Middle Earth Triumphs

StarMag, 29th April 2007

Classic fantasy is the clear winner

Here it is, folks, Malaysia’s top 10 favourite fiction titles!

THE Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic tale of the struggle between good and evil, is a clear favourite with Malaysian readers.

It topped StarMag’s poll of Malaysians’ top 10 favourite works of fiction by a large margin, garnering 25 more votes than the Harry Potter series, which came in second, followed closely by the American classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice came fourth, but after Tolkien, the British novelist was mentioned the most. Emma, Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility were the other Austen novels voted by readers.

Although at first it did not look like The Da Vinci Code would make it to the top 10, the final results placed Dan Brown’s mystery thriller in fifth place, while Brown’s Angels and Demons shared the 12th spot with The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. 

 

There was another tie, at the No. 9 spot, between Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. This, of course, means the list ends with No. 9 even though it has 10 titles.

The Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women, and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery were the only children’s novels, apart from Rowling's series, that made the top 10. 

 

The next highest scorers in the category of children’s lit were Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Dahl has always been one of the few children’s authors whom Malaysians have no qualms reading into adulthood and Haddon’s award-winner has crossover appeal on both sides of the Atlantic as well as in this country, judging from the wide age-range (19 to 42) of those who picked it.

Titles that received single votes predominate the poll. There are 884 of them and they include the classic thriller Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, children’s book When Marnie Was There by Joan G. Robinson, the queen of crime Agatha Christie’s Endless Night, and Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Bronte’s better-known novel Jane Eyre sits on the eighth spot on the list.

There are no books by Asian writers in the top 10, but American-Chinese Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things are in the top 20.

Other Asian authors whose work was listed include Chinese author Su Tong (author of Raise the Red Lantern), Indian writer Vikram Seth, Indonesian Pramoedya Ananta Toer Azizi and V.S. Naipaul. Azizi Haji Abdullah, Shaari Isa and Xeus are the only Malaysian authors whose books made it onto some lists. 

 

The bulk of respondents were residents of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and – unexpectedly bucking the Klang Valley dominance – Kuching. And most were under 35 years old, with students sending in the most votes by a long way. 

Just 218 entries qualified for the final results tabulation.

The low number of respondents may reflect the short time Malaysians were given to send in their lists (just two weeks). We know for a fact there were many who missed the deadline for various reasons – including forgetfulness!

We were also forced to reject many entries either because they were incomplete (the computer programme that sorts results won’t accept incomplete entries) or included non-fiction titles. 

The Children of Hurin, a new book by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Tolkien’s son, Christopher), has just been published (read the review on page 14). Time will tell if it is destined to grace future favourites lists....

Malaysia’s Top 10 Favourite Books

1.       The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

2.       The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

3.       To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

4.       Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

5.       The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

6.       The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

7.       Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

8.       Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

9.       Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

9.       The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger 

 

Comments

[Daphne]

Hi Sharon. Yes, I was surprised to see Catcher in the Rye too. It's unfortunate we had to leave out quite a few entries. Will make sure the next poll isnt done in such a rush.

Animah, maybe it's just that classics stand the test of time and appeal to a wider age range. I'm opposite of you. I read more contemporary stuff when I was younger and now I go back to the classics again and again. Or at least the out of print titles!

[bibliobibuli]

many thanks for putting the list together, daphne, it was very interesting to see what the choices were. am surprised "catcher in the rye" is so popular though ...

[animah]

Does this mean (with the exception of Da Vinci Code), Malaysians don't read or don't enjoy contemporary novels.
But it does reflect younger readers' taste.
Just thinking back on my own life (now that I'm in my very very late 30s): when I first decided to be "cultural", I was into reading the books listed above. My first interest into art appreciation was Monet, Renoir and other impressionists. My taste in music was classical. Twenty years on, my taste has matured into something very personal and individualistic. Well you know my reading tastes. Art - I love Miro and Mattise - because you can't tell what they painted, tres bizzare! Music - things that I hated when I was younger - bossa nova, tango, flamenco - anthing with passion.
The books that made it to the Top 10 are good but restrained. Some of the better contemporary novels (like other forms of art, music and movies) have broken away from the trend.
People in their teens and earlier twenties despite wanting to rebel seem to have conservative preferences. They only dare to be different as they get older.