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Foreign novels topped the list of the most-checked out books by South Korean university students, with “1Q84” by Haruki Murakami ranked first followed by the French author Bernard Weber’s “God” and J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series.
According to a report released by ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Lawmaker Lim Hae-kyu Monday,　52 universities report the Japanese novel “1Q84” as the most-read book, followed by 50 reporting “God”, 24 reporting the “Harry Potter” series and 15 reporting the Japanese novel “Baekyahaeng.”
Ten university libraries reported “Justice” by Harvard Professor Michael Sandel as the most-read book by their students, despite its complex content. Sandel’s book sparked public discussion on the issue of social justice last year by topping the best-seller list. Jean Ziegler’s “La Faim Dans le Monde Expliquee a Mon Fils,” Nanami Shiono’s “Roman Stories” and Jeong Eun-kwol’s “Daily Life of Kyujangkak Scholars” were also reported to be the most-read book by ten schools.
The nation’s prestigious universities, Seoul National University and Yonsei University, report an average of 22 books checked out by a single student, topping the list of a number of books checked out from the library, Sookmyung Women’s University and Ewha Woman’s University followed with 21 and 20 books respectively. Sogang University, University of Seoul and Seoul Women’s University were next with an average of 19 books checked out by each student from their university libraries, respectively.
(Translated by Kang Jin-kyu, Intern)
　　
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