Big Read

The Big Read was a 2003 survey carried out by the BBC, with the goal of finding the "Nation's Best-loved Book" by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS and telephone. The show attracted controversy for adopting an allegedly sensationalist approach to literature and for being vulnerable to vote-padding - for example, the top 200 entries include 10 novels by comic fantasy author Terry Pratchett - but supporters praised it for raising the public awareness of reading.

Hungarian version

The Big Read has been imported into Hungary under the name A Nagy Könyv (lit. "The Big Book", http://www.anagykonyv.hu/) and is currently taking place in 2005. Voting for the Top 100 began in late February and ended on April 23, when the 50 "foreign" and 50 Hungarian most popular novels were selected. This round proved to be far more popular in Hungary (with a population of 10 million) than in the U.K. (with a population of 60 million), with 400,000 votes arriving (as opposed to 140,000 votes in the U.K. competition in the corresponding period). On June 11, the Top 12 novels were chosen in the framework of a television show presented by cultural celebrities. Presently 12 short films are being made from these novels, so that on December 17, 2005, the population can select their ultimate favourite, which will then become "the most liked novel of Hungary 2005".

Related Topics:
Hungary - Currently - April 23 - June 11

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Top 12

• "Stars of Eger" by Géza Gárdonyi (appeared as Eclipse of the Crescent Moon)
• The Paul Street Boys by Ferenc Molnár (appeared under the same title in English)
• The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
• The Little Prince by A. de Saint-Exupéry
• "Abigail" by Magda Szabó (no English translation available)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
• "Thorn Castle" by István Fekete (no English translation available)
• Nineteen Eighty-Four by G. Orwell
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
• "The Golden Man" by Mór Jókai (appeared as Timar's Two Worlds; Modern Midas; The man with the golden touch)
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

:(Titles in quotation marks are literal translations.)

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:Source: http://www.nol.hu/cikk/366224/

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