Time in Yerevan: 11:07,   20 April 2024

YEREVAN BESTSELLER 4/36 : Armenian readers prefer Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

YEREVAN BESTSELLER 4/36 : Armenian readers prefer Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde leads the list of YEREVAN BESTSELLER project of ARMENPRESS.

Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; 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's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life.

“The Little Prince” first published in 1943, is a novella, the most famous work of French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. “The Little Prince” is 2nd in this week’s list.

The third position in this week’s ranking is “Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life”.  Published on September 8, 1998, it is a motivational business fable. The text describes change in one's work and life, and four typical reactions to those changes by two mice and two "little people," during their hunt for cheese. A New York Times business bestseller upon release, Who Moved My Cheese? remained on the list for almost five years and spent over 200 weeks on Publishers Weekly's hardcover nonfiction list. It has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide in 37 languages and remains one of the best-selling business books

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Stories” collection, comprising several of the Russian writer’s works, is ranked 4th this week.

“Book of Lamentations” or “Book of Prayers” by Gregory of Narek is ranked 5th in this week’s list.

Written shortly before the first millennium of Christianity, the prayers of St. Gregory of Narek have long been recognized as gems of Christian literature. St. Gregory called his book an "encyclopedia of prayer for all nations". It was his hope that it would serve as a guide to prayer by people of all stations around the world.

A leader of the well-developed school of Armenian mysticism at Narek Monastery, at the request of his brethren he set out to find an answer to an imponderable question: what can one offer to God, our creator, who already has everything and knows everything better than we could ever express it? To this question, posed by the prophets, psalmist, apostles and saints, he gives a humble answer – the sighs of the heart – expressed in his Book of Prayer, also called the Book of Lamentations.

Mark Aren’s “Where wild roses bloom” in ranked 6th.  This is the second novel of the author which 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. The same former serviceman spends his remaining life searching the graves of his parents, without knowing that it was a misunderstanding.

“Pride and Prejudice” is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of the British Regency. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman, Mr Bennet, living in Longbourn.

Set in England in the late 18th century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after two gentlemen have moved into their neighbourhood. The novel is ranked 7th.

 

“Veronika Decides to Die” is a novel by Paulo Coelho. It tells the story of 24-year-old Slovenian Veronika, who appears to have everything in life going for her, but who decides to kill herself. This book is partly based on Coelho's experience in various mental institutions, and deals with the subject of madness. The gist of the message is that "collective madness is called sanity".

Veronika Decides to Die has been adapted for theatre a number of times, and was also used in other artistic references. The novel is ranked 8th in this week’s list.

“The Fault in Our Stars” is the sixth novel by author John Green, published in January 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings." The story is narrated by Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old girl with cancer. Hazel is forced by her parents to attend a support group in the "Literal Heart of Jesus" where she subsequently meets and falls in love with 17 year old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee.  The novel is ranked 9th.

“Dear Life” is a short story collection by Canadian writer Alice Munro, which concludes the list.

Ruth Scurr, writing in the Telegraph, points to the autobiographical aspect of the collection and declares the collection to be "a subversive challenge to the idea of autobiography: a purposeful melding of fact fiction and feeling". The reviewer goes on to suggest the collection might be Munro's last, but if so would be a "spectacular" finale.

To complete the bestseller list, the following bookshops have participated in the survey: “Noah’s Ark” (56-81-84), “Narek” (51-91-36), “Bookinist” (53-74-13), “Antares” (091-90-01-23) and “Zangak” (23-26-49).

 

 




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