The Big Read was a survey on books that was carried out by theBBC in theUnited Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel.[1][2] The year-long survey was the biggest single test of public reading taste to date,[3] and culminated with several programmes being hosted by celebrities, advocating their favourite books.[4]
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 allegedlysensationalist approach toliterature, 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 ofWilliam Shakespeare were not part of the survey.
In the first stage, all four extantHarry Potter novels byJ. K. Rowling were among the 25 leaders. So were bothMiddle-earth novels byJ. 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 byThe 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.
Contests similar to the Big Read were conducted in other countries:
Other lists:
