The
Big Read - the final is on Saturday
The
final results of The Big Read, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s nationwide search to find
the UK's favourite book and to celebrate and encourage reading,
are announced on Saturday (13 December).
In
a live broadcast from the Royal Opera House on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO, 9.00 to
10.30pm, host Clive Anderson counts down to the top five novels,
as voted for by the public, before announcing the winning title
of Britain's best-loved book.
The
results will also be announced on the as the event happens.
The
event will be attended by the leading lights of literature, broadcasting
and public life including Professor John Carey, Bonnie Greer, Michael
Rosen, Philip Pullman, Louis de Bernières, Anna Chancellor
and Jerry Hall, as well as the Top 21 advocates.
There
are just three days left to vote. Call 0901 522 9000 (calls cost
15p).
(Online,
text and interactive TV voting mechanisms close tonight, Thursday
11 December).
Big
Read Latest
Voting
is hotting up as we reach the last few days. 500,000 votes had been
received as of Thursday morning (11 December).
The
Top 10 novels (in order) at the moment are an eclectic mix of classics,
childrens novels, humour and science fiction:
1.
Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien)
2.
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
4.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (JK Rowling)
5.
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
6.
His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)
7.
Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell)
8.
Winnie the Pooh (AA Milne)
9.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis)
10.
Catch-22 (Joseph L Heller)
Library
lending is up on The Big Read Top 21 titles
Interim
figures for The Top 21 taken from a small sample of library authorities
show that lending has overall increased by 56% in November 2003
compared to November 2002.
Some
titles have shown a dramatic rise - including Great Expectations
on loan ten times more; and Jane Eyre, 11 times more.
In
Top 100 terms, libraries are reporting an increase in lending on
all titles, but two in particular have seen amazing boosts: there
has been a 3200% increase on issues of The Count of Monte Cristo
and a 2100% increase on issues of The Lord of the Flies.
Book
sales
Weekly
sales on The Big Read Top 21 have increased by 425% since the list
was first announced.
The
statistics have been compiled by adding up the total sales of the
30 most popular editions of all the Top 21 books to give overall
representative totals.
The
week following their feature documentaries, five Big Read Top 21
titles re-entered the All Books Top 40 chart (usually only composed
of modern bestsellers):
Catch-22
- leapt from number 213 to number 27. Previously selling 500 copies
a week, it sold 5,500 in the week following its documentary - a
1100% increase;
The
Catcher in the Rye went from number 180 to number 35 in the All
Books Top 40. Previously selling around 600 a week, it sold 5,000
copies in the week after its documentary aired – an increase
of 833%;
Northern
Lights, the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, leapt
from number 178 to number 23 in the bestseller list. It sold 18,300
copies in the week following the Top 21 Revealed programme and shot
to number one in the Children's Bestseller Chart, ahead of Harry
Potter.
Birdsong
was back in the All Books Top 40 nine years after it was first published,
jumping from number 238 to number 31 in the week following the Top
21 Revealed programme.
To
Kill A Mockingbird entered the UK All Books Top 40 at position 34
in the week following John Humphrys' documentary, ahead of new blockbusters
by top-selling authors Clive Cussler and Helen Fielding. This is
the first time that the novel has ever entered this list since definitive
UK records began.
Source:
Nielsen BookScan
The
Big Read in Schools
With
help from the National Literacy Trust (NLT), Big Read events have
been happening in schools around the country.
More
than 40,000 Big Read teaching resources have been downloaded from
the NLT website.
Reading
Groups
There
have been more than 110,000 downloads of The Little Guide to Big
Reading.
More
than 2000 new reading groups have registered on The Big Read database
- .
Voting
Analysis
Top
10 novels voted for by:
Men |
Women |
| 1.
Lord of the Rings |
1.
Lord of the Rings |
| 2.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
2.
Pride and Prejudice (almost neck and neck with LOTR) |
| 3.
His Dark Materials |
3.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
| 4.
Nineteen Eighty Four |
4.
To Kill a Mockingbird |
| 5.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
5.
His Dark Materials |
| 6.
Catch-22 |
6.
Winnie the Pooh |
| 7.
To Kill a Mockingbird |
7.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe |
| 8.
Winnie the Pooh |
8.
Jane Eyre |
| 9.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe |
9.
Wuthering Heights |
| 10.
Catcher in the Rye |
10.
Rebecca |
Among
voters under 16, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are the favourites
with His Dark Materials in third place.
Middle
age voters correspond closely to the overall Top 10.
Voters
over 55 favour Pride and Prejudice and among voters over 65, War
and Peace is in sixth place (20th overall).
It
is clear that certain areas have been getting behind books set in
their region. Rebecca is disproportionately popular in the South
West - it is tenth compared to fifteenth overall.
Wuthering
Heights has also been receiving tremendous support from voters in
the North of England.
Notes
to Editors
The
Big Read Top 21 Revealed (18.10.03)
The
Big Read - the search for Britain's best-loved novel enters its
final chapter (02.10.03)
British
novels dominate public's top 100 (17.05.03)
The
Big Read television special to reveal Nation's Top 100 books
(16.04.03)
The
Big Read - Britain's biggest ever reading campaign (14.03.03)
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