The list of novels presented below is a list of bestsellers, and there are no popular science opuses, as well as books containing religious or political motives.
Otherwise, The Holy Quran, the King James Bible and quotes from the politician Mao Zedong would be the top three on the list. These books have been dropped due to political or spiritual reasons to buy them. But it is not known whether they would become bestsellers without religious or political pressure, because politics and religion are significant factors for motivation.
Therefore, the list contains stories written by the author, the plot of which is only the fruit of his fantasy.
10. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown: Over 80 Million Circulation.
Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has its own Wikipedia page dedicated exclusively to criticism. Readers express a negative opinion both about the book as a whole and about its parts: they condemn historical and religious inaccuracies, poor literary quality of the text.
Despite this, many people liked the book. Since its publication in 2003, it has sold over 80 million copies and has grossed over $ 150 million for the film adaptation of the novel, directed by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks.
The story begins with a murder in the Louvre. A specialist in religious symbolism Robert Langdon arrives at the crime scene, because the victim, the curator of the museum, or rather, the position of the victim's body, is a coded message.
Further, Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neve work together, and, following the clues, are trying to uncover a secret that has been hidden for over 2000 years.
Since 80 million copies of the book have been sold, the likelihood that the curiosity of many has been satisfied is very high. However, if you are not one of them, then you can follow the adventures of Sophie and Robert yourself.
9. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," C. S. Lewis: Over 85 million circulation
Irish native Clive Staples Lewis studied at Oxford University and majored in literature and philosophy. After graduation, he received a teaching position at Magdalen College, which is part of Oxford. There he joined the Inklings literary discussion group, which included another author on this list, his book is ranked 6th.
Lewis was a prolific writer, but today he is well known for The Chronicles of Narnia, a seven-book series. The main in the series, it is also the most famous and bestseller - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - was published in 1950.
The author tells the story of four brothers and sisters who, during the air attacks (the World War was going on), leave London and take refuge in the house of a family friend on the outskirts. Being in an old house, they open the doors of a wardrobe, which was a gateway to another world.
Narnia, filled with magic, talking animals and other magical creatures, is in eternal winter. The spell of eternal cold was cast by the White Witch. To help their friends save the world of Narnia, the teenagers must defeat the White Witch and break her spell.
The book did not appeal to the critics, but the readers did not agree with them. More than 100 million copies of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe have been sold. Other books in the series also became bestsellers, but none of them reached the level of the first book.
8. Dream in the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin: Over 100 million circulation
One of China's greatest novels is A Dream in a Red Chamber or Notes on a Stone, written by Cao Xueqing, a writer and artist, artisan and poet. He wrote the book in chapters, and as soon as a few were written, the manuscript went to friends. The writer died in poverty, being a chronic alcoholic and living in the poorest quarter of Beijing.
The collection of chapters compiled into the novel was not published until 1791. There are several handwritten endings of the novel, sometimes even contradictory, some of the manuscripts were burned, but even today it is still debated which version of the ending of the story is the real one.
A Dream in the Red Chamber is a long saga about the decline of a wealthy family. It is full of insightful observations of life in 18th century China. It's a huge book, an English edition of over 2,500 pages, and several different storylines. One of the most famous storylines involves a man named Jia Baoyu who has a crush on one of his cousins but is forced to marry another, leading to a terrible tragedy.
After the release of the TV version in 1987, the book became very popular in China. It has sold over 100 million copies.
7. "And There Was No One" by Agatha Christie: circulation over 100 million
The most famous writer of detective stories is Agatha Christie, who is also considered to be the author of the bestselling book. She has written 66 novels and 14 storybooks, and has allegedly sold 200 billion books - 28 books for every person on earth. Her bestseller is And There Was No One. Its storyline is well known, as there are dozens of variations of the novel in films and television shows.
Someone, under various pretexts, lures 10 strangers to the island. The only thing that unites them is that they all somehow participated in the death of another person, but managed to escape punishment. During dinner, accusations of crimes are heard and it is reported that one by one, each of them will be killed.
The characters begin to die according to the lines of the children's poem "Ten Little Indians". The last line reads like this: "And there was no one," and this was the first title of the novel. The name of the killer and how he performed his deeds on the island is revealed in the epilogue.
The novel is considered an Agatha Christie masterpiece and has sold over 100 million copies to date.
6. The Hobbit by J. R. Tolkien: Over 100 Million Circulation
As a professor of linguistics at the University of Oxford, John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was looking through student work when he suddenly wrote a line about a creature called the "hobbit." From this line a book grew, which was published in 1937. At first, The Hobbit was considered a children's book. However, this perspective changed with the publication of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in 1954 and 1955, and this expanded the audience for The Hobbit.
Circulations of The Hobbit skyrocketed after the adaptation of Tolkien's trilogy by director Peter Jackson. In total, over 100 million copies of the book have been sold.
