The Big Read - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Big Read
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's bestloved novel of all time.[1][2] The year-long survey was the biggest single test of public reading taste to date,[3] and culminated with several programmes hosted by celebrities, advocating their favourite books.
[4]
Contents
1 Purpose 1.1 Top 200 in the United Kingdom 1.2 Authors by number of novels in the Top 100 1.3 Authors by number of novels in the Top 200 2 See also 3 References 4 External links
Purpose
The BBC started the Big Read with the goal of finding the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS, and telephone. The show attracted controversy for adopting an allegedly sensationalist approach to literature, but supporters praised it for raising the public awareness of reading. [5] The British public voted originally for any novel that they wished.[5] From this, a list of 200 was drawn up, with the highest 21 then put forward for further voting, on the provision that only one book per author was permitted in the top 21. As the poll was based on novels, the plays of William Shakespeare were not part of the survey.
Top 200 in the United Kingdom
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome Small Gods by Terry Pratchett The Beach by Alex Garland Dracula by Bram Stoker Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
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10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernires War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Middlemarch by George Eliot A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garca Mrquez The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute Persuasion by Jane Austen Dune by Frank Herbert Emma by Jane Austen Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery Watership Down by Richard Adams The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh Animal Farm by George Orwell A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
112. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 by Sue Townsend 113. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat 114. Les Misrables by Victor Hugo 115. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy 116. The Dare Game by Jacqueline Wilson 117. Bad Girls by Jacqueline Wilson 118. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 119. Shgun by James Clavell 120. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 121. Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson 122. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray 123. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy 124. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski 125. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 126. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett 127. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison 128. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle 129. Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt 130. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov 131. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 132. Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl 133. East of Eden by John Steinbeck 134. George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl 135. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett 136. The Color Purple by Alice Walker 137. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett 138. The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan 139. Girls in Tears by Jacqueline Wilson 140. Sleepovers by Jacqueline Wilson 141. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque 142. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson 143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby 144. It by Stephen King 145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl 146. The Green Mile by Stephen King 147. Papillon by Henri Charrire 148. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett 149. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian 150. Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz 151. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett 152. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
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48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy 49. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian 50. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher 51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 53. The Stand by Stephen King 54. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth 56. The BFG by Roald Dahl 57. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome 58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 59. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer 60. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 61. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman 62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough 65. Mort by Terry Pratchett 66. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton 67. The Magus by John Fowles 68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett 69. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett 70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding 71. Perfume by Patrick Sskind 72. The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell 73. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett 74. Matilda by Roald Dahl 75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding 76. The Secret History by Donna Tartt 77. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 78. Ulysses by James Joyce 79. Bleak House by Charles Dickens 80. Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson 81. The Twits by Roald Dahl 82. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith 83. Holes by Louis Sachar 84. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake 85. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 86. Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson 87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 88. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 89. Magician by Raymond E. Feist 90. On the Road by Jack Kerouac 91. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. 175. 176. 177. 178. 179. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 186. 187. 188. 189. 190. 191. 192. 193. 194. 195.
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett Atonement by Ian McEwan Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Kim by Rudyard Kipling Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon Moby-Dick by Herman Melville River God by Wilbur Smith Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx The World According to Garp by John Irving Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore Girls Out Late by Jacqueline Wilson The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye The Witches by Roald Dahl Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Frankenstein by Mary Shelley They Used to Play on Grass by Terry Venables and Gordon Williams The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder Dustbin Baby by Jacqueline Wilson Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach The Little Prince by Antoine de SaintExupry The Suitcase Kid by Jacqueline Wilson Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay Silas Marner by George Eliot American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh Goosebumps by R. L. Stine Heidi by Johanna Spyri Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera Man and Boy by Tony Parsons The Truth by Terry Pratchett The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
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The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Katherine by Anya Seton Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garca Mrquez 98. Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson 99. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot 100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97.
196. 197. 198. 199. 200.
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett The Once and Future King by T. H. White The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews
Authors by number of novels in the Top 100
Five novels: Charles Dickens, Terry Pratchett Four novels: Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson Three novels: Jane Austen Two novels: Thomas Hardy, Gabriel Garca Mrquez, George Orwell, John Steinbeck, J. R. R. Tolkien, Leo Tolstoy
Authors by number of novels in the Top 200
Fifteen novels: Terry Pratchett Fourteen novels: Jacqueline Wilson Nine novels: Roald Dahl Seven novels: Charles Dickens Four novels: Thomas Hardy, J. K. Rowling Three novels: Jane Austen, Anthony Horowitz, Stephen King, John Steinbeck Two novels: George Eliot, John Irving, Gabriel Garca Mrquez, George Orwell, J. R. R. Tolkien, Leo Tolstoy
See also
Contests similar to Big Read were held in other countries:
[6] My Favourite Book in Australia Das groe Lesen in Germany A Nagy Knyv ("The Big Book") in Hungary ("The Big Read") in Bulgaria
Other lists: Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
References
1. ^ The BBC's Big Read BBC - The Big Read (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml) April 2003, Retrieved 2008-12-9
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2. ^ Penguin Dominates The Big Read Top 100 (http://pressoffice.penguin.co.uk/static/downloads/releases2003/160503_bigreadstop100_2.pdf) Penguin Press Office 3. ^ John Ezard (15 Dec 2003) Tolkien runs rings round Big Read rivals (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003/dec/15/bbc.books) The Guardian 4. ^ Boyd Tonkin (24 Oct 2003) A Week in Books: The Big Read aims to reflect mass taste (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/a-week-in-books--the-big-read-aims-toreflect-mass-taste-584433.html) The Independent 5. ^ a b Book awards: BBC's Big Read - LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com/bookaward/BBC's+Big+Read) Retrieved 2010-11-28 6. ^ My Favourite Book - The Top 100 (http://www.abc.net.au/myfavouritebook/top10/100.htm) ABC Retrieved 06 Dec 2010
External links
BBC Big Read website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Big_Read&oldid=469436701" Categories: Book promotion Literacy British literary awards Lists of novels This page was last modified on 4 January 2012 at 02:19. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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