YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry occupies the first position of the list. 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.

“The Book of Lamentations'' by St. Gregory of Narek published by “MHM” and “Zangak” publishing houses occupies the second position of the list. 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.

“The Sandcastle Girls” by Chris Bohjalian is on the third position of the list. “The Sandcastle Girls” is about the Armenian Genocide and its century-long denial by Turkey. The novel includes two stories in one: the story of Elizabeth Endicott and Armen Petrosian, lovers who meet in Syria during the genocide; and the story of Laura Petrosian, their granddaughter, who after a century tries to understand why they were so silent about their youth, while her suburban existence is quite different from the violent setting in which her grandparents fell in love.

The famous late Armenian politician Vahan Hovhannisyan wrote his work “Mandylion” in the genre of historical intellectual detective. The book is in the 4th place this week. Vahan Hovhannisyan received a special prize for this book in the “Bestseller of the Year” ceremony.

“Mother” (Mayrig) by Henri Verneuil occupies the fifth place. Verneuil was born Ashot Malakian to Armenian parents in Rodosto. He was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International Film Festival, Edgar Allan Poe Awards, French Legion of Honor, Golden Globe Award, French National Academy of Cinema and Honorary Cesar awards. In 1924, when Ashot was a little child his family fled to Marseille in France, to escape persecution after the Armenian Genocide. He later recounted his childhood experience in the novel “Mayrig”, which he dedicated to his mother and made into a 1991 film with the same name, which was followed by a sequel, 588 Rue Paradis, the following year. Verneuil has filmed almost all the great figures of French cinema, with the exception of Bourvil, as even Louis de Funes has a small role in one of his films.

“Book of Whispers” authored by Varujan Vosganian is in the 6th place. The book is about the Armenian Genocide. This year “Book of Whispers” has been nominated for Nobel Prize.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Columbian author Gabriel García Márquez occupies the 7th place. 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. The widely acclaimed book, considered by many to be the author's masterpiece, was first published in Spanish in 1967, and subsequently has been translated into thirty-seven languages and has sold more than 30 million copies. The magical realist style and thematic substance of One Hundred Years of Solitude established it as an important, representative novel of the literary Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, which was stylistically influenced by Modernism (European and North American) and the Cuban Vanguardia (Vanguard) literary movement. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of a family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.

"Love in the Time of Cholera" written by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez occupies the 8th position. In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.

"The Alchemist" novel by contemporary Brazilian author Paulo Coelho is in the 9th place. According to AFP, it has sold more than 65 million copies in 56 different languages, becoming one of thebest-selling books in history and setting the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. The book is introduced with new publication by “Antares” publishing house.

"1984" by George Orwell closes the Bestseller Books List introduced by "Armenpress" News Agency. While 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is more timely that ever. 1984 presents a "negative utopia", that is at once a startling and haunting vision of the world — so powerful that it's completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of entire generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions — a legacy that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

To complete the bestseller list, the following bookshops have participated in the survey: “New Book” (093-60-40-64), “Noah’s Ark” (56-81-84), “Edit Print” (57-70-09), “Narek” (51-91-36), “Bureaucrat” (50-01-52), “Bookinist” (53-74-13), “Antares” (091-90-01-23)  and “Zangak” (23-25-28).

Presented by Roza Grigoryan