Best selling books

In addition to the Bible - with more than five billion copies - the best-selling books in history were written before the XNUMXth century. Is about Don Quixote (1605), by Miguel de Cervantes and History of two cities (1859), by Charles Dickens. To date, these two titles have registered more than five hundred million and two hundred million copies sold, respectively.

In the twentieth century the list of books with the greatest publishing success is headed The Lord of the Rings, The Little Prince y The Hobbit. Thus,  British author JRR Tolkien holds the first and third best-selling texts of that century. With the arrival of the new millennium, the honor has fallen to JK Rowling. And yes, the creator of the world of Harry Potter has won a place that it will cost to dethrone her.

The Lord of the Rings (1954), by JRR Tolkien

Context and adaptations

It was published in three volumes in the mid-50s: The Fellowship of the Ring, The two Towers y The return of the King. Tolkien originally conceived of it as a continuation of The Hobbit. Although its plot is actually preceded by The Silmarillion. Where Tolkien relates the events of the First and Second Age of the Sun. That is, the age of the elves and the rise of men.

Likewise, the numerous radio, theatrical and television adaptations of The Lord of the Rings they have made it the most popular storytelling of the XNUMXth century. And of course, The trilogy of films made by Peter Jackson ended up making this title world famous. Not surprisingly, it is positioned among the ten highest grossing film sagas of all time.

Argument

Middle-earth is a vast fictional region inhabited by men, hobbits, elves, dwarves, and other fantastic creatures. There, Frodo Bolson, a hobbit from The Shire inherits the One Ring. Upon receiving the jewel created by the Dark Lord, he begins an epic and dangerous journey south to destroy it.

An inescapable mission, the importance of which is summarized in the following sentence: “… A Ring to rule them all. A Ring to find them, a Ring to attract them all and bind them in darkness in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows are spread ”.

The Little Prince (1943), by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Context

The Little Prince It is the most widely read and translated book in the French language in history. According to media like Le Monde, More than 140 million copies of this book have been sold. Likewise, this work has been the subject of countless performances in film, theater and television.

The year after the publication of The Little Prince, Exupéry disappeared in the middle of a reconnaissance mission during World War II. These circumstances lent an air of legend to a man with significant fame within the French air forces.

Synopsis

Le Petit Prince —Original title in French— is a lyrical story accompanied by drawings (watercolors) made by the author himself. ANDhe protagonist is a crashed pilot in the Sahara desert; there he meets a little prince from another planet. Although his narrative has features of a children's story, it contains philosophical reflections on human nature and the meaning of life.

In several of the segments of the story, the criticism towards the perspective with which adults face their existence is very palpable. In one such passage, a king urges the little prince to judge himself. Similarly, the interaction between the little prince and the fox serves to illustrate the essence of friendship and the complexity of human relationships.

The Harry Potter phenomenon

"The author of the most famous saga of the last three decades was in a well: without work, without money and in mourning for the death of her mother when she created the magician's apprentice" (The clarin, 2020). Joanne Rowling completed her first Harry Potter manuscript in 1995. The writing was rejected by multiple publishers until Bloomsbury released the first 1997 copies in XNUMX.

The long-awaited literary consecration occurred after the appearance of the third chapter of the saga in 1999. The acquisition of marketing rights in the United States by the publisher Scholastic was also key.. The rest is history: 20 years later, the Harry Potter saga accumulates more than 500 million books sold and the value of its brand exceeds 15.000 million dollars.

The Harry Potter story in a nutshell

The 7 books that make up the series tell of the fight between Harry Potter, a young orphaned wizard, and the murderer of his parents, Lord Voldemort. Most of the action takes place around Howarts, the British college of wizardry and wizardry run by the powerful Professor Albus Dumbledore. There, the protagonist meets his best friends and loyal squires, Hermione Granger and Ron Wesley.

List of titles that make up the Harry Potter saga

• harry potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
• Harry Potter y el misterio del príncipe (2005)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)

Additionally, in 2001 Fantastic beasts and where to find them. In this regard, the film giant Warner Bros plans to launch a pentalogy. To date, two feature films in the series starring Eddie Redmayne have already been successfully released.

Other related titles

• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Theater script, presented in July 2016.
• Quidditch through the ages (2001). It is a manual on the favorite sport of the magicians of Howarts.
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2012)

Dan Brown and his prodigal son: Robert Langdon

Dan Brown is the second best-selling author of the XNUMXst century thanks to his iconic character Robert Langdon, an expert professor of symbolism and iconography. Among the books starring Langdon, without a doubt, The Da Vinci Code (2003) is the most successful (exceeds 80 million copies sold).

As if that were not enough, Award-winning actor Tom Hanks has brought him to life in all three acclaimed big screen adaptations produced so far. Listed below are the other titles written by Brown for his Harvard Docent character:

• Angels and Demons (2000)
• The lost symbol (2009)
• Inferno (2013)
• From (2017)

Best Selling Books 2020

The list of best-selling books 2020 in Spanish tops it Aquitaine, by the Spanish Eva García Sáenz de Urturi. This rating confirms the excellent literary and commercial moment of the Vitorian author, well known among Spanish-speaking readers for her Trilogy of the White City. Along with Urturi, another novelist from northern Spain appears, Dolores Redondo, from Donostia.

The "top 5" of editorial successes of 2020 complete it White king, by Juan Gómez Jurado, Infinity in a reedby Irene Vallejo and Fire lineby Arturo Pérez-Reverte. On the other hand, Amazon points to The weirdest school in the world, by Pablo Aranda, as the best-selling children's text of 2020.

Aquitaine (2020), by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi

Aquitaine it's a shocking thriller history through a century of reprisals, incest and warfare. The novel begins in 1137, when the Duke of Aquitaine - the most sought-after fief in France - is found dead in Compostela. For this reason, Eleanor, the daughter of the Duke, marries in revenge plan with the son of the Gallic king, Luy VI the fat.

However, the French monarch appears dead in the middle of the wedding in an identical way to that of the duke. In both deceased the skin turned blue and they were marked with "the blood eagle" (an ancient Norman torture). Then, Eleanor and Luy VII turn to the Aquitaine spies (called "cats") to elucidate the facts. In them, a once abandoned child will be key to the future of the kingdom.

The privileges of the Angel (2009), by Dolores Redondo

The appearance of a novel published in 2009 among the 2020 best-selling books list is a bit surprising. However, the popularity of this title is a "rebound effect" of the scope of the Baztán Trilogy created by Redondo. This book moves from the outset by the narration of the close bond of friendship between two five-year-old girls and the subsequent death of one of them.

The development contains a deep psychoanalysis. It describes the descent into hell of Celeste, the protagonist, until the revelation of the privileges of an angel. As the various questions that have arisen in the course of the story become clearer, the reader is led to a very surprising ending.

Infinity in a reed (2019), by Irene Vallejo

This title has received very favorable opinions from literary eminences such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Alberto Manguel and Juan José Millas, among many others. Equally, the multiple awards collected by this publication place it as the best non-fiction book in Spanish of 2020. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Critical Eye Award for Narrative 2019.
• Owl Award for Best Book 2019.
• National Promoter Award for Latino Studies 2019.
• Madrid Library Association Award, best non-fiction book 2019.
• National Essay Award 2020.

Fire line (2020), by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

This book is the result of the titanic investigation carried out by the Murcian journalist Arturo Pérez-Reverte. The text immerses itself in the causes, development and consequences of the Spanish Civil War from a self-critical perspective. Where the author does not hesitate to describe the cultural germ of the conflict and how some of these idiosyncratic vices persist to this day.

The narration of the bloodiest episode of this contest, the Battle of the Ebro, is particularly impressive, with more than 20.000 dead and 30.000 wounded. In the same way, Pérez-Reverte dedicates a good segment of her vast work (over 700 pages) to highlight the role of women combatants. And, of course, without taking sides with either side.

White king (2020), by Juan Gómez-Jurado

Also titled Red queen 3, White king is the third installment of a trilogy highly acclaimed by the public and literary critics. Like its predecessors, this book plunges into an intriguing and addictive web of games, manias, deceptions, and psychoanalysis. In addition, it is not clear to readers if this volume will be the final one or if there will be more stories starring Antonia and Jon.

The weirdest school in the world (2020), by Pablo Aranda

This book was the best seller of 2020 in the children's category according to Amazon statistics. It is a story starring Fede, a child student of a bilingual institution (Spanish-English) characterized by truly peculiar pedagogical methods. To such an extent, that the funny and implausible narration takes on surreal features.

There, the children only sleep at home on weekends. Well, from Monday to Friday each parent is responsible for the first student they get. Faced with this situation, ehe narrator of the events - in the first person - solves the unknowns with his childish understanding and fanciful speculation.