Big Read (German) Explained

The Big Read initiative was launched in Germany by the public television broadcaster ZDF in 2004, under the name "Das große Lesen", with the support of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and Stiftung Lesen. Based on the BBC version of Big Read, it was designed as a game show to determine the top 50 books read and liked by the German people.

An initial list of 200 books was sent to more than 10,000 bookshops to start the survey. 60,000 votes were already cast within the first week. Four weeks later, the list had grown to 12,615 book nominations, and after the casting of 250,000 votes the 'winners' were determined.^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Results

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Bible
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Perfume by Patrick Süskind
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
The Physician by Noah Gordon
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Outlander a.k.a. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

External links

BBC Big Read website

Notes and References

http://www.zdf-jahrbuch.de/2004/programmarbeit/arens.htm "Unsere Besten – Das große Lesen" (2004) ZDF Jahrbuch
http://www.lesekost.de/kanon/HHL04ZDF.htm Unsere Besten – Das große Lesen: Das Lieblingsbuch der Deutschen
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/7/0,1872,2181735,00.html