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Contents
Purpose
Top 200 novels in the United Kingdom
Authors with multiple novels on the list
Similar contests
References
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.
31. The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson 81. The Twits by Dahl
32. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García 82. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Márquez 83. Holes by Louis Sachar
33. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 84. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
34. David Copperfield by Dickens 85. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl 86. Vicky Angel by Wilson
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
37. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute 88. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
38. Persuasion by Austen 89. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
39. Dune by Frank Herbert 90. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
40. Emma by Austen 91. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery 92. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams 93. The Colour of Magic by Pratchett
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 94. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 95. Katherine by Anya Seton
45. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh 96. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
46. Animal Farm by Orwell 97. Love in the Time of Cholera by García Márquez
47. A Christmas Carol by Dickens 98. Girls in Love by Wilson
48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Hardy 99. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
49. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian 100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
50. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher 101. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 102. Small Gods by Pratchett
52. Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck 103. The Beach by Alex Garland
53. The Stand by Stephen King 104. Dracula by Bram Stoker
54. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy 105. Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz
55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth 106. The Pickwick Papers by Dickens
56. The BFG by Dahl 107. Stormbreaker by Horowitz
57. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome 108. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 109. The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
59. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer 110. The Illustrated Mum by Wilson
60. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 111. Jude the Obscure by Hardy
61. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman 112. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue
62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden Townsend
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens 113. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough 114. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
65. Mort by Terry Pratchett 115. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Hardy
66. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton 116. The Dare Game by Wilson
67. The Magus by John Fowles 117. Bad Girls by Wilson
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Pratchett 118. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
69. Guards! Guards! by Pratchett 119. Shōgun by James Clavell
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding 120. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
71. Perfume by Patrick Süskind 121. Lola Rose by Wilson
72. The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists by Robert 122. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Tressell 123. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
73. Night Watch by Pratchett 124. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
74. Matilda by Dahl 125. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding 126. Reaper Man by Pratchett
76. The Secret History by Donna Tartt 127. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise
77. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Rennison
78. Ulysses by James Joyce 128. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
79. Bleak House by Dickens 129. Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
80. Double Act by Wilson 130. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
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131. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 166. Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
132. Danny, the Champion of the World by Dahl 167. Girls Out Late by Wilson
133. East of Eden by Steinbeck 168. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye
134. George's Marvellous Medicine by Dahl 169. The Witches by Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters by Pratchett 170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
136. The Color Purple by Alice Walker 171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
137. Hogfather by Pratchett 172. They Used to Play on Grass by Terry Venables and
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan Gordon Williams
139. Girls in Tears by Wilson 173. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
140. Sleepovers by Wilson 174. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
141. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria 175. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
Remarque 176. Dustbin Baby by Wilson
142. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson 177. Fantastic Mr Fox by Dahl
143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby 178. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
144. It by King 179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
145. James and the Giant Peach by Dahl 180. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
146. The Green Mile by King 181. The Suitcase Kid by Wilson
147. Papillon by Henri Charrière 182. Oliver Twist by Dickens
148. Men at Arms by Pratchett 183. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
149. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian 184. Silas Marner by Eliot
150. Skeleton Key by Horowitz 185. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
151. Soul Music by Pratchett 186. The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon
152. Thief of Time by Pratchett Grossmith
153. The Fifth Elephant by Pratchett 187. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
154. Atonement by Ian McEwan 188. Goosebumps by R. L. Stine
155. Secrets by Wilson 189. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
156. The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier 190. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
157. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 192. Man and Boy by Tony Parsons
159. Kim by Rudyard Kipling 193. The Truth by Pratchett
160. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon 194. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
161. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 195. The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
162. River God by Wilbur Smith 196. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
163. Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon 197. Witches Abroad by Pratchett
164. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx 198. The Once and Future King by T. H. White
165. The World According to Garp by Irving 199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
200. Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews
In the first stage, all four extant Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling were among the 25 leaders. So were both Middle-
earth novels by J. R. R. Tolkien. The second stage featured 21 books by distinct authors: the top 25 with Rowling
represented only by her fourth volume, Goblet of Fire, and Tolkien only by The Lord of the Rings. Those two novels finally
placed fifth and first; the other preliminary leaders by Rowling and Tolkien nominally led the also-rans in ranks 22–25.
Four: J. K. Rowling
Three: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens
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Similar contests
Contests similar to the Big Read were conducted in other countries:
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
2. Penguin Dominates The Big Read Top 100 (http://pressoffice.penguin.co.uk/static/downloads/releases2003/160503_b
igreadstop100_2.pdf) Penguin Press Office
3. John Ezard (15 Dec 2003) Tolkien runs rings round Big Read rivals (https://www.theguardian.com/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 (https://www.independent.co.u
k/arts-entertainment/books/features/a-week-in-books--the-big-read-aims-to-reflect-mass-taste-584433.html). The
Independent
5. 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 6 Dec 2010
7. Lielā Lasīšana (http://ltv.lsm.lv/lv/liela-lasisana/)
External links
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