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YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian writer Vardges Petrosyan’sYears Lived and Not Livedis again at the top ofYerevan Bestsellerproject – anARMENPRESSexclusivebringing the top ten weekly bestselling books of the Armenian capital.
The book includes two stories, the eponymous novel and a 1970 story collection titled Why Flowers Die Early.
Armenian writer Mark Aren’s Where Wild Roses Bloomis ranked 2nd this week.
The story is about an Armenophobic Turkish former serviceman who finds out that his parents were Armenians. He spends his remaining life searching the graves of his parents, without knowing that it was a misunderstanding.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by American writer Richard Bach is third in the list. It is afableinnovellaform about aseagullwho is trying to learn about life and flight, and ahomilyabout self-perfection. It was first published in 1970.
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Graycomes next in the weekly bestselling list. Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian'sbeauty; he believes that Dorian's beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat'shedonisticworldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life.
Armenian writer Edgar Kostandyan’s Ordinary Country is ranked next.
Journey to the Eastis a shortnovelby German authorHermann Hesse. The novel is 6th in this week’s list. Journey to the Eastis written from the point of view of a man (in the book called "H. H.") who becomes a member of "The League", a timelessreligioussect whose members include famous fictional and real character.
A branch of the group goes on a pilgrimage to "the East" in search of the "ultimate Truth". The narrator speaks of traveling through both time and space, across geography imaginary and real.
Three Comradesby GermanauthorErich Maria Remarqueis 7th this week. It is written in first person by the main character Robert Lohkamp, whose somewhat disillusioned outlook on life is due to his horrifying experiences in the trenches of theFirst World War'sFrench-German front. He shares these experiences with Otto Köster and Gottfried Lenz, his two comrades with whom he runs an auto-repair shop in late 1920sBerlin. Remarque wrote the novel in exile.
Armenian writer Mark Aren’s Ville-Évrard is ranked 8th. A story evolving around Komitas, Edmund Forster, the psychologist who inspired Adolf Hitler that the latter was unique, guided by which the Nazi leader decided to conquer the world, resulting in millions of victims. It was Forster who saved Soghomon Tehlirian, who gunned down Talat Pasha, one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide, from capital punishment. The refuge of Komitas, who survived the Armenian Genocide, was Ville-Évrard mental hospital in France.
TheAlchemistby Brazilian writerPaulo Coelhocomes next. Originally written inPortuguese, it became an international bestseller translated into some 70 languages as of 2016. Anallegoricalnovel,The Alchemistfollows a youngAndalusianshepherd in his journey toEgypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there.
Armenian writer Narine Abgaryan’s Three ApplesFell from the Sky concludes this week’s top 10.
By Angela Hambardzumyan
English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan