Rachel Parris reveals top 10 books people fail to finish
To tie in with World Book Day, channel Dave ran a survey to discover the top books that British readers have failed to finish. Rachel Parris reveals the list in this video:
The TV station teamed up with Professor Sam Haddow from St Andrews University to conduct the study, which surveyed 2,000 British adults, to identify the list of the literary blockbusters that send the nation to sleep.
As you'll have heard in the above video, the top 10 are: War And Peace, Hamlet, Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, Animal Farm, Bleak House, Les Misérables, Hunchback of Notre-Dame, The Great Gatsby and Ulysses.
The channel says: "The sheer length of many of these books is a top reason Brits struggle to get through them. For example, Leo Tolstoy's 1,225-page epic novel War and Peace, has an average reading length of 37 hours and 48 minutes."
Interestingly 67% per cent of those who took part in the study said they would be more likely to complete the classics if only they made them laugh. Thus, Dave commissioned comedy writers to make new versions, as Parris reveals in this video:
Nikesh Shukla, Mollie Goodfellow, Steven Vinacour, Ivo Graham and Flo Perry were the writers tasked with bringing some levity to six of the titles. You can read their new versions below, which come complete with new illustrative covers designed by Bob Venables.
Wuthering Heights
Mollie Goodfellow's new version sees Heathcliff sent to counselling for anger management and toxic masculinity.
Moby Dick
Steven Vinacour's version of the classic loses 132 chapters (yet none of the story) and ends with a sole survivor clinging to a makeshift cheeseboard.
Animal Farm
Steven Vinacour's version features Boris the Boar and Starmer the Horse, oh and a farmyard campaign to get 'Hexit Done'.
The Great Gatsby
Nikesh Shukla's take sees Gatsby as a self-described 'Fin-influencer' - posting insane self-congratulatory and overembellished posts across his social media.
Hamlet
Flo Perry's re-working sees the would be King considering jacking it all in for an easier life abroad -the 'To be or not be to' scene rewritten with striking parallels to Harry & Meghan.
Bleak House
Ivo Graham embraces the chaos of this mindboggling book by drawing parrels with dreaded conference calls and the iconic Handforth Parish Council meeting.
Cherie Cunningham, Dave channel director, says: "At Dave, we're always looking for new ways to add a little humour to the mundane and every day. For World Book Day this year, we wanted to not only celebrate these literary works of art but add a comedic twist in a bid to inspire new readers, or those of us who have tried and failed, to go back and give them another go."
Professor Sam Haddow adds: "It has been a delight to work with Dave's writers to take a silly-stick to the stuffiness surrounding some of our most revered works of literature. I hope that readers get as many laughs out of these re-drafted stories as I have - and, perhaps, that they're inspired to go back to the originals with fresher, less-jaded eyes..."
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