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BRITAIN’S BOOK CHEATS DODGE THE CLASSICS

Pride & Prejudice: You've seen the film but have you read the book?

Wednesday March 26,2008

By Emily Garnham for express.co.uk

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(2)

IT’S Sunday evening and you’re dreading double English in the morning.

Your Shakespeare essay is due and you haven’t even read the book.

Never fear, because one in ten naughty Brits admit to watching the film adaptations of classic novels instead of reading the books.

The new research from Blackwell exposes Londoners as the worst classroom cheats with 16 per cent admitting to watching Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet and the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice instead of the real deal.

At the other end of the scale Scots were the most honest with 93 per cent preferring to study the traditional way – from the written word.

Clueless is based on Jane Austen's Emma

The findings support what teachers have suspected for years but in spite of some people taking the easy route to revision, the majority still favour a good read.

In fact classic novels are more relevant today than you might think. 85 per cent of Brits didn’t know that teenage comedy Clueless was based on Jane Austen’s Emma.

Half of the population is oblivious to the fact that blockbusting romantic comedy Ten Things I Hate About you was inspired by Shakespeare’s classic The Taming of The Shrew.

A pitiful 17 per cent knew that Pretty Woman was based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and My Fair Lady and only 22 per cent of us knew that O’ Brother Where Art Though was based on Homer’s The Odyssey.

Phill Jamieson from bookstore Blackwell said: “Classic books are timeless.

“You will find contemporary themes such as love, sex, murder, mystery and high octane drama in all the great novels, which is why they still appeal to the masses to this day through films and have parallels with our daily lives.”

So does life imitate art? More than half of us believe we are descending into Dickensian Britain with binge drinking and petty crime on the rise.

And a third of the population believes the WAG culture of trying to find a rich husband apes Jane Austen’s love-obsessed heroines.

Almost half of us think young adults suffer from Peter Pan syndrome, living at home and refusing to grow up.

Pretty Woman or Eliza Dolittle?

And 61 per cent agree that, like Oscar Wilde’s narcissistic hero Dorian Gray, vain Brits are overly concerned with the way they look.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK OF ALL TIME? ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!

I HATE THE WAY ANYTHING BEFORE 1920 IS WORTHY...

29.03.08, 8:43am

Why are the 'classics' taught in schools?

There are thousands of books published every year, many of which are excellent, but none of these are considered 'worthy' enough to be taught in schools.

Why?

What does a 21st Century teenager see in a book by Jane Austen that they wouldn't be able to find, in much more modern terms, in a book by someone like Jacqueline Wilson or Louise Rennison?

Puny humans...

• Posted by: Mickey_G • Report Comment

TOO RIGHT!! SO TRY ANOTHER WAY THAT STILL INVOLVES BOOKS!

27.03.08, 9:25am

I teach. (Not in London) and have an interesting time persuading the children to open a book. Then I found graphic novels. :-) Now even THE most reluctant lads are begging to pick up Shakespeare (ok, not quite begging).
Try these www.classicalcomics.com all sorts of books from bronte to bram (stoker) and www.wiley.com for manga too!!!
My friends and colleagues can also be found reading them. Start with Shakespeare and work your way through. Prepare to find classics interesting!

• Posted by: iteachiam2 • Report Comment