Whatdo you think Salman Rushdie, Bill Clinton, Paulo Coelho and Fyodor Dostoyevskyall have in common? They are all writers, you might say. Yes, and all of themare also members of a new club: writers of books that British people cannotfinish. In a recent survey of 4,000 adults on books, there were someinteresting findings
32% ofthe people said they couldn't finish Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire byJ.K. Rowling. Another book was James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses, which has morethan 1,000 pages. Surprisingly (出人意料地), Louis de Bernières' novelCaptain Corelli's Mandolin was also included. The book has sold more than 2million since 1994, but not many people seem to be able to finish it.
Therewere more interesting results in the survey. 55% of the people said they boughtbooks for decoration (装饰) and they had no plan to read them. A spokeswoman(女代言人) from a publishing house said,"It seems thatpeople buy some books just to make their bookcases (书架)look good, rather than actually buying a book that they want to read," sheadded. "People are buying books because they think they will be good forthem, rather than because they think they'll enjoy them."
The findings said many people found it hard tomake time for reading. Main reasons for this included: feeling tired (48%),watching TV (46% ), and playing computer games (26%).
Butwho really cares? The book industry is happy because people are buying booksanyway. And readers are happy because they can decorate their bookcases andmake a good impression (印象) on others.
