British Boarding School Books By "Old Boys": Read by Rowling?

[joanne0012]

No: HPFGUIDX 61239

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
>  I would add that I think the 'boys
> boarding school' is kind of ingrained in British culture, and most
> people living there would have a familiarity with it. It must come up
> all the time in British movies and TV, and I think it represents a
> prominent part of their cultural history.
> 
> So while I am sure you are right, she did pull some of her knowledge
> from stories by other authors, I think she drew a significant amount
> of it from general cultural knowledge.

And at least one boarding-school grad thinks she's done a good job of it: 
"What J. K. Rowling has done, with considerable charm and inventive brio, is 
to take the traditional rituals of English public schools and show them in a 
light in which they seem as curious to outsiders as the rites of passage of 
tribal Africa. She makes it easy to overlook the fact that the most visible 
character going through Harry Potter's training even now is Harry Windsor."

http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/10/10/bookend/bookend.html