Literary Records and Trivia Across Genres

Longest novel ever written

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

Longest book ever published in terms of pages

Remembrance of Things Past (also known as In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust

Shortest novel ever written by Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea

Longest epic poem in the world

Mahabharata (Indian epic)

Longest-running book series in history

The Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon

Longest single poem ever written

Mahabharata (Indian epic, containing 100,000 verses)

Longest English-language fantasy novel

The Lord of the Rings (all three volumes)

Shortest novel written by Leo Tolstoy

The Cossacks

Longest poem ever written in English

The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

Shortest novel ever written by William Shakespeare

The Comedy of Errors (in terms of word count)

Largest-selling book in the world after the Bible

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Longest play ever written

The Cure for Love by John Lyly

Shortest poem in history attributed to an author

Fleas by Ogden Nash ("Adam had'em")

Literary work with most adaptations in cinema

Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

Shortest work of literature that has won the Nobel Prize in Literature

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Genre of literature with the longest history of continuous publishing

Poetry

Shortest of the Bible's gospels

The Gospel of Mark

Shortest novel ever published by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol

Shortest epic poem ever

The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Shortest classical epic

The Iliad by Homer

Book translated into the most languages in the world

The Bible

Book with the highest number of editions published worldwide

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Most published literary work after the Bible

Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong (also known as The Little Red Book)

Most famous and influential novel in the history of English literature

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Most expensive book ever sold at an auction

The Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci

Shortest published novel written by a Nobel Prize-winning author

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Author with the most books sold by a single author

Agatha Christie

Best-selling book series of all time

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Classic novel most adapted into films

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Most translated work by a living author

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Author with the most books published in one year

R.L. Stine (author of the Goosebumps series)

Poem with the most recitations by a single individual

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Novel with the most translations by a single author

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Largest single-volume book ever published

The Guinness World Records 2008 (various editions)

Novel banned most frequently in the world

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Nora Roberts

Author holding the record for most consecutive years on The New York Times Best Seller list.

A Tale of Two Cities

Book holding the title of the longest-running number one bestseller in the history of The New York Times.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Fastest-selling novel in the history of the United Kingdom.

Harry Potter series

Series of books with the largest fanbase worldwide.

Hamlet

Shakespearean play that is the longest in terms of word count.

The Little Prince

Most published and most translated book in the world (after the Bible).

Stephen King

Author with the record for the most books published by one individual under a pen name (Richard Bachman).

The Iliad

Longest poem written by a single individual in ancient Greek literature.

Clarissa

Longest novel published in the English language in one continuous text.

James Patterson

Author holding the record for most consecutive #1 bestsellers.

Leo Tolstoy

Author who wrote the longest short story ever published (War and Peace).

The Historical Development of the Heart from Ancient Times to the Present Day, With Some Special Reference to the Studies of Leonardo Da Vinci

Longest title for a book in English.

The Mahabharata

Literary work holding the record for the longest book in ancient literature.

William Shakespeare

Author of the play Romeo and Juliet.

Moby-Dick

Novel that begins with the line, 'Call me Ishmael'.

Jane Austen

Author of Pride and Prejudice.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Title of the first book in the Harry Potter series (also known as Philosopher's Stone).

1984

Novel by George Orwell that explores the dangers of totalitarianism.

Holden Caulfield

Main character in The Catcher in the Rye.

Paradise Lost

Epic poem by John Milton about the fall of man.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author who wrote The Great Gatsby.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Author of The Lord of the Rings.

Victor Frankenstein

Protagonist in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Dante Alighieri

Author of the Divine Comedy.

The Alchemist

Novel in which the character Santiago appears, searching for treasure.

Gabriel García Márquez

Author of One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Spain

Country in which Don Quixote is set.

Haruki Murakami

Japanese author who wrote Norwegian Wood.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Author of The Brothers Karamazov.

Victor Hugo

French author known for the novel Les Misérables.

Valmiki

Author of the epic The Ramayana.

The Metamorphosis

Novel in which the character Gregor Samsa transforms into an insect.

Mark Twain

Author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Beloved

Novel by Toni Morrison that won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1988.

Emily Dickinson

American poet famous for the line, 'Because I could not stop for Death'.

Harper Lee

Author of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Famous American author who wrote The Scarlet Letter.

Leaves of Grass

Famous collection of poetry by Walt Whitman.

John Steinbeck

Author of The Grapes of Wrath.

Ralph Ellison

Author of Invisible Man.

Edgar Allan Poe

English poet known for The Raven.

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

Poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Author of 'Let Me Count the Ways?'

T.S. Eliot

Author of 'The Waste Land.'

William Wordsworth

Poet who wrote 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.'

John Keats

Author of 'Ode to a Nightingale' and famously said, 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever.'

Dylan Thomas

Poet famous for the line, 'Do not go gentle into that good night.'

Walt Whitman

American poet who wrote 'Song of Myself.'

Robert Frost

Author of the poem 'The Road Not Taken.'

William Blake

Author of 'The Tyger,' one of the best-known poems in English literature.

C.S. Lewis

Author of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' featuring a young orphan raised by a cruel aunt who befriends a magical lion.

Bram Stoker

Author of 'Dracula.'

Miguel de Cervantes

Author of 'Don Quixote,' considered the first novel in the English language.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Author of 'A Study in Scarlet,' the first book featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Oscar Wilde

Author of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray.'

Margaret Atwood

Author of 'The Handmaid's Tale,' which explores a dystopian future where women are controlled by a totalitarian regime.

Ernest Hemingway

Author of 'The Old Man and the Sea.'

Odysseus

Main hero in 'The Odyssey' who is trying to return home.

Charles Dickens

First novelist to have his work serialized.

Therein

A seven-letter word in English that consists of ten words without rearranging any letters.

Tittle

The dot placed over the letter 'I.'

Sonnet

A type of poem that consists of 14 lines and commonly deals with love, famously used by William Shakespeare and perfected by Petrarch.

Robinson Crusoe

First novel in English Literature.

Harry Potter's full address

The cupboard under the stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

Grendel

The monster that Beowulf faces.