The New Victorians reading habits

BBC News publishes the results of a recent study on the reading habits of British people:

According to the latest research, people in the UK are reading more than they did a quarter of a century ago.
A team at the University of Manchester has found that, while Britons spent just three minutes a day on average reading a book in 1975, by 2000 this rose to seven minutes. (...)
According to Dr Dale Southerton, a member of the University of Manchester research team, people now have more time for books. And the increase in reading can be explained by the changes in how people organise their lives and better access to education, he says.
In seems that increased time spent commuting and waiting for friends is seen by modern Britons as a good time to catch up on a few chapters.
"If your day is more fragmented, you are more likely to have gaps, and reading is a particularly useful way of filling in the gaps," Mr Southerton says. "Also, reading is not reliant on others to participate."
He also suggests better access to universities has also influenced reading habits.
"There are so many myths about these eras, such as that we have dumbed down. But more of us are better educated now and are likely to enjoy reading," he adds.
In fact, according to a study by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council earlier this year, people are even bothered about being seen to be reading the right kind of book.
A third of those asked chose "challenging literature" in order to seem well-read. Top of the list was JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. (Lucy Rodgers)

The Stage presents the upcoming Laurence Olivier season at the British Film Institute:

Laurence Olivier’s work in film and television will be marked with a special two-month season hosted by the British Film Institute.
The event, which starts in August, is being held to celebrate the 100 years since Olivier’s birth.(...)
The season will also feature Wuthering Heights, in which Olivier played Heathcliff, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca, in which he appeared as Maxim de Winter. (Matthew Hemley)

On the other side of the pond, the New York Observer carries an article about the so-called New Victorians. Apparently our Charlotte-Brontë-to-be, that is Michelle Williams, is one of them:

Eminent New Victorian couples can be found all over New York these days, puttering about their brownstones (original detail carefully restored), or pushing babies with names like Beatrice, Charlotte, Theodore and Henry in gigantic prams to the local playground. Some of them are famous. Actors Michelle Williams, 26, and Heath Ledger, 28 (himself named for Emily Brontë’s brooding hero!), swan about Boerum Hill with daughter Matilda[.] (Lizzy Ratner)

The Boston Globe presents the upcoming Austen season at WGBH's Masterpiece's Theatre and reminds us of last season's Jane Eyre audience numbers:

Other "Masterpiece" productions last season fared better. "Jane Eyre" averaged more than 2.5 million viewers per episode. (Joanna Weiss)

Finally, on the blogosphere, echo13 posts an article (we don't know if original or not) entitled Revenge and Love of Wuthering Heights.

Categories: In the News, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV