Real Madrid footballer David Beckham holds up his autobiography "My Side" in Madrid, September 2006. Bestsellers by Bill Clinton, J.K. Rowling and David Beckham are among the books Britons find hardest to finish reading, according to a survey published Monday. Although the average reader spends more than 4,000 pounds (5,890 euros, 7,760 dollars) on books in their lifetime, 55 percent admit they buy them for decoration and have no intention of reading them. Topping the list of unfinishable fiction is "Vernon God Little" by DBC Pierre, which 35 percent said they could not plough through, followed by Rowling's "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" at two (32 percent). "Ulysses" by James Joyce (28 percent) was at three and Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" -- which prompted Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa, or death sentence, against him in 1989 -- is at number six (21 percent). The non-fiction list was led by the memoirs of former British Cabinet minister David Blunkett (35 percent), followed by ex United States president Clinton's 1024-page autobiography "My Life" (30 percent). Real Madrid star Beckham's "My Side", the fastest-selling autobiography of all time in Britain, comes in third (27 percent). The survey also found that only 24 percent of people find time to read every day, with 48 percent saying that they were too tired to do so. Researchers commissioned by television news service Teletext interviewed 4,000 people. 點擊查看更多雙語新聞 (AFP)

英國本周一公布的一項調查顯示，比爾·克林頓、JK.羅琳和大衛·貝克漢姆的暢銷書名列“最難讀完書籍”排行榜。 盡管英國普通讀者一生中花在買書上的錢超過4000英鎊，但其中55%的人承認，他們買書的目的是為了裝飾，并不是為了讀書。 名列小說類“最難讀完書籍”排行榜之首的是DBC 皮埃爾創作的小說《Vernon God Little》，35%的受訪者說他們無法讀完這本書；位居其后的是羅琳的《哈利·波特和火焰杯》（32%）。 詹姆斯·喬伊斯的《尤利西斯》位居第三，薩爾曼·拉什迪的《撒旦詩篇》名列第六（21%），1989年，拉什迪因此書遭到伊朗精神領袖阿亞圖拉·魯和拉·赫梅尼的追殺。 英國前內閣大臣大衛·布蘭奇特的回憶錄名列非小說類“難讀”排行榜之首（35%），美國前總統克林頓長達1024頁的自傳《我的人生》位居其后（30%）。 皇馬俱樂部球星貝克漢姆的《我的立場》排行第三（27%），此書曾創下英國傳記類圖書有史以來的最快暢銷紀錄。 此外，調查發現，只有24%的受訪者每天會擠點時間看書，而48%的人說他們太累了，根本不想看書。 這項由電視新聞服務中心Teletext委托調查人員所開展的調查共對4000人進行了訪問。 （ 英語點津姍姍編輯）