Of course, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is also a mega bestseller. According to Forbes, the trilogy has sold over 150 million copies, which includes individual books and all three in one collection.
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling: over 107 million circulation
The story of J.K. Rowling, better known as D.K., is a twisty one. She raised her daughter alone and lived on welfare in Edinburgh, Scotland. I finished the first manuscript on an old typewriter in 1995. A dozen publishers rejected her novel because The Sorcerer's Stone (called the Wizard's Stone in the United States) was twice the length of a typical children's novel.
The wind of fortune changed for Rowling when the owner of a small publishing house called Bloomsbury let his 8-year-old niece Alice read the first chapter of the book. After the girl asked for the rest of the book, Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book and gave Rowling an advance of $ 2,400. The publisher also advised looking for a full-time job because people didn't make a living by writing children's books.
Rowling is worth about $ 910 million today (she was a billionaire but left the Forbes billionaire list in 2012 due to charitable donations and high UK tax rates), and it all started with this book, which could not find a publisher and in whose nobody believed in success.
As of 2010, the first book in the Harry Potter series has sold over 107 million copies.
The rest of the Harry Potter books were also bestsellers. Since 2013, until the release of The Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, 450 million Harry Potter books have been printed.
4. "The Little Prince", Antoine de Saint-Exupery: over 140 million circulation
Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a French aristocrat, writer and pilot. After the plane crash, he was discharged, and he went to Paris, where he began to write. In the second half of 1942, he wrote and illustrated his opus The Little Prince. The story was published in 1943 in North America. It was originally written in French because Saint-Exupéry did not speak English well.
In France, "The Little Prince" will be published in 1946, but Saint-Exupery will never see it. In 1943 he joined the Free French Air Force and disappeared in 1944 during a reconnaissance mission over Germany. His identification number bracelet was found 50 years later in a fisherman's net off the coast of Marseille, but his body was never found.
The Little Prince is like a children's book, but in fact there are many observations and judgments about human nature and relationships. The book is about a pilot who falls in the Sahara Desert and meets a boy with curly blond hair. The boy tells the pilot that he is a prince who fell from a small planet called Asteroid 325. The prince left his home after falling in love with a rose and caught her in a lie. Therefore, he now travels the universe to cure his loneliness.
While the story and images are a little oversimplified, the complexity of the emotional impact resonated with readers for decades. The book has been translated into 250 languages and two million copies are sold every year. In total, 140 million copies of The Little Prince have been sold since 1943.
3. "Alchemist" Paulo Coelho: circulation over 150 million
The famous novel "The Alchemist" by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho was published in 1988. It is about Santiago, a young Spanish boy. He has a dream that prompts him to travel to Egypt. Before sending, he learns about His Destiny. If someone decides to follow His Destiny, then the universe will try to help him. The universe is a very powerful ally. If the universe will do everything to help a person in his Destiny, then the impossible can be done, like alchemy, which turns lead into gold.
The book and her desire to follow her dreams have made her a favorite of many famous people. For almost 30 years, 150 million copies of The Alchemist have been sold.
2. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: Over 200 million circulation
Charles Dickens was born into a poor family in England in 1812. When he was only 12 years old, his father was imprisoned for debt, and Dickens was forced to work in a factory. He was able to return to school when he was 15, but soon had to go back to work in the office to help the family. A year later, Dickens began working as a freelance reporter. He also became a famous cartoonist, signing his works with the pseudonym Boz. His work as a writer and cartoonist eventually led to his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, which was published in 1837.
22 years later, Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, which will become his bestseller and possibly his greatest work.
The book describes the events that take place before and during the French Revolution in England and France. There are more than a dozen characters, peasants and aristocrats on the stage. Intrigue and conspiracy, nobility and honor, revenge and an intriguing ending is a rich and complex book that is a bestseller, as it was published weekly from April 30 to November 29, 1859.
It is impossible to determine the exact number of copies sold in 150 years, but most estimates have sold around 200 million copies.
1. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: over 500 million circulation
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra has a huge advantage over the other books on this list: it is several centuries older than each of them.
Don Quixote was published in 1605. The novel follows the adventures of Alonso Quichiano, an elderly man who lives in La Mancha, Spain. After losing his mind, he reads books about chivalry and decides to become a knight. Calling himself Don Quixote of La Mancha, he sets out on his old horse Rosinante and with his faithful assistant Sancho Panza on a campaign to correct mistakes and tell the world about justice. On the way, nothing bad happens, and the knight finds himself in a bunch of fun adventures.
The book was an instant hit after its release. It was reprinted six times in the first year, but Cervantes made little money from it since he died in 1616. After his death, the popularity of the novel continued to grow, and today the book is still of interest to many. In 2005, which was the 400th anniversary of the original publication, 10 publishers released a copy of the book. The Royal Spanish Academy Publishing House sold the entire print run of 600,000 copies in two months.
Don Quixote has been translated into 25 languages and 963 editions have been produced, which number over 500 million copies.
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