Tony Deyal | Books and more books

In considering the best books throughout the world, I started with Elizabeth Bennet, a fictional character and the protagonist of the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Unfortunately, several readers asked, “How does Elizabeth Bennet reject suitors?” Obviously, with Pride and Prejudice. Then some came quickly afterwards like, “What is Hamlet’s favourite dish? Danish.” Next was, “Why did Shakespeare always write with a pen?” Because pencils made him ask, “2B or not 2B?” Another asked, “What’s a librarian’s favourite treat?” A book-ie! Then, “What do pregnant women and apostrophes have in common?” They’re both prone to “contractions”.

Next was, “Why don’t libraries ever play poker?” Too many bookworms. And immediately, “What did one book say to the other?” “Stop being such a drama shelf!” Then the librarian supposedly got kicked out of karaoke night. She kept shushing everyone. And the worst of all, “I tried to read a horror novel ... it scared the plot out of me!”

Perhaps what I should never read is a book about “anti-gravity” (a hypothetical force or technology that would directly cancel or repel the force of gravity). That way, I would never put it down, or worse, the book would be sent to the doctor because it had too many problems. In fact, we should look for ourselves and agree on what are “The 10 Greatest Books of All Time”. But, from my many years, since I was a three-year-old and now up to 81, I keep on keeping on with the books. Almost all the books!

This is why it is tough to decide what is (or are) the greats. In fact, there is 100 Books to Read Before You Die, 2020, as well as It Wasn’t Written in Europe or by a Man. It was considered “The Most Influential Book in Literature”. Then there is The Tale of Genji, which is a “Most Influential Book in Literature”. Next is LONDON FOR BOOK LOVERS with “AND FUN” that ‘Challenge Your Mind’. After that was Inside the Secret World Where the Rarest Books on Earth Are Bought and Sold, followed by 3 Books That Will Change Your Life, 10 Favourite Items ... For Now, The Only 7 Books You Need to Educate Yourself Like the Top 1%, and, of course, THE TEN BEST-SELLING BOOKS OF ALL TIME.

Before we reach the “TEN”, there are other options that many readers ask or demand before anything else! It is the Best-Selling Book Series of All Time by Dean Talbott (June 20, 2023), who explained some of them. He said that, as of 2023, the best-selling book series of all time is Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. It has sold 600 million copies since 1997, an average of 20.08 million copies of the series. In other words, it sold per year since its initial publication and, over the course of the seven-book series, 86.71 million copies of each book.

There was also Perry Mason by Erle Stanley Gardner. It was the most popular mystery book series as of 2023, having sold more than 300 million copies. Overall, on average, children’s books have the highest representation (nine titles) among the top 20 best-selling book series. The best-selling book series started with Children’s (nine titles), then Young Adult (six titles), Mystery/thriller (four titles), and finally Self-help (one title) and Erotic (one title). What it tells us all is “money”! A lot of money if you get the right books and get them out to as many people as possible. On that basis, right now, these are the ones that are buying and selling big time.

At this point, for all our readers, we should go for the 10 Greatest Books of All Time:

1. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

This is one of the most entertaining reading experiences in any language and arguably the finest novel of the 20th century. It refers to the narrator’s philosophical and psychological quest to reclaim past experiences, memories and time that seemed forgotten or wasted, ultimately discovering that the past is preserved unconsciously within us and can be recovered through art and involuntary memory.

2. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote, a retired country gentleman in his 50s, lives in an unnamed section of La Mancha with his niece and a housekeeper. Sancho Panza, a pragmatic farm labourer whom Don Quixote recruits as his squire with the promise of making him the governor of an island.

3. Ulysses by James Joyce

Ulysses chronicles the passage of Leopold Bloom through Dublin during an ordinary day, June 16, 1904. The novel parallels Homer’s Odyssey, utilising stream-of-consciousness and experimental prose.

4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The novel chronicles an era that Fitzgerald himself dubbed the “Jazz Age”. While driving Gatsby’s car back from the city, Daisy accidentally strikes and kills Myrtle Wilson (Tom’s mistress). Myrtle’s grieving husband, George, shoots Gatsby at his home and then kills himself.

5. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

First published in 1851, Melville’s masterpiece is, in Elizabeth Hardwick’s words, “the greatest novel in American literature”. Moby Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book centres on the sailor Ishmael’s narrative of the maniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for vengeance against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg on the ship’s previous voyage.

6. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. Prince Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his father, the late King of Denmark. The ghost reveals that his brother, Claudius, murdered him by pouring poison in his ear to seize the throne and marry Queen Gertrude.

7. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The novel chronicles the history of the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through the stories of five Russian aristocratic families. The work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy.

8. The Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. Odysseus, king of Ithaca, embarks on a perilous journey to return home after the Trojan War. Crossing the Mediterranean Sea with his fellow soldiers, they soon find themselves battling not only the elements, but an array of deadly obstacles and mythical creatures along the way.

9. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

One of the 20th century’s enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the fictitious town of Macondo.

10. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

The Divine Comedy is an Italian long narrative poem begun c.1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. The journey symbolises mankind’s fall, the awareness of sin, and the soul’s eventual ascent to God. The poem sharply criticises church corruption, simony, and Italy’s internal political factionalism between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.

Tony Deyal says that, as the great Ernest Hemingway observed, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” For those who want to know more about the bestselling books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books Additionally, it would be great if readers everywhere shared the names of books that others might lie, want, or buy.