Let’s have a look at some of the quirky and fun achievements in the literary world.
In today’s fast-paced world, technology has taken over our lives. We have replaced human interaction and socializing with gadgets and gizmos. Even books have been replaced by e-books, and some feel that books have lost their appeal. But you cannot ignore the charm of holding a book and losing yourself in its pages. The way it captures our imagination, no gadget in the world can come close to it. Thanks to our never-lasting love affair with books, there are many records in the literary world that are made and broken. Here is a list of a few of them.
The largest book in the world.
Technically it is not a book, not a conventional book. The stone tablet surrounding the Kuthodaw Pagoda in Myanmar is humongous. There are over seven hundred marble tablets and narrates the central idea of Theravada Buddhism, the story of Tipitaka. It was ornated with precious gemstones, and the writing was filled with ink made of gold in the year 1860. But the tablet was looted by the British army, who took away all the gemstones and gold ink in the year 1880.
The longest book in the world.
Some believe that the title should go to the classic Tolstoy novel; War and Peace might be the longest book in the world. But if we keep word count in our minds, the longest book ever to be printed would be Artamene, ou le Grand Cyrus. It was written in the 17th century by Madeleine de Scudery. It is a romantic sage in ten volumes with over 10,000 pages.
Bestselling book (fiction) of all times.
The bestselling book (fiction) would be Charles Dickens iconic “The tale of two cities”. It sold almost 200 million copies worldwide. But recently, many books seem to have broken this record, like E. L James with her blockbuster trilogy of “Fifty Shades of Grey” that sold about 100 million copies worldwide. J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series went a step ahead and sold about 450 million copies worldwide.
Bestseller of all times.
Christian’s holy book “The Bible” still remains the bestseller of all times. It has been translated into 394 languages and is still in circulation from the time it was first printed. It is also estimated that about five billion copies have been sold worldwide.
What other astonishing records do you know about your favourite book?
