최근 한국갤럽의 4일간 19세 이상의 1230명의 남녀를 대상으로 실시한 설문조사에 따르면 대한민국 국민 4명 중 1명이 무라카미 하루키의 작품을 읽어 본 적이 있는 것으로 나타났다.

국내에서 “상실의 시대,” “1Q84,” 그리고 최근 5주 연속 베스트셀러에 이름을 올린 “색채가 없는 다자키 쓰쿠루와 그가 순례를 떠난 해,”로 유명한 하루키에 대해 응답자 중 24%가 그의 책을 “읽어본 적이 있다”고 답하였으며 45%는 “읽어본 적이 없다,” 그리고 나머지 31%는 “하루키를 모른다”고 답했다.

또한 하루키의 책은 여성으로부터의 지지가 더 높았는데 28%의 여성이 그의 전작을 읽어보았다고 답했으며, 남성은 오직 19%만이 읽어본적이 있다고 응답했다.

한편, “가장 좋아하는 외국인 소설가”에 대한 질문에 하루키는 3%의 지지를 얻으며 2위에 멈췄다. 1위는 “개미” “뇌” 등으로 유명한 베르나르 베르베르가 5%의 지지율로 1위에 등극했다. 이 밖에도 톨스토이, 펄벅, 알랭 드 보통, 조앤 롤링 등 해외 유명작가가 이름을 올리기도 했다.

(코리아헤럴드)

<관련 영문 기사>

Haruki Murakami most read foreign novelist in Korea: poll

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami is the most read foreign novelist in South Korea, according to a recent poll. 

Reflecting the Murakami boom here, Korea Gallup said that 24 percent of the 1,230 people aged 19 and over surveyed said they had read a book by the popular Japanese author.

Forty-five percent of the respondents said they were aware of Murakami but had not read any of his novels. The other 31 percent said they did not know who he was.

The Japanese novelist was more popular with female readers, with 28 percent of them saying they have read his work. Among the male respondents, the figure was 19 percent. 

Murakami’s latest novel “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” has been at the top of the nation’s best-seller lists at bookstores for five consecutive weeks. 

The strong sales performance of Murakami books is one of the few bright spots in the Korean publishing industry, which is struggling to fight a protracted slump. A growing number of Korean readers are shifting to multimedia entertainment on mobile devices from paper-based books. The country’s e-book market remains sluggish as well.

Gallup’s poll also showed that Murakami was not the No. 1 writer among Korean readers as far as preference was concerned. Asked who their favorite foreign writer was, French fiction writer Bernard Werber, known for the hit series “The Ants,” topped the list, receiving 5 percent of the vote. 

American novelist Ernest Hemingway ranked third in the favorite writer ranking. Other writers in the preference list included Leo Tolstoy, Pearl S. Buck, Alain de Botton, and J. K. Rowling.

By Jin Eun-soo
(janna924@heraldcorp.com)