carrièreoccupies the sixth place in Bestseller Books list.

The perfect gift for book lovers: a beautifully designed hardcover in which two of the world's great men have a delightfully rambling conversation about the future of the book in the digital era, and decide it is here to stay.

“The Piano Teacher” by Austrian Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek is on the seventh place. The most popular work from provocative Austrian Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek, The Piano Teacher is a searing portrait of a woman bound between a repressive society and her darkest desires. Erika Kohut is a piano teacher at the prestigious and formal Vienna Conservatory, who still lives with her domineering and possessive mother. Her life appears boring, but Erika, a quiet thirty-eight-year-old, secretly visits Turkish peep shows at night and watched sadomasochistic films. Meanwhile, a handsome, self-absorbed, seventeen-year-old student has become enamored with Erika and sets out to seduce her. She resists him at first—but then the dark passions roiling under the piano teacher’s subdued exterior explode in a release of perversity, violence, and degradation.

"Steppenwolf" novel by German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse is the eighth in our list. Originally published in Germany in 1927, it was first translated into English in 1929. Combining autobiographical and psychoanalytic elements, the novel was named after the lonesome wolf of the steppes. The story in large part reflects a profound crisis in Hesse's spiritual world during the 1920s while memorably portraying the protagonist's split between his humanity and his wolf-like aggression and homelessness. Hesse would later assert that the book was largely misunderstood.

"The Alchemist" novel by contemporary Brazilian author Paulo Coelho is the next in our list. This book has been translated into 67 languages and according to AFP, it has sold more than 30 million copies in 56 different languages, becoming one of the best-selling books in history and winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. An allegorical novel, The Alchemist follows a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there. The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago, believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, decides to travel to a Romani in a nearby town to discover its meaning. A gypsy woman tells him that there is a treasure in the Pyramids in Egypt. Early into his journey, he meets an old king, Melchizedek, who tells him to sell his sheep to travel to Egypt and introduces the idea of a Personal Legend (which is always capitalized in the book). Your Personal Legend "is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is". He adds that "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it". This is the core theme of the book.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Columbian author Gabriel García Márquez closes the list. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founds the town of Macondo, the metaphoric Colombia.

To complete the bestseller list, the following bookshops have participated in the survey: “Bookinist” (53-74-13), “New Book” (093-60-40-64), “Noah’s Ark” (56-81-84), “Armenian Book” (54-07-06), “Antares” (091-90-01-23), “Narek” (51-91-36) and “Zangak” (23-25-28). No textbook was considered during the survey.