Readers in the WW (was: JKR and "Think of the Children!")

[Neri]

No: HPFGUIDX 162055


> Neri wrote:
> > Heroes and Heroines of fiction books are generally not required to 
> > demonstrate reading fiction on page, unless the specific work of 
> > fiction has direct bearing on the plot. It appears that *being* in 
> > novels excuses you from *reading* them. I mean, just think of any 
> > favorite fictional heroes of you and try to remember what fiction 
> > they ever read. Rare exceptions to this rule seem to be romantic 
> > heroines of good breeding that have to appear refined, and/or 
> > destitute heroines that dream of achieving renown through becoming 
> > novelists themselves. Since both Harry and Hermione don't fit into 
> > these categories, I really don't feel that not reading any fiction
> on page should be counted against them.
> 
> Carol responds:
> I seem to recall David Copperfield, Jane Eyre, and the four heroines
> of "Little Women" all taking great pleasure in reading and/or being
> read to. (Jo March also wrote rather trashy, melodramatic novels,
> comparable to some of the fanfic we see these days.) <snip>

Neri again:
As I wrote above, there *are* exceptions, and note that most of your
counterexamples indeed fall into the categories I mentioned as typical
exceptions (I had Jo March specifically in mind). However, I suspect
that if you'll conduct a general survey you'll find that the general
picture is different, especially if you concentrate on the adventure
and fantasy genres (which is where HP belongs, last time I checked).
I'd be rather surprised if Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Jim Hawkins, Kim,
Mowgli, Oliver Twist, Dorothy, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Phileas
Fogg, Peter Pan, Robin Hood, d'Artagnan, Cinderella, Snow White, Nils
Holgerssen, the Pevensie kids, Bilbo and Frodo ever read more than
three novels between them, unless it was specifically required for the
plot. But maybe my memory is failing me.

Neri