Reading between the lines

A. J. Dalton (amended by Jon Porter)

In 1997, the Net Book Agreement in the UK ended. The Agreement existed between UK bookshops and publishers, and fixed minimum prices for all books. With the end of the Agreement, books began to be discounted, and now they are much more affordable for British people. There is no doubt that one of the reasons for British libraries having fewer visitors is that books can now be so cheap to buy. Sales of books in the UK are always relatively healthy. They even go up during an economic downturn because people choose to stay in with a book rather than go out to a restaurant.

But what is a book? It's usually “A written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers”. But is that definition still valid? Actually we are now right in the heart of a reading revolution. We read in different ways now, using new technologies like E-books and their digital reading devices, audiobooks and multimedia books. But never mind how we read, let's look at what the British like to read. Here are a few of the most popular genres...

Fantasy

The UK has always been famous for its stories of magic and wizardry.Druids had strong cultural memories. Shakespeare wrote fantastic plays: The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream, for example. Frankenstein was born when the infamous English poet Lord Byron invited Mary Shelley and others to create horror stories when holidaying in Geneva. It is part of a great British“Gothic” tradition. J.R.R. Tolkien is credited with creating the modern genre of fantasy, with The Hobbit in 1937, but there was also a lot of fantasy in the work of H.G. Wells, who published The Time Machine in 1895. And the tradition of British fantasy is still alive and kicking. Everyone has heard of J.K. Rowling and the humorous, recently deceased, Terry Pratchett. You might also have heard of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy too, as the first book was made into the film The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman. In fact, the fantasy genre is so popular that new sub-genres such as “metaphysical fantasy” and “steampunk” are now emerging.

Chick lit

Chick lit refers to books that are written about and for modern women. The most famous example is probably Bridget Jones's Diary, by the British author Helen Fielding. Titles in this genre are usually about complicated love lives, modern working life and trying to remain healthy. These books usually contain humour or a “feel-good” factor. In many ways, they represent escapist fantasy, but they are popular because they deal with day-to-day topics.

Crime

The UK is known for its “detective fiction” and “murder mysteries”. A couple of the most famous British authors in this genre are of course Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who started the Sherlock Holmes stories in 1887, and Agatha Christie, who created the detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.These characters are still popular on television and in films. There's the Hollywood film with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, directed by Guy Ritchie, and then there's the ongoing BBC Sherlock series with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. And there are many contemporary popular British authors of crime fiction: P.D. James, Ian Rankin and Colin Dexter.

Celebrity (auto)biography

It seems that every minor celebrity has written a book these days. They're not really serious authors and are simply cashing in on their “15 minutes” of fame. Many of their books are “kiss and tell”,i.e. those books are of interest to readers only because of the secrets they reveal about other famous people. A number of the books are not even written by the celebrity themselves—rather, they have been written by anonymous “ghost writers”. Even so, this genre is popular because celebrity culture is well developed in the UK.

Leading contemporary British novelist Will Self, author of eleven literary novels, claims the novel is dying. But I don't think there's any need to call in Sherlock Holmes to investigate this particular death just yet. Are bookshops dying out because of websites like Amazon? Not really. The British are bibliophiles and love to browse in bookshops, particularly when there is a coffee bar within the store.So, are libraries completely disappearing in the UK? Well, nearly 500 libraries have closed down in the last five years. But that isn't just because of reader demand, it's also down to government cuts in public spending. And the library is adapting: Most now offer computer access and training as well as books for borrowing. Finally, 62 percent of British parents read their children bedtime stories and none of us can see that tradition changing soon. So long live the book!

Activity 1: Genres

Look at this list of book genres. For each genre, decide if they are fiction (F) or non-fiction (N).

1. romance 2. social history

3. fantasy 4. celebrity autobiography

5. thriller 6. crime

7. horror 8. chick lit

9. self-help 10. popular science

Activity 2: Multiple matching

Match the statements below to the correct genre: fantasy(F), chick lit(CL), crime(CR) or celebrity autobiography (CA). More than one answer may be possible for each statement.

（ ）1. Films have been made based on the books of British authors.

（ ）2. Specific sub-genres are mentioned.

（ ）3. It's more about money than art.

（ ）4. Popular British writers from both the past and today are mentioned.

（ ）5. It might make you laugh.

（ ）6. It comes from some of the oldest ideas and traditions in the UK culture.

Activity 3: Multiple choice

1. Why don't British people use libraries as much as they used to?

A. There are no coffee bars in libraries.

B. People don't read as much as in the past.

C. Books are cheaper than they used to be.

2. Why is British fantasy so popular?

A. The Druids had strong cultural memories.

B. It is part of the British cultural identity.

C. There are so many British fantasy authors.

3. What does the author of the article think will happen to books in the future?

A. They will stay popular.

B. They will become more popular.

C. They will be replaced by computers.

Fun corner

Look at each clue and then solve the anagram(相同字母異序詞). All the words are related to the genre of fantasy.

_______1. The Prince was turned into one of these: G F O R

_______2. A wizard waves this to cast a spell: N W D A

_______3. You might find one of these on a wizard's hat: T A R S

_______4. A witch rides one of these: B R M S T C K I O O

_______5. They live in the forest: V S L E E