Table of contents:
- 1. Catcher in the rye
- 2. Alchemist
- 3. Think and Grow Rich
- 4. The Da Vinci Code
- 5. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe
- 6. Sleep in the red chamber
- 7. She: Adventure Story
- 8. And there was no one (Ten Little Indians)
- 9. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- 10. The little prince
- 11. Lord of the Rings
- 12. A Tale of Two Cities
Video: 12 best-selling books in history
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
For many, reading books is not just a hobby, but a real revelation. Thrillers, tearful melodramas, romance novels - in every genre there are books, the popularity of which is enormous in the world. In our review of the 10 most popular books in the world. Let us make a reservation right away that due to the impossibility of assessing the circulation and sales of some books - the Bible, the Koran, "Quotations of Mao Zedong", "Odyssey" - we did not include them in this list. Although it was the Bible that entered the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling book in history - more than 5 billion copies were sold to it.
1. Catcher in the rye
65 millionThe Catcher in the Rye, a book about the problems of adolescent thinking and adolescent rejection of modern reality, has become one of the most controversial books of the 20th century. This book is often included in the school curriculum in the west.
2. Alchemist
65 millionWith sales of over 65 million copies, The Alchemist, published in 1988, is the best-selling Brazilian book. The protagonist of the novel by Paulo Coelho is the Andalusian shepherd Santiago, who aspires to Egypt to the pyramids in order to find treasures.
3. Think and Grow Rich
70 millionThink and Grow Rich is a self-help manual written by the American Napoleon Hill at the height of the Great Depression (1937). Hill, who published his book describing 13 principles of success, is credited with being the pioneer of "Millionaire Aspiring Guides."
4. The Da Vinci Code
80 millionThe book, which was published just 12 years ago, has already entered the top ten most read books in the world, The Da Vinci Code made a splash in 2003, causing a flurry of criticism from the church. This mystery novel, written by Dan Brown, tells the story of a murder investigation in the Louvre. Subsequently, the main characters find themselves involved in deeper (and from the point of view of the church - blasphemous) secrets about the fate of the Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene.
5. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe
85 millionFantastic novel by Clive Lewis "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is the first book in the series "The Chronicles of Narnia". The book is about four English children who ended up in the land of talking animals and mythical creatures.
6. Sleep in the red chamber
100 millionThe only Chinese book to make it to the world's best-selling book is the novel by writer Cao Xueqin, A Dream in the Red Chamber. The book, which tells the story of a Chinese family during the Qing Dynasty, is considered one of the four great classical novels of China. Also, "A Dream in the Red Chamber" is one of the most complex novels in history - it has almost 40 main characters and about 500 minor characters.
7. She: Adventure Story
100 millionThis novel is known for being quoted in their writings by such famous psychoanalysts as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. She: An Adventure Story is Henry Haggard's most famous work. The book tells the story of the journey of two men to a lost kingdom in the deep regions of East Africa. There they find a tribe of savages, led by the mysterious white queen Aesha, who has mystical powers.
8. And there was no one (Ten Little Indians)
100 millionThe legendary English writer of detective novels, Agatha Christie, wrote Ten Little Indians in 1939, which became the fifth best-selling novel in the history of printing. It is noteworthy that when the detective novel was released in the United States, for reasons of political correctness, the name was changed to And There Was No One.
9. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
107 millionAlthough other novels about the adventures of Harry Potter were supposed to make the list of best-selling books, they were excluded from the list so as not to make it too monotonous (each book about the young wizard sold approximately 50-65 million copies). The first book (seven parts in total) by British writer J. K. Rowling was born in 1997.
10. The little prince
140 millionThe Little Prince is a famous allegorical tale of 1943, written by the French aristocrat Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The third most sold book in the world has been translated into more than 250 languages and dialects. It tells the story of a young lonely prince from another planet who travels through the universe. Although the book is for children, it raises surprisingly adult topics.
11. Lord of the Rings
150 millionThe John Ronald Ruel Tolkien trilogy was originally written as one huge novel, but then the publishers split it into three separate books - The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Published separately, The Hobbit also sold 140.6 million copies, but was dropped from the list for the same reason as the 6 Harry Potter books. The book series became so popular in Great Britain that it was recognized as "the most beloved novel of the whole nation."
12. A Tale of Two Cities
200 millionThe best-selling novel in history was A Tale of Two Cities by English author Charles Dickens. The author in his novel criticizes English society, and also explores the causes of the class struggle and the French Revolution. The Briton was the first in literature to declare that revolutionaries are often much more cruel than the aristocrats they hate.
Continuing the theme 10 books that surprise you … Have you read them already?
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