Reading between the lines 字里行间的阅读
作者： A. J. Dalton (amended by Jon Porter)
来源：《疯狂英语·新阅版》2020年第06期表达爱意的情话
武举 英國人喜欢看书。最近的一项调查表明，阅读在英国成年人中十分受欢迎！ 然而，在过去的几十年里，英国图书馆的访客却越来越少。英国人的阅读方式正在发生巨大的变化，纸质书正在渐渐消亡……
In 1997， the Net Book Agreement in the UK ended. The Agreement existed between UK bookshops and publishers， and fixed minimum prices for all books. With the end of the Agreement， books began to be discounted， and now they are much more affordable for British people. There is no doubt that one of the reasons for British libraries having fewer visitors is that books can now be so cheap to buy. Sales of books in the UK are always relatively healthy. They even go up during an economic downturn becau people choo to stay in with a book rather than go out to a restaurant.
医废处理
But what is a book？ It？蒺s usually “A written or printed work consisting of pages glued or wn together along one side and bound in covers”. But is that definition still valid？ Actually we are now right in the heart of a reading revolution. We read in different ways now， using new technologies like E？鄄books and their digital reading devices，
audiobooks and multimedia books. But never mind how we read， let？蒺s look at what the British like to read. Here are a few of the most
Fantasy
苹果手机强制关机方法 The UK has always been famous for its stories of magic and wizardry. Druids had strong cultural memories. Shakespeare wrote fantastic plays： The Tempest and A Midsummer Night？蒺s Dream， for example. Frankenstein was born when the infamous English poet Lord Byron invited Mary Shelley and others to create horror stories when holidaying in Geneva. It is part of a great British “Gothic” tradition. J.R.R. Tolkien is credited with creating the modern genre of fantasy， with The Hobbit in 1937， but there was also a lot of fantasy in the work of H.G. Wells， who published The Time Machine in 1895. And the tradition of British fantasy is still alive and kicking. Everyone has heard of J.K. Rowling and the humorous， recently decead， Terry Pratchett. You might also have heard of Philip Pullman？蒺s His Dark Materials trilogy too， as the first book was made into the film The Golden Compass， starring Nicole Kidman. In fact， the fantasy g
enre is so popular that new sub？鄄genres such as “metaphysical fantasy” and “steampunk” are now emerging.
Chick lit返字开头的成语
Chick lit refers to books that are written about and for modern women. The most famous example is probably Bridget Jones？蒺s Diary， by the British author Helen Fielding. Titles in this genre are usually about complicated love lives， modern working life and trying to remain healthy. The books usually contain humour or a “feel？鄄good” factor. In many ways， they reprent escapist fantasy， but they are popular becau they deal with day？鄄to？鄄day topics.
Crime
The UK is known for its “detective fiction” and “murder mysteries”. A couple of the most famous British authors in this genre are of cour Sir Arthur Conan Doyle， who started the Sherlock Holmes stories in 1887， and Agatha Christie， who created the det
ectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. The characters are still popular on television and in films. There？蒺s the Hollywood film with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law， directed by Guy Ritchie， and then there？蒺s the ongoing BBC Sherlock ries with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. And there are many contemporary popular British authors of crime fiction： P.D. James， Ian Rankin and Colin Dexter.
Celebrity （auto）biography
It ems that every minor celebrity has written a book the days. They？蒺re not really rious authors and are simply cashing in on their “15 minutes” of fame. Many of their books are “kiss and tell”， i.e. tho books are of interest to readers only becau of the crets they reveal about other famous people. A number of the books are not even written by the celebrity themlves—rather， they have been written by anonymous“ghost writers”. Even so， this genre is popular becau celebrity culture is well developed in the UK.
Leading contemporary British novelist Will Self， author of eleven literary novels， c
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laims the novel is dying. But I don？蒺t think there？蒺s any need to call in Sherlock Holmes to investigate this particular death just yet. Are bookshops dying out becau of websites like Amazon？ Not really. The British are bibliophiles and love to brow in bookshops， particularly when there is a coffee bar within the store. So， are libraries completely disappearing in the UK？ Well， nearly 500 libraries have clod down in the last five years. But that isn？蒺t just becau of reader demand， it？蒺s also down to government cuts in public spending. And the library is adapting： Most now offer computer access and training as well as books for borrowing. Finally， 62 percent of British parents read their children bedtime stories and none of us can e that tradition changing soon. So long live the book！
