America's Favorite Books

[shipperx]

From Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing -- the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey.

It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut.

"While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book," Harris said in a statement announcing the results.

Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.

But the second choice for 18- to 31-year-olds was J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, while 32- to 43-year-olds named Stephen King's "The Stand" and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons".

Picks for second-favorite book also varied according to region. "Gone With the Wind" was number two in the southern and midwestern United States while easterners chose "The Lord of the Rings" and westerners opted for "The Stand".

Whites and Hispanics picked "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book after the Bible, while African-Americans preferred "Angels and Demons".

"Finally, they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code", "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger rounded out the top 10 favorites.


Personally, I'm rather astounded about Dan Brown books making the list.  Seriously, America?  Seriously?

 I've defended "The Da Vinci Code" in the past inasmuch as I think it's a reasonably effective chase thriller, but your standard old school Robert Ludlum  novel does it just as well or better.  It's not exactly a story that should stick with you for the long haul.  It's a generic thriller of the Grisham ilk.  Nothing more and it's really only when viewed in 'chase thriller' light that it's much good at all.

Comments

[jerrymcl89.livejournal.com]

Kind of makes me think there must be a fair amount of people who've never read a novel that wasn't by Dan Brown.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Heh. Possibly. But why pick up those two novels? They were pretty much your generic summer beach book best seller fare.

[jerrymcl89.livejournal.com]

That religious conspiracy angle tends to appeal to some people, and for a little while the book benefitted from a "Blair Witch" style aura of people thinking there was some truth to it, silly as that is. But I'd think that would have worn off a long time ago.

[mlgm.livejournal.com]

I don't see how Gone with the Wind is any better than Dan Brown.

But then I'm a book snob and my favorite book is Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I think it has the sense of longevity attached to it.

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

I've got to stick up for my girl, Margaret. GWTW is one of the great American novels. She had the craft of writing down pat, her characters are marvelously constructed. Hell, she made Scarlett (a thoroughly unlikeable character) rootable, and that's no easy task.

In historical context it's even more fascinating. (The more I learn about Margaret Mitchell, the more I understand the choices she made in her writing.) And she did her research, something Dan Brown obviously failed to do for Da Vinci Code. (I strongly suspect he bought a copy of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and called it a day.)

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure that people have read any of these but if put on the spot to name a title - that's all they could come up with. You'd be amazed (well, maybe not) at how many people haven't read a single thing since High School.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Heh. Good theory!

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I saw this and was pretty appalled by some of the choices. Two Dan Browns? Catcher in the Rye, the most overrated novel of the last, well, ever? And the Bible? Sort of like counting the dictionary, imo. Although maybe this means a lot of people think it's fiction. Hee.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I know. I mean, one Dan Brown is stretching it, but two? WTH?

And there was a poll on AOL about the list. I was quite tempted to choose "Catcher in the Rye" as least favorite.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I took the poll and I did pick Catcher! (Though I was tempted to be a heathen and pick the Bible.)

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

So there were choices, then? You didn't get to supply your own answer, but had to chose from the ones available?

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Yes. You only got to choose from the 10 that made the winners' list.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

When I read "Catcher in the Rye" years ago, I enjoyed it for about the first third of the book. If the story hadn't then proceeded to (literally) repeat itself for the next 190 pages, I may have enjoyed it still. But no, it turned out to be one of my least favorites as well.

I was baffled by the (two!) Dan Brown appearances on the list too. I thought "The Da Vinci Code" was an entertaining book (for what it was), and the story was intriguing enough, but I'd be hard-pressed to say that Dan Brown is an especially good author. In fact, I've definitely read fanfic with more depth, and fic writers with more skill. Perhaps some of them should have made the list. ;)

[sp23.livejournal.com]

I'd be curious to know just how many people who have picked the Bible as their favorite book have actually read it. And I don't mean read a few passages here and there, but sat down and read it from Genesis to Revelations.

As for Angels and Demons, I read it after a co-worker recommended it, and found it to be average at best with many parts that made me roll my eyes at the dumb.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I tend to think "The Bible" is the good Christian answer and only a fraction have done more than read the passages in church or bible study groups. Then again, I knew a slew of Bible thumpers in college (roomed with one so knowing others sort of came with the territory) so there are a fair number of people who have read it and even take it literally (though I always wonder how one thinks every word is literally true. Some of the words contradict.)

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know how they can either. I did a self "read the Bible in one year" study, and there's no way I can take very much of it literally.

[wisemack.livejournal.com]

TWO Dan Brown novels on a "favorites" list?

*mind boggles*

This simply reinforces my theory that most Americans don't actually read - they just pick familiar names that have appeared often in the media. *cough* And that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Of course, I am one of those people who re-reads LOTR and GWTW on a fairly regular basis. But then, both are novels which bear re-visiting. (Unlike Atlas Shrugged which I tried to slog through last year only to discover that I no longer care who John Galt is. *sigh*)

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

I'm suspicious of how this information was gathered. If asked to name, randomly, a favorite book, I suspect the answers would be all over the map. Humans are too varied in their tastes that way. But probably they were given a choice of titles in a list, and they chose whatever they liked that happened to have made the cut.

Seriously, that's about the only way I can envision Dan Brown making anybody's list.

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I'm with nmissi on Gone With The Wind - if there wasn't so much baggage attached to it, I think more people would think of the book itself as great literature. Sure, it spawned a million read-alike bodice rippers, but it's truly an astounding novel. I was thinking earlier today, in fact, at how deftly she created indepth background detail for so many passing characters, only hints of which you get in the novel, from Scarlett's narrow POV.

I've managed to avoid reading Dan Brown... and with the exception of The Lord of the Rings, the rest of this list leaves me pretty cold. Where are real classics, like Brothers Karamotzov and Canticle for Lebowitz?