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LoveReading.co.uk

One Poll

22 November 2010

One-in-five British men believe George Orwell's classic novel Animal Farm is a blue movie and that Charles Darwin wrote Oliver Twist, according to a study of the nation's reading habits.
Almost 25 per cent have no idea that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, and a staggering 67 per cent think the Scottish poet Robert Burns invented the haggis.
A survey of 2,000 men aged 30 and under also revealed that the average chap takes between eight and 12 months to read a SINGLE paperback.
The poll was conducted by the UK's leading book review and recommendation website, Lovereading.co.uk.
A spokesman for the site said the findings reflect a ''worrying trend'' among modern young men.
He added: ''It's incredible to think that so many men are clueless about classic titles such as Oliver Twist.
''And it's incredible that so many haven't the faintest idea about important figures including Robert Burns.
''It's certainly a worrying trend and one that we hope to reverse.''
The results of the survey were released for the first time yesterday.
Respondents were aged 30 or under, and were contacted about their reading habits after visiting the Lovereading website.
Almost 20 per cent (18.6) thought Animal Farm - Orwell's 1945 seminal novella about the pre-Stalin era - was the name of a pornographic film.
The same number thought Oliver Twist was penned by Charles Darwin, rather than by Charles Dickens.
One-in-four respondents admitted they had ''no idea'' if the sleuth Sherlock Holmes was real or otherwise.
And over one-in-three thought Burns was famous for creating two of Scotland's most famous exports - Burns' night and haggis.
Of the 2,000 men questioned, almost one-in-two (48 per cent) said they took up to 12 months to read a novel.
Almost all (98 per cent), however, said reading was an ''important part of their day''.
Peter Crawshaw, co-founder of Lovereading, blamed the results on a ''modern era''.
But he said: ''While modern technology might render classic literature a foreign country to the majority of young men, it can also rekindle their interest in reading.
''The rise of eBooks and eReaders introduces this audience to exciting new writers and also the greats, but in a contemporary and trendy way.''
Research conducted by global market research company www.onepoll.com