Works by Thomas Hardy, George Eliot and EM Forster have fallen in popularity over the last two decades, according to new research of the literary canon.
by: Jasper Copping
They are the books that have stood the test of time – not to mention the ones we are all supposed to have read.
But an analysis of reading habits has revealed that some of the most celebrated classics of English literature have fallen out of fashion in recent years.
Works by Thomas Hardy, George Eliot and EM Forster have seen their popularity plummet over the last two decades, while those by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and George Orwell have fared much better.
The study involves a comparison of lending data from Britain's libraries for 50 classics by British and Irish authors from the literary canon from the early 1990s, a decade ago, and last year.
It shows some clear winners and losers, with all featured works by the first three named authors rising in the list over the period and all of those by other three falling.
Academics say the changes could show readers' growing taste for more upbeat, comic novels with happy endings over more tragic, harrowing works.
Another likely factor behind the popularity of works appears to be whether or not they have featured in a television or film adaptation.
The biggest riser in the chart is Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell, which has risen from 49th place in the early nineties, and 44th a decade ago, to reach 16th. The novel, was made into a BBC series five years ago.
All the Dickens and Austen novels featured in the study have also been dramatised at least once during the period: Great Expectations (adapted for the screen in 1998 and 1999), David Copperfield (1999 and 2000), and Oliver Twist (1997, 1999, 2005 and 2007); Pride and Prejudice (1995 and 2005), Sense and Sensibility (1995 and 2008), Northanger Abbey (2007), and Emma (1996).
Notable risers included: Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift (40 to 23); Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons (43 to 24); The Woman in White (31 to 18), and The Moonstone (38 to 26), both by Wilkie Collins; The War of the Worlds, by HG Wells (45 to 32); and Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe (41 to 33).
The work to see the biggest fall in popularity is the Jungle Book, which has sunk from third place in the 1990s to 36th. Its author, Rudyard Kipling is now considered unfashionable by many for his views on the Empire.
The new study has been conducted by the Public Lending Right, which monitors data from libraries and collects payments for authors. In the case of the classics' authors, it does not collect any money.
It compiled a list of 50 classics written before 1950 and then analysed the lending data for three years: 1993-94 and 2010-11 – the earliest and latest years for which records are available – and also 2001-02.
In total, the 50 books were lent 641,733 times in the most recent year available, compared with 1,170,303 at the start of the period. This mirrors a general trend in libraries, which have seen loans fall during the period from 552 million to 300 million.
Jim Parker, registrar of the PLR said: "This is the first time we have analysed classics in this way. They are a niche part of library loans but they are still being borrowed.
"We know that television dramatisations do have an impact. Often, they lead people to look out for other books by the same authors. But who knows what else could be behind the changes."
John Bowen, a professor of nineteenth century literature at the University of York, said the success of authors like Dickens and Austen at the expense of others, like Hardy and Eliot, could be down to readers seeking comfort in their greater optimism and happy endings.
"What is rather cheering is that the more optimistic and comic novels, with happy endings – like those by Dickens and Austen – seem to have done better," he said. Hardy and Eliot are much less simply positive or comic in their conclusions. It could be the sense of overcoming difficulty that has appealed."
The top 20
1 (7 in 1993-94) – Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 32,812 loans in 2010-11
2 (2) – Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, 29,278
3 (1) – The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien, 28,414
4 (11) – Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell, 24,839
5 (4) – Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, 23,985
6 (9) – Animal Farm, George Orwell, 22,396
7 (22) – Great Expectations, Charles Dickens, 21,308
8 (10) – Emma, Jane Austen, 21,066
9 (5) – Dracula, Bram Stoker, 19,046
10 (12) – Lord of the Flies, William Golding, 18,404
11 (16) – Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen, 18,360
12 (6) – Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier, 18,310
13 (34) – Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens, 17,876
14 (18) – Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stephenson, 17,463
15 (35) – Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stephenson, 15,591
16 (49) – Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell, 15,337
17 (20) – Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen, 14,716
18 (31) – The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins, 14,596
19 (8) – Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy, 13,593
20 (28) – Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh, 12,969
from: Telegraph
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