The top 20 books named by Facebook users
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (14.48%)
3. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (13.86%)
4. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien (7.48%)
5. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (7.28%)
6. The Holy Bible (named in 7.21% of lists)
7. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (5.97%)
8. The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins (5.82%)
9. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger (5.7%)
10. The Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis (5.63%)
11. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald (5.61%)
12. 1984, George Orwell (5.37%)
13. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (5.26%)
14. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (5.23%)
15. The Stand, Stephen King (5.11%)
16. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell (4.95%)
17. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (4.38%)
18. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (4.27%)
19. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis (4.05%)
20. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (4.01%)
The average age of those posting was 37. The survey was drawn from Facebook users around the world: 63.7 per cent were in the US, followed by 9.3 per cent in India, and 6.3 per cent in the UK. Women outnumbered men by three to one.
What do you think of these results? Do they speak for the emotional age of the majority of Facebook users and the future of real literature?
CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia should be counted as a series in the same way as Harry Potter right?! This would actually make it number 4 on the list.
ReplyDeleteIt should be higher, but it wouldn't necessarily be that high. Though it's probably unlikely, it's possible that there's some overlap between the people who said The Chronicles of Narnia and the people who said The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
DeleteThis list is utterly embarrassing, it's no wonder that culture is going down the tubes when thousands of people have never read anything beyond 8th grade required reading.
ReplyDeletePlease, oh PLEASE enlighten us with which books that teenagers on facebook SHOULD be listing.
DeleteWhy are you assuming that people have never read anything else???
DeleteThese are books that a large group of people have read. Of course they would top the lists. What are you expecting?
How is this list in any way embarrassing? Oh, you're probably one of those snobs that look down on anything less than "War and Peace" or Dostoevsky. Most of these books have a very strong theme of social justice, right and wrong, and standing your ground even when all odds are against you. Of course these themes would stick with us in our troubled times. Maybe instead of bitching about shit on the internet, you could help volunteer at a library or lobby for more funding for our broken educational system so that people's reading levels are more to your liking? Did you know that reading fiction increases your capacity to emphasize with others? I suggest you pick up a good fantasy novel ASAP before you forget that you're no better than any other reader.
DeleteGod I fucking hate people that judge other's taste in literature... Ignorant, arrogant snob.
"Please, oh PLEASE enlighten us with which books that teenagers on facebook SHOULD be listing."
DeleteThe works of Breton, Rousseau, and Pynchon could all be taught in high schools, which would provide much more critical insight to the world than the current roster of Baby's-First-Nihilism young adult novels they are assigned.
"These are books that a large group of people have read."'
That's what's so sad about it.
"Did you know that reading fiction increases your capacity to emphasize with others?"
How do I "emphasize" with other people?
If she'd written Harry Potter in 1920, or 1820, or 1720 they would have liked it then too. Well, maybe not 1720, I think they were burning witches still.
DeleteYou realize that most books that are forced to be read don't stay with students, right? It took most people that I know a rereading after high school to be able to appreciate Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird. Books stay with people for different reasons. The first book on my list was Harry Potter, and that is because I learned how to read so I could read Harry Potter. Being a stuck up snob about what "proper" literature is gets you nowhere.
DeleteI wouldn't worry so much. These are the most popular books--of course there's going to be the most overlap with the most well-known books. (That said, since when is "The Stand" eighth-grade reading? Or "Lord of the Rings"? Or "Pride and Prejudice"?)
DeleteIt doesn't help that most people who aren't college graduates don't do any leisure reading. But you won't help matters by taking an inherently popularly-weighted look at things, and then look down your nose at them.
What would you expect to be a highbrow literary work that a fifth of the target audience here have read and loved?
i think this list is incredibly embarrassing...these books are mostly either YA or REQUIRED reading for almost everyone in school...which means no one actually reads any literature on their own accord...
ReplyDeleteIt is entirely possible that books read during the impressionable high school years have stuck with them. Personally, only three of the listed novels were required reading when I was in high school, and I was in advanced placement English classes. Only one was required reading in six full time semesters worth of English classes for my English Education degree. Even so, I have fond memories of many of the listed novels.
DeleteLike many avid readers, I have my opinions on genres and stories I feel are are "less" than others. I have no right to foist my opinion on the general population. I am just grateful that people are reading, and that all of the books listed, whether they are young adult or adult, have powerful themes and messages.
If anyone else posts about how "embarrassing" this list is, they need to
ReplyDeletea) consider learning some reading comprehension. The list asked for what books "stayed with you", or, in plainer language, what books made the biggest impact on your life. It has nothing to do with the books or the quality of the literature and everything to do with the memories associated with the book.
b) Please list the books you've read recently, and give detailed summaries of them in your own words so we know you actually read them and aren't listing a bunch of random, pretentious bits of fluff to act superior.
Otherwise, bugger off. It is just a list of books people enjoyed. You are not better than anyone who answered because you've read a Stephen King book not listed here.
Or it means that required reading lists are, *GASP* Good!!!!
ReplyDeleteI mean seriously, if the books listed here are ones that stuck with you, and happen to be on Required Reading lists from your schools I applaud your school! I came from a school district where Harry Potter was banned because the religeous right in the area had called it devil worshiping shit...
I had to go out a town over to buy my OWN copy and read it in my own time, away from school becuase it was a banned book.
Chronicles of Narnia, stuck with me because it was the first set of stories in which we learned, in the Last Battle, that all paths that were good were good, and all paths that were evil, were evil no matter who they said they worshipped.
1984 is on required reading lists now as it has been for years and frankly NEEDS to be read by every world leader everwhere and a high school level catholic nun needs to rap them on the knuckles and remind them it's a cautionary tale not a g'd guide book!
If this is the stuff on your required reading list in your high school, applaud your school administration.
The reason required reading books tend to stick with you (meaning you remember them more than others) is because we had to write about what we read, increasing comprehension of the subject and creating long-term memories by doing so. When you're done with school, you probably don't write book reports anymore. A lot of people even stop reading books altogether in exchange for movies, tv, internet, apps, hanging out with friends, working, taking care of kids (which you should definitely read to very early on!), and all kinds of other distractions. It's highly unfortunate, but it happens, and that's why this list seems remedial compared to someone who has a reading hobby. Try to be more empathetic, at least the list doesn't have Twilight or 50 Shades on it! Lol
ReplyDeleteWhat is embarrassing is the fact that the books that stick with people are slightly more involving than magazines. Minus I guess the f-ing bible. The bible came in at number six. Really. And yes, I'm thinking Tolstoy probably cracks the top ten for memorable, life lesson type reading by people who are cave men. Idiots.
ReplyDeleteMaybe because they read these books from a young age, and so they have the most memories of them? Of course you wouldn't think about that, you're too busy trying to sound better than a bunch of people you don't even know.
Delete