YEREVAN BESTSELLER 4/103 - ‘The Prophet’, ‘The Alchemist’ and ‘Steppenwolf’ among weekly top 10

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The exclusive project of ARMENPRESS entitled ‘Yerevan Bestseller’brings the top ten bestselling books of Yerevan every week.

Mark Aren’s‘Where Wild Roses Bloom’again tops the bestselling list of the week.

The story describes the inner world of an Armenophobic Turkish former serviceman, when he, already an old man, suddenly hears a lullaby song that reminds him of his mother and later finds out that the song is in Armenian: realizing his parents were Armenians. He spends his remaining life searching the graves of his parents, without knowing that it was a misunderstanding.

‘Ville-Évrard’, another novel again byMark Aren, is ranked second. 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.

Edgar Harutyunyan’s ‘Unfound Chamomiles’this week is again ranked 3rd. This is the second book of the author. ‘Unfound Chamomiles’ is about human relationship, love, friendship and betrayal.

‘TheAlchemist’by Brazilian writerPaulo Coelhois 4th. 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.

Milan Kundera’s ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’comes next. It was published in 1984. The book chronicles the fragile nature of an individual's fate, theorizing that a single lifetime is insignificant in the scope of Nietzsche's concept of eternal return. In an infinite universe, everything is guaranteed to recur infinitely. In 1988, American director Philip Kaufman released a film adaptation.

‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’by American writerRichard Bachis 6th 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.

‘Flowers for Algernon’byDaniel Keyesis next. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue ofThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won theHugo Award for Best Short Storyin 1960.

Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’captured the 8th place in the bestselling list of the week. 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.

‘The Prophet’is ranked 9th in this week’s bestselling list. It’s a book of 26prose poetryfables written in English by theLebanese-American artist, philosopher and writerKahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 byAlfred A. Knopf. It is Gibran's best known work.The Prophethas been translated into over 40 different languagesand has never been out of print.

‘Steppenwolf’novel by German-Swiss authorHermann Hesseconcludes this week’s 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 following bookstores took part in a survey for the bestseller project: Bookinist (53-74-13), Hay Girk (54-07-06) and Zangak (23 26 49).

Տեղ	Փոփ.	Գիրք		Հրատ.	Քանակ
1			Մարկ Արեն «Այնտեղ, որտեղ ծաղկում են վայրի վարդեր»	Բուկինիստ	36
2			Մարկ Արեն «Վիլ-Էվրար»	Բուկինիստ	31
3			Էդգար Հարությունյան «Չգտնված երիցուկներ»	Անտարես	27
4	+5		Պաուլու Կոելյու «Ալքիմիկոսը»	Անտարես	11
5	*		Միլան Կունդերա «Կեցության անտանելի թեթևությունը»	Անտարես	9
6	-2		Ռիչարդ Բախ «Ջոնաթան Լիվինգսթոն ճայը»	Անտարես	8
7			Դենիել Քիզ «Ծաղիկներ Էլջերնոնի համար»	Անտարես	8
8	*		Օսկար Ուայլդ «Դորիան Գրեյի դիմանկարը»	Էդիթ Պրինտ	8
9	*		Խալիլ Ջիբրան «Մարգարեն»	Քյուրքչյան	8
10	*		Հերման Հեսսե «Տափաստանի գայլը»	Անտարես	8

Yerevan Bestseller project presented by Angela Hambardzumyan

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan