The Little Guide
to Big Reading
Talking BBC Big Read books
with family, friends and colleagues
Contents
Introduction
page 3
Setting up your own BBC Big Read book group
page 4
Book groups at work
page 7
Some ideas on what to talk about in your group
page 9
The Top 21
page 10
The Top 100
page 20
Other ways to share BBC Big Read books
page 26
What next?
page 27
The Little Guide to Big Reading was
created in collaboration with Booktrust
2
Introduction
“I’ve voted for my best-loved book – what do I do now?”
The BBC Big Read started with an open invitation for everyone to nominate
a favourite book resulting in a list of the nation’s Top 100 books. It will finish
by focusing on just 21 novels which matter to millions and give you the chance
to vote for your favourite and decide the title of the nation’s best-loved book.
This guide provides some ideas on ways to approach The Big Read and advice on:
•
•
•
setting up a Big Read book group
what to talk about and how to structure your meetings
finding other ways to share Big Read books
Whether you’re reading by yourself or planning to start a reading group, you can
plan your reading around The BBC Big Read and join the nation’s biggest ever
book club!
3
Setting up your own
BBC Big Read book group
“Ours is a social group, really. I sometimes think the book’s just an extra
excuse for us to get together once a month.”
“I’ve learnt such a lot about literature from the people there. And I’ve read
books I’d never have chosen for myself – a real consciousness raiser.”
“I’m reading all the time now – and I’m not a reader.”
Book groups can be very enjoyable and stimulating.There are tens of thousands
of them in existence in the UK and each one is different. If you’re not already in
a book group,The BBC Big Read gives you the perfect opportunity to set one
up. Here is our ten-point plan on how to get started.
Ten-point plan
1
Who’s in the group? Start with a few friends meeting together, then invite
others to join you. Come up with a fun name for your book group and
register it with The BBC Big Read team through the website at
www.bbc.co.uk/bigread. Not only will you get the chance to win some
great prizes, your group might be chosen to take part in some of our Big
Read programming.
2
Find new members through word of mouth, or by putting up a notice in
the local library, bookshop or café.
3
Be safe. If you’re inviting strangers to join your group, meet in a public
place and always agree in advance how the group will decide on who
to accept, otherwise it can get difficult if you disagree.
4
How big? Most groups have around ten members – small enough for
everyone to get a word in, big enough to cope with a few absentees
per meeting.
5
Where to meet? You can meet in each other’s houses, or in a café, pub
or library. Which will suit you best? Do you want to eat at the meeting
or just drink? Is everyone prepared to share responsibility for catering?
4
“Our book group began meeting in venues that suited the themes of the book
we were reading, so an old London pub to discuss Dickens, a Russian
restaurant for Dostoyevsky, a curry to accompany Vikram Seth. . . But it
became too expensive. Now we go to one of our houses and order an
appropriate takeaway!”
6
What kind of structure to the meetings? That’s entirely up to you. Some
just meet up and talk about whatever comes to mind; others are more
formal, with an introduction to the book by one member.
Some groups keep journals of their meetings with notes on the discussion.
There is, of course, no right way to talk about a book.
7
Keep an eye on group dynamics. Make sure you have a balanced group
where everyone contributes.
It can be useful to have an ‘expert’ on the team – the sort who has
always read other books by the author, brings along notes on the book
downloaded from websites or clipped out of newspapers and usually has
an anecdote about the time they met the author. On the other hand, don’t
let them, or anyone else, dominate! Everyone’s opinions matter and the
point is not to reach a consensus decision on whether the book was good
or not.
Other characters to handle with care include ‘The Opinionated One’ who
has strong views on every book and a habit of condemning as reactionary
anyone who dares to disagree. ‘The Quiet One’ – sits there every week
saying nothing – are they bored or terrified to pitch in? You’ll have to find
a way to make them feel more confident about speaking up. ‘The Touchyfeely’ actually wants to talk about problems and relationships rather than
books.Which is fine, as long as everybody else does.
8
Agree at the outset to review on a regular basis how the group is
going so that everyone has a chance to say whether it’s giving them
what they want.
9
Which book next from The Top 21? Decide together how you’re going to
choose. You could vote for what you want to read next or take it in turns
to pick a book. If you pick the book for the next meeting be prepared
to take the flak if the rest don’t like it! Your group can join in the online
UK-wide debate via The BBC Big Read message board at
www.bbc.co.uk/bigread and find out if other readers around the
country share your views.
10 You don’t all need to read the same book.There are ways to structure
meetings, for instance with each member reporting back on what they’re
reading. And remember that you can always borrow the books for free
from your local library.
5
A first meeting
“It started with some of us chatting about a children’s book we’d read
that we thought lots of adults would like (no, it wasn’t Harry Potter).
Picking the book was tricky – we wanted something that would be worth
talking about, but not too intimidating for people who aren’t big readers.
We met in a quiet corner of the pub down the road. I said what I’d
liked about the book and what I hadn’t.Then everyone chipped in.
The conversation never stopped after that. It took a while to agree
on the next book that we all wanted to read. Having a list to choose
from was very useful.”
If you want to join a reading group but don’t want to set up your own, you can
use the BBC Big Read website at www.bbc.co.uk/bigread to access The BBC
Big Read database. Here you can search for existing book groups in your area,
including those run in libraries and other public places. If you don’t have
internet access, you can call The BBC Big Read freephone actionline on
08000 150 950 and one of our advisors will search the database for you.
The database also has listings of many other book-related events, from literary
festivals and author signings to book readings and literature courses.
6
Book groups at work
You might decide that rather than setting up a book group at home or with
friends or in the community, you’d like to set up a reading group at work.
Office, factory, shop, hospital – wherever you work, book groups can be a great
way to get to know your colleagues better and to share something more than
just the work you do.
“Our book group really brought us together at the office. Some people used
to go out drinking together, others weren’t included.Then there were those
embarrassing events when we were all supposed to socialise, but no one had
anything in common except work.The group changed that. We came to know
each other better and had some really interesting discussions.The whole
team is much more focused – and friendly – now.”
Reasons to set up a BBC Big Read book group
at work
•
As well as being fun, a book group can bring together staff from different
corners and levels of an organisation to share ideas on an equal footing.
•
A book group provides an excellent breathing space between work and
social life. It can bring together people who wouldn’t otherwise meet.
•
It’s good for a team to spend time talking creatively, learning, listening
and thinking together.
•
People can reveal to colleagues as much or as little about themselves
as they wish, and still participate fully in the discussion.
•
Do it now for the Big Read and see if it works. If it does, you may keep
meeting for years to come.
7
Starting up the group
When?
Once a month is probably best, giving everyone time to read the book and not
too long to forget about it.
You could meet after work, over lunch or even for books and croissants at
the beginning of the day.
If the firm wants to support the group they could let staff leave a bit early
or have an extra long lunch break.
Who?
Send the word out – through an email to all staff, or a notice in the staff room
– and see who responds.Talk to your Human Resources department about
your plans, they may be able to offer support. You may need to do some
persuading in person too. See if you can get a good range of staff, with junior
and senior people, young and old, not just one clique. Diversity makes for an
interesting discussion.
Come up with a name for your group, and register it with the BBC Big Read
team through the website at www.bbc.co.uk/bigread. Not only will we keep
you up to date with all the latest Big Read news and events, your group could
get the chance to be involved in our Big Read programming.
How?
Setting up a book group at work follows the same principles as setting up a
book group with friends or in the community. Check out our ten-point plan
for starting a reading group on page 4.
If you run a business and would like to get everyone in your company reading,
email [email protected] for advice and information.
8
Some ideas on what to talk
about in your group
•
See how many of The Top 21 you’ve read between you.
•
Which are the books you have no interest in reading and which are the ones you’ve
always meant to get round to?
•
Which have you tried to read but never finished? Can anyone else on the group
convince you it’s worth soldiering on?
•
Where do you read – on the train or in bed?
•
Do you dip into lots of different books or work your way steadily through one
at a time?
•
Do you judge a book by its cover?
•
Do you skip bits or plough on?
•
Do you picture exactly what the characters look like or just have a sense of them?
•
Do you try to work out what’s going to happen or leave it to unfold?
•
What voice do you hear in your head when you read?
•
What do you imagine?
•
And where does your mind wander?
•
Do you love the feel of clean, new paperbacks, or prefer hard covers? Perhaps you
prefer the reassuring scruffiness of the second hand? Library books have their own
special qualities – like the date stamp which raises the question of who were the other
people in your district who chose to borrow this particular book. Do you re-read
childhood favourites? If so, why?
•
What makes a classic endure?
•
Do you prefer seeing film adaptations before or after you’ve read the book?
•
If you were making a film of one of the books who would star in it?
•
Are all books an escape from real life?
•
If you could have access to the secret diary of a character in one of the books, which
would it be?
•
How well do the characters in the books understand each other? Do you, the reader,
think you know better?
•
How would you feel about being transplanted into the world of these books?
•
Which character would you most like as a friend?
Books don’t exist in a vacuum. What music did a book remind you of? What book might be
interesting to read after seeing a particular film or TV programme? Why not rent the movie
of a book one night and watch it with your group, or go to the cinema together to see the
film of the book – and then discuss which you preferred.
“My partner’s in an all-women group, mine is all men. We’re
planning a Big Read special where both groups meet to talk
about one novel. It could be an interesting experience –
and fascinating to see if men and women really do have very
different approaches to fiction.”
9
The Top 21
(in alphabetical order)
BIRDSONG
• Sebastian Faulks
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN
CATCH 22
• Louis de Bernières
• Joseph Heller
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
• J D Salinger
GONE WITH THE WIND
• Margaret Mitchell
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
• Charles Dickens
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
HIS DARK MATERIALS
• J K Rowling
• Philip Pullman
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
JANE EYRE
• Douglas Adams
• Charlotte Brontë
THE LION,THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
LITTLE WOMEN
• Louisa May Alcott
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
• J R R Tolkien
NINETEEN EIGHTY- FOUR
• George Orwell
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
REBECCA
• C S Lewis
• Jane Austen
• Daphne du Maurier
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
WAR AND PEACE
• Harper Lee
• Leo Tolstoy
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
WINNIE THE POOH
• Kenneth Grahame
• A A Milne
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
• Emily Brontë
10
Which Top 21 title to choose?
A short synopsis of each Top 21 book to help you decide:
BIRDSONG
An English officer called Stephen Wraysford is sent to the trenches of the Somme,
and finds himself retracing the steps of a painful pre-war love affair. He struggles
to retain his humanity and will to live amid the horror of the front line and the
claustrophobia of tunnel warfare eighty feet underground.
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN
Set on the idyllic Greek island of Cephalonia, de Bernière’s novel tells the story
of a star-crossed romance between Pelagia, a beautiful Greek girl, and Captain
Antonio Corelli, an Italian soldier billeted at her house during the Fascist
occupation.Their love proves strong, but is it strong enough to face the massive
challenges of war in Europe, civil war in Greece and a cataclysmic natural disaster?
CATCH 22
Set during the Second World War, Heller’s anti-war classic has at its heart one
of the great literary anti-heroes of all time – Yossarian.Yossarian goes through
a number of experiences which convince him that he must do anything to escape
from the war. He begins to act crazy. But there’s a catch – catch 22 – which
specifies that because Yossarian understands the insanity around him then he
must be sane enough to carry on flying.The book follows Yossarian’s dilemma.
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
The story of Holden Caulfield, a 16 year-old schoolboy, whose life spirals out of
control during a weekend in Manhattan. Holden is on a quest for truth but finds
nothing but phonies around him. He is on the cusp of becoming an adult but can
only relate to the innocence of children. He trawls bars, stays in seedy hotels, hires
a prostitute and drinks with friends but it all makes him feel worse.
GONE WITH THE WIND
Gone With The Wind is an epic romance set in the deep South of America during
the American Civil War. Scarlett O’Hara has led a privileged life on the Tara
plantation. Her world is turned upside down when war breaks out and she
meets the dashing soldier of fortune, Rhett Butler.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Pip is an orphan who grows up as an impoverished blacksmith’s apprentice in the
Kent marshes at the beginning of the 19th century. His fate changes when he is
summoned to meet Miss Havisham, a rich lady driven to the edge of sanity after
being jilted at the altar. Pip moves to London but as he tries to make his way in
fashionable society, he cannot shake off his past, or the mystery of his fortune that
is linked to the dark secret that he has kept hidden since childhood.
11
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
Harry returns to Hogwarts where he discovers there is to be a Triwizard
Tournament between the great wizarding schools. A champion is selected from each
school by the magical Goblet of Fire.To his surprise and consternation, Harry is
selected as an additional champion. But he soon discovers that is the least of his
worries. Lurking in the shadows of the Tournament is Voldemort.
HIS DARK MATERIALS
This highly imaginitive trilogy charts the adventures of a young girl called Lyra,
as she travels through a succession of incredible parallel worlds – populated by
spectres, witches, angels and daemons – with her companion Will, the guardian of
the world-changing Subtle Knife.Together they evade the dark forces ranged against
them, and head towards a final, apocalyptic confrontation between the forces of
good and evil.
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
Arthur Dent’s day starts much as every other day, with a hangover. Still in his
pyjamas and attempting to block some bulldozers from demolishing his house,
the earth is, rather inconveniently, destroyed. Arthur is saved by an alien called
Ford Prefect, who had been visiting earth to update its entry for the latest edition
of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He hitches a ride on a Vogon spaceship, and,
as one would expect at the end of all memorable journeys, discovers the answer
to life, the universe and everything.
JANE EYRE
Jane Eyre is the inspirational story of an unforgettable heroine. Orphaned as a baby,
Jane is bullied by her cruel aunt and tyrannical cousins.They finally dispatch her to
a bleak charity school where she finds real friendship.With a will of iron and an
irrepressible spirit, Jane eventually leaves the school to take up a position as
governess to the young ward of Mr Rochester. She falls in love with the unhappy
master of Thornfield only to discover his dark secret on the morning of their
wedding.
THE LION,THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
The most popular of C S Lewis’ series of seven Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe tells the story of evacuee siblings Peter, Susan, Lucy and
Edmund who stumble through the back of a musty old wardrobe into the magical
snow-filled land of Narnia.With the help of fantastic creatures such as Mr and Mrs
Beaver, the faun Mr Tumnus and the mighty and mysterious lion Aslan, the children
must triumph in the face of terror, treachery, and Turkish delight.
12
LITTLE WOMEN
Little Women is set in Massachusetts in the early 1860s during the American Civil
War. It tells the story of four very different teenage sisters – Amy, Beth, Jo and
Meg March – and follows them as they grow up over the course of a year. Jo is the
heroine of the story and wants to be a writer, Meg dreams of being rich, Beth loves
being at home and Amy wants to be an artist.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
A sweeping epic that crosses an incredible imaginary world, The Lord of the Rings
tells how a small innocent Hobbit called Frodo takes on the most dangerous task
in Middle Earth. He must carry a ring of immense power and evil to the only place
where it can be destroyed, the volcano-like Crack of Doom in the dark land of
Mordor. Around him stand the Fellowship – a band of mixed skills and mixed
origins, from wizards to elves. Against him are the most daunting forces of darkness:
ringwraiths, hordes of vicious orcs, the ultimate dark lord Sauron and the Ring
itself, the One Ring To Rule Them All.
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
It’s 1984, and for the past twenty years Britain has been ruled by Big Brother and
his totalitarian junta.Winston Smith spends his days working for The Party, while
dreaming of something better than the grey, monitored existence that he has always
known. But it’s not until Winston is sent to the Ministry of Love because of his love
for Julia, and faces the ordeal of Room 101, that he fully understands the dark
horror of Big Brother’s regime.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Pride and Prejudice is set in a small society of gossipy gentry who are obsessed with
money, looks and status. Mrs Bennet sees good marriages as vital for her daughters
and is very excited when a wealthy, eligible young man arrives in the area. But when
her daughter, Elizabeth, overhears Darcy talking about her in a less than
complimentary fashion her pride is hurt and she is determined not to like him.
As the novel progresses their views of each other slowly change.
REBECCA
The (unnamed) narrator dreams of returning to Manderley, lost to her and her
husband forever. After a speedy courtship, they had married and returned to
the widower’s ancestral home.The newlywed soon feels overshadowed by her
predecessor, the beautiful Rebecca.Then, Rebecca’s body is recovered from
the sea and suspicions arise as to the circumstances of her death.
13
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
To Kill a Mockingbird is set during the darkest hours of American history, in 1930s
Alabama. It tells the story of Atticus Finch, a small town lawyer who takes a brave
and lonely stand against injustice by taking on the case of a black man,Tom
Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell.The novel
is narrated by Atticus’ daughter, Scout, as she looks back on three long hot
summers of her early childhood.Through the eyes of Scout, her brother Jem and
their friend Dill, we follow the course of Tom’s trial, as Atticus fights against the
deeply rooted prejudice which drives this society.
WAR AND PEACE
Written over five years, from 1863 to 1868, Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is an epic
tale of love, war, and family life set in Russia during the Napoleonic Wars. At its
heart are three characters – Pierre Bezukhov, a great bumbling bear of a man, a
social misfit who inherits a vast fortune and becomes everybody’s new best friend,
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, a steely ice-man determined to find glory for his family
and his country by fighting against Napoleon, and the girl they both come to love,
Natasha Rostov.The book traces their lives, their hopes and dreams, their
heartaches and bereavements, against a backdrop of astonishing history.
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
The story begins with shy Mole abandoning his spring cleaning and running off
to the river where he meets the rather more sophisticated Ratty.The pair become
inseparable and Mole is introduced to Toad, a comic creature who has a dangerous
fascination with the motor car. Life is very easy on the Riverbank until the foolish
Mole ignores Rat’s warnings and ventures into the evil Wild Wood one night.
WINNIE THE POOH
In the ten stories that make up the book we follow Pooh bear and his friends
on their many escapades, from Hunting for Woozles and catching Heffalumps
to discovering the North Pole. Combined with E H Shepard’s innocent and funny
sketches, A A Milne’s stories create a magical world.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Wuthering Heights is an epic saga of love, death, horror and family drama set in the
wilds of West Yorkshire at the end of the 18th century.The novel follows three
generations of two families.The working class Earnshaw family, and the middle class
Lintons. Heathcliff, an abandoned child, is adopted into the Earnshaw family where
he quickly falls in love with his adopted sister, Catherine.Their love is the most
passionate imaginable yet it is spoilt when Cathy rashly decides to marry Edgar
Linton, a man she does not love, but who will give her status and wealth.
14
Now you’ve chosen your book, here are some discussion
points to get you started:
BIRDSONG
•
Does it matter that the author didn’t experience the war he writes about?
•
Why do you think Stephen survives the war?
•
How does the author weave together the separate sections of the novel?
Which themes reverberate over the generations?
•
Some critics have said the sex scene between Stephen and Isabelle is one
of the most powerful in modern literature – do you agree? If so, why?
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN
•
Do you think de Bernières totally villain-ises Mandras and the Greek
resistance?
•
Is Pelagia fickle in the way she loses her affection for Mandras?
•
How does the book show Pelagia falling for the Italian Aggressor despite her
best intentions?
•
What do you make of the character of Carlo? Is his attraction to the captain
physical, emotional, or both?
CATCH 22
•
Yossarian is certainly not a typical literary hero – but is he even a hero?
•
There are so many characters in Catch 22 it can be tough to remember them
all. Which ones stick in your mind?
•
Catch 22 is set in the very masculine world of the air force. How does Heller
represent his few women characters?
•
Is the novel wholly comical?
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
•
If you read this as a teenager is it still a powerful read as an adult?
•
Do you think the character of Holden Caulfield is relevant to the experience
of teenagers today?
•
If you were to write a sequel to The Catcher in the Rye, what sort of person do
you think Holden would grow up to be?
•
How much of Holden’s sense of alienation is due to the death of Allie, his little
brother?
•
What evidence is there that Holden is himself a ‘phoney’?
•
What does Holden actually like?
15
GONE WITH THE WIND
•
In what ways does Scarlett defy people’s expectations of how a lady should
behave? Do you think she is the first literary ‘ladette’?
•
Gone with the Wind begins: “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom
realized it…” What is it that attracts men to Scarlett?
•
What picture does Mitchell paint of the American Civil War? How accurate
do you think this is?
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
•
Has Dickens’ humour stood the test of time?
•
To what extent is Pip in control of his destiny? Does he make his own
decisions? If so, at what point does he start to make the wrong ones?
•
Dickens’ own story is very much a rags to riches one.What does the novel
tell us about his attitudes to money in Victorian England?
•
In their own ways, Mrs Joe, Miss Havisham and Estella are all examples
of dislikeable women. Which one do you like/dislike the most?
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
•
Is this better than the other Harry Potter books?
•
How does J K Rowling deal with Harry getting older and becoming
a teenager?
•
In what ways is Harry the same (or very different) from any other teenager?
HIS DARK MATERIALS
•
What animal would your daemon be?
•
What makes Lyra different from the heroines of earlier children’s fiction?
•
Would you say that Mrs Coulter is a truly evil character? Why?
•
How does Lyra develop from the beginning of Northern Lights to the end
of The Amber Spyglass?
•
Is the level of violence correctly pitched for children?
16
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
•
Is there any serious message in the Hitchhiker’s Guide?
•
The entry for Earth in the Hitchhiker’s Guide is eventually condensed to
‘Mostly Harmless’. What is the novel’s attitude towards the few human
characters in it?
JANE EYRE
•
Can you take Rochester seriously as a romantic hero once you find out about
the mad woman in the attic?
•
What makes Jane so attractive as a heroine?
•
Do you find the novel’s use of incredible coincidence – for example the way
Jane finds St John, her long-lost cousin – off-putting, or do you accept it?
•
What does Charlotte Brontë wish us to think of Bertha, Rochester’s first wife?
THE LION,THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
•
Is our enjoyment of this book as adults just nostalgia?
•
Do the dated attitudes about male and female roles pose a problem reading
this book now?
•
How have children changed in the fifty years since the book was written?
•
How do you think the children felt once they returned to reality, after having
spent time in Narnia as Kings and Queens?
•
Do you see the novel as a Christian allegory?
LITTLE WOMEN
•
Do men enjoy this book?
•
Is this a feminist or an anti-feminist book?
•
How do you feel about events such as Jo selling her hair and the burning
of her books by the Professor, in the light of feminist ideas?
•
Jo is often referred to as ‘Poor Jo’ by her sisters but is in fact a very strong
character. How does each of the girls defy their family stereotypes?
•
Who is your favourite of the four girls?
17
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
•
Is this a children’s book?
•
Why does Sam stay with Frodo?
•
What kind of hold does the ring exert over each of Bilbo, Frodo, Gollum
and Boromir?
•
Do you detect a kind of nostalgia for the pre-industrial world in Tolkien’s
portrayal of the Shire?
•
Can you think of any other material objects in literature that have such
resonance as the One Ring?
•
Do you think the plot is original? If not, where do you see its roots?
•
Is the book’s main appeal as an old-fashioned adventure story?
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
•
Does the future that Orwell described still seem relevant?
•
Big Brother is now a household name…. in what other ways are we already
living in Orwell’s future?
•
“You’re only a rebel from the waist down” Winston tells Julia. What roles
do love and sex play in Orwell’s dictatorial world?
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
•
Which is more important to Austen – love or money?
•
Would you humour your mother if she was as bossy and interfering
as Mrs Bennet?
•
Whose is the pride and whose the prejudice?
•
How relevant to the 21st Century is Austen’s portrayal of relationships?
REBECCA
•
Can we believe the second Mrs De Winter’s point of view?
•
Max DeWinter – hero or villain?
•
Which character does the author want us to feel most empathy for?
•
Is this a book for women?
18
TO
•
•
•
•
•
•
KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
How important is humour in the book?
What do you think of the exploration of race and class in the book?
The book has sold tens of millions of copies – why?
How does the narration by a child affect the book’s power?
“You never really understand a person…until you climb into his skin and walk
around in it.” How does Atticus’s advice resound throughout the book?
“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. Use this quote as the starting point for
a discussion.
WAR AND PEACE
•
Which did you enjoy reading about more – the war or the peace?
•
Which is the more powerful – the parts told through the eyes of the great
leaders or the parts told by the ordinary peasants?
•
Is War and Peace a suitable alternative to reading a history book?
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
•
Is this really a children’s book?
•
What do you make of the two slightly more mystical chapters – where Ratty
and Mole search for Portly and where Ratty attempts to follow the Sea Rat off
to sea? Do these chapters suggest a deeper philosophy to Grahame’s world?
•
How does the real world, of motor cars, prisons and washerwomen interact
with the natural world of the animals?
WINNIE THE POOH
•
Pooh often uses poetry and songs to give sense to his confusion – in what
ways do you use poetry or music in your life?
•
How are reading, writing and spelling used in Winnie the Pooh?
•
Is Pooh a poet?
•
Why do adults enjoy this book?
•
How has the Disney version of Pooh changed our perception of the book?
•
Does the end of the book symbolize the end of childhood?
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
•
How important is landscape to the book?
•
At one point in the novel, Cathy screams passionately “I am him and he is me!"
But what essential differences divide her and Heathcliff?
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The Top 100
(in alphabetical order)
THE ALCHEMIST • Paulo Coelho
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY • Douglas Adams
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND • Lewis Carroll
THE HOBBIT • J R R Tolkien
ANIMAL FARM • George Orwell
HOLES • Louis Sachar
ANNA KARENINA • Leo Tolstoy
I CAPTURE THE CASTLE • Dodie Smith
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES • L M Montgomery
JANE EYRE • Charlotte Brontë
ARTEMIS FOWL • Eoin Colfer
KANE AND ABEL • Jeffrey Archer
THE BFG • Roald Dahl
KATHERINE • Anya Seton
BIRDSONG • Sebastian Faulks
THE LION,THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE • C S Lewis
BLACK BEAUTY • Anna Sewell
LITTLE WOMEN • Louisa May Alcott
BLEAK HOUSE • Charles Dickens
LORD OF THE FLIES • William Golding
BRAVE NEW WORLD • Aldous Huxley
THE LORD OF THE RINGS • J R R Tolkien
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED • Evelyn Waugh
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA • Gabriel García Márquez
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY • Helen Fielding
THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE • Enid Blyton
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN • Louis de Bernières
MAGICIAN • Raymond E Feist
CATCH 22 • Joseph Heller
THE MAGUS • John Fowles
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE • J D Salinger
MATILDA • Roald Dahl
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY • Roald Dahl
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA • Arthur Golden
A CHRISTMAS CAROL • Charles Dickens
MIDDLEMARCH • George Eliot
THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR • Jean M Auel
MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN • Salman Rushdie
COLD COMFORT FARM • Stella Gibbons
MORT • Terry Pratchett
THE COLOUR OF MAGIC • Terry Pratchett
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO • Alexandre Dumas
NIGHT WATCH • Terry Pratchett
NINETEEN EIGHTY- FOUR • George Orwell
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT • Fyodor Dostoyevsky
NOUGHTS AND CROSSES • Malorie Blackman
DAVID COPPERFIELD • Charles Dickens
OF MICE AND MEN • John Steinbeck
DOUBLE ACT • Jacqueline Wilson
ON THE ROAD • Jack Kerouac
DUNE • Frank Herbert
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE • Gabriel García Márquez
EMMA • Jane Austen
PERFUME • Patrick Suskind
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD • Thomas Hardy
PERSUASION • Jane Austen
GIRLS IN LOVE • Jacqueline Wilson
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH • Ken Follett
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS • Arundhati Roy
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY • John Irving
THE GODFATHER • Mario Puzo
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE • Jane Austen
GONE WITH THE WIND • Margaret Mitchell
THE PRINCESS DIARIES • Meg Cabot
GOOD OMENS • Terry Pratchett
THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS • Robert Tressell
GOODNIGHT MISTER TOM • Michelle Magorian
REBECCA • Daphne du Maurier
GORMENGHAST • Mervyn Peake
THE SECRET GARDEN • Frances Hodgson Burnett
THE GRAPES OF WRATH • John Steinbeck
THE SECRET HISTORY • Donna Tartt
GREAT EXPECTATIONS • Charles Dickens
THE SHELL SEEKERS • Rosamunde Pilcher
THE GREAT GATSBY • F Scott Fitzgerald
THE STAND • Stephen King
GUARDS! GUARDS! • Terry Pratchett
THE STORY OF TRACY BEAKER • Jacqueline Wilson
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS • J K Rowling
A SUITABLE BOY • Vikram Seth
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE • J K Rowling
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS • Arthur Ransome
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE • J K Rowling
A TALE OF TWO CITIES • Charles Dickens
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN • J K Rowling
TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES • Thomas Hardy
HIS DARK MATERIALS • Philip Pullman
THE THORN BIRDS • Colleen McCullough
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD • Harper Lee
A TOWN LIKE ALICE • Nevil Shute
TREASURE ISLAND • Robert Louis Stevenson
THE TWITS • Roald Dahl
ULYSSES • James Joyce
VICKY ANGEL • Jacqueline Wilson
WAR AND PEACE • Leo Tolstoy
WATERSHIP DOWN • Richard Adams
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS • Kenneth Grahame
WINNIE THE POOH • A A Milne
THE WOMAN IN WHITE • Wilkie Collins
WUTHERING HEIGHTS • Emily Brontë
20
Some ideas to talk about
on The Top 100 themes
The BBC Big Read Top 100 is a fantastic list of your 100 favourite novels,
but it’s still a big list to get through and you probably won’t have time to cover
them all.To help you navigate your way around it and decide which books to
read – whether on your own or in your group – we have divided the list into
ten themes. Each theme contains ten of The Top 100, although lots of the books
could go equally well under several of the themes. Under each theme we have
suggested some possible starting points for discussion to help get you started.
“My partner’s in an all-women group, mine is all men. We’re planning a Big Read
special where both groups meet to talk about one novel. It could be an
interesting experience – and fascinating to see if men and women really do have
very different approaches to fiction.”
21
The Big Read themes
Great Book, Great Movie?
What makes a book hard or easy to film?
Do you prefer seeing the film before or after you’ve read the book?
Are some of these stories more enjoyable on the big screen than on the page?
What can books do that other media can’t?
Which book on the list do you think has made the best screen adaptation?
And the worst?
What does the film get wrong?
If you were making the film who would star in it?
Did the film change how you saw the characters in your mind?
The Dark Side
What is ‘dark’ about these books?
Which character is the most evil or disturbed?
Why do we enjoy exploring evil and horror?
How does it make us feel – frightened or reassured?
The Great Escape
In what ways are these books an escape?
Are all books an escape from real life?
Some of these books appear to present idyllic places, but are they really like that?
What inner journeys are the travellers undertaking in these books?
Other Worlds
Why has the author created this place?
Does the setting make it easier for the author to make a point?
Would you like to live in any of these worlds?
If you were creating another world what would you have in it?
Did you find it hard to enter the book’s world because it is too different from
your own reality?
How would the characters survive if they were transplanted into our world?
Shattered Worlds
Why do we like reading about the worst human experiences?
Does good come out of the terrible situations in these books?
Does hardship bring out the best or worst of the characters?
Are these books ultimately hopeful?
Does a writer need to have lived through war or poverty to be able to write
about it successfully?
Grand Passions
How well do these writers describe what it’s like to be in love?
Is passionate love seen as a destructive or creative force in these books?
Does reading about love affairs make you yearn to have one or delighted that
you’re over yours?
You’re an agony aunt – what would you have advised these characters to do?
Do the problems the lovers face in these books still exist today?
Would the book’s treatment of love be different if the book had been written by
a man instead of a woman or a woman instead of a man?
22
Family Affairs
How are family relationships portrayed in these books?
Do they remind you of your own experience?
How do their families shape the characters of the heroes/heroines in these books?
Are the families a support or a burden?
Should we take responsibility for the actions of our families?
Who is head of the family in these books?
If you could have access to the secret diaries of just one of the characters, which
would it be?
Do you find it difficult to get to grips with the characters when the focus keeps
shifting to different family members?
Forever Friends?
Which of these characters would you like as a friend?
Are there some things friendships can’t survive?
What do the characters really think of each other?
How well do the characters understand their feelings towards each other? Do you,
the reader, think you know better?
Is friendship always positive? Can it be destructive?
Have you ever found that a book has helped you deal with a difficult issue with
a friend?
The Great Divide
What divides the people in these books?
What brings them together?
Are divisions inevitable in society?
Do the characters overcome the divisions in these books?
How do these books give you insight into divisions in the world now?
In what ways can the society represented in the book help us understand our own?
How would you cope with being transplanted into the world of this book?
Do politics and fiction mix?
Coming of Age
Is growing up about gaining experience or losing innocence?
Do the characters have a particular moment where they grow up or is it a gradual
process?
Do these books remind you of moments in your life when you came of age?
If you read this as a teenager how would/did you respond? How is the experience
different as a mature adult?
Do you still return to your childhood favourite reads as an adult? If so, why?
Are the issues facing teenagers really universal and timeless or do the books make
us realise how much things have moved on?
Has a book helped you to understand ‘growing up’ for yourself or as a parent?
23
24
THE ALCHEMIST
Paulo Coelho
THE COUNT OF MONTE
CRISTO
Alexandre Dumas
GOODNIGHT MISTER TOM
Michelle Magorian
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO
THE GALAXY
Douglas Adams
HOLES
Louis Sachar
THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE
Enid Blyton
ON THE ROAD
Jack Kerouac
THE SECRET GARDEN
Frances Hodgson Burnett
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS
Arthur Ransome
TREASURE ISLAND
Robert Louis Stevenson
ARTEMIS FOWL
Eoin Colfer
BLEAK HOUSE
Charles Dickens
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
THE WOMAN IN WHITE
Wilkie Collins
HARRY POTTER AND THE
GOBLET OF FIRE
J K Rowling
THE GREAT GATSBY
F Scott Fitzgerald
TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES
Thomas Hardy
GOOD OMENS
Terry Pratchett
MORT
Terry Pratchett
THE MAGUS
John Fowles
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY
Helen Fielding
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S
MANDOLIN
Louis de Bernières
REBECCA
Daphne du Maurier
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
J R R Tolkien
DUNE
Frank Herbert
THE GODFATHER
Mario Puzo
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
George Orwell
GONE WITH THE WIND
Margaret Mitchell
HARRY POTTER AND THE
PHILOSOPHER’S STONE
J K Rowling
WATERSHIP DOWN
Richard Adams
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Great Escape
The Dark Side
Great Book, Great Movie?
3
2
1
Reading Themes 1–5
MAGICIAN
Raymond E Feist
GUARDS! GUARDS!
Terry Pratchett
THE COLOUR OF MAGIC
Terry Pratchett
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
Arthur Golden
THE LION,THE WITCH AND
THE WARDROBE
C S Lewis
HIS DARK MATERIALS
Philip Pullman
HARRY POTTER AND THE
CHAMBER OF SECRETS
J K Rowling
GORMENGHAST
Mervyn Peake
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Aldous Huxley
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN
WONDERLAND
Lewis Carroll
Other Worlds
4
THE STAND
Stephen King
NIGHT WATCH
Terry Pratchett
A TOWN LIKE ALICE
Nevil Shute
WAR AND PEACE
Leo Tolstoy
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
Charles Dickens
THE THORN BIRDS
Colleen McCullough
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
John Steinbeck
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS
Arundhati Roy
CATCH 22
Joseph Heller
BIRDSONG
Sebastian Faulks
Shattered Worlds
5
25
LITTLE WOMEN
Louisa May Alcott
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
L M Montgomery
THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR
J M Auel
KANE AND ABEL
Jeffrey Archer
LORD OF THE FLIES
William Golding
MIDDLEMARCH
George Eliot
NOUGHTS AND CROSSES
Malorie Blackman
THE RAGGED TROUSERED
PHILANTHROPISTS
Robert Tressell
BLACK BEAUTY
Anna Sewell
WINNIE THE POOH
A A Milne
DOUBLE ACT
Jacqueline Wilson
HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN
J K Rowling
COLD COMFORT FARM
Stella Gibbons
DAVID COPPERFIELD
Charles Dickens
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF
SOLITUDE
Gabriel García Márquez
A SUITABLE BOY
Vikram Seth
JANE EYRE
Charlotte Brontë
THE SHELL SEEKERS
Rosamunde Pilcher
THE STORY OF TRACY BEAKER
Jacqueline Wilson
THE TWITS
Roald Dahl
THE PRINCESS DIARIES
Meg Cabot
GIRLS IN LOVE
Jacqueline Wilson
LOVE IN THE TIME OF
CHOLERA
Gabriel García Márquez
PERSUASION
Jane Austen
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH
Ken Follett
PERFUME
Patrick Suskind
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Emily Brontë
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Jane Austen
KATHERINE
Anya Seton
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED
Evelyn Waugh
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
VICKY ANGEL
Jacqueline Wilson
THE SECRET HISTORY
Donna Tartt
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY
John Irving
OF MICE AND MEN
John Steinbeck
THE BFG
Roald Dahl
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
Kenneth Grahame
FAR FROM THE MADDING
CROWD
Thomas Hardy
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Harper Lee
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Charles Dickens
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Charles Dickens
ANIMAL FARM
George Orwell
MATILDA
Roald Dahl
CHARLIE AND THE
CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Roald Dahl
I CAPTURE THE CASTLE
Dodie Smith
THE HOBBIT
J R R Tolkien
EMMA
Jane Austen
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
J D Salinger
MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN
Salman Rushdie
Coming of Age
ULYSSES
James Joyce
The Great Divide
ANNA KARENINA
Leo Tolstoy
Forever Friends?
1
10
Family Affairs
9
Grand Passions
8
7
6
Reading Themes 6–10
Other ways to share
BBC Big Read books
If you’re not in a book group and don’t want to be, you can still enjoy talking with
friends and family about what you’re reading.Take a look at the questions on page 9
and get chatting; or go to the message board at www.bbc.co.uk/bigread and join
in with the discussion online.
Whether your favourite book is a thriller, a romance, a classic from the past or
contemporary fiction, all readers have a lot they can share about the experience
of reading.
Reading takeaways and recommendations
Give a friend a BBC Big Read takeaway. Lend or buy them three books you’ve picked
from The Top 21 or The Top 100, with your friend in mind. One book is the starter:
something short and accessible.The second is the main course: a substantial book on
a theme they’ll care about.The third is the dessert, maybe even the wine: powerful
and delicious.You can write a menu describing the books and why you chose them.
Personal recommendations from friends can tempt us to read books we wouldn’t
pick up otherwise and give you the impetus to experiment. If you are having trouble
finding what to read next or just want to try something different why not ask a
friend to choose for you.
“I’m loving this book I was recommended – and it’s not the kind of thing I usually
read at all.”
“I hated the cover but read on anyway because it had been sent to me.
I’m so glad I did.”
Or simply lend a Big Read book to a friend who you think will enjoy it and put
a letter inside it explaining why you chose it for them. If they’re read it before
they can always read it again.
“I’ve been an avid reader all my life, but when my husband died I switched off
books for a few years until a friend recommended a novel that I found myself
hooked by. I’m not very mobile these days and spend lots of time alone, but I
enjoy my own company and it’s one of the great pleasures of retirement: to be
able to spend all day reading one book.”
“My brother gave me a book for my 18th birthday. Inside it he
wrote: ‘This book is very special to me, sister, and so are you.
I hope you find as much wisdom and beauty in it as I did.’ I
read it straight away and will treasure it always. Better than
a scribbled note saying ‘Happy birthday, sis’.”
26
What next?
Vote for your best-loved book
Telephone 0901 522 9000* or text the title of the book you want to vote for
to 86200**. You can also vote online at www.bbc.co.uk/bigread. Lines are
open from 18 October to 13 December 2003.
*calls cost 15p **texts cost no more than 12p per message
Log on to The BBC Big Read website at www.bbc.co.uk/bigread to find out
loads more about The Top 21 books and their authors.You can also use the
website to access The BBC Big Read database, which allows you to search
for book groups, reading activities and events, author signings and literature
courses in your area. If you don’t have access to the internet, you can phone
our Big Read freephone actionline on 08000 150 950 and one of our advisors
will search the database for you. And you can get talking about books – either
individually or as a group – with other Big Readers all over the country on our
online message board at www.bbc.co.uk/bigread and join in the nation’s
biggest ever conversation about books.
If you want more information on books and ideas about sharing your reading,
go to www.booktrust.org.uk
If you’re a teacher or a college lecturer you can download BBC Big Read
Resources for use with a range of different age groups from
www.readon.org.uk
If you work in a library go to www.readingagency.org.uk for resources
for library staff involved in The BBC Big Read.
Whoever you are, we hope that The BBC Big Read will lead you to plenty
of creative reading.
